WIDE
Writing, Information, and Digital Experience (WIDE) Research is a digital lab where faculty, specialists, and students work together on wicked problems that can lead to just futures. Our researchers have won many of the highest awards in our field, including the Association for Computing Machinery’s SIGDOC Diana Award, the CCCC 2015 Technology Innovator Award, SIGDOC student research competition awards, UURAF student awards, and additional awards for faculty research. Members of WIDE have led major organizations in our field, contributed as board members and editors to our journals, and advised industry partners.
In addition to faculty research infastructure, WIDE’s mission is to support student learning. In order to be successful in their careers, our students need to gain hands-on experience as researchers and practitioners. This work includes learning how to conduct ethical empirical research, manage projects, develop grants, design digital experiences, and write for publications.
The Accessible Experience Education Lab (AXEL). Our mission is to advance the field of accessibility by developing innovative solutions that ensure equal access to systems for all individuals. Recognizing the constant evolution of technology, we are dedicated to fostering a mindset where accessibility is a fundamental right and is considered first in the creation of any new system. By utilizing inclusive research, design practices, and collaboration with diverse communities, we aim to create adaptable and accessible digital and physical environments. Our commitment extends to education, industry, advocacy, and community partnerships, empowering individuals and promoting a more inclusive society.
Red Cedar Writing Project Histories. Creating a digital archive of the past 30+ years of the Red Cedar Writing Project to include news, student writings, reports, grants, and more. This archive will serve as a community focused history of the organization.
Returning Home. Brain drain and community erosion is one of many suburban and rural area’s most pressing challenges, as talented graduates leave home for bigger cities, taking their skills and ambition with them. This research group examines how we can attract talent, build community, and continue be a space for growth. With some millennials returning back to the upper Midwest, we are interested in learning about what brings them home and how we can make spaces that welcome this return.
Sherlockians. The Sherlockian project has provided opportunities for our students to practice content strategy, user experience, and participant research. They are producing cultural heritage archives and a community rife with debates over issues of equality, diversity, and representation. Researching the experiences of fans and scholars of the Great Detective, our students work on multiple websites and community outreach.
Accessibility by Design.
Digital Rhetoric.
Disaster Communication.
Experience Architecture.
Fan Studies.
Multimodal Pedagogies.
Participatory Memory.
Writing Center Theory and Practice.
Participatory Memory: Fandom Experiences Across Time and Space. This digital book is the culmination of years of research focused on participatory memory in physical spaces, examining how fans engage with their fandom and each other. Participatory memory describes how people memorialize, celebrate, and reflect in physical and digital spaces. It seeks to examine the writing, making, crafting, etc. that takes place in these spaces by fans for fans. Exploring the social, political, and economic implications of participatory memory, this book highlights this fan work through images, sounds, and video. By understanding the ways in which fans come together in spaces of memory, we can learn how to negotiate participation to create better fan experiences, curate shared fan/producer materials, encourage this work, and help producers connect with their audiences in this multibillion dollar industry.
Upper Midwest Best. At MSU, the WIDE Research lab is already equipping students with AI literacy, technical skills, and hands-on research experience that makes them competitive anywhere — and invested here. Alongside that work, this project includes conducting research across Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota to identify and synthesize what communities and governments are doing to attract and retain young talent, from innovation districts to creative economy initiatives. The results are practical, evidence-based framework connecting well-prepared graduates with communities that are ready to receive them — turning brain drain into brain gain across the region
Sherlockian Community Sites. Our students work on multiple websites where they can put into practice what they are learning in our classrooms. Including Sherlockian.net, ASH (the first women’s organization), and Watson’s Tin Box Archive, students learn about user experience, information architecture, and participatory research while building archives and maintaining websites. Each year, Sherlockian.net generates over one million Google impressions and more than 20,000 clicks from audiences spanning hundreds of countries. With over 300 pages of content and thousands of links, the College of Arts & Letters recognizes this as a book-length scholarly contribution each year
Graduate students are welcome to join WIDE as researchers and practitioners. Want to join a research group? Gain some technical skills? Learn more about the grant-writing process? Publish with our teams? We offer competitive Graduate Assistantships through the Rhetoric and Writing program in WRAC, as well as student hourly work and summer sprint projects. Interested? Contact us and join us at our weekly meeting.
Interested in joining a research team, learning about grant writing, or working out on a fandom website that garners over 120,000 Google impressions every month? Our work at WIDE crosses research and practice, giving you experience and skills for the job market and graduate school. Send a message to any of the professors above to learn more and join us at our weekly meeting.