Rachel McCabe – författare

How resisting empathy may lead to more thoughtful reading and better writingEmpathy has traditionally been understood as a bridge between the self and others. In composition studies, it is traditionally used as a foundation for effective reading, allowing students to connect with authors, characters, and ideas. In the era of social media apologies and self-help advice, empathy is now often conceptualized as a tool for individual validation that promotes personal gain over relational depth. Overidentification, Rachel McCabe argues, can lead to the erasure of differences in others' lived experiences and complicating details in texts.In The Empathy Paradox, Rachel McCabe analyzes the evolving role of empathy in contemporary media, film, literature, and culture. She advocates for a critical understanding of it, asking what happens when readers and viewers directly consider the complex ways that empathy guides their understanding and assessment of the culture they consume. By developing an awareness of our assumptions, she adds, we can avoid the pitfalls of self-interest and overidentification and develop more constructive applications of empathy that will help us become better readers and writers.

How resisting empathy may lead to more thoughtful reading and better writingEmpathy has traditionally been understood as a bridge between the self and others. In composition studies, it is traditionally used as a foundation for effective reading, allowing students to connect with authors, characters, and ideas. In the era of social media apologies and self-help advice, empathy is now often conceptualized as a tool for individual validation that promotes personal gain over relational depth. Overidentification, Rachel McCabe argues, can lead to the erasure of differences in others' lived experiences and complicating details in texts.In The Empathy Paradox, Rachel McCabe analyzes the evolving role of empathy in contemporary media, film, literature, and culture. She advocates for a critical understanding of it, asking what happens when readers and viewers directly consider the complex ways that empathy guides their understanding and assessment of the culture they consume. By developing an awareness of our assumptions, she adds, we can avoid the pitfalls of self-interest and overidentification and develop more constructive applications of empathy that will help us become better readers and writers.

Composition and Rhetoric in Contentious Times poses critical questions of representation, accessibility, social justice, affect, and labor to better understand the entwined future of composition and rhetoric. This collection of essays offers innovative approaches for socially attuned learning and best practices to support administrators and instructors. In doing so, these essays guide educators in empowering students to write effectively and prepare for their role as global citizens.  Editors Rachel McCabe and Jennifer Juszkiewicz consider how educators can respond to multiple current crises relating to composition and rhetoric with generosity and cautious optimism; in the process, they address the current concerns about the longevity of the humanities. By engaging with social constructivist, critical race, socioeconomic, and activist pedagogies, each chapter provides an answer to the question, How can our courses help students become stronger writers while contending with current social, environmental, and ethical questions posed by the world around them? The contributors consider this question from numerous perspectives, recognizing the important ways that power and privilege affect our varying means of addressing this question.  Relying on both theory and practice, Composition and Rhetoric in Contentious Times engages the future of composition and rhetoric as a discipline shaped by recent and current global events. This text appeals to early-career writing program administrators, writing center directors, and professional specialists, as well as Advanced Placement high school instructors, graduate students, and faculty teaching graduate-level pedagogy courses.

Composition and Rhetoric in Contentious Times poses critical questions of representation, accessibility, social justice, affect, and labor to better understand the entwined future of composition and rhetoric. This collection of essays offers innovative approaches for socially attuned learning and best practices to support administrators and instructors. In doing so, these essays guide educators in empowering students to write effectively and prepare for their role as global citizens.  Editors Rachel McCabe and Jennifer Juszkiewicz consider how educators can respond to multiple current crises relating to composition and rhetoric with generosity and cautious optimism; in the process, they address the current concerns about the longevity of the humanities. By engaging with social constructivist, critical race, socioeconomic, and activist pedagogies, each chapter provides an answer to the question, How can our courses help students become stronger writers while contending with current social, environmental, and ethical questions posed by the world around them? The contributors consider this question from numerous perspectives, recognizing the important ways that power and privilege affect our varying means of addressing this question.  Relying on both theory and practice, Composition and Rhetoric in Contentious Times engages the future of composition and rhetoric as a discipline shaped by recent and current global events. This text appeals to early-career writing program administrators, writing center directors, and professional specialists, as well as Advanced Placement high school instructors, graduate students, and faculty teaching graduate-level pedagogy courses.