Category
3MT - Three Minute Thesis
Description
This thesis proposes an original theory of teaching composition structured through the concept of empathy as a scaffold for technical and positively impactful writing. The full name of the theory is Writing in Empathy (WIE) which I then translate to the letter/shape symbol, Y, consequently, Y Theory. Y is a shape symbol which images my theory’s emphasis on writing as a means for human connection, showing how the three points of a traditional rhetorical triangle (communicator, audience, message) collapse in, connect at a shared middle space, and emerge from the shared space as the operation of these three elements. Y Theory seeks to meet students’ need for personal meaning and posits language as the natural medium by which students can meaningfully connect to themselves and others through empathy for a more meaningful lived experience. To create an atmosphere where this kind of meaning-making occurs through an empathetic use of language, this thesis proposes a new theory of composition teaching, Y Theory, that pulls from three research strands. Drawing on theories of education that contextualize the student as a person, the metaphorical nature of language as presented in linguistics, and the operation and purpose of language in the field of composition studies, this thesis will combine insights from these fields to define a new theory of composition teaching that seeks to develop students’ understanding of their unique role in the world.To fulfill this aim, my thesis explains Y Theory in context of its three strands in Chapters 2-4 presents an example of the kind of course Y Theory would undergird in Chapter 5, and closes by discussing Y Theory’s position in relation to current concerns like the post-COVID landscape, rapidly developing AI, and concerns about linguistic justice.
Y Theory: A New Theory of Teaching Composition
3MT - Three Minute Thesis
This thesis proposes an original theory of teaching composition structured through the concept of empathy as a scaffold for technical and positively impactful writing. The full name of the theory is Writing in Empathy (WIE) which I then translate to the letter/shape symbol, Y, consequently, Y Theory. Y is a shape symbol which images my theory’s emphasis on writing as a means for human connection, showing how the three points of a traditional rhetorical triangle (communicator, audience, message) collapse in, connect at a shared middle space, and emerge from the shared space as the operation of these three elements. Y Theory seeks to meet students’ need for personal meaning and posits language as the natural medium by which students can meaningfully connect to themselves and others through empathy for a more meaningful lived experience. To create an atmosphere where this kind of meaning-making occurs through an empathetic use of language, this thesis proposes a new theory of composition teaching, Y Theory, that pulls from three research strands. Drawing on theories of education that contextualize the student as a person, the metaphorical nature of language as presented in linguistics, and the operation and purpose of language in the field of composition studies, this thesis will combine insights from these fields to define a new theory of composition teaching that seeks to develop students’ understanding of their unique role in the world.To fulfill this aim, my thesis explains Y Theory in context of its three strands in Chapters 2-4 presents an example of the kind of course Y Theory would undergird in Chapter 5, and closes by discussing Y Theory’s position in relation to current concerns like the post-COVID landscape, rapidly developing AI, and concerns about linguistic justice.
Comments
Graduate - 1st Place & Peoples' Choice Award Winner