Writing as a form of resistance and professional autonomy

This mini keynote made an argument for looking at writing as a form of resistance in a world of AI-enhanced efficiency, and as an expression of professional autonomy, where writing offered us a space to think through ideas and experience joy and wonder in the process. We posited that writing could be a nourishing act that affirmed what made us uniquely human, offering the potential to increase our sense of professional satisfaction, happiness, and wellbeing. Through writing – a difficult and fraught act as it is – we have a chance not to surrender our individual selves but to continuously (re)create ourselves and (re)connect with our community, together forming an ecosystem of interdependent human intelligences for whom the goal was not necessarily proficiency in writing but staying invested in the process.

We invited the community to consider the following questions:

How could writing and knowledge production create community, compassion and connection in higher education?

How do we develop a writing culture with our students and colleagues? What might it look like?

How can we connect with writing as an embodied process of thinking and feeling, and help others to see the freedom it offers as well?