DIY Composition: Zines in the Classroom
In my First-Year Composition courses, students collaborate to create a print zine that becomes a permanent addition to our department library. Drawing from my background in punk and metal DIY culture, this project embodies core principles I value in teaching: exercising creativity, embracing failure as part of the process, using creative outlets for connection, demonstrating communal responsibility, and enacting care and support.
Students write content, make design decisions, and physically assemble the publication together—hands-on, collaborative work that gives them ownership over collective production and demonstrates how writing functions in real communities. When students know their work will appear alongside their classmates’ in a physical publication that circulates beyond our classroom, the stakes shift: they invest more care in their contributions, take peer feedback more seriously, and see themselves as part of a collective effort rather than isolated individuals completing assignments.
Below, you’ll find examples of zines from my courses, with student names redacted for privacy.