“Never Let a Good [Literacy] Crisis Go to Waste”

In this chapter, I discuss how I used the literacy crisis surrounding generative artificial intelligence (AI) as a means to grow the use of evidenced-based writing pedagogies across the disciplines. I describe how I engaged colleagues across campus in stimulating conversations about generative AI as an emerging technology and led them to transformative learning about WAC pedagogy. To do so, I used Sandra Tarabochia’s relational ethic for cross-curricular literacy work: “commit to reflexive practice,” ( “maintain a learner’s stance,” and “approach CCL conversations as a pedagogical performance.” By taking on this relational ethic as praxis, I sought to move faculty and administrators toward a reflective and proactive, rather than reactive, stance toward generative AI. As I reflect on my experiences with this relational ethic in this chapter, I also note ways in which I did and did not practice it as successfully as I could have amid my conversations about generative AI. Finally, I extend Tarabochia’s relational ethic with additional principles attuned to the challenges of leading conversations about generative AI: acknowledging different values, centering intellectual commitments, and recognizing different comfort levels.