
David Gold, assistant professor of English, won the 2010 Outstanding Book Award from the Conference on College Composition and Communication, for his recent book, Rhetoric at the Margins: Revising the History of Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1873-1947. Professor Gold received the award on March 19 at a special ceremony at the 2010 CCCC Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.
Gold’s book examines the rhetorical education of African American, female, and working-class college students in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, drawing on archival materials to study three types of institutions historically under-represented in disciplinary histories: a black liberal arts college in rural East Texas, a public women’s college, and an independent teacher training school. The book argues for the importance of diverse institutions and asserts that the 19th and early 20th centuries offer rich lessons for contemporary classroom practice.
Gold’s work has also appeared in leading journals in rhetoric and composition studies. He’s currently working on a second book that will draw significantly on archival resources.
Selected Publications
“Students Writing Race at Southern Public Women’s Colleges, 1884-1945.” History of Education Quarterly 50.2 (May 2010): 182-203.
Rhetoric at the Margins: Revising the History of Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1873-1947. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2008.
“The Accidental Archivist: Embracing Chance and Confusion in Historical Scholarship.” Beyond the Archives: Research as a Lived Process. Ed. Gesa Kirsch and Elizabeth Rohan. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2008. Pp. 13-19.
“Southerners Anonymous.” Crossroads: A Southern Culture Annual, 2006. Ed. Ted Olson. Macon: Mercer University Press, 2006. Pp. 3-10.
“‘Nothing Educates Us Like a Shock’: The Integrated Rhetoric of Melvin Tolson.” College Composition and Communication 55.2 (December 2003): 226-53.
Visit the Quest Gallery at Trace, UT’s digital archive, to access publications of other Quest Scholars of the Week.