By Sasha Heinemann
UC Santa Barbara Writing Program professor Paul Rogers recently wrote about his research into writing for social change in a chapter of the book “Writing as a Human Activity: Implications and Applications of the Work of Charles Bazerman.”
The book is a collection of essays from scholars around the world to recognize and thank Bazerman, a retired professor of education at UCSB who has been a mentor and inspiration to Rogers throughout his academic career. Rogers has now been teaching for 20 years and joined the UCSB Writing Program in June, 2021.
UCSB Writing Program professor Paul Rogers.
Rogers co-wrote the book chapter with Karyn Kessler, an associate teaching professor of Linguistics and director of the English for multilingual students at UCSB. They focused on the role of the “profile” story in writing about social entrepreneurship.
Rogers and Kessler interviewed Fellows from Ashoka, a global nonprofit that supports “social entrepreneurs,” people that use the principles of business for social good. One Ashoka “changemaker” is Wangari Maathai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who worked with the Green Belt Movement in Africa to help women plant trees as a way to restore the environment and create jobs for women. Other programs target the mental health effects of domestic violence and creating user-friendly ways to achieve carbon neutrality.
In a recent interview, Rogers discussed how students and others can contribute to the growing field of social entrepreneurship by using writing as a tool for social change.
Q: How would you explain social entrepreneurship to people unfamiliar with the concept?
A: Social entrepreneurship is about being a catalyst. The goal of entrepreneurship is profit, whereas in social entrepreneurship, the goal is social good. It’s the application of the energy of entrepreneurship but within citizen-based organizations. It’s got all the innovation and startup mentality, but the end is a social and environmental mission.
Q: When was the first time you learned about the idea of social entrepreneurship?
A: I had just finished my Ph.D. program and started a new job in D.C. when I encountered the idea of social entrepreneurs, people who were actually changing the world in all these different ways, and it was so inspiring. It gave purpose, meaning, and focus to my interest in writing to understand the power of social entrepreneurship. I wasn’t just trying to churn out better writers who could write bureaucratic documents, I wanted to make the world more just, and sane.
Writing professor Paul Rogers and Linguistics professor Karyn Kessler co-authored a chapter in the book “Writing as a Human Activity: Implications and Applications of the work of Charles Bazerman.” The scholars were in Norway in February for the Writing Research Across Borders conference.
Q: What led to the writing of this book on writing education pioneer Charles Bazerman?
A: If people were to name the top five researchers on writing in the world, Charles (Chuck) Bazerman would be on everyone’s list. I met Professor Bazerman 20 years ago and I had the privilege to work with him on a number of important projects, including the conference series Writing and Research Across Borders and the organization International Society for the Advancement of Writing Research, which Chuck founded. Chuck retired from leading the organization during the pandemic, so we couldn’t give him a proper in-person goodbye. Given that he is so widely known, it seemed to me that the most fitting way to thank him for his service was through a festschrift - a book in honor of a scholar who has made outstanding contributions.
Q: What inspired the topic of your chapter “Writing and Social Progress: Genre Evolution in the Field of Social Entrepreneurship?”
A: In some ways, I felt like I had let Professor Bazerman down, because I put a lot of my energy into this work of social entrepreneurship, which was a bit aside from what he had trained me for regarding educational research and social change. In a sense, I wrote the chapter directly to Chuck to explain the relationship of social entrepreneurship to Writing Studies.
Q: What do you want readers to take away from your chapter of the book?
A: The big takeaway is that writing can be a powerful catalyst for social change. The example that we provide is very specific and explains how a new genre of writing - the profile - contributed to the development of a whole field in which people are leading and bringing about social change.
Writing Program professor Paul Rogers presenting his TEDx Talk “How to Live Your Best Life” at George Mason University in 2015.
Q: What’s next for you? Do you have any new projects on the horizon?
A: Currently, I am working on a few different writing-related projects, such as a book that addresses problems related to plagiarism policies in academic writing and how a positive view of source integration can help. We’re also working on longitudinal studies of writing by following writers over time to understand how to best foster their development. Additionally, there is a project focused on the work of James Moffett, an early influential theorist in English education and writing. We’re also continuing to work on how we can help foster engaged writers in K-12 education. I’m also continuing to teach principles of social entrepreneurship at UCSB, just one step at a time.
Sasha Heinemann is a second-year student majoring in Communication at UC Santa Barbara. She wrote this article for her Digital Journalism class.