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English Language and Literature Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

English

2019

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in English Language and Literature

Revisiting Missions: Decolonizing Public Memories In California, Brenda M. Helmbrecht Nov 2019

Revisiting Missions: Decolonizing Public Memories In California, Brenda M. Helmbrecht

English

Living in California seems to require interaction with the state’s twenty-one historic Spanish missions, either by visiting them as a tourist, driving by a mission in one’s neighborhood, or learning about them as a schoolchild. While the missions ostensibly celebrate California’s history, many promote an anachronistic and dishonest re-telling of history that elides the devastating impact of the missions on Native communities (both historically and today). The missions operate as largely uncontested tourist attractions that promote self-serving collective memories about California’s founding narrative. Rhetorical analysis, I argue, can lead to a more honest engagement with the “hard truths” of their …


The Spectrum Of Service: Refocusing Academic Work Through A Military Lens, Brenda M. Helmbrecht, Dan Reno Jan 2019

The Spectrum Of Service: Refocusing Academic Work Through A Military Lens, Brenda M. Helmbrecht, Dan Reno

English

In higher education, faculty, administrators, and students often use the term “work” casually: we go to work, we do our work, and we always have work left to finish. Thus, we appreciate the journal’s editors asking us to slow down and fully consider our work as instructors and scholars in the field of composition studies. Here we explore what it means to approach work through the lens of service. While service is an essential component of academic work, we seldom explore how the two concepts inform one another. As a WPA and an Army veteran, we decided to join our …