Proposed Edited Collection: Multimodality: History, Theory, Research, and Pedagogy

 

Call For Papers

Given the immense interest in the topic of multimodality in composition and communication across disciplines, academic levels, and geographic and cultural boundaries, we seek chapter abstracts for a proposed edited collection tentatively titled, Multimodality: History, Theory, Research, and Pedagogy. The chapters may be theoretical, historical, conceptual, and/or empirical, and respond to one or more of the following areas, while keeping in view global and diverse audiences. In particular, chapters should focus on one of the following:

  • Theorizing Multimodality: The concept of multimodality in composition and communication has been widely contested over the years. Are the current definitions of multimodality adequate to capture the range of activities people engage in with multimedia? How can we revisit and re-imagine the definitions and frameworks of multimodality and its instruction?
  • Challenges to Multimodality: Multimodality often faces and presents a variety of challenges and barriers. What are some of the theoretical, infrastructural and/or administrative barriers to multimodal instruction? How can instructors negotiate such barriers?
  • Digital/New Media and Multimodal Productions: Digital programs (Audacity, IMovie, Flash, Photoshop, InDesign etc.), interactive sites (youtube, google drive, wikipedia etc.), and social media (facebook, twitter etc.) provide ample opportunities for users to create, collaborate, and share multimodal texts while communicating with local and global communities. How do socioeconomic variables, such as age, sex, class, access, and abilities, etc., influence the production and distribution of multimodal texts? What role does collaboration play in multimodal production, and how does this differ from singular authorship of texts? What pedagogical approaches and best practices can instructors apply when using digital, collaborative/interactive web 2.0, and cloud technologies/sites in the classroom?
  • Multimodal Training: As a relatively new addition to the classroom, multimodal composition/communication is sometimes alien and alienating to instructors who are new to this practice. How can teachers develop the skills they need to teach multimodal composing effectively? What individual, departmental, and institutional initiatives can facilitate this learning process? What strategies can work or have worked to convince the upper administration to include multimodal training and resources for the instructors?
  • Multimodal Experiments: Multimodality presents many opportunities for experimentation. In what ways can instructors experiment with new platforms of multimodal composing? What opportunities present themselves in a multimodal curriculum? What successes and stumbles have instructors experienced, and what are the takeaways?
  • Multimodality in First Year Writing: First-year writing instruction in the United States has increasingly integrated multimodal components. Under what circumstances are such components most effective? What pedagogical influences and practices most facilitate multimodal composition/instruction? In particular, how can first-year writing instructors negotiate curricular, administrative or infrastructural limitations or constraints to multimodal curriculum or instruction?
  • Transnational Perspectives on Multimodality: Multimodality may be perceived, taught or practiced differently across national and cultural boundaries. In what ways do conceptions, practices, and instructions of multimodality coincide or differ across places and cultures? What empirical, experiential, and pedagogical accounts speak to those similarities or differences?
  • Multimodality in WAC/WID: Multimodality’s presence has increased throughout the disciplines. What multimodal approaches might one take to WAC/WID instruction? Do theoretical frameworks differ between regular writing classes and WAC/WID approaches to multimodality? What similarities and/or differences exist between multimodality in the writing classroom and its application across or within the disciplines?
  • Multimodality in Graduate Curriculum: Multimodality is primarily discussed in relation to undergraduate curriculum. How can multimodality be used within the graduate curriculum? What approaches might one take to multimodality in graduate instruction? Do theoretical frameworks differ in how undergraduate and graduate classes/courses approach multimodality? What similarities and/or differences exist between multimodal practices in the under-/graduate classrooms?
  • Multimodality in Writing and Rhetoric Majors: The number of undergraduate writing and rhetoric major programs has increased significantly in recent years, but there has not been much discussion of multimodal pedagogy or curriculum in those programs. What initiatives are being taken to integrate multimodality in writing and rhetoric majors? Do these differ from the wider conversation on multimodal composition? What theoretical frameworks or practices might apply most appropriately to multimodal composition within the writing and rhetoric majors?

A Quick Note on Global Audience

A global target audience means:

–the work should benefit audiences beyond the local context.

–relevant context should be adequately described for the benefit of international audience.

–research methods and theoretical frameworks should be adequately explained for audience beyond the local context.

–clarity, accuracy, and readability should be maintained in the text so that it is accessible to diverse audiences.

Timeline for Chapter Abstracts:

Queries, proposals, and abstracts for consideration should be emailed to both Santosh Khadka and JC Lee at santosh.khadka@csun.edu and jennifer.c.lee@csun.edu

250 word abstracts are due by 12/23/15.

 

The editors will respond to abstracts and solicit full chapter manuscripts from accepted contributors by 1/18/16.

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