I can remember when I didn’t know what the word “listserv” meant, and, sometimes, I yearn for those days. As a graduate student in rhetoric, composition, and technical communication, I am a part of the WPA listserv and the NEXTGEN listserv: the first is so that I can get a bunch of CFP’s and stuff going on in the field and in the discipline in one space; the second is so that I can be a part of an inclusive, supportive digital space where people help one another and enact their version of an Ethic of Care.
Not mentioned in the paragraph above is the CRTNET listserv because I am not a member of that listserv. However, I have friends, colleagues, and know folks in the field and discipline who are there, so I noticed an uptick in the CRTNET posts recently on Facebook and Twitter. I guess that brings us to today and the publication of this article: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/09/26/national-communication-association-suspends-discussion-listserv by Colleen Flaherty for Inside Higher Education. How would you describe this phenomenon? “Wow!”; “Not Surprised.”; “What?!”. Regardless of your reaction to the recent events on the CRTNET listserv, I will say that I am not surprised. It looks as if the CRTNET listserv, which was once helpful, may now be a space that evaporates into the digital ether—and maybe it should. It is worth noting, the WPA listserv, which, admittedly, can be helpful, can also turn into a dumpster fire very quickly. As Flaherty notes” “Earlier this year, many scholars of writing abandoned the Writing Program Administration Listserv after someone anonymously posted a reference to the Ku Klux Klan. Many who stayed subscribed to the list wanted it formally moderated, citing additional examples of less obvious but nevertheless racist posts. Others still argued against formal moderation, or for the list’s ability to moderate itself.” What we are seeing on the WPA listserv (I was online and in my inbox when the post from the “Grand Wizard” came through; I was stunned) and now the CRTNET listserv is a rejection of racist and nativist language. What we are seeing on the WPA listserv and now the CRTNET listserv is digital antagonism. What we are seeing on the WPA listserv and now the CRTNET listserv is bullying—bullying by people who are, perhaps, bullies because they can be. That is (insert your own explicative) sad. Kudos to those on the CRTNET listserv who called out these two professors (did I see distinguished in front of one name?). You are doing great, important work. So what are you going to do? I suggest joining the Nextgen listserv. Flaherty mentions the NEXTGEN listserv in her article, saying, “The NEXTGEN Listserv, an alternative to the writing program Listserv favored by many graduate students and early-career scholars, recommends minimizing harm by adhering to certain practices and principles. Those include examining one’s own position and privilege and ‘working actively to ensure that spaces like Listservs are valued as safer professional public spaces where all the members showcase a respect for one another, learn from one another and uplift one another’s positions and identities.’” Finally, don’t let this get you down. We, as a community of rhetoric and composition scholars will always work together to find and extinguish racism, nativism, and bullying. These things are not the future, we are.
1 Comment
9/26/2019 04:08:19 pm
Great post. I remember the "Grand Wizard" deal with the WPA. I joined the resulting new listserv and a few others at that time. Interesting stuff.
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Charles WoodsPhD student focusing on Rhetoric, Composition, and Technical Communication at Illinois State University. Archives
October 2019
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