Abstract:
Though genre theory has been central to discussions in writing scholarship for 30
years, it is not as central in other academic fields. This thesis studies genre theory, genre
awareness, and professors’ curricular choices via interviews with WI faculty and an
analysis of WI course syllabi and writing assignments. Overall data reveals that
professors are asking students to write primarily for an audience of their professors and
that writing is used primarily to measure their students’ understanding of course content,
though some faculty do focus on genre and rhetorical awareness to a lesser degree. These
findings suggest that classroom practices don’t align with composition and genre
scholarship, nor with the values professors espouse themselves. This thesis recommends
WAC administrators explore genre with faculty in conversations and Professional
Development, in order to make genre knowledge explicit. It also recommends genre
analysis that recognizes writing as a dynamic social act of negotiation and recommends
genre analysis as a way forward in the classroom.
