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Asao B. Inoue

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Asao B. Inoue
Self-portrait photo of Asao Inoue, smiling man with dark hair
Asao B. Inoue
Born1970 (age 53–54)
Known for
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisThe Epistemology of Racism and Community-Based Assessment Practice (2005)
Doctoral advisorVictor Villanueva
Academic work
Institutions
Main interests
WebsiteArizona State University faculty profile

Asao B. Inoue (born 1970) is a Japanese American academic writer and professor of rhetoric and composition in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at Arizona State University[1] whose research and teaching focus on anti-racist writing assessment.[2][3][4][5][6][7] In 2019, Inoue was elected the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Chair. He delivered the keynote presentation for the 2019 CCCC Annual Convention, entitled "How Do We Language So People Stop Killing Each Other, Or What Do We Do About White Language Supremacy?"[8] Inoue is the recipient of multiple disciplinary and institutional academic awards, including the 2017 CCCC Outstanding Book Award,[9][10][11] the 2017 Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA) Best Book Award,[10] and the 2012 Provost's Award for Teaching Excellence at California State University, Fresno.[12]

Biography

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Early life and education

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Inoue attended elementary school in North Las Vegas.[13] He received his B.A. in English Literature with a minor in writing studies from Oregon State University (OSU).[14] He also received his M.A from OSU. He went on to receive his PhD at Washington State University.[15]

Teaching career

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Inoue worked at Chemeketa Community College in a tenure-track position, before deciding to pursue his PhD at Washington State University. In the early to mid 2010s, Asao worked at California State University, Fresno as an associate professor, where he served as the Special Assistant to the Provost for Writing Across the Curriculum.[16][17][13] He went on to serve as an associate professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences and director of the Writing Center at University of Washington, Tacoma.[18][19][20] From 2019-2021, he served as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Equity and Inclusion at Arizona State University in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts.[15] In the summer of 2021, he returned to full time faculty as Professor of Rhetoric and Composition in the same college.

In 2021, he gave a teacher training entitled "White Teachers are a Problem" that was central to a discrimination lawsuit against Penn State, and which has been determined to have plausibly created a hostile work environment. [21]

Professional contributions

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Research

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Inoue's research focuses on anti-racist educational methods broadly, with an emphasis on the teaching and assessment of postsecondary writing and language. His work on the theory and method of writing assessment calls for more locally-grounded practices that attend to the complex ecologies of the classroom.[4][6] In Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies (2015), Inoue introduces a framework for understanding classroom writing assessment as a complex system or ecology. He emphasizes that this system encompasses interconnected elements and is more intricate than it may initially appear. Inoue argues that incorporating antiracist principles into writing instruction is essential for effective literacy learning. Central to Inoue's argument is the concept of the white racial habitus, which he contends informs dominant discourses not only within academic settings but also in broader contexts. He asserts that without explicit antiracist agendas in their assessments, educators may unintentionally perpetuate racism.[11] Inoue's 2022 book Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Writing Classroom continues his work in socially-just assessment by offering a practical model for grading that emphasizes students' efforts, or labor, rather than their socialization into dominant discourses and literacies. [22][5][23]

Inoue's 2021 book Above The Well: An Antiracist Argument From a Boy of Color examines intersections of race, language, and literacy education by combining academic scholarship, personal anecdotes and auto-ethnography, and elements of fiction. By exploring his own background and education, Inoue highlights racial biases within English language standards perpetuated in educational institutions. A central theme of Inoue's research revolves around the pervasive phenomenon of individuals being evaluated and categorized based on implicit racialized linguistic norms. He coins the term "White language supremacy" to describe this phenomenon, contending that it plays a significant role in perpetuating racialized violence in contemporary society.[1]

Philanthropy

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In early 2021, Inoue created an antiracist teaching endowment with his partner/wife, Kelly, to be housed at their alma mater, Oregon State University. The Asao and Kelly Inoue Antiracist Teaching Endowment supports antiracist teaching and assessment research and practices in classrooms across disciplines in both secondary and postsecondary areas.[24][7] The endowment also founded a new conference, the Conference for Antiracist Teaching, Language, and Assessment (ATLA), which held its first online convention in September and October of 2021.[25] Inoue has also donated all royalties for his book Above the Well (2021) to the endowment.[1]

Selected publications

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  • Inoue, Asao B. (2021). Above The Well: An Antiracist Argument From a Boy of Color. The WAC Clearinghouse/Utah State University Press.
  • Inoue, Asao B. (2019). Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Writing Classroom. Fort Collins: WAC Clearinghouse/University Press of Colorado.
  • Inoue, Asao B. (2015). Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for A Socially Just Future. Fort Collins: Parlor Press/WAC Clearinghouse.
  • Inoue, Asao B. (2004). “Community-Based Assessment Pedagogy.” Assessing Writing 9.3, pp. 208-238.
  • Inoue, Asao B. (2012). “Grading Contracts: Assessing Their Effectiveness on Different Racial Formations.” In Asao B. Inoue and Mya Poe (Eds.), Race and Writing Assessment, (peer-reviewed through the press). New York: Peter Lang. pp. 79-94.

Notable awards

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  • 2014 CWPA Outstanding Scholarship Award for "Theorizing Failure in U.S. Writing Assessments" published in Research in the Teaching of English (48.3)
  • 2014 CCCC Outstanding Book Award in the Edited Collection Category (Race and Writing Assessment)[26][27] [20]
  • 2015 CWPA Outstanding Book Award (Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future)
  • 2017 CCCC Outstanding Book Award (Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future)[11][9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Above The Well: An Antiracist Argument From a Boy of Color - The WAC Clearinghouse". wac.colostate.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  2. ^ Ernst, Douglas (February 21, 2017). "College writing center: Proper grammar perpetuates 'racist,' 'unjust language structure'". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  3. ^ "Dr. Asao Inoue Looks to Lead Academic Revolution". The Lumberjack. 2020-03-13. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  4. ^ a b Faye, Sarah; Melzer, Dan (2019). ""Assessment Is the Engine of Learning": An Interview with Asao Inoue". Writing on the Edge. 30 (1): 1–13. ISSN 1064-6051 – via EBSCO.
  5. ^ a b Stone, Elizabeth (2022). "Why Some College Writing Professors Are Ditching Traditional Grading". Why Some College Writing Professors Are Ditching Traditional Grading. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Santos, Marc C. (2022). "How I Implemented Asao B. Inoue's Labor-Based Grading and Other Antiracist Assessment Strategies". CEA Critic. 84 (2): 160–179. doi:10.1353/cea.2022.0019. ISSN 2327-5898.
  7. ^ a b Colton, Emma (2021-11-09). "Professor says grading system is racist, proposes labor-based system: 'White language supremacy'". Fox News. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  8. ^ Inoue, Asao B. (2019-12-01). "2019 CCCC Chair's Address: How Do We Language So People Stop Killing Each Other, or What Do We Do about White Language Supremacy?". College Composition and Communication. 71 (2): 352–369. doi:10.58680/ccc201930427. ISSN 0010-096X.
  9. ^ a b admin (2018-06-06). "CCCC Outstanding Book Award". Conference on College Composition and Communication. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  10. ^ a b "Congratulations to Asao Inoue!". Parlor Press. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  11. ^ a b c "Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies - The WAC Clearinghouse". wac.colostate.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  12. ^ llarson (2012-05-01). "Professor Asao Inoue selected for top teaching award". Fresno State News. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  13. ^ a b Inoue, Asao B. (February 2013). "Diversity, Language, and Possibility: Four New Studies of What Might Be". College Composition and Communication. 64: 559–579. doi:10.58680/ccc201322724 – via ScholarWorks.
  14. ^ Lerner, Neal (2018). "WAC Journal Interview of Asao B. Inoue" (PDF). WAC. 29: 112–118. doi:10.37514/WAC-J.2018.29.1.05.
  15. ^ a b "Asao Inoue | College of Integrative Sciences and Arts". cisa.asu.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  16. ^ Inoue, Asao B. (February 2014). "Theorizing Failure in US Writing Assessments". Research in the Teaching of English. 48 (3): 330–352. doi:10.58680/rte201424581. hdl:10211.3/194518. JSTOR 24398682 – via JSTOR.
  17. ^ "CF 20: "Self-Assessment As Programmatic Center" by Asao B. Inoue". compositionforum.com. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  18. ^ "Racist writing instructor's Listserv post prompts debate about future of the field and how scholars communicate". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  19. ^ Unit, Research (2017-12-04). "RIA # 88: Dr. Asao B. Inoue on Writing Assessment as Anti-racist Practice". Ecampus Research Unit | Oregon State University. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  20. ^ a b Poe, Mya; Inoue, Asao B. (November 2016). "Toward Writing as Social Justice: An Idea Whose Time Has Come". College English. 79 (2): 119–126. doi:10.58680/ce201628809. JSTOR 44805913 – via JSTOR.
  21. ^ "CF 20: "A Steady Drumbeat of Racial Essentialism"". theatlantic.com. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  22. ^ "Labor-Based Grading Contracts - The WAC Clearinghouse". wac.colostate.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  23. ^ Savini, Catherine. "10 Ways to Tackle Linguistic Bias in Our Classrooms". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2023-10-08.
  24. ^ "OSU Brings Antiracist Principles to the Real World". The Corvallis Advocate. 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  25. ^ "Conference for Antiracist Teaching, Language and Assessment". College of Liberal Arts. 2021-07-19. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  26. ^ "CCCC Outstanding Book Award". Conference on College Composition and Communication. 2018-06-06. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  27. ^ "Asao B Inoue | Arizona State University - Academia.edu". asu.academia.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
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