Robinson, Heather

Robinson, Heather
Director of the Writing Program
Assistant Professor
English

Phone: 718-262-2479
Office Location: AC-2A16A
hrobinson@york.cuny.edu

Education:
Degree Institution Field Dates
PhD  Rutgers University  Linguistics  2005 
BA  University of Sydney  English  1997 
Heather is a theoretical linguist and a Writing Program Administrator. Her research focuses, broadly, on issues of access in institutions as well as in academic writing. Some current research projects include a sociolinguistic study of the educational experiences of students from the Anglophone Caribbean, and an exploration of the rhetoric of definite descriptions in written academic discourse.
Areas of Expertise:
Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
Writing Program Administration
English for Academic Purposes
Books in Field Of Expertise:

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:

Robinson, Heather M.. "A System for Understanding and Selecting English Articles for Advanced ESL Writers." TESOL Journal. 1.3 September 2010: 338-357.

Robinson, Heather M.. "Rethinking Writing Center Philosophy in a Post-Remediation World, or, When is a Basic Writer Not a Basic Writer?." Journal of Basic Writing. 28:2 2009: 70-92.

Kalteissen, Karen L. and Heather Robinson. "Building an Online Writing Center: Student Tutors Look to the Past to Construct a Future." Writing Lab Newsletter. 33:8 2009: 6-10.

Refereed Proceedings in Field Of Expertise:

Cripps, Michael J. and Heather Robinson. "Writing as a Site of Contention in General Education Reform." WPA 2010 Conference Proceedings of the Writing Program Administrators Conference. 1 April, 2011: 81-84.

Non Refereed Proceedings in Field Of Expertise:

Robinson, Heather. "Step Away From the Text: Introducing and Supporting Innovation in the Writing Center." DisCover. Volume 3 July 2011: 29-41.

Presented Papers, Lectures, and Exhibitions and Performances:

" Leading from the Local: How can Writing Centers Change the Conversation on Campus? " April 14, 2012: Northeast Writing Centers Association.

" Visual and Auditory Tutoring Strategies: How Effective Are They? " June 3, 2011: Lilly Conference, Washington, D.C..

" Access or Exclusion? What Definite Descriptions Can Tell Us about Constructing Academic Authority " April 7, 2011: Conference on College Composition and Communication.

" Creating a Safe Harbor While At Sea: Combining Innovation and Stability in the Writing Center. " November 4, 2010: International Writing Centers Association (with Douglas DiToro and Laurel Harris).

" All In or All Out? Writing as a Site of Contention in General Education Reform " July 16, 2010: WPA Conference (with Michael J. Cripps).

" 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.

Grants-In-Aid:

CETL Faculty Grant, Step Away from the Text: Alternatives to Writing-Based Resources for the Writing Center. 2009-2010: $3000.

PSC-CUNY, Constructing A Common Ground: A Corpus-Based Study of Definite and Demonstrative Descriptions. July 2008 - June 2009: $4000.

Document Actions
Robinson, Heather Robinson, Heather
Assistant Professor
English