Risks and Rewards in Writing Studies Classrooms
UNC Charlotte 6th Annual Conference on Writing Studies
Center City Campus
October 25, 2019
Call for Proposals
*Extended Deadline* Proposals will be accepted until
August 16, 2019
We need to “to pull back the veneer and take a close look at all the risks we take, identify the rewards we have realized (and hope to realize), and discuss how we balance the risks with the rewards of such action. . . . What are the risks of playing it safe—in our syllabi, with our home institutions …?” Joyce Locke Carter, CCCC 2016 Keynote address
It has been three years since Joyce Locke Carter called on compositionists to consider the risks and rewards of our everyday practices in our classrooms, our research, our programs, and departments. In the time since, many have taken up the charge to take risks in their teaching and research and push the discipline out of its comfort zone by engaging in conversations on language, diversity, and technology use in the teaching of writing, first-year composition, rhetoric and composition, and technical communication classes. This wave of risk-taking recently created in Asao B. Inoue’s keynote address at the 2019 Conference on College Composition and Communication. Inoue provocatively called on the field of writing studies and instruction to seriously consider the risks associated with not challenging assumptions of dominant language practice as the foundation of our discipline. Many asked themselves “But how? And with what consequences?”
Laura Gonzales, our keynote speaker, takes the risk of addressing these assumptions. Arguing that instructors of writing should value language diversity in writing and digital spaces, Gonzales sees us all engaged in acts of translation. Students are” translating across named languages, within the same language, and/or across various digital tools and platform.” As instructors of writing, taking the risk of recognizing and valuing this work of translation allows us the reward of seeing “how, when, and why translators use different rhetorical strategies to make information accessible for specific audiences at specific moments in time.”
It is clear at this moment the field is contending with how much risk we are willing to take in our classrooms/profession. Such calls to change methods and worldviews inherently involve risk. This conference celebrates that risk: We call on participants to consider what risks they have taken and what rewards they have seen across a variety of spaces in the teaching of writing.
The University Writing Program invites proposals for the UNC Charlotte 6th Annual Conference on Writing Studies (formerly, the UWP Conference at UNCC) that address these related issues:
- The risks and rewards of working outside of mandatory curriculum and/or parent expectations.
- The risks and rewards imposed on/demanded of students when we take risks in our classes.
- The risks and rewards that have generated innovations within our research.
- The community partnerships that have been forged, and the risks and rewards of community engaged scholarship and teaching.
- The risks and rewards of changing requirements, renaming programs, etc.
- The risks and rewards of focusing on grammar and/or ignoring grammar.
- The risks and rewards in trying new assignment formats (multimodal, electronic) and/or encouraging new topics.
- The innovations that have generated risks and rewards and/or the risks that have generated innovations in your classrooms, programs, writing, and research.
As well as these related questions:
- How much risk are we willing to take in our dealings with writing programs and teaching?
- What institutional and cultural constraints inhibit you from committing to risk in your classroom?
In the spirit of risk-taking, we invite a variety of presentation options: traditional (individual presentations, panels, workshops), lightning talks, campfire sessions, fishbowls, themed solution rooms, and other formats (please include brief explanation in your proposal). Please submit a 250-500 word abstract via the UNC Charlotte Writing Studies Conference Proposal Submission Site by August 16, 2019.
Descriptions of presentation options are available on the submission site. Successful proposals will make clear how the presentation will address issues of risks and rewards including but not limited to multilingual writers/writing at the secondary, postsecondary, and/or professional level. Proposals will be blind-reviewed by a committee of readers. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified no later than September 13, 2019 and must register for the conference no later than September 27, 2019, to confirm their intent to present. Computers, laptop connections, and projectors will be available in presentation classrooms. Please specify any additional support needed on the submission form. If you have any questions, please contact the Conference Committee at uwpconference@uncc.edu
