Ashley J. Holmes
Associate Professor & Director of Writing Across the Curriculum English- Education
M.A. B.A., North Carolina State University
Ph.D., University of Arizona
- Specializations
Rhetoric and Composition; Composition Theory and Pedagogy; Writing Across the Curriculum; Place-Based and Experiential Learning Pedagogies; Research Methodology and Methods; Public Writing and Rhetoric; Writing Program Administration; Digital Writing and Rhetoric
- Biography
Dr. Holmes's research explores place-based approaches to teaching and learning in higher education, as well as composition pedagogies and writing program designs that value and incorporate students' diverse writing lives toward equity and inclusion in student success. Her most recent publications highlight students' spheres of writing beyond the university, best practices for writing programs, and teaching writing for social change. Holmes's first book Public Pedagogy in Composition Studies (2016) was published through the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s Studies in Writing and Rhetoric Series.
She has two books forthcoming in 2023. The first, a monograph called Learning on Location: Place-Based Approaches for Diverse Learners in Higher Education (Routledge / Elon University Center for Engaged Learning's Series on Engaged Teaching and Learning), provides a framework for location-based learning and explores the practices of writing, walking, and engaging the civic on location for deepening learning and engagement. The second is an edited collection called Learning from the Mess: Method/ological Praxis in Rhetoric and Writing Studies (WAC Clearinghouse Perspectives on Writing Series) features chapters that challenge traditionally tidy approaches to research methods, carving space in the field for diverse ways of knowing and doing research that embrace the messiness of the experience.
Holmes has also published peer-reviewed essays in College English, Composition Forum, English Journal, Community Literacy Journal, Reflections, Kairos, and Ubiquity, as well as several edited collections. She serves as managing co-editor of Composition Forum (since 2020) and on the Research and Publications committee with the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum (AWAC).
- Publications
Books
Learning on Location: Place-Based Approaches for Diverse Learners in Higher Education, Routledge / Elon University Center for Engaged Learning Series on Engaged Teaching and Learning, in production, anticipated publication 2023.Learning from the Mess: Method/ological Praxis in Rhetoric and Writing Studies, collection edited by Ashley J. Holmes and Elise Verzosa Hurley, Perspectives on Writing Series at the WAC Clearinghouse, anticipated publication 2023.
Public Pedagogy in Composition Studies. Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Studies in Writing and Rhetoric Series. 2016.
Articles & Chapters
“Lifewide Writing Across the Curriculum: Valuing Students’ Multiple Writing Lives Beyond the University.” (with Kathleen Blake Yancey, Íde O’Sullivan, D. Alexis Hart, and Yogesh Sinha). The WAC Journal. vol 33 (2023). Print.“Towards Sustainable Writing Programs in the Quality Enhancement Plan Era,” (with Jessica Edens McCrary), College English. vol. 85, no. 1 (2022): 37 – 63. Print.
“Layering Opportunities for Increased Access: A Case Study of Undergraduate Research and Student Success.” (with Lynée Lewis Gaillet and Jessica Rose). College English. Special issue on undergraduate research. vol 84., no. 6 (Summer 2022): 652 – 674. Print.
“Multiple Forms of Representation: Using Maps to Triangulate Students’ Tacit Writing Knowledge.” (with Ide O’Sullivan, D. Alexis Hart, Anna V. Knutson, Yogesh Sinha, and Kathleen Yancey). Composition Forum. Vol 49 (Summer 2022). Online. https://compositionforum.com/issue/49/multiple-forms.php
“’There Is a Lot of Overlap’: Tracing Writing Development Across Spheres of Writing.” (with Kathleen Yancey, Alexis Hart, Anna Knutson, Ide O’Sullivan, and Yogesh Sinha) In Writing Beyond the University: Preparing Lifelong Learners for Lifewide Writing. Ed. Julia Bleakney, Jessie L. Moore, and Paula Rosinski. Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. 2022. pp. 74 – 90. Print & online. doi.org/10.36284/celelon.oa5
“Strengthening Faculty Community: Intradisciplinary Reciprocal Mentorship to Support Innovative Teaching” (with Michael Harker, Gina Caison, Mary E. Hocks, Melissa McLeod, and LeeAnne M. Richardson). Campus Conversations: Student Success Pedagogies in Practice. Ed. Jeffrey Galle and Denise Domizi. Rowman & Littlefield, 2021. 23 – 41. Print.
“Public Writing for Social Change.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 4. Ed. Dana Driscoll, Mary Stewart, and Matthew Vetter. Parlor Press, 2021. 199 – 216. Print & online. https://writingspaces.org/?page_id=786
“Heuristic-Based Learning and Doctoral Preparation: Revising Georgia State University’s PhD Exam in Rhetoric and Composition” (with Michael Harker and Lynée Lewis Gaillet). Composition Forum. Vol 45 (Fall 2020). Online. https://compositionforum.com/issue/45/gsu.php
“’Being Patient Through the Quiet’: Partnering in Problem-Based Learning in a Graduate Seminar.” International Journal for Students as Partners. 4.1 (2020): 34-47. Online. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v4i1.3926.
Selected Grants & Awards:
Researcher (Competitive Selection), Center for Engaged Learning Research Seminar on Writing Beyond the University, Elon University, 2018 – 2021