Neil Baird

Professor

neilb@bgsu.edu
309-255-7103
East Hall 402
East Hall 215J
https://neilbaird.wordpress.com/

Degrees and Institutions

Ph.D. in English, University of Nevada, Reno, 2007
MA in English, Idaho State University, 2003
BA in Secondary Education, Idaho State University, 1999

Area: Rhetoric and Writing Studies

Research Interests: Writing transfer;  research methods, specifically the discourse-based interview; writing centers; writing in the disciplines; writing beyond the university; grant writing; writing experiences of first-generation students, student-veterans, student-athletes, and nontraditional students; value in games

Dr. Neil Baird is an Associate Professor of English, and Director of BGSU’s University Writing Program (UWP). His specific area within English is writing studies, and he uses social science research methods—interviews, focus groups, surveys, observations—to learn about writing, how writing functions, how groups of people use writing to accomplish specific goals, and how we learn how to write across our lives. Another strong area of interest is writing transfer, which is how writers engage prior, writing-related knowledge when writing in different situations.

With Bradley Dilger from Purdue, he’s publishing on how students draw upon prior writing knowledge when learning to write in their majors. With colleagues from the Elon Research Seminar on Writing Beyond the University, he’s collecting data on how early career alumni draw on past writing experiences when learning to write at work. He was recently accepted to the Elon Research Seminar on Work-Integrated Learning where he designed a new study to learn about how first-generation students experience writing in internships, practicums, apprenticeships, and service learning experiences. As UWP director, he uses this research and other scholarship in writing studies to help students, faculty, and professionals in industry understand how writing matters.

Recent Publications:

Editorial Work

The Discourse-Based Interview: Forty Years of Exploring the Tacit Knowledge of Writers. Co-Edited with Bradley Dilger. Special journal issue for Composition Forum. 49 (Summer 2022): https://compositionforum.com/issue/49/.

Refereed Journals

“The Discourse-Based Interview: Forty Years of Exploring the Tacit Knowledge of Writers.” Introduction Co-Authored with Bradley Dilger. Composition Forum. 49 (Summer 2022): https://compositionforum.com/issue/49/dbi-introduction.php.

“‘Essential Allies in the Construction of Knowledge’: A Conversation with Lee Odell, Dixie Goswami, and Anne Herrington.” Interview Co-Authored with Bradley Dilger. Composition Forum. 49 (Summer 2022): https://compositionforum.com/issue/49/odell-goswami-herrington-interview.php.

“Dispositions in Natural Science Laboratories: The Roles of Individuals and Contexts in Writing Transfer.” Co-Authored with Bradley Dilger. Across the Disciplines: A Journal of Language, Learning and Academic Writing. 15.4 (2018): 1-20.

“Metaphors for Writing Transfer in the Writing Lives and Teaching Practices of Faculty in the Disciplines.” Co-Authored with Bradley Dilger. WPA: Writing Program Administration. 41.1 (2017): 102-24.

“How Students Perceive Transitions: Dispositions and Transfer in Internships.” Co-Authored with Bradley Dilger. College Composition and Communication 68.4 (2017): 684-712.

Edited Collections

“Complicating Game and Play Metaphors: The Potential for Game Heuristics in the Writing Center.” Co-Authored with Chris Morrow. Unlimited Players: The Intersections of Writing Center and Game Studies. Eds. Holly Ryan and Stephanie Vie. Utah State UP, 2022. 47-65.

“Networked Research, Networked Ethics.” Co-Authored with Bradley Dilger. Networked Humanities: From Within and Without the University. Eds. Brian McNely and Jeff Rice. Parlor Press, 2018. 242-247.