Assistant Professor of English Paula Mathieu has won the 2007 Rachel Corrie Courage in the Teaching of Writing Award. The award will be presented at the College Composition and Communications Conference in New York on Wednesday, March 21st. This is the fourth year that the Corrie Award will be presented by the Progressive Caucus of the CCCCs.
Rachel Corrie was a 23-year-old peace activist and senior at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She was killed on March 16, 2003 in Rafah in the Gaza Strip. She was on leave from school to work in Palestine with the International Solidarity Movement, a group using and promoting "nonviolent, direct-action methods of resistance to confront and challenge illegal Israeli occupation forces and policies." Rachel was attempting to block an Israeli military bulldozer from demolishing the house of a pharmacist and his family when the driver of the bulldozer ran over her, then backed up and ran over her again.
The Progressive SIGs and Caucuses Coalition (PSCC) of the CCCC wishes to honor the memory of this extremely courageous student by recognizing a teacher in the CCCC who has taken professional risks in order to promote social justice through the teaching of writing. It is well known that the politics of hiring, tenure, and promotion often motivate graduate students and junior faculty to write, teach, and serve in "safe" subject and project areas; many are encouraged by mentors to shy away from genuinely "controversial" or "risky" subjects until they are tenured. In making this award, the PSCC hopes, conversely, to encourage writing teachers early in their careers to take on research, pedagogy, and service projects that promote commitment to peace, justice, and human dignity--even when hazarding the ire of deans, chairs, editors, and hiring and review committees.