In Responding to Sexual Violence Through Care-Based Practices in Writing Programs, I articulate a trauma-informed, care-based (TI/CB) approach to writing program administration. Through an analysis of the First-Year Writing Program at Michigan State University, I argue that the incorporation of TI/CB methods in writing programs-and writing studies more broadly-can help shape ethical and informed responses to sexual violence. I suggest that a TI/CB framework is applicable not only as a response to crises once they become public, but also to address the already existing culture of sexual violence at every university.As I consider the intersection of writing program administration (WPA) work and institutional and personal trauma, I also use a TI/CB orientation to form both an analytic heuristic and a methodological framework. The practices that make up this framework are: promoting empathetic listening (Laub); building safe and open communities (Herman); encouraging storytelling (Pennebaker); reflecting on positionality and relationality (Powell et al.); rebuilding networks of trust and care (Morales); and centering survivors (Goodman and Epstein). Throughout the study, I consider how these practices already connect to the articulation of writing program values expressed by WPAs at Michigan State University.In addition to this analysis, I provide recommendations for the incorporation of TI/CB practices in both writing programs and writing studies as a field. This includes the development of self-assessment surveys for writing program administrators rooted in TI/CB values. In addition, I consider how a TI/CB framework could be adapted to create research methodologies rooted in trauma-informed care. Finally, I suggest that because of the unique position of WPAs between university administrators, teachers, and students, an enhancement of administrative practices through TI/CB methods could help form more ethical responses to campus sexual violence.
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