Risa Gorelick, PhD

My favorite part of coaching is working with writers to bring the promise of their ideas into reality. In almost three decades of working with writers, I help them see their project through new eyes at whatever their stage is and guide them towards their goal of completing their project through organizing, clarifying, and revising as they integrate sources. I love it when writers reach that “ah ha!” moment where they see it start to come together and work to make sure their message is more than just clear to readers but that the prose sings from the screen or page to its intended audience and turns into a “ta da!” experience. Through coaching writers from any point in their writing process, I have had great success turning people who did not initially see themselves as competent writers into writers who complete award winning dissertations and become published authors.
 

 
ABOUT: Risa Gorelick earned her PhD in English/Rhetoric from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, her MA in English Composition/Rhetoric from Miami University of Ohio, and her BA with Honors in English from Goucher College. She has over 25 years of experience as a college-level writing instructor and writing program/writing center administrator, as well as mentoring graduate students and junior faculty with their research projects. Her background as an educator can be characterized as a combination of collaborative-based and community-based work. She has published 15+ articles/chapters in scholarly journals and given 90+ conference presentations/workshops. Her specialties include first-year writing, honors, basic writing, and advanced exposition courses, tutor training, English Education, and creative nonfiction. In her administrative work, Risa provides innovative leadership and management of academic programs to foster a strong commitment to student learning outcomes and academic excellence; she is currently an University Lecturer and the former Associate Coordinator of First-Year Writing at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Additionally, for 25 years, Risa has served as the Chair/Co-Chair of the annual Research Network Forum (RNF) of the Conference of College Composition and Communication (CCCC) where she has assisted hundreds of graduate students at various stages of their dissertations and theses as well as faculty with turning their works-in-progress into published works.

Languages: English

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Gorelick, Risa P. “The Missing Piece: Where is the Labor-Related Research at the Research Network Forum?” Labored: The State(ment) and Future of Work in Composition Eds. Randall McClure, Dayna V. Goldstein, and Michael Pemberton. Anderson, SC: Parlor Press, 2017: 115-125.

—. “Food For Thought:  Argument Writing.”Who Speaks for Writing? Eds.Ethna Dempsey Lay and Jennifer Rich.  New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2012: 147-156.

—.  “Gone With Two Flashes” (creative non-fiction) InsideHigherEd.com. 20 August 2007. Available on-line: http://insidehighered.com/views/2007/08/20/gorelick.

—. “Exploring the Community in Service-Learning Writing Courses:  A Case Study.”  Readerly/Writerly Texts: Essays on Literary, Composition, and Pedagogical Theory.  11.1/2 -12.1/2 Double Issue (2006):  69-88.

—. “Bayou Jews.” (creative non-fiction)The Louisiana Review4(Fall/Winter 2004-2005): 155-159.

—. “Review: A Gumbo of Sorts: Co-Chair’s Reflection of the Research Network Forum.”  Across the Disciplines: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Language, Learning, and Academic Writing.  21 April 2004.  Available on-line: http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/reviews/cccc2004/viewmessage.cfm?messageid=64.

—. “Service-Learning’s Flaw:  What’s Community Got to Do with It?”ERIC, 2002.  ED 464339.

—. “Broadening the Community: Service-Learning Connections to the Writing Classroom.”(Research Spotlight) Reflections on Community-Based Writing Instruction 1.1 (2000): 24.

—.  “Go Crazy, Girl:  Breaking the Silence in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’Through Acts of Reading & Writing By Re-Examining Nineteenth-Century Rest Cures Under a Television Talk Show Paradigm.” Louisiana English Journal 4.1 (1997): 70-75.

—. “Everything I Needed to Know in Life I Did NOTLearn on ‘Sesame Street.’”(creative non-fiction) Southwestern Review Spring (1997): 85-86.

—. “Writing for Social Change:  Connecting Composition and Community.” Louisiana English Journal 3.1 (1996):  74-80.

—. “‘Read My Lips’ and Other Rhetoric:  A Qualitative Ethical Study of TAs Using Standardized Syllabi in First-Year Composition Classes”ERIC, 1995. ED 381797.

—. “WAC Beyond the Ivory Tower.”  Scribe:  Newsletter of the University of Louisiana Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Program9 (1995): 1.

—. “Connecting the Community to the Composition Classroom.”  LCTE Council Notes: Newsletter of the Louisiana Council of Teachers of English Summer (1995): 1-2.

—. “Locating Oneself Without Stifling Others: Avoiding the ‘Bad Guy’ Syndrome.” Center News:  Miami University Center for the Study of Writing.  Summer/Fall (1993): 27-28.

—  et al. “The Next Best Thing to Being There, or Miami University and Portfolios Redux.”  Portfolio Newsletter.  2 (1993):  10+.  A collage article collaboratively co-authored with twelve colleagues.

BOOK REVIEWS:                   

Elizabeth H. Boquet. Noise from the Writing Center.Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2002.  In WPA Journal.  28.1-2 (Fall 2004):  137-140.           

Peter C. Herman, Editor.  Day Late, Dollar Short: The Next Generation and the New Academy. Albany: SUNY P, 2000. In Prolepsis: The Tübingen Review of English Studies (March 2001).  Available on-line: http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/uni/nes/prolepsis/01_03_gor.html

BLOG:

Gorelick, Risa P.  Monthly blog posts on writing strategies from a writing coach’s point of view. https://www.defendandpublish.com/writings/(2015 – Present)

PODCASTS/E-LECTURES:

Gorelick, Risa P. and Lisa DeTora. “Research in Composition pushes the envelope…”  Pearson asked selected participants in the Research Network Forum (RNF) of CCCC to talk about research in composition. Some took the opportunity to try to define what is distinctive about composition research; some discussed their own research; some offered tips for new instructors about the role of research in the tenure process.  Gorelick and DeTora’s e-lecture focuses on “What is Research?:  An Examination of Composition/Rhetoric Research as It Relates to English Studies.” Pearson Composition Professional Services.  Available at http://www.pearsoncomppro.com/electures/index.php(Recorded 17 March 2010)

Gorelick, Risa P. “Focusing First-Year Composition on Food Writing.”  Recorded a professional development lecture to use as a resource for both novice and experienced teachers of first-year composition.  Pearson Composition Professional Services.  Available at http://www.pearsoncomppro.com/electures/index.php(Recorded 12 March 2009)

—.   “Fun with Food: Service-Learning Cookbook Writing Project.”Recorded a professional development lecture to use as a resource for both novice and experienced teachers of first-year composition.  Pearson Composition Professional Services.  Available at http://www.pearsoncomppro.com/electures/index.php(Recorded 12 March 2009)

—.   “Writing ‘for’ the Community: Service-Learning Writing for Non-Profits.”Recorded a professional development lecture to use as a resource for both novice and experienced teachers of first-year composition.  Pearson Composition Professional Services.  Available at http://www.pearsoncomppro.com/electures/index.php(Recorded 12 March 2009)