We Wrote Ourselves In: The Doctoral Student Writing Collective as a Blueprint for Belonging

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium explores the Doctoral Student Writing Collective (DSWC), a national affinity-based writing group founded by and for racially minoritized doctoral students. Through personal narratives, empirical data, and theoretical framing, presenters analyze the collective’s role in resisting isolation, fostering community, and reimagining doctoral education. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory and sense of belonging, this session demonstrates how affinity writing spaces address academic trauma and create new educational futures. Presenters will share survey results, case studies, and testimonials that reveal the DSWC’s transformative impact, particularly for Black scholars. The session aligns with AERA’s 2026 theme by illuminating a liberatory model of education that draws from history to build futures rooted in justice, care, and collective scholarship.

Sub Unit

• Division J - Postsecondary Education / Division J - Section 2b: College and Graduate Student Experiences

Chair

• Da'Ja'Nay Askew, Indiana University

Papers

• Collective Words, Collective Healing: The Role of Writing Groups in Fostering Community and Belonging for Black Doctoral Students - Da'Ja'Nay Askew, Indiana University; Tim Herd, University of California - Los Angeles

• Writing Together: Fostering Belonging for Black Doctoral Students - Da'Ja'Nay Askew, Indiana University; Tim Herd, University of California - Los Angeles

• Haunting the Ivory Tower: Academic Trauma, Blackness, and the Future of Doctoral Education - Da'Ja'Nay Askew, Indiana University; Tim Herd, University of California - Los Angeles

Session Organizer

• Da'Ja'Nay Askew, Indiana University

Discussant

• Tim Herd, University of California - Los Angeles