Karen Rowan

My scholarly, pedagogical, and professional interests include the intersections of language, literacy, and education; anti-racist writing pedagogies; writing center theory and practice; and teacher development. My diverse interests are inspired by my experiences as a student, teacher, and administrator and are, in turn, reflected in both my scholarly work and teaching in a variety of ways.

In the classroom and in my work with student researchers, I aim to help students develop as critical writers who use their writing, rhetorical, and literacy knowledges to contribute to their communities. I also teach future educators who are learning how to teach writing and literacy in ways honor and extend students' prior knowledges in meaningful ways. As a writing tutor at heart, I especially love working one-on-one with scholars and researchers as they develop and carry out independent projects.

As a scholar, my work has primarily focused on how race, racism, and anti-racism can and do shape the teaching of writing. For example, my recent co-edited collection, Racing Translingualism in Composition: Toward a Race-Conscious Translingualism advances the field's engagement with translingualism by foregrounding and interrogating the intersections of translingualism and race, racism, and anti-racism. My previous project, Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change, which I co-edited and contributed to, was awarded the Outstanding Book Award by the International Writing Centers Association and contributed to a growing body of scholarship, research, and activism in writing center studies.

Selected Publications

Racing Translingualism in Composition: Toward a Race-Conscious Translingualism, Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2022. Co-edited with Tom Do.

"Rearticulating Translingualism: The Translingual Racial Project, Colorblindness, and Race Consciousness." Racing Translingualism in Composition: Toward a Race-Conscious Translingualism, eds. Tom Do and Karen Rowan. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2022.

“Toward a Model for Preparatory Community Listening.” With Alexandra Cavallaro. Community Literacy Journal, vol. 13, no. 1, 2019, pp. 23-36.

Invited: “Researcher Reflection.” Strategies for Writing Center Research, by Jackie Grutsch McKinney. Parlor Press (2015): pp 88-9

Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2011. Co-edited with Laura Greenfield.

“Beyond the ‘Week 12 Approach’: Towards a Critical Pedagogy for Anti-Racist Tutor Education.” Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2011. 124-149. With Laura Greenfield.

“All the Best Intentions: Graduate Student Administrative Professional Development in Practice.” Writing Center Journal 29.1 (2009): 11-48.

Selected Presentations

"On Collegiality: A Feminist Exploration of Mentorship, Collaboration, & Showing Up for One Another in Professional Spaces." Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference. Harrisonburg, VA. November 2019. With Alexandra Cavallaro, Miriam Fernandez, and Jasmine Lee.

"Sponsorship, Identity, and Performance in DSP and the Possibilities of Performing against Power." Conference on College Composition and Communication. Pittsburgh, PA. March 2019.

“Toward an Anti-Racist Translingual Pedagogy.” Thomas R. Watson Conference. Louisville, KY. October 2018.

"Towards a Center for Community Writing: An Asset-Based Case Study of San Bernardino’s Community Cultural Wealth." Conference on Community Writing, Boulder, CO. October 2017. With Alexandra Cavallaro.

“‘I get to take classes that I think I can do, not what a test thinks I can do:’ Agency, Assessment, and the Work of DSP.” Conference on Writing Program Administration Conference. Normal, IL. July 2014.

“Antiracist Pedagogies across the Disciplines.” Faculty Development Workshop. Metropolitan State University of Denver. With Laura Greenfield. Denver, CO. May 2014.

“From Tutor Training to Tutor Education: Making a Sea Change in Writing Center Discourse and Practice.” With Laura Greenfield. International Writing Centers Association. Baltimore, MD. November 2010.

“False Starts: On Becoming a Qualitative Researcher.” Keynote Address (Invited). Qualitative Research Network. Conference on College Composition and Communication. San Francisco, CA. March 2009.