Category: Uncategorized

SJAC Mission Statement:

The Social Justice at the Convention (SJAC) Committee is committed to the principles of diversity, inclusion, equity, fairness, access, and equal representation in all aspects of our profession and in all the communities that we inhabit. We promote and advance these principles through education and activism at our annual convention: opposing racism and other forms of systemic oppression, providing forums for those whose voices have been silenced or marginalized, and promoting cultural change that will guarantee equal opportunities for all, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexuality, or national origin.

Committee Members

Gabrielle Kelenyi, Co-Chair (2024–2026)
Virginia Schwarz, Co-Chair (2024–2026)
2026 Co-Chair (Local Arrangements Chair)
Antonio Byrd (2025–2028)
Erin Green (2025–2028)
Wyatt Paige Hermansen (2025–2028)
Kathleen Lyons (2025–2028)
Nicole Ramer (2021–2026)
Tiffany Lynn Wong (2025–2028)

Committee Charge

Social Justice at the Convention Committee (SJAC)

General Charge: Promotes and advances principles of diversity, inclusion, equity, fairness, access, and equal representation in all aspects of the profession and in all the communities that are inhabited through education and activism at the Annual Convention.

Responsibilities

• Works with the Associate Chair to understand their vision for the CCCC Annual Convention and to collaboratively outline a scope for the SJAC’s efforts at the convention.
• Collaborates with the Local Arrangements Committee Chair, CDICC, and CCCC Caucuses to develop social justice and local engagement activities that complement the convention theme.
• Promotes participation and engagement in SJAC-sponsored activities at the CCCC Annual Convention and supports an inclusive conference culture.
• Creates opportunities for CCCC attendees to connect with activist communities in convention cities.
• Sponsors an annual panel that features local activists and organizations.

Membership

• Members will serve three-year terms.
• Chair: Selects members in consultation with administrative committee chairs and is responsible for fulfilling or delegating its charges.
• Members: Assist Chair in fulfilling the responsibilities of its charges.

Social Justice at the Convention Case Study, Hazelwood, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (PDF)

To Whom It May Concern:

Earlier this year, the National Communication Association (NCA) changed its selection and nomination processes for its Distinguished Scholars program, which created controversy over whether the organization was responding properly to its recent commitment to encouraging diversity and equity among its members and in the organization. After a series of editorials and open letters from NCA members and many others that reveal a divide between those who feel that encouraging diversity in organizations and their most prestigious awards amounts to lessening the rigor and value of such organizations and awards, and those who reject such an either-or logic, the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) felt it necessary to offer a letter of support, encouraging NCA to continue a robust commitment to diversity and equity in its organization, which only makes it stronger and more relevant in global communication studies.

The Conference on College Composition and Communication supports NCA in its commitment to diversity and equity as reflected in its recent decision to change the selection process of its Distinguished Scholars program. CCCC, however, rejects the recent editorial written by Martin J. Medhurst, editor of Rhetoric and Public Affairs, and subsequent statements made by Distinguished Scholars, which draw a false dichotomy between “merit” and “diversity.” CCCC unanimously denounces the logic of these statements, which at their core assert that the rigor and integrity of rhetorical studies suffer under equity initiatives. These remarks demonstrate how entrenched inequity and injustice are in the academy, and how some scholars in the field and in positions of power remain possessively invested in structural and institutional systems of exclusion and oppression.

The Conference on College Composition and Communication Executive Committee

Downloadable PDF of the full report.

Introduction to the 2018 Annual
Clancy Ratliff

In Memoriam: TyAnna Herrington
The rhetoric and composition community, and especially the close-knit group who studies copyright and intellectual property, experienced a sad loss in the summer of 2018: the passing of TyAnna Herrington, one of our leading lights. She was in the forefront of scholars who demonstrated the importance of copyright issues to rhetoric, composition studies, and technical communication. She was a kind and generous person who welcomed new scholars and teachers into our community and whose legacy will be remembered and treasured. Read on (full report).

Table of Contents

1 Introduction to the 2018 Annual
Clancy Ratliff

5 “Blockbuster Sermons” and Authorship Issues in Evangelicalism
T J Geiger

10 Plagiarizing a Pushcart Prize
Lanette Cadle

16 Sue for Mario Bros.: Nintendo vs. Emulation
Kyle D. Stedman

21 “Cockygate”: Trademark Trolling, Romance Novels, and Intellectual Property
Devon Fitzgerald Ralston

27 A (Zombie) Legislative Proposal with Implications for Fair Use and Remix Culture
Kim D. Gainer

33 Contributors

A conversation with Rachael W. Shah, author of “The Courage of Community Members: Community Perspectives of Engaged Pedagogies” (13:51).

Rachael W. Shah is an assistant professor of English at University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in community literacy, public rhetoric, and teacher education. Her current book project explores community perspectives of university-community partnerships. Former director of the Wildcat Writers program, she now coordinates a similar program called Husker Writers in Nebraska.

A conversation with Joyce Olewski Inman and Rebecca A. Powell, authors of “In the Absence of Grades: Dissonance and Desire in Course-Contract Classrooms” (12:59).

Joyce Olewski Inman is an assistant professor of English and director of composition at The University of Southern Mississippi, where she teaches first-year to senior-level composition courses, as well as graduate courses on theories and pedagogies of composition. Her research interests include legal discourse analysis, basic writing pedagogies, literacy politics, and the ways space and locale can influence writers, their identities, and their texts.

Rebecca A. Powell is an assistant professor of English at The University of Southern Mississippi, where she teaches preservice teachers and writing students. Her research interests include adolescent writing experiences, K–16 writing pedagogy, community literacy, and place studies. Current projects include researching the circulation of writing experiences through people’s lives and communities and the implications of place studies for teacher education and assessment.

A conversation with V. Jo Hsu, author of “Reflection as Relationality: Rhetorical Alliances and Teaching Alternative Rhetorics” (15:04).

V. Jo Hsu is an assistant professor of English and the associate director of the Program in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Arkansas. Their research and teaching focus on the interrelations among identity, narrative writing, and struggles for social justice. Their current project examines intergenerational narratives among queer Asian Americans and considers what these archives can teach us about our cultural and academic institutions, as well as how they might help us envision more inclusive pedagogical theories and practices. Jo has yet to find a third-person pronoun that feels entirely like home.

A conversation with Zhaozhe Wang, author of “Relive Differences through a Material Flashback” (11:59).

Zhaozhe Wang is a doctoral candidate in the Department of English at Purdue University, where he teaches first-year writing and the graduate practicum in oral English proficiency. His research focuses on theories of difference, multilingual writers’ identity and literacy practices, second language writing, and writing assessment. His work on translingual writing has appeared in Composition Forum.

A conversation with Jerry Stinnett, author of “Using Objective-Motivated Knowledge Activation to Support Writing Transfer in FYC” (16:20).

Jerry Stinnett is assistant professor of writing at Grand Valley State University. His research, which has appeared in College English and Literacy in Composition Studies, currently focuses on the intersections of rhetorical theory, writing-related transfer, and the limits of rhetorical flexibility.

A conversation with James Rushing Daniel, author of “‘A Debt Is Just the Perversion of a Promise’: Composition and the Student Loan” (12:32).

James Rushing Daniel is a lecturer in the Interdisciplinary Writing Program at the University of Washington. His research has appeared in College English, Philosophy & Rhetoric, and Composition Studies, among other venues.

A conversation with Ira J. Allen, author of “Composition Is the Ethical Negotiation of Fantastical Selves” (19:46).

Ira J. Allen is assistant professor of rhetoric, writing, and digital media studies at Northern Arizona University, and formerly assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at the American University of Beirut (where he directed the Writing Center and Writing in the Disciplines). He publishes regularly on rhetoric, democracy, ethics, and writing and has translated works by Nietzsche, Walter Benjamin, and Werner Hamacher, among others. His book The Ethical Fantasy of Rhetorical Theory explores the meanings and utility of rhetorical theory for scholars across the humanistic disciplines.