The Rhetoric and Composition Reading Group, which is affiliated with TCU's Winifred Bryan Horner Rhetoric Society of America chapter, met at Dr. Carrie Leverenz's house for their last meeting of the semester. There, members exchanged cookies they baked and discussed Heather Lindenman et al.'s "Revision and Reflection: A Study of (Dis)Connections between Writing Knowledge and Writing Practice."

This semester the group chose recent readings coming from prominent journals in the field (Kairos, CCC, and RSQ). Conversations for each meeting centered around how we can all find ways to engage with current trends in rhetoric and composition.

Next semester, the group will be reading recent publications from TCU faculty. Faculty will discuss their papers and the publishing processes they all went through, which should prove helpful for graduate students.

One of WBH's missions is to provide a space for members to navigate our program and the larger field of rhetoric and composition. This past meeting, members gathered to hear from a panel on preparing for and taking PhD qualifying exams at TCU. Panelists included Whitney Lew James, Tim Ballingall, and Dr. Brad Lucas. Each presenter started by speaking generally about their exam experience, but most of the time was devoted to allowing WBH members to ask questions and (hopefully) dispel their own fears.

Panelists received and answered questions concerning such topics as: 1. How to choose exams committee members and a chair. 2. When to start thinking about exams. 3. Why panelists (if they had a choice) chose one exam format over another (i.e. portfolio exams vs. timed exams). 4. What general process panelists followed for constructing their lists, taking notes, and keeping track of all of the information.

Other faculty and students who had taken exams also weighed in, describing their experiences and reassuring those in the audience that exams do not have to be painful and, while certainly not fun, can be generative.