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Syracuse University

Lightning in a Bottle: A History of the Syracuse Writing Program, 1986-1996

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>Lightning in a Bottle: A History of the Syracuse Writing Program, 1986-1996, is directed by Louise Wetherbee Phelps and Collin Gifford Brooke. This historical study of the Syracuse Writing Program's administrative structures for contingent faculty focuses on professional development and evaluation systems for the Writing Program's part-time writing instructors. The study draws on archival methodology, using saved administrative documents from the Syracuse Writing Program and retrospective interviews of past members of the Syracuse University Writing Program. This history is influenced and contextualized through scholarship on contingent faculty labor, writing program administration, and the establishment of stand-alone writing programs. The goal of this history of the Syracuse Writing Program is to study the long-term effects of professional development and evaluation systems on writing teachers' development and the growth of a teaching culture marked by shared values about writing and pedagogy within a writing program. This history argues that ongoing reflective professional development and evaluation systems are necessary for all teachers of writing, both new and experienced practitioners.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Writing Program
Year
2012

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Davies, Laura J.
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Louise W. Phelps
  • Collin G. Brooks

Subjects

dc:subject × 8

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://surface.syr.edu/wp_etd/31
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:surface.syr.edu:wp_etd-1030

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Syracuse University
Base URL
surface.syr.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Davies, Laura J.. Lightning in a Bottle: A History of the Syracuse Writing Program, 1986-1996. Dissertation thesis, 2012. https://surface.syr.edu/wp_etd/31