Presenters: Dr. Sara Humphreys & Dr. Erin Kelly

Why Write? is an open educational resource (OER) created primarily for students enrolled in UVic’s largest Academic Writing Requirement course, ATWP 135: Academic Reading and Writing. What makes this OER special is not just that it’s specifically designed for first-year composition courses: it explicitly takes into account anti-racist pedagogy, the needs of Indigenous students, and Canadian perspectives while building upon the latest research and developments in the field of writing studies. Not simply a style handbook, documentation guide, or introduction to rhetoric, this text offers a holistic perspective on what it means to be a writer in the context of Canadian higher education institutions. The holistic, organic content of the textbook is a result of the equally holistic, organic working relationship between the Academic and Technical Writing Program, the Centre for Academic Communication, and Learning and Teaching Support and Innovation. Our presentation will discuss the working and learning communities open education projects build, both in terms of our own experience and more broadly. We argue that open source projects break down institutional barriers and siloing, producing rich resources and relationships.