Pedagogical Portals: Platforms to Support Community-Engaged Classrooms

Under a grant from the Jefferson Trust, the Writing and Rhetoric Program (WRP) has during the past two years studied and expanded the use of community-engaged pedagogies–ways of teaching writing that involve having students learn about and sometimes work with local and international communities—and embedded such pedagogies into first-year writing (FYW) ENWR classes required for first-year Arts and Sciences students. As part of this work, we propose to build a digital portal which will support pedagogical practices common to such classrooms (community mapping, digital/print publications, community partnerships) as well as consolidate existing platforms (newsletters, digital publications, curated databases of scholarship, etc.). This site will also feature outstanding examples of course syllabi, assignments, and interviews with students, instructors, and community partners. This portal will be a unique resource for teachers in the Writing and Rhetoric Program and nationwide.