CCCC Summer Conferences are a new initiative intended to foster and support the developing and sharing of innovative activities related to literacy learning. CCCC is pleased to announce that it will be sponsoring, in part, these four conferences for 2017. Additional details will follow in the coming months.
Sharing Best Practices
Boston University — May 24–25, 2017
College writing instructors in New England are invited to participate in the CCCC Summer Conference “Sharing Best Practices,” to take place on Boston University’s main campus on May 24–25, 2017. The conference will focus on practical ideas about teaching and learning, and will feature panels and roundtables that emphasize the sharing of results from teacher research, the cultivation of scholarly practices for writing instructors, and evidence-based ideas for the classroom. Many sessions will feature shorter presentations designed to launch informal conversation among session participants. A reception and shared meals will offer further opportunities for unstructured conversation, and allow participants to meet fellow professionals in the region and develop their professional networks. This new conference will run prior to the Boston Writing and Rhetoric Network Summer Institute for teachers of college writing. Boston University is easy to reach by car or public transport and close to Back Bay, Cambridge, and downtown Boston. Affordable on-campus housing will be available. Registration is now closed. Visit the conference website for further details.
Composing Worlds with Words
Virginia Commonwealth University – June 2, 2017
The Department of Focused Inquiry in the University College and the Department of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) are delighted to announce the first Regional Summer Conference on College Composition and Communication. The conference theme, Composing Worlds with Words, reflects our commitment to research, scholarship, and creative expression as well as student-centered educational practices.
This unique, interactive one-day conference will be held on VCU’s urban campus in historic Richmond, VA. VCU faculty and conference co-directors Jessica Gordon, Joseph Cates, and Julie Gorlewski envision this event as an opportunity to showcase innovative ideas, foster dialogue, and create professional and institutional partnerships. The conference will include a wide range of whole-group and breakout sessions that will allow participants to put concepts into practice. Registration is now closed. Visit the conference website for further details.
Making Spaces for Diverse Writing Practice
San José State University — June 8–10, 2017
Ideally conceived, writing programs carve out spaces—classrooms, offices, Writing Centers—for exploring and practicing writing. In such spaces, ideally, writing is diverse, and the spaces foster supportive, productive writing practice(s). Likewise, writing programs dedicate temporal spaces—class meetings, for instance—to foster best writing practices.
But, as teachers are aware, writing also happens in other spaces—library tables, theaters, and labs, but also buses, coffee shops, and jail cells. Likewise, writing happens whenever busy schedules allow. These physical and temporal spaces may not foster the supportive, productive writing practice(s) we envision, but they are also more common than our idyllic spaces.
The 2017 CCCC Regional Summer Conference at San José State University is designed to carve out spaces for attendees to consider what it means to make spaces (temporal and physical) for diverse writing practice in a world that does not always align with our ideals.
Registration is now open! Visit the conference website for further details.
Diverse Writers, Diverse Writing
Clermont College, University of Cincinnati — June 8–10, 2017
The goal of this conference is to support best practices in working with diverse students in diverse writing environments. Examining the intersection of diversity and writing is critical in developing engaging and ethical composition courses. NCTE and CCCC have a long history of supporting students from diverse backgrounds with the 1974 Resolution on the Students’ Right to their Own Language and the recent Supporting Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Learners in English Education. In 2016, instructors are still concerned about honoring their students’ linguistic varieties while also working with them to write in different modes across multi-disciplinary audiences. As new forms of composition emerge, instructors are seeking ways to incorporate digital literacy activities for students to write for a range of readers. This conference will provide an opportunity for participants to share their research in digital writing, multimedia writing, working with diverse students, and writing across the curriculum. Registration is now open! Visit the conference website for further details.
