Mya Poe
Professor of English
Mya Poe’s research focuses on writing assessment and writing development with particular attention to justice and fairness. For more than 20 years she has advocated for eliminating writing assessment practices that result in unnecessary structural barriers for students. She has published multiple award-winning books as well as more than 70 articles and book chapters. She is co-editor of the international research journal Written Communication.
• Best Book Award, Council of Writing Program Administrators, Received for Writing placement in two-year colleges: The pursuit of equity in postsecondary education, 2022.
• Teaching Excellence Award, Northeastern University, 2016.
• Outstanding Teaching Award, Northeastern University, College of Social Sciences and
Humanities, 2016.
• Outstanding Book Award in the Edited Collection, Conference on College Composition and Communication. Received for Race and writing assessment, 2014.
• Best of the Independent Rhetoric & Composition Journals 2013. Received for “Re-Framing Race in Teaching Writing Across the Curriculum,” published in Across the Disciplines, 10(3).
• Advancement of Knowledge Award, Conference on College Composition and Communication. Received for Learning to communicate in science and engineering: Case studies from MIT, 2012.
Since 2018
Nastal, J., Poe, M., & Toth, C. (forthcoming). Writing Placement in Two-Year Colleges: Case Studies of Postsecondary Education in Transition. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado; Fort Collins, CO: WAC Clearinghouse.
Palermo, G., Zhang-W., Q., Regan, D., & Poe, M. (forthcoming) Writing program assessment as a site for multi-generational mentoring: Building intergenerational research trajectories and resonances for justice. Mentorship and Methodology: Reflections, Praxis, and Futures. In Gruwell, L. and C. N. Lesh (Eds.).
Poe, M. (forthcoming). Ethical issues in scientific publishing. Routledge Handbook of Scientific Communication. In Cutrufello, G., C. Hanganu-Bresch, S. Maci, and M. Zerbe.
Benda, J., Jones, C., Poe, M., & Stephens, A. (forthcoming). “Confronting super-diversity again: A multidimensional approach to teaching and researching writing at a global university.” In Daniel, J.R., K. Malcolm, and C. Rai. (Eds.). Writing across difference; Theory and intervention. Logan, UT: Utah State UP.
Edwards, L. & Poe, M. (2021). Writing and responding to trauma in a time of pandemic. Prompt: A Journal of Academic Writing Assignments, 5(2). https://thepromptjournal.com/index.php/prompt/article/view/116/226
Randall, J., Poe, M., & Slomp, D. (2021). Ain’t oughta be in the dictionary: Getting to justice by dismantling anti-Black literacy assessment practices. Journal of Adolescent Learning and Literacy, 48(3), 594-599.
Poe, M. (2021). “Is there a shared conversation in writing assessment? Analyzing frequently-used terms in an interdisciplinary field.” The expanding universe of writing studies: Higher education writing research today. In Moore, C., C. Donahue and K. Blewett (Eds). Peter Lang. https://www.peterlang.com/view/9781433177323/html/ch23.xhtml
Poe, M. & Zhang-Wu. (2020). Super-diversity as a framework to promote social justice: Designing program assessment for multilingual writing outcomes. composition forum, Special issue: Promoting Social Justice for Multilingual Writers on College Campuses, 44, https://compositionforum.com/issue/44/northeastern.php
Poe, M. & Elliot, N. (2019). Evidence of fairness? Twenty-five years of research in Assessing Writing, Assessing Writing, 42, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2019.100418
Poe, M., Nastal, J., & Eliot, N. (2019). An admitted student is a qualified student: A roadmap for writing placement in the two-year college. Journal of Writing Assessment, 12(1). http://journalofwritingassessment.org/article.php?article=140
Poe, M., Inoue, A., & Elliot, N. (Eds.). (2018). Writing assessment, social justice, and the advancement of opportunity. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado; Fort Collins, CO: WAC Clearinghouse.
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Education
PhD in English with concentration in Composition and Rhetoric, 2006, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
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Contact
617.373.3966 m.poe@northeastern.edu -
Address
415 Holmes Hall
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115 -
Office Hours
Thursdays, 5-6pm
and by appointment
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Associations
American Educational Research Association (AERA) American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Association of Writing Across the Curriculum (AWAC) Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA) National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) American Educational Research Association (AERA) International Society for the Advancement of Writing Research (ISAWR)
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Writing and the Teaching of Writing
ENGL 7392
ENGL7392 engages MA and PhD students in the theory, practice, and praxis of teaching writing at the university level, drawing on recent scholarship in rhetoric and writing studies. We will explore theories and practices regarding the nature of written expression; the role of diversity, inclusion, and equity in writing instruction; the research on how people learn to write and how that writing might be assessed; the historical contexts for required writing in US higher education; the nature of multimodal composing; and the environments and activities best help students learn writing. The goal is for each graduate student to develop a coherent position on the teaching of writing, along with practical teaching materials that can be employed at Northeastern and elsewhere.
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Writing in Global Contexts
ENGL 2760
Explores the various ways that linguistic diversity shapes our everyday, academic, and professional lives. Offers students an opportunity to learn about language policy, the changing place of World English in globalization, and what contemporary theories of linguistic diversity, such as translingualism, mean for writing. Invites students to explore their own multilingual communities or histories through empirical or archival research.
Introduction to Writing Studies
ENGL 1410
Introduces the basic theories, history, methodologies, and debates surrounding the study of how people learn to write and how writing is used in home, school, work, and civic contexts. Considers writing itself as both a practice and an object of study. Explores historical, rhetorical, linguistic, cognitive, social, and critical approaches to the teaching, study, and practice of writing, both in the U.S. tradition and in international contexts (e.g., UK, France, China). Emphasizes research on the development of critical reading and writing practices and students’ understanding of their own experiences and practices of other groups.
