ORCID

https://orcid.org/ 0009-0009-4969-0739

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

English (Ph.D.)

Department

English

First Advisor

Granville Ganter

Second Advisor

Steven Alvarez

Third Advisor

Sakina Jangbar

Abstract

This dissertation explores how somatic awareness and trauma-informed pedagogies can be integrated into the teaching of writing. Drawing from autoethnography and pedagogical theory, it proposes that writing is not a purely cognitive act but a deeply embodied process, one shaped by the physiological and psychological dimensions of lived experience. Using autoethnography as both method and praxis, the study centers the author’s experiences of trauma, grief, and healing to investigate how body-based practices such as breathwork, visualization, and mindfulness can support writing, particularly for students navigating stress, anxiety, or disconnection from their academic identities. Chapter One situates the research within literature on somatic psychology, trauma theory, expressive writing, and composition studies. The work of scholars such as Rosemarie Anderson, Bessel van der Kolk, Judith Herman, Peter Elbow, and Carolyn Ellis provides the theoretical grounding for an embodied approach to writing instruction. Chapter Two presents an autoethnographic account of writing through grief and loss, offering personal testimony as a form of knowledge production. Chapter Three reframes writing pedagogy through the lens of wellness, arguing that trauma-informed practices, while not therapeutic in a clinical sense, foster regulation, resilience, and voice. Chapter Four provides a concrete curricular model for implementing an embodied writing course, complete with units, assignments, and reflective teaching strategies. This study challenges traditional, disembodied models of academic writing instruction, advocating instead for an approach that recognizes the writer’s body as a site of both knowledge and vulnerability. It argues that by integrating low-stakes, multimodal, and mindfulness-based practices, instructors can support students’ sense of agency and presence in the writing process. Ultimately, this dissertation demonstrates how embodied writing pedagogy not only aids healing and self-discovery but also creates more inclusive, humane, and effective first-year writing classrooms.

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