Well, I have to say that reading through these (so far) has been illuminating to say the least. I now know that I need to know more...so, uh, that r/c phd I was considering seems like an even better idea (even if that alluring 5x statistic isn't true)! I found Lloyd-Jones and D'Angelo's the most provocative for me. Lloyd-Jones, despite his ever-shifting and sometimes baffling metaphors, seemed to cover so much ground: the role/need for scholarship, the need for teacher training, the binary (or not-so binary) of human and technology, and the need for generalists in a world of specialization. I found myself wondering about the context of composition in 1977, despite Llyod-Jones synthesis of the political climate.
Did basic/developmental writing comprise the majority of comp courses?
When did WAC & WID come into the conversation? (he lays the groundwork for it here)
When did our favorite terms of "scaffolding" and "building blocks" join the vernacular?
Was our position in academe so base that he felt we needed to set aside practice and scholarship in application in favor of "demonstrating our right to a central function in the academy"?
D'Angelo also seems to be laying groundwork and a justification for WAC/WID. His discussion of R/C's role within the English discipline seems to be a starting point for talking about R/C's role in ALL disciplines. I'm not whether I think R/C is the central sun that holds all the revolving planets together in its massive gravitational force, but I do think it is cross-disciplinary and the more we all realize that the happier the world will be (I'm just working for world peace here. Kum-by-yah!).
I am also interested in this idea of "expression" and "humanizing." Irmscher talks about the transformative process of composition, both externally and internally (66) and many of the others riff on the multiple ways composition composes. I don't have anything insightful about any of it, but I noticed it as a theme and I wonder how the current climate feels about the value of "expression."
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In response to one of your questions, basic writing instruction was introduced in the 1930s for workers going to school. It made a resurgence after WWII when vets returned to college and then again after desegregation. It's never comprised the majority of comp teaching in the U.S. Every time there's a recession, BW is vulnerable to cuts...like now.
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