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Dr. Amy Woodworth is a professor of multiple courses in the Writing Arts department, so she is probably recognizable to many of you readers. However, you may not know that she is also the current chair of Rowan's Writing Arts department. I became aware of this while attending her Senior Seminar: Methods of Analysis and Evaluation of Writing course. Learning about this made me curious, as I was unaware of what being the chair really meant and what it entailed, so I decided to ask Dr. Woodworth about her role and the department. If you would like to see a more visual summary of the interview below, you can click here. MHC: What is your role as chair of the Writing Arts department? AW: “While any chair is considered the formal leader of a department, this department is definitely led by our awesome faculty collectively. I see myself as a steward who maintains the health and well-being of the department: beyond all the logistics of stuff that just has to happen (faculty need to be hired, students need to get into classes, etc.), my role is to help make people’s experiences here fulfilling and hopefully create an environment where they can be their best possible selves as writers, students, teachers, researchers, and community members.” MHC: How did you become the chair of this department? How long have you been in this role? AW: “Chairs are voted on by the faculty, and their terms are three years. This is one of the more democratic parts of university structures, at least for administrative roles. I am completing my second year of my first time right now!” MHC: What do you enjoy most about being the chair of the Writing Arts department? AW: “I love being a cheerleader and getting to recognize, celebrate, and promote our faculty and students! And I really love problem-solving and helping people. Not everyone likes this analogy, but I’m basically the department mom, and I am good with that. This role has allowed me to get to know our undergraduate students better; there are so many that I know pretty well at this point without even [having] them in one of my classes.” MHC: How would you describe the Writing Arts department and/or its members? AW: “Passionate! In every regard! They care about each other, and they care about the world. They recognize both the personal and the social importance and power of writing. They are always striving to grow and learn…I find our members humble but also always ready to brag on each other!” MHC: What are the goals of the members of the Writing Arts department? AW: “Can I cheat on this one and direct you to our vision and mission statements on this page? https://ccca.rowan.edu/departments/writingArts/” (Here you will find the Writing Arts department’s new motto: “Writing Arts: Making marks that shape the world” and its pledge to give both students and staff the ability to study, critique, and understand writing in order to create a better world. The department wants its students to be responsible and to have transformative experiences during their time at Rowan.) MHC: What makes Rowan’s Writing Arts department different from that of other universities? AW: “We are the only Department of Writing Arts in the country, at least by that name! Having an independent writing department outside of English allows writing and communication to take center stage rather than literary analysis, and it gives us the space to address a wider range of writing and writing contexts, from scientific writing to humor writing to DIY self-publishing.” MHC: What is one fact about the Writing Arts department that students may not know? AW: “We are one of the first independent writing departments in the country (housed outside of English). See point above: we are the only Department of Writing Arts in the country!” MHC: What courses would you recommend to incoming students? AW: “I think this really depends on the student and their passions! Usually I try to learn the kinds of writing they are into and then make recommendations, such as Writing the Young Adult Novel, Worldbuilding, Writing About Pop Culture, or Environmental Writing & Rhetoric, but there are so many practical classes that work for all of our concentrations, such as Editing for Publication. I definitely recommend getting out of your comfort zone and taking writing courses outside of your concentration: so many alumni comment on the ways that learning about technical writing made them a better creative writer and vice versa. I think most students are surprised…..” MHC: What is the difference between receiving your BA and MA in writing arts? AW: “The BA provides a strong foundation in writing and editing across a variety of genres, but the MA provides a deeper dive into craft and coaches students through writing much longer works (such as novels). MA students work on a long project over the course of an entire year, which enables them to reach significant goals while staying with the same mentors/advisors through the duration of the project. Getting an MA also qualifies people to teach at the college level, which many MA graduates go on to do.” MHC: What scholarships can writing arts students look forward to? AW: "We offer an Emerging Writers Scholarship to four-year students; the minimum award is $1000 per year for four years.” MHC: What writing groups can students join? AW: “The primary one is the Writing Arts Club; they do writing-based activities at meetings and often collaborate on projects and publications together, including a zine. Other relevant student organizations and publications are Avant, the undergraduate literary journal; Halftone, a student-run (and written) online magazine on pop culture; and The Whit, our campus newspaper. Our online humor magazine RU Joking? is also student run, though it doesn’t focus on student writing.” As a professor and chair of the department, Dr. Woodworth works hard for both students and staff in order to make the Writing Arts department the best it can be. With this brief interview and look into the Writing Arts department, I hope that people can come to appreciate her efforts both inside and outside the classroom. McKenna Harris-Colvin
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During the Fall 2023 semester, I took Methods Of Analysis & Evaluation Of Writing, which was essentially the last writing class I had to take before graduating. It was a small class of, including myself, 7 people, that met in the Honors wing of Whitney Center (even though it wasn’t an Honors class), taught by Dr. Rausch.
Juliana Rausch got her Bachelor’s & Ph.D in American Literature & Critical Theory from Temple University. She’s been working here as a Lecturer from close to 5 years now, starting in September of 2019. She has published original research in Literary Journalism, along with a book review in American Book Review. She has taught a wide array of courses, in her own words, “from college composition to professional writing to writing methodology and theory. In Methods, we had to write four papers based on the topics and ideas we had been reading about and discussing. Specifically, they were on critical summaries, authorship, visual rhetoric, and literary narratives. Dr. Rausch taught these subjects in an engaging way, because she brought in readings and videos that she found interesting and wanted to discuss with the class. In a similar way, she let us choose any piece of art from any medium to focus on in our essays, as long as we focused on the topic at hand. It was a wonderful experience getting to have this freedom, as I then was excited to apply the course learnings. At the end of the semester, I felt as though I had written some of the strongest works in my time here at Rowan. ——————————————————————————————————————--————-- In a quick conversation with Dr. Rausch, I asked her about her experiences over the past 5 years at Rowan and throughout this past semester. When I asked about how she felt about Rowan, she responded, “I appreciate that even though I am a faculty member, I am provided with opportunities to serve the Rowan community outside the classroom”. She added that she loves the Writing Arts department, and that she has “the most supportive, caring colleagues who make [her] thankful for my job every single day”. Her favorite part of teaching is “getting to know students on a personal level”, and she says it’s “very rewarding to listen and learn from my students and build trusting relationships with them”. She also brought up that she is currently the Faculty Fellow for High Impact Practices & Student Equity here at Rowan. High impact practices are meant as ways for students to apply knowledge learned in class, as well as grow relations between students and faculty / students who are different from themselves. Dr. Rausch’s current role involves creating an inventory of all the different high impact practices Rowan currently has, so that Rowan can ensure “equitable learning outcomes for all students”. When asked what her experience with her role as Faculty Fellow, she replied, “The experience so far has been amazing. It allows me to contribute meaningfully to initiatives designed to promote equity, access, and inclusion, all of which are important to me and the people I work with. I have also really enjoyed collaborating with different departments and programs across campus, meeting new people, and just feeling connected to the broader Rowan community”. ——————————————————————————————————————--————-- A common theme across all of the answers Dr. Rausch gave is her focus on community and building relationships with other people, both faculty and students alike. This doesn’t come as a surprise to me, based on the semester I had her as a teacher. As our Methods class would begin drafting an essay, she would have built-in one-on-one meetings to discuss our progress with the writing. This seems to be a practice she implements across all of her classes, as it allows for direct feedback and time to help students create the writing pieces they envision. She would read through everyone’s drafts and took time to make notes/ask questions that showed that she was putting the effort in for all her students. It also allows her time to get to know the students and talk to them about anything else, be it her class, other classes, life, et cetera. In the scheduled time I had with Dr. Rausch, we talked about lots of things, ranging from upcoming class topics to eventually my worries or problems I was currently facing. She always wants to put her best foot forward and both get to know all of her students, and help them in any way she can. It feels as though she wants you to do the best you can and properly succeed, not just coast through the class. And you know, this isn’t a feeling that is exclusive to Dr. Rausch. I would say that all of the professors I’ve had during my time at Rowan have acted this way as well. Everyone in the Writing Arts Department wants to get to know you as a person and see you succeed as a student. It’s a very welcoming environment with a wonderful faculty. So why did I choose to write about Dr. Rausch? As I briefly mentioned before, one of the essays was a Literary Narrative, and I wrote a very personal essay about the people in my life that I am/were great friends with and how their love of art inspired my love of art. Dr. Rausch was super kind and supportive through the process and I felt comfortable enough to write that essay for her class. It was the last paper, so class ended before the essay was due, and once she graded it, she left an extremely sweet and touching note on the paper and my presence in class for the semester. It is one of the nicest things someone has said/written about me, and I really appreciate her kindness. So this is my thank you, a piece of writing directed back at her, appreciating her presence during that semester. ———————————————————————————————————————————-- I also recorded an interview with Dr. Rausch, going over different questions about her literaty journey. We talked about what brought her to become a professor, why she chose English/Writing as her subject, and why she came to Rowan, among other things. Check it out here. Written By: Robert Scanlon |
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