Institutional Ethnography as Writing Studies Practice

The editors and contributors to this collection offer insights into the use of institutional ethnography for three primary purposes: to investigate and interrogate the cultures of work that are of interest to writing studies researchers, to understand more deeply what constitutes this work, and to consider how work takes shape within institutional contexts. Building on prior conversations about institutional ethnography, critical ethnography, and the complexities of writing programs, the editors and chapter authors consider their application to sites of writing and writing instruction. In doing so, they reveal the power of material conditions, institutional and field-based values, and the cultures of writing to shape how people carry out their everyday work in writing programs and other venues in which writing plays a central role. The findings shared in this edited collection provide insights into how institutional ethnography as a form of inquiry can make important contributions to the fields’ many ongoing conversations about the nature of our work, labor, and other writing-related interests.

Michelle LaFrance is Associate Professor of English at George Mason University. She has published on institutional ethnography, experimental writing, writing and writing center pedagogy, and feminist methodologies. Her work-in-process is on the many and hybrid forms of community rhetoric at the historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington DC. She teaches creative nonfiction through community centers in DC and is an avid home brewer, gardener, and concert-goer.

Melissa Nicolas is Professor of English at Washington State University. She has edited several writing studies collections, and her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals. Her current research interests include the rhetoric of health and medicine, disability studies, and feminism. She lives in Pullman, Washington, with her human and animal significant others.