Robinson, Heather
- Overview
Writing Center Director
Assistant Professor
English
Phone: 718-262-2479
Office Location: AC-2A13A
hrobinson@york.cuny.edu
- Education:
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Degree Institution Field Dates PhD Rutgers University Linguistics 2005 BA University of Sydney English 1997
Heather began teaching composition while finishing her dissertation in Linguistics. Her research brings the two fields together by looking at how semantic theory can be applied in the composition classroom. She is currently exploring how definite descriptions function in writing, and what their behavior can tell us about how we construct written discourse. Heather teaches writing and linguistics courses at York.
Her grammar workbook, Grammar that Works: Building Your Paper from the Words Up, was written to help developmental writers work with sentence-level error in the context of the ideas they are developing in their own papers. The custom publication is currently being piloted in several college writing programs, and is in review for a national edition.
- Areas of Expertise:
- Writing Center/Writing Program Administration
Writing Across the Curriculum
Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
- Books in Field Of Expertise:
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Goeller, M. & Robinson, H. (eds). New Humanities Reader Instructor’s Resource Manual, 2nd edition. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 2005. .
Robinson, Heather. Grammar That Works: Building Your Paper from the Words Up. Boston: Pearson, 2005. .
- Articles in Field Of Expertise:
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Robinson, H.. "Rethinking Writing Center Philosophy in a Post-Remediation World, or, When is a Basic Writer Not a Basic Writer?." Journal of Basic Writing. to appear: .
Kalteissen, K. L. and Robinson, H.. "Building an Online Writing Center: Student Tutors Look to the Past to Construct a Future." Writing Lab Newsletter. 33:8 2009: 6-10.
- Presented Papers, Lectures, and Exhibitions and Performances:
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" Linguistic Activism as a Teaching Tool " March 18, 2010: Conference on College Composition and Communication.
" Towards a Better – and More Useful – Understanding of English Articles via Corpus Analysis " November 5, 2009: Symposium on Second Language Writing.
" Starting Over: Reimagining Writing Center-WAC Connections." Paper presented with Michael J. Cripps and Michael Broder (York College/CUNY) " March 28, 2009: Mid-Atlantic Writing Centers Association Conference.
" Collaborative Grammar: Making Waves in Students’ Relationships with Language " March 13, 2009: Conference on College Composition and Communication.
" Basic Writing in A Vacuum: Supporting Developmental Writers in a Post-Remediation World," presented with Michael J. Cripps (York College/CUNY) " February 28, 2009: Basic Composition in the Works.
" Unbounded Expertise: Crossing the Border between Grammar and WAC " May 30, 2008: International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference.
" Making Film Work as Pedagogy.” Paper presented as part of the panel “Changing Realities and Creating WAC Synergies Through Film: A Case Study of Institutional Embeddedness in Multiple Media, ” with 2 other York College faculty/staff members, and one York College student. " April 5, 2008: Conference on College Composition and Communication.
" Out of the Blue: Referential Expressions in Student Writing " April 13, 2007: Keynote Lecture at “Linguistics in the Classroom” Conference. Linguistics Department, Rutgers University.
" Interactive Grammar: Charting New Territory in an Old Landscape " April 7, 2006: College English Association Annual Conference.
