Gathering

Last night, Aya and I hosted a potluck dinner with Ellie Kutz and many of our doctoral students.

Ellie teaches at UMass Boston, and she has a summer house in Northern Massachusetts, not too far from Durham. I have known her work for many years, and got to know her really well when Peter Elbow invited about ten people (including Ellie and me) to have a two-week summer symposium on the use of mother tongue in the writing classroom (which resulted in a Composition Studies article).

Two of my mentees--Steve and Matt--had been discussing ways to integrate her work into their composition classes, so I thought it might be nice to have a chance for them and other grad students to meet Ellie. And she graciously agreed to join us.

Since its middle of the summer, I didn't expect a huge turn out, but 10 of the graduate students showed up, and we had a great time. As Christina put it, "Great company, great food, and great conversation--what more can a person ask for!"