The Writing Institute
An innovative hub
for multimodal composition
and practice of writing craft
The Writing Institute works to help scaffold writing skills across the curriculum, and offers printed resources and workshops that support writing projects common to the Antioch experience, including the Life Aims Paper, the self-design major Statement of Inquiry, Senior theses, and the Senior Reflection Paper—as well as technical writing support for the co-op resume, cover letter, and digital portfolio. Writing mentorship includes faculty consultations, peer tutoring, the Alumni Writers Program, student-led writing groups, and faculty-led writeins. The Writing Institute and program at Antioch College also fosters opportunities in multimodal composition and the Digital Liberal Arts, creative nonfiction, reportage, literary journalism, writing immersions, public readings, Writers-in-Residence, and community outreach.
Brooke Bryan is Chair of the Writing Program and Assistant Professor of Writing and Digital Literacy at Antioch College where she specializes in phenomenological oral history and undergraduate research frameworks.
Supported by the Great Lakes Colleges Association, Brooke directs Oral History in the Liberal Arts—a three-year initiative funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that supports undergraduate oral history research by providing open source workflows and technology stacks for tools in the digital humanities, and articulating pedagogical strategies for ‘high stakes’ teaching and learning through faculty-mentored oral history projects across 13 institutions.
EDUCATION
- M.A., Oral History Methodology, Antioch University, 2013
- B.A., Classics, Antioch University, 2009
SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES
- Supported by GLCA, led a team of scholars and librarians exploring undergraduate research paradigms at ILiADS at Hamilton College's Digital Humanities Initiative; included funding for one student who was able to present on a panel, becoming a founding member of the Undergraduate Research Network
- Instructor at Ohio Humanities' residential Oral History Institute at Kenyon College
- Supported by the Lloyd Family Fund at Antioch College, coached four students to present posters of their faculty-mentored research projects (conducted during WORK 425) exploring social justice themes at the 2015 Oral History Association meeting in Tampa Bay.
- Led a workshop on digital tools for research at Oral History Association annual meeting, "Digging into Digital Platforms: One Interview/Four Tools"
- Served on the Grant Review panel for the Ohio History Fund, awarding $100,000 to 14 projects across the state
- Commissioned as an interviewer for Ohio History's Ohio Veterans Oral History project with the support of Ohio Humanities
- Awarded $393,710 grant from the Great Lakes Colleges Association through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The three-year project, Oral History in the Liberal Arts, connects oral history and digital storytelling methods with experiential learning and undergraduate research paradigms-- developing a consortial archive and providing pedagogical tutorials and open source technology stacks to faculty and librarians across all 13 GLCA schools. The project is designed to provide micro-grants to more than 50 faculty, instructional staff, and students across GLCA over three years.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- A Closer Look at Community Partnerships, Oral History Review (2013) 40(1): 75-82 doi:10.1093/ohr/oht023 (https://ohr.oxfordjournals.org/content/40/1/75.full)
- Bryan, B. (2012). Why here/why now: using websites to power community projects. In D. Boyd, S. Cohen, B. Rakerd, & D. Rehberger (Eds.), Oral history in the digital age. Institute of Library and Museum Services. (https://ohda.matrix.msu.edu/2012/06/why-here-why-now/)
- Interview Project. Oral History Review (2010) 37 (1):71-73.doi: 10.1093/ohr/ohq035 (https://ohr.oxfordjournals.org/content/37/1/71.full)
The Writing Program
Minimum Requirement
Prior to graduation, students are expected to master written communication ability that demonstrates development and effective expression of ideas and arguments in writing. This involves learning how to work in a variety of genres and styles. Written communication skills and abilities are developed through iterative experiences across the curriculum.
As part of the general education curriculum, students must complete two courses in composition:
- ENG 101 or ENG 105 English Composition
- and ENG 251 Expository Writing
Beyond General Education
In addition to satisfying general education requirements, students may also incorporate both creative and analytical writing into the design of their major. Faculty regularly teach the following:
- Advanced Expository Writing
- Poetry
- Fiction
- Lyric Essay
- Creative Nonfiction
- Translation
- Community Reporting Practicum
