Amber Engelson | Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (original) (raw)
Papers by Amber Engelson
College English, 2014
Despite its resurgence in US-based writing studies scholarship, thus far reli- gion has played a ... more Despite its resurgence in US-based writing studies scholarship, thus far reli- gion has played a very limited role in conversations about global English use in non-US contexts, although important work has been done by A. Suresh Canagarajah, Min-Zhan Lu, Bruce Horner, and others on the intersections between English literacy and non-Western identities and contexts. This article begins this conversation by highlighting data gathered during a ten-month ethnographic project at the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), a self-identified "Indonesian, international, inter-religious PhD program" (Introducing ICRS-Yogya 6) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. By exploring the linkages between religion and English at this literacy site, and in particular the ways various actors negotiate the contact zone between Western and religious sponsors, this article emphasizes both the importance of acknowledging religion as a resource in global literate action and the ability global langua...
Literacy in Composition Studies, 2018
Thinking Globally, Composing Locally: Rethinking Online Writing in the Age of the Global Internet
The Routledge Handbook of Comparative World Rhetorics
I would like to begin by thanking all those people at the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Stu... more I would like to begin by thanking all those people at the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies who welcomed me so openly to their intellectually rigorous and close-knit community. Without the support of faculty, students, and staff my project and the insights I made about what it means to write internationally in English would never have happened. Thank you to all my students, and in particular to Faqih, Nina, Ninik, and Tim, whose writing portfolios and words contributed so substantially to my dissertation. And thank you to Ingrid, Ipung, Elis and Atun for their continuous support and friendship as I learned to navigate, live, and teach in Indonesia. In addition, I'd like to thank the Comp/Rhet community at University of Massachusetts Amherst, whose words, ideas and critiques played such a valuable role in the ways that I learned to conceptualize myself as a scholar in the field. I would especially like to thank my dissertation chair, Haivan Hoang, for reading through my dense prose to see the kernel of thought I was circling around as I waded through my data and tried on various theoretical lenses. Her thoughtful feedback and assurances that I was doing "important work" spurred me to keep writing, thinking and revising. I'd also like to thank committee member Anne Herrington for providing me additional support as I wrote. Her prompt feedback and good questions played a major part in my dissertation process. I would also like to thank Paula Chakravartty for reading my work and acting as my outside committee member. I would also like to thank the many non-committee members that have contributed so much to my understanding of literacy. In particular, I'd like to thank Deirdre Vinyard. She was the one, many years ago, who first introduced me to Ryoko vi Kubota's work on critical contrastive rhetoric, and whose door was always open, whether I needed to discuss multilingual matters, curriculum development, assessment, good teaching days, or how wonderful it is to work with multilingual students. She truly was my mentor and friend for the seven years I worked, taught, and studied at UMass. And finally, I'd like to thank my fellow graduate students whose support, feedback, and critical insights also contributed in no small way to my dissertation project. Last, but not least, I want to express my gratitude to my family and loved ones. Without their willingness to drive me across town to the library, their belief in my intelligence, and their confidence that I would go far, I never would have had the courage to go as far as I have. And finally, I would like to thank my partner, Nate, for supporting me in my adventures, both near and far, and for reminding me so many times that I was both smart enough to finish my dissertation, and human enough to know when to stop for a while to go for a bike ride.
The Routledge Handbook of Comparative World Rhetorics: Studies in the History, Application, and Teaching of Rhetoric Beyond Traditional Greco-Roman Contexts, 2020
How might comparative rhetoricians reconceptialize “voice,” and thus rhetorical agency, in an age... more How might comparative rhetoricians reconceptialize “voice,” and thus rhetorical agency, in an
age where translingualism is the norm rather than the exception? This chapter highlights how
ethnographic research might help answer this question by tracing the ways one Indonesian
Religious Studies scholar, Tim, reflects upon and theorizes rhetorical voice in relation to the
vocational, religious and ethnic identities he brings with him. Though he acknowledges the role
broader Indonesian culture might play in his writing choices, Tim sees his English-using voice as
equally mediated by situational power dynamics linked to his position as a trained counsellor and to his double-minority status as a Christian and ethnically Chinese Indonesian. Overall, this
chapter highlights how an ethnographic approach— which allows scholars to put text-based
analyses in conversation with qualitative interviews and sociopolitical context—can work to
challenge essentialist, static formulations of culture and authorial voice when it comes to
Indonesian rhetorical practices. Though grounded in an Indonesian context, the research
highlighted here also suggests new ways scholars of comparative rhetoric might locate “voice”
and rhetorical agency both textually and extra-textually in a world of shifting linguistic and
sociopolitical affiliations.
Literacy in Composition Studies, 2018
"To whom do we have students write?" This deceptively simple question has served as the bedrock ... more "To whom do we have students write?" This deceptively simple question has served as the bedrock of Writing Studies scholarship over the years, and rightfully so, as audience plays a formative role in the composing processes and reception of texts within academia and beyond (see Lunsford and Ede; Halasek). Reflecting upon and complicating the question of audience, I contend, becomes especially vital as English solidifies itself as the lingua franca of global academic communication. As English and the knowledge spread with it circulates globally with the movement of people and texts across traditional "native-speaking" borders, it becomes increasingly important to understand audience and rhetorical agency from a translingual perspective when creating graduate-level English writing pedagogies-whether these pedagogies take place in periphery contexts like the Indonesian one highlighted in this article or in national contexts traditionally assumed to be "native" English-using.
Thinking Globally, Composing Locally Rethinking Online Writing in the Age of the Global Internet, 2018
This chapter draws from ethnographic research to explore how Indonesian scholars access written a... more This chapter draws from ethnographic research to explore how Indonesian scholars access written academic resources when confronted with both the digital divide and increasing demands that they publish in internationally-indexed journals, most of which are in English. Economic inequality means unequal access to digital and linguistic resources, creating what this chapter terms an "information divide." This chapter highlights the ways Indonesian scholars successfully negotiate the information divide by engaging in strategic literacy sponsorships and personal networking; in the process they bring hard-to-access digital written resources to their Indonesian academic communities and help share Indonesian knowledge with non-Indonesian audiences. Despite this success, the author contends that to create a global academic conversation where digital written information truly flows, we must
College English, 2014
Despite its resurgence in US-based writing studies scholarship, thus far religion has played a ve... more Despite its resurgence in US-based writing studies scholarship, thus far religion has played a very limited role in conversations about global English use in non-US contexts, although important work has been done by A. Suresh Canagarajah, Min-Zhan Lu, Bruce Horner, and others on the intersections between English literacy and non-Western identities and contexts. This article begins this conversation by highlighting data gathered during a ten-month ethnographic project at the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), a self-identified "Indonesian, international, inter-religious PhD program" (Introducing ICRS-Yogya 6) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. By exploring the linkages between religion and English at this literacy site, and in particular the ways various actors negotiate the contact zone between Western and religious sponsors, this article emphasizes both the importance of acknowledging religion as a resource in global literate action and the ability global language users have to appropriate and circulate knowledge garnered from English to forward local social change-without sacrificing their religious identities.
College English, 2014
Despite its resurgence in US-based writing studies scholarship, thus far reli- gion has played a ... more Despite its resurgence in US-based writing studies scholarship, thus far reli- gion has played a very limited role in conversations about global English use in non-US contexts, although important work has been done by A. Suresh Canagarajah, Min-Zhan Lu, Bruce Horner, and others on the intersections between English literacy and non-Western identities and contexts. This article begins this conversation by highlighting data gathered during a ten-month ethnographic project at the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), a self-identified "Indonesian, international, inter-religious PhD program" (Introducing ICRS-Yogya 6) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. By exploring the linkages between religion and English at this literacy site, and in particular the ways various actors negotiate the contact zone between Western and religious sponsors, this article emphasizes both the importance of acknowledging religion as a resource in global literate action and the ability global langua...
Literacy in Composition Studies, 2018
Thinking Globally, Composing Locally: Rethinking Online Writing in the Age of the Global Internet
The Routledge Handbook of Comparative World Rhetorics
I would like to begin by thanking all those people at the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Stu... more I would like to begin by thanking all those people at the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies who welcomed me so openly to their intellectually rigorous and close-knit community. Without the support of faculty, students, and staff my project and the insights I made about what it means to write internationally in English would never have happened. Thank you to all my students, and in particular to Faqih, Nina, Ninik, and Tim, whose writing portfolios and words contributed so substantially to my dissertation. And thank you to Ingrid, Ipung, Elis and Atun for their continuous support and friendship as I learned to navigate, live, and teach in Indonesia. In addition, I'd like to thank the Comp/Rhet community at University of Massachusetts Amherst, whose words, ideas and critiques played such a valuable role in the ways that I learned to conceptualize myself as a scholar in the field. I would especially like to thank my dissertation chair, Haivan Hoang, for reading through my dense prose to see the kernel of thought I was circling around as I waded through my data and tried on various theoretical lenses. Her thoughtful feedback and assurances that I was doing "important work" spurred me to keep writing, thinking and revising. I'd also like to thank committee member Anne Herrington for providing me additional support as I wrote. Her prompt feedback and good questions played a major part in my dissertation process. I would also like to thank Paula Chakravartty for reading my work and acting as my outside committee member. I would also like to thank the many non-committee members that have contributed so much to my understanding of literacy. In particular, I'd like to thank Deirdre Vinyard. She was the one, many years ago, who first introduced me to Ryoko vi Kubota's work on critical contrastive rhetoric, and whose door was always open, whether I needed to discuss multilingual matters, curriculum development, assessment, good teaching days, or how wonderful it is to work with multilingual students. She truly was my mentor and friend for the seven years I worked, taught, and studied at UMass. And finally, I'd like to thank my fellow graduate students whose support, feedback, and critical insights also contributed in no small way to my dissertation project. Last, but not least, I want to express my gratitude to my family and loved ones. Without their willingness to drive me across town to the library, their belief in my intelligence, and their confidence that I would go far, I never would have had the courage to go as far as I have. And finally, I would like to thank my partner, Nate, for supporting me in my adventures, both near and far, and for reminding me so many times that I was both smart enough to finish my dissertation, and human enough to know when to stop for a while to go for a bike ride.
The Routledge Handbook of Comparative World Rhetorics: Studies in the History, Application, and Teaching of Rhetoric Beyond Traditional Greco-Roman Contexts, 2020
How might comparative rhetoricians reconceptialize “voice,” and thus rhetorical agency, in an age... more How might comparative rhetoricians reconceptialize “voice,” and thus rhetorical agency, in an
age where translingualism is the norm rather than the exception? This chapter highlights how
ethnographic research might help answer this question by tracing the ways one Indonesian
Religious Studies scholar, Tim, reflects upon and theorizes rhetorical voice in relation to the
vocational, religious and ethnic identities he brings with him. Though he acknowledges the role
broader Indonesian culture might play in his writing choices, Tim sees his English-using voice as
equally mediated by situational power dynamics linked to his position as a trained counsellor and to his double-minority status as a Christian and ethnically Chinese Indonesian. Overall, this
chapter highlights how an ethnographic approach— which allows scholars to put text-based
analyses in conversation with qualitative interviews and sociopolitical context—can work to
challenge essentialist, static formulations of culture and authorial voice when it comes to
Indonesian rhetorical practices. Though grounded in an Indonesian context, the research
highlighted here also suggests new ways scholars of comparative rhetoric might locate “voice”
and rhetorical agency both textually and extra-textually in a world of shifting linguistic and
sociopolitical affiliations.
Literacy in Composition Studies, 2018
"To whom do we have students write?" This deceptively simple question has served as the bedrock ... more "To whom do we have students write?" This deceptively simple question has served as the bedrock of Writing Studies scholarship over the years, and rightfully so, as audience plays a formative role in the composing processes and reception of texts within academia and beyond (see Lunsford and Ede; Halasek). Reflecting upon and complicating the question of audience, I contend, becomes especially vital as English solidifies itself as the lingua franca of global academic communication. As English and the knowledge spread with it circulates globally with the movement of people and texts across traditional "native-speaking" borders, it becomes increasingly important to understand audience and rhetorical agency from a translingual perspective when creating graduate-level English writing pedagogies-whether these pedagogies take place in periphery contexts like the Indonesian one highlighted in this article or in national contexts traditionally assumed to be "native" English-using.
Thinking Globally, Composing Locally Rethinking Online Writing in the Age of the Global Internet, 2018
This chapter draws from ethnographic research to explore how Indonesian scholars access written a... more This chapter draws from ethnographic research to explore how Indonesian scholars access written academic resources when confronted with both the digital divide and increasing demands that they publish in internationally-indexed journals, most of which are in English. Economic inequality means unequal access to digital and linguistic resources, creating what this chapter terms an "information divide." This chapter highlights the ways Indonesian scholars successfully negotiate the information divide by engaging in strategic literacy sponsorships and personal networking; in the process they bring hard-to-access digital written resources to their Indonesian academic communities and help share Indonesian knowledge with non-Indonesian audiences. Despite this success, the author contends that to create a global academic conversation where digital written information truly flows, we must
College English, 2014
Despite its resurgence in US-based writing studies scholarship, thus far religion has played a ve... more Despite its resurgence in US-based writing studies scholarship, thus far religion has played a very limited role in conversations about global English use in non-US contexts, although important work has been done by A. Suresh Canagarajah, Min-Zhan Lu, Bruce Horner, and others on the intersections between English literacy and non-Western identities and contexts. This article begins this conversation by highlighting data gathered during a ten-month ethnographic project at the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), a self-identified "Indonesian, international, inter-religious PhD program" (Introducing ICRS-Yogya 6) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. By exploring the linkages between religion and English at this literacy site, and in particular the ways various actors negotiate the contact zone between Western and religious sponsors, this article emphasizes both the importance of acknowledging religion as a resource in global literate action and the ability global language users have to appropriate and circulate knowledge garnered from English to forward local social change-without sacrificing their religious identities.