Polyvocality Through an Indigenous Studies Lens: Writing the Plurality of Place

AUTHORS

• Natalie Vaughan-Wynn, Geography, UW Seattle
• Faduma A, freshman, UW Seattle
• Abigail Ipjian, freshman, UW Seattle
• Natalie Mclaughlin, freshman, UW Seattle
• Satchel Sogn, freshman, UW Seattle

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ABSTRACT

Through the perspective of both the instructor and students, this proposal outlines a series of activities undertaken in the Interdisciplinary Writing Program course linking ENG 198 and American Indian Studies 102. Twenty freshmen composed the course, some attending in-person for the first time in over a year. To connect students to each other, we first co-created a learning community conducive to conceptualizing writing as a shared, reflective process. Group work and peer review both guided the first major paper, a Polyvocal Essay, in which students wrote of a particular place meaningful to them in two distinct voices: narrative and descriptive. Students began by taking the UW Indigenous Walking Tour and in their subsequent written reflections, demonstrated a new understanding of how places are co-constituted with people and thus, have multiple meanings. Then, we examined excerpts from assigned readings and deconstructed the voice. Students reflected on how a reader’s perception of subjectivity or objectivity can inform their sense of an author’s representational authority. These activities together connected AIS and my field of Geography through the key themes of place (as a space with meaning) and representation. Finally, students practiced expressing the plurality of place by writing about a place meaningful to them in two distinct voices, which reinforced their understanding of how place, people, and representation are entangled. With the disconnection felt by many in this moment, I wanted to emphasize connection—between the steps in the sequence, between themes that span disciplines, and with each other. This approach can be adapted to many types of writing-based assignments across disciplines. Students will co-present. Poster will share student excerpts.

SUMMARY

RESEARCH QUESTION

How can the development of distinctive writing styles (i.e. "learning to write") deepen students' interdisciplinary understanding of a key concept (i.e. "writing to learn")?