Category: Uncategorized

Conference on College Composition and Communication
March 2021

Rationale and Purpose

This position statement affirms the need to develop accessible and effective reading pedagogies in college writing classrooms so that students can engage more deeply in all of their courses and develop the reading abilities that will be essential to their success in college, in their careers, and for their participation in a democratic society. This statement assumes that, like instruction in writing, instruction in reading is most ethical and effective when it engages students’ diverse experiences, needs, and capacities and when it works from an asset-based (rather than a deficit-based) theory of learning. The statement outlines principles and best practices for developing reading-centered pedagogies and curricula and identifies resources and sites at postsecondary institutions that can support this work.

Horning et al. define college-level reading as “a complex, recursive process in which readers actively and critically understand and create meaning through connections to texts” (7). Research that assesses the alignment between new college students’ prior reading experience and the expectations of college reading tasks suggests that many students are likely to encounter different and challenging reading tasks upon entering college (Jolliffe and Harl; Rodrigue; Jamieson; Stanford History Education Group; Ihara and Del Principe; Wineburg and McGrew). Students are also reading in increasingly diverse modes and for distinct purposes as reading moves increasingly to screens rather than paper.

This statement acknowledges that students are regularly reading (Jolliffe and Harl), that they have reading skills, and that they are using a range of technologies to support their reading. Technology has allowed students to engage with readings by listening to texts, seeing texts in various font sizes, and copying and making notes on texts. Use of synchronous technology, such as digital annotation programs, allows students to practice deep reading strategies while gaining almost immediate access to their peers’ approaches to reading. Moreover, the web provides digital examples of cultural knowledge formation (such as rhetorical reading) that communities of color, LGBTQ communities, and disability communities have cultivated offline for years. Instructors can mobilize these technologies to support students’ development of deeper reading habits.

For decades, community college curricula have directly addressed students’ reading habits, and community college instructors have researched and published on best practices for integrating instruction in reading and writing (Goen-Salter; Raufman and Barrow; Bickerstaff and Raufman; Boylan and Bonham). Only recently, however, have those who teach at four-year institutions begun to argue for the importance of reconnecting the act of reading to writing. Not since the 1980s and early 1990s have those outside of community colleges paid sustained attention to reading as the counterpart of writing in the construction and negotiation of meaning.

Definition(s) of Reading

College-level reading varies depending on the reader’s primary purpose, and different reading approaches each have their own emphasis: “rhetorical reading” and “reading like a writer” suggest reading texts for the purposes of understanding the impact of writerly choices, “close reading” is focused primarily on textual interpretation, and “active reading” and “mindful reading” suggest a type of mindset or orientation toward a text.

Reading, then, goes well beyond mere comprehension of words and texts, and instructors need to realize that students may be more or less familiar with different types of reading. Indeed, individual students may be proficient with multiple reading approaches or may struggle with basic comprehension. This position statement marks CCCC members’ commitment to recognizing all college-level reading as a “complex, recursive process in which readers actively and critically understand and create meaning through connections to texts” (Horning  et al., 7).

The strategies that follow are proven effective. They are suggestions for those who wish to integrate reading more deliberately into their teaching practices.

Principles to Support the Teaching and Learning of Reading

Principle 1: Teach Reading Comprehension

Strategies:

1. Create text-specific or general reading guides for students that include comprehension questions, important vocabulary terms, and other relevant resources that students can use as they engage texts.
2. Preview texts for students by providing context (whether historical or related to the immediate classroom), thus helping students tap into what they already know about the subject and helping to provide the purpose for each reading assignment.
3. Teach students how to develop and use graphic organizers (e.g., maps, webs) to help them visualize relationships between concepts and ideas within texts.
4. Teach students to read strategically by paying attention to key parts of a text, such as its title, introduction (or abstract), conclusion, and paragraph topic sentences.
5. Encourage students to take the 25-word summary challenge, in which they summarize the text in 25 words or fewer.

Principle 2: Teach Reading Approaches That Move Beyond Basic Comprehension

Strategies:

1. Don’t lecture the readings; make students responsible for getting main ideas and details through creating their own reading guides that outline the main ideas, define key terms, and note connections to other texts read in the course.
2. Ask students to synthesize two viewpoints and/or address opposing viewpoints on the same topic.
3. Provide exercises and/or use peer review to help students support one another and anticipate readers’ expectations.
4. Promote rhetorical reading, wherein students examine a text for its communicative nature and elements. Help students identify how context influences readers.
5. Teach students how to “read like a writer” (RLW) by identifying moments of writerly choice in the text and considering whether similar choices might arise in their own writing.

Principle 3: Foster Mindful Reading to Encourage Students to Think Metacognitively about Their Reading in Preparation for a Variety of Reading in Different Contexts

Strategies:

1. Teach the SQ5R approach: survey (the text or reading), question (engage in inquiry), read (engage in active reading), respond (think about the text and the initial questions), record (annotate in the margins), recite (paraphrase key ideas), and review (reflect on the reading and revise notes).
2. Teach annotation explicitly and/or use software such as Hypothesis to support the development of digital annotation practices.
3. Encourage reflection through reader response journals, discussion board postings, or similar approaches.
4. In addition to asking students to reflect encourage them to anticipate the uses of various reading approaches in future courses and contexts.
5. Teach students how to create a difficulty inventory in which they list the difficulties (e.g., vocabulary, allusions, historical context) they encounter while reading and for each difficulty indicate one resource that can help mitigate or surmount that difficulty.

Principle 4: Teach Students How to Read Texts Closely and Focus on Significant Details and Patterns

Strategies:

1. Support students’ focus on a text’s language and vocabulary by asking them to look up key vocabulary, terms, and concepts and to consider how meanings change over time.
2. Help students explore organizational patterns in texts from different disciplines, such as linguistic features, stylistic characteristics, and the presence or absence of jargon.
3. Ask students to write passage-based papers that focus their attention on a single passage, including the textual elements within the passage (e.g., word choice, tone, punctuation, repetition), as well as the passage’s relationship to the text as a whole.
4. Provide students the opportunity to practice reading a text multiple times in order to pay attention to different elements, such as how a writer incorporates sources, defines key terms, or addresses opposing arguments.
5. Focus on the generic elements of a text to foster discussion of genre conventions and how those conventions can influence reading.

Preparing Teachers for Reading Instruction in Writing Courses

Given the tremendous variety in new instructor training programs, it is important for facilitators to prioritize what they want students to know and do with regard to reading. Some programs may be limited to a single session devoted to reading, whereas a more ideal approach would be to integrate the discussion of reading throughout an entire training program. Additionally, as the representations and needs of students constantly shift, it is also important to consider how to integrate accessible and culturally relevant approaches to reading instruction into the overall fabric of writing programs. Doing so encourages writing teachers—from senior faculty to first-time teachers—to develop reading pedagogies that serve ever-changing student populations and are responsive to the contemporary moment.

Strategies for training instructors to teach reading include the following:

• Introduce the idea that reading and writing are connected activities as a foundational threshold concept that instructors should keep in mind as they teach, plan lessons, and design their syllabi.
• Plan talks or activities aimed at familiarizing writing instructors with several kinds of reading approaches and the purpose(s) behind each.
• Encourage instructors to think through what they want students to learn from reading and consider what kinds of texts and types of reading would best serve their goal(s).
• Guide writing instructors to consider the range of reading approaches and techniques that students will need to engage productively with a variety of modalities. Recognizing how technological mediums interplay with genre conventions (e.g., online versus print newspaper article) introduces useful conversations about reading as a rhetorical process informed by rhetorical decisions.
• Brainstorm and/or practice different ways that instructors might model various kinds of reading for students—for instance, showing students how they read a text and stopping to demonstrate the kinds of questions they ask as they read.
• Review and answer questions about specific programmatic policies regarding the types and relevance or appropriateness of texts to be assigned for specific student populations at your institution (e.g., literature, videos?), as well as reasonable page length expectations. This discussion might address texts composed using varieties of Englishes and/or texts that acknowledge the rhetoric of citation practices in order to better engage audience needs via font styles and organizational schemas.
• Encourage instructors to use published texts and student writing in similar ways and to avoid assigning only published texts as examples of good writing while urging students to search for errors only in student-produced texts.

Supporting Readers across Campus Units

This section notes important stakeholders on campuses that can contribute to building a culture of support surrounding reading development. This statement encourages communication and collaboration among writing program administrators, writing instructors, and the various members of these units—libraries, writing centers, and centers for teaching and learning—so that all stakeholders are working together to support students’ reading development throughout their academic careers.

Libraries

Librarians have long been at the forefront of information literacy education. Although campus librarians are often used for one-shot presentations about how to access and search their institution’s databases, they can work consistently with faculty across the disciplines to help faculty identify information literacy concepts relevant to specific disciplines (Anderson et al. 16). They can also support students as they develop the capabilities that inform strong reading practices, including paying attention to a source’s relevance, biases, and credibility.

Writing Centers

As Muriel Harris, G. Travis Adams, and Gary Griswold have pointed out, writing centers are always already reading centers because most college-level writing assignments also involve reading. Therefore, it is important that writing center directors are educated on reading pedagogy so they can deliberately incorporate attention to reading in the training given to writing center tutors. Doing so will allow tutors to support students’ literacy development in more comprehensive ways by preparing them to address reading-related writing issues.

Centers for Teaching and Learning

Often given a name such as Center for Teaching Excellence, centers for teaching and learning are seen as hubs of pedagogical innovation and faculty development, and, according to Mary Wright, are supposed “to be responsive to institutional goals and priorities, and to work in collaboration with faculty and academic units, guided by their learning goals” (qtd. in Lieberman). These centers need to be prepared to support faculty as they integrate reading instruction into their courses.

Works Cited

Adams, G. Travis. “The Line That Shouldn’t Be Drawn: Writing Centers as Reading Centered.” Pedagogy, vol. 16, no. 1, 2016, pp. 73–90.

Anderson, Jennifer, et al. “Collaboration as Conversations: When Writing Studies and the Library Use the Same Conceptual Lenses.” Teaching Information Literacy and Writing Studies: Volume 1, First-Year Composition Courses, edited by Grace Veach, Purdue UP, 2018, pp. 3–18.

Bickerstaff, Susan, and Julia Raufman. From “Additive” to “Integrative”: Experiences of Faculty Teaching Developmental Integrated Reading and Writing Courses (CCRC Working Paper No. 96). Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2017, https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/faculty-experiences-teaching-developmental-reading-writing.pdf.

Boylan, Hunter R., and Barbara S. Bonham, editors. Developmental Education: Readings on Its Past, Present, and Future. Bedford/St. Martins, 2014.

Goen-Salter, Sugie. “Critiquing the Need to Eliminate Remediation: Lessons from San Francisco State.” Journal of Basic Writing, vol. 27, no. 2, 2008, pp. 81–105.

Griswold, Gary. “Postsecondary Reading: What Writing Center Tutors Need to Know.” Journal of College Reading and Learning, vol. 37, no. 1, 2006, pp. 59–70.

Harris, Muriel. “Writing Centers Are Also Reading Centers: How Could They Not Be?” Deep Reading: Teaching Reading in the Writing Classroom, edited by Patrick Sullivan et al., National Council of Teachers of English, 2017, pp. 227–43.

Horning, Alice S., Deborah-Lee Gollnitz, and Cynthia R. Haller, editors.  What Is College Reading?  WAC Clearinghouse/UP of Colorado, 2017.

Ihara, Rachel, and Annie Del Principe. “What We Mean When We Talk about Reading: Rethinking the Purposes and Contexts of College Reading.” Across the Disciplines, vol. 15, no. 2, 2018, pp. 1–14, https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/atd/articles/ihara-delprincipe2018.pdf.

Jamieson, Sandra. “Reading and Engaging Sources: What Students’ Use of Sources Reveals about Advanced Reading Skills.” Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum, special issue of Across the Disciplines, vol.10, no. 4, 2013, http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/reading/jamieson.cfm.

Jolliffe, David, and Allison Harl.  “Texts of Our Institutional Lives:  Studying the “Reading Transition” from High School to College:  What Are Our Students Reading and Why?”  College English, vol. 70, no. 6, 2008, pp. 599-617.

Lieberman, Mark. “Centers of the Pedagogical Universe.” Inside Higher Ed, 28 Feb. 2018, https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/02/28/centers-teaching-and-learning-serve-hub-improving-teaching.

Raufman, Julia, and Hilda Barrow. “Learning to Teach Integrated Reading and Writing: Evidence from Research and Practice.” NADE, 26 Feb. 2015, https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/nade-2015-integrated-reading-writing.pdf.

Rodrigue, Tanya K.  “The Digital Reader, the Alphabetic Writer, and the Space Between: A Study in Digital Reading and Source-based Writing.” Computers and Composition, vol. 46, 2017, pp. 4–20.

Stanford History Education Group. Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning. 2016, https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf.

Wineburg, Sam, and Sarah McGrew. “Lateral Reading and the Nature of Expertise: Reading Less and Learning More When Evaluating Digital Information.” Teachers College Record, vol. 121, no. 11, 2019, pp. 1–40.

Suggested Reading List

“The Act of Reading: Instructional Foundations and Policy Guidelines.” Position Statements, National Council of Teachers of English, 5 Dec. 2019, https://ncte.org/statement/the-act-of-reading/.

Baron, Naomi S. Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World. Oxford UP, 2015.

Bunn, Michael. “Motivation and Connection: Teaching Reading (and Writing) in the Composition Classroom.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 64, no. 3, 2013, pp. 496–516.

Carillo, Ellen C. Securing a Place for Reading in Composition: The Importance of Teaching for Transfer. Utah State UP, 2014.

Dehaene, Stanislas. Reading in the Brain. Penguin Random House, 2009.

Del Principe, Annie, and Rachel Ihara. “A Long Look at Reading in the Community College: A Longitudinal Analysis of Student Reading Experiences.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 45, no. 2, 2017, pp.183–206.

—. “‘I Bought the Book and I Didn’t Need It’: What Reading Looks Like at an Urban Community College.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 43, no.3, 2016, pp. 229–44.

Flippo, Rona F., and Thomas W. Bean, editors. Handbook of College Reading and Study Strategy Research. Routledge, 2018.

Grayson, Mara Lee. “Race Talk in the Composition Classroom: Narrative Song Lyrics as Texts for Racial Literacy.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 45, no. 2, 2017, pp. 47–68.

Inoue, Asao B. “Teaching Antiracist Reading.” Journal of College Reading and Learning, vol. 50, no. 3, 2020, pp. 134–56.

Kamil, Michael L., et al., editors. Handbook of Reading Research: Volume IV. Routledge, 2011.

Kareem, Jamila. “A Critical Race Analysis of Transition-Level Writing Curriculum to Support the Racially Diverse Two-Year College.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 46, no. 4, 2019, pp. 271–96.

Keller, Daniel. Chasing Literacy: Reading and Writing in an Age of Acceleration. Utah State UP, 2014.

Morrow, Nancy. “The Role of Reading in the Composition Classroom.” JAC, vol. 17, no. 3, 1997, pp. 453–72.

Seidenberg, Mark. Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done About It. Basic Books, 2017.

Smith, Cheryl Hogue. “Fractured Reading: Experiencing Students’ Thinking Habits.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 47, no. 1, 2019, pp. 22–35.

—. “Interrogating Texts: From Deferent to Efferent and Aesthetic Reading Practices.” Journal of Basic Writing, vol. 31, no. 1, 2012, pp. 59–79.

Sullivan, Patrick. “‘Deep Reading’ as a Threshold Concept in Composition Studies.” Deep Reading: Teaching Reading in the Writing Classroom, edited by Patrick Sullivan et al., National Council of Teachers of English, 2017, pp. 143–171.

Sullivan, Patrick, et al., editors. Deep Reading: Teaching Reading in the Writing Classroom. National Council of Teachers of English, 2017.

Sullivan, Patrick, and Christie Toth, editors. Teaching Composition at the Two-Year College, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2017.

Tinberg, Howard. “When Writers Encounter Reading in a Community College First-Year Composition Course.” Deep Reading: Teaching Reading in the Writing Classroom, edited by Patrick Sullivan et al., National Council of Teachers of English, 2017, pp. 244–64.

“What Does it Really Mean to Be College and Work Ready? The English Literacy Required of Community College Students.” National Center on Education and the Economy, 2013, https://ncee.org/college-and-work-ready/.

Willingham, Daniel. The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads. Jossey-Bass, 2017.

Wolf, Maryanne. Reader Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World. Harper, 2018.

This position statement may be printed, copied, and disseminated without permission from NCTE.

The CCCC 2021 Workshops below will be held on Wednesday, April 7, at the following times:

• Morning Workshops: 11:00 a.m.–1:30 p.m. ET
• Research Network Forum: 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET and 12:30–2:00 p.m. ET
• Afternoon Workshops: 2:00–4:30 p.m. ET

This year Workshops are included in the virtual convention registration fee and do not require separate registration. The Workshops will not be recorded for post-event viewing so add them to your schedule for April 7 today!

To access the Workshops in the CCCC 2021 virtual platform, visit the Workshop Lounge and navigate to your selected Workshop.

 

Wednesday, April 7 — 11:00 a.m.–1:30 p.m. ET

Professional and Technical Writing
W-5   From Teaching Composition to Teaching Workplace Writing: Making an Effective Transition
This workshop is for writing teachers who have either transitioned or soon will transition into workplace writing. It will focus on how to prepare students for common workplace-writing tasks but will also serve as a good foundation for teaching technical writing or other more specialized workplace-writing courses.
Chair: Kathryn Rentz, University of Cincinnati
Workshop Facilitators: Matt Baker, Brigham Young University
Gina L. Genova, University of California Santa Barbara
Matthew Gilchrist, Lehigh University

Language and Literacy
W-7   Inclusive Grammars, Alternative Perspectives, Nuanced Meanings
We discuss inclusive approaches to grammars and instructional practices that celebrate and build on students’ own linguistic resources, and how these approaches and strategies can help students grow as independent writers.
Speakers: Whitney Gegg-Harrison, University of Rochester
Jinrong Li, Georgia Southern University
Cornelia Paraskevas, Western Oregon University
Deborah Rossen-Knill, University of Rochester
Joseph Salvatore, The New School

Reading
W-10   Teaching Critical Reading in First-Year Composition
This half-day workshop offers participants a comprehensive set of reading pedagogies to teach critical writing in first-year composition. The arc of the workshop follows the individual pedagogies employed for a single paper assignment: from the introduction of new readings to the self-reflection that students write upon completing their final draft.
Workshop Facilitators: Michelle Brazier, Raritan Valley Community College
Alexa Offenhauer, Raritan Valley Community College

Creating Writing and Publishing
W-11 Writing Creative Nonfiction: Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
In this all-day writing workshop, sponsored by the Creative Nonfiction Standing Group, participants will explore creative nonfiction through writing to prompts and discussing teaching strategies and issues.
Chair: Christy Zink, George Washington University
Speakers: Lynn Bloom University of Connecticut, “The Watershed Transformation”
Melissa Goldthwaite, Saint Joseph’s University, “Hide and Seek”
Libby Falk Jones, Berea College, “Exercises in Style”
David MacWilliams, New Mexico State University-Alamogordo, “It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times”
Sandee McGlaun, Roanoke College, “Performing Silence”
Irene Papoulis, Trinity College, “Exploring your Relationship with Dancing”
Erin Pushman, Limestone College, “The Craft of Research in Creative Nonfiction”
Amy Quan, Ithaca College, “My, The Desks Look So Small”
Wendy Ryden, Long Island University Post, “Finding Your Inner Monster”
Mimi Schwartz, Richard Stockton University, “My Name Is…”
Jenny Spinner, Saint Joseph’s University, “Considering the To-Do List”

Wednesday, April 7 — 2:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. ET

First-Year Writing
W-2   A Black Lives Matter/Critical Race Theory–Based, Culturally Responsive, Antiracist, and Race Radical Literacies LPC Workshop for Black Teachers of Writing and Co-Conspirators
The Language Policy Workshop highlights Black writing pedagogies for Black lives and their antiracist Black teaching practices in an effort to provide leadership to the field and unite with allies in our collective efforts to divest from the anti-Black language, writing, and literacies education complex.
Chair: Kim Lovejoy, Indiana University, “Antiracist Black Language and Writing Pedagogy”
Chair and Speaker: Elaine Richardson, The Ohio State University
Facilitator and Speaker: Austin Jackson, Brown University, “Race Radical Literacies”
Bonnie Williams, California State University Fullerton, “Teaching the African American Verbal Tradition as a Rhetorically Effective Writing Skill”
Roundtable Leaders: Isabel Baca, The University of Texas at El Paso, “Antiracist Black Language and Writing Pedagogy”
David Green, Howard University, “Antiracist Black Language and Writing Pedagogy”
Rashidah Jaami Muhammad, Governors State University, “Antiracist Black Language and Writing Pedagogy”
Denise Troutman, Michigan State University, “Antiracist Black Language and Writing Pedagogy”
Workshop Facilitator: Qwo-Li Driskill, Oregon State University, “Antiracist Black Language and Writing Pedagogy”
Respondent: Geneva Smitherman, Michigan State University Professor Emerita, “Antiracist Black Language and Writing Pedagogy”

Community, Civic & Public Contexts of Writing
W-3   Beyond the Classroom: Challenging the Commonplaces of Experiential Learning
This workshop examines and challenges the practice of experiential learning in writing classrooms. Facilitators will engage issues ranging from field trip logistics to equity concerns as universities race to embed experiential learning into the university experience.
Workshop Facilitators: William Carney, Cameron University, “Fieldwork: Helping Students Work outside and with Multiple Stakeholders”
David Grant, University of Northern Iowa, “Best-for-Now Strategies for Client-Based Experiential Learning Projects”
Ashley Holmes, Georgia State University, “From a SLAC to a State University: Making Experiential Learning Viable for Students and Faculty”
Rik Hunter, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, “Working On-Campus: Creating Experiences for Nontraditional Students”
Rebecca Jones, Montana State University, “Experiential Learning, an Overview”
Adrienne Lamberti, University of Northern Iowa, “Best-for-Now Strategies for Client-Based Experiential Learning Projects”
Rich Rice, Texas Tech University, “Internship Agreement Forms to Put Faculty and Student Service into Action”

Theory and Research Methodologies
W-4   Coalition as Commonplace
Inspired by the work of Chandra Talpade Mohanty (Feminism without Borders) and Karma Chávez (Queer Migration Politics: Activist Rhetoric and Coalitional Possibilities), this workshop uses the methodologies of coalition building as systematic inquiry to advocate for ethical and effective research, collaborations, and knowledge sharing across the multiplicities of our identities.
Workshop Facilitators: Angela Clark Oates, California State University-Sacramento
Aurora Matzke, Azusa Pacific University
Lydia McDermott, Whitman College
Kate Pantelides, Middle Tennessee State University
Sherry Rankins-Robertson, University of Central Florida
Patty Wilde, Washington State University Tri-Cities
Speakers: Cheryl Glenn, Pennsylvania State University
Aja Y. Martinez, Syracuse University, “The Craft of Critical Race Counterstory”
Lana Oweidat, Goucher College, “Can We Do Better? Forging Unlikely Coalitions and Challenging the Neoliberal Landscape”
Margaret Price, The Ohio State University, “Accountability: A Topos, a Practice, a Form of Hope”
Joyce Rain Anderson, Bridgewater State University, “Bringing the World into Balance: Indigenous Women and the Four Rs”
Eileen Schell, Syracuse University, “Building Coalitions through Community Writing Groups”
Roundtable Leaders: Erin Costello Wecker, University of Montana
Rachel Daugherty, Texas Woman’s University
Rachelle Joplin, University of Houston
Kayla Kouryk, Olivet Nazarene University

College Writing Transitions
W-8   Reconsidering Basic Writing in the Changing Landscape
This workshop seeks to explore the commonplaces of Basic Writing amidst the changing educational landscape of acceleration, co-requisite models, placement reforms, state legislation, and removal of developmental coursework from academic departments.
Chairs: Leigh Jonaitis, Bergen Community College, “Reconsidering Basic Writing in the Changing Landscape”
Lynn Reid, Fairleigh Dickinson University, “Reconsidering Basic Writing in the Changing Landscape”
Peter Adams, Community College of Baltimore County
Marcia Buell, Northeastern Illinois University, “Dual Credit and Basic Writing”
Caitlin Gallagher, Wilmington University, “Supporting Strategic Writers”
Ian James, Arizona State University, “Unsettling Whiteness as Common Place in Basic Writing Theory and Practice”
Kelly Keane, Bergen Community College, “Dual Credit and Basic Writing”
William Lalicker, West Chester University, “Coming to Terms with the Changing Landscape”
A. Eric Lehman, University of Nevada – Reno, “Translingualism as Critique in Basic Writing”
Charles MacArthur, University of Delaware, “Supporting Strategic Writers”
Susan Naomi Bernstein, Queens College, “Unsettling Whiteness as Common Place in Basic Writing Theory and Practice”
Jennifer Burke Reifman, University of California, Davis, “Coming to Terms with the Changing Landscape”
Cheryl Smith, Kingsborough Community College, “Dual Credit and Basic Writing”

Writing Programs
W-9 Taking Action for Antiracist Workplaces: Developing Bystander Training for Writing Teachers and
WPAs
As writing teachers and experts, we are often in the position of listening and then needing to respond to questions that often reinforce linguistic and racial minoritization. The goal of this workshop is to lay the groundwork to develop antiracist responses.
Workshop Facilitators: Lindsey Albracht, CUNY Graduate Center, “Antiracist Work across Campus”
Sara P. Alvarez, Queen College, CUNY, “Antiracist Work in Classrooms”
Rachel Bloom-Pojar, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, “Antiracist Work across Campus”
Todd Craig, Medgar Evers College (CUNY), “Antiracist Work in Professional Disciplinary Spaces”
Al Harahap, University of Oklahoma, “Antiracist Work in Professional Disciplinary Spaces”
Brian Hendrickson, Roger Williams University, “Antiracist Work in Professional Disciplinary Spaces”
Shereen Inayatulla, York College, CUNY, “Antiracist Work in Classrooms”
Anna Plemons, Washington State University, “Antiracist Work across Campus”
Sherita Roundtree, Towson University, “Antiracist Work in Classrooms”
Amy Wan, Queens College/CUNY, “Antiracist Work in Professional Disciplinary Spaces”
Anna Zeemont, CUNY Graduate Center, “Antiracist Work in Classrooms”

Join us for some Cs the Day Gamification fun!  While you are attending the 2022 CCCC Annual Convention you will be able to earn points throughout the platform and compete for great prizes!

Please use this form to log your participation in this year’s event.

Cs the Day Event Quests:

1. Justice for All—Tweet or post about what you have learned about diversity, equity, and linguistic justice (this year’s CCCC theme) at the Convention. Alternatively, how can CCCC or your institution improve their diversity, equity, and linguistic justice initiatives? (25 points)
2. Memes & Multimodality—Create a meme about virtual conferencing or remote/hybrid learning. (Free meme generator: https://imgflip.com/memegenerator) (25 points)
3. The Good Times—Share your favorite story about a previous CCCC Annual Convention. (25 points)
4. This Could Be an Article—Identify a potential research project that could integrate what you learned at the Convention. (25 points + 25 points for plans to collaborate with other attendees)
5. Self-Care Selfie—Document yourself taking action to establish emotional/physical/spiritual balance and prevent feelings of isolation while conferencing virtually. (50 points)
6. Think-Pair-Share—Create a plan to share what you have learned from the Convention at your home institution/communities. (25 points)
7. Co-Op Mode—Document yourself playing a game (co-op or competitive) with another Convention attendee. (25 points + 25 points if they’re someone you met in the last year)
8. Your Favorite Chair—Read or watch any CCCC Chair’s Address and share a few lines that stood out to you. (50 points)
9. Swagger On—Use your favorite social media platform to share a photo of CCCC Convention swag you’ve held on to from years past. (Brownie points if it’s Cs the Day swag) (25 points)
10. Going Up?—Practice your elevator speech. Give a comprehensive,15-second description of the entirety of your research, thesis, diss, or 4C’s presentation, and post a video or written version on Twitter with the #4C22 hashtag. (50 points)
11. How I Met Your . . .—As versatile citizens of a networked world, we can find meaningful friendships across institutions. Tell us about a new connection that you created with a colleague while conferencing remotely. (25 points up to three times)
12. Feed the Birds—Use the #4C22 hashtag to share a note about why CCCC matters to you. (25 points)
13. Replay Value—Suggest a quest that absolutely must be included in the next version of Cs the Day. (50 points up to two times)
14. There Is Always Something to Be Thankful For—Use a social media platform of your choice to express your gratitude for someone who had a positive impact on your academic and/or professional development. You can tag them in it or not. However, use this as an opportunity to let that person/the world know that their work and influence mattered. (25 points up to three times)
15. Have You Met . . . ?—Write a third-person biography of your favorite composition theorist. Tell us about their work, their background, and why we should be reading/using their work in the classroom. (25 points up to three times)
16. Sharing the Knowledge—Tweet about what you learned at a session. (25 points up to five times)
17. Staying Connected—Join the CPGS Discord server or Facebook page or follow on Twitter. (25 points each)
18. Gaining XP—Attend a session about game-based pedagogy and/or research. (50 points up to three times)

Cs the Day Event Prizes:

The three top-scoring winners will receive a physical Sparkle Pony (ask us if you are not yet familiar with this CtD tradition), and the grand prize winner will receive a paid registration for CCCC 2023 in Chicago, courtesy of the CCCC Executive Committee!

Gamification begins Wednesday, March 9, at 11:00 a.m. ET and ends on Saturday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

March 2021

The CCCC Executive Committee stands in solidarity with our Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander colleagues after the targeted, racist, and misogynist violence in Atlanta on March 16, 2021.

We condemn the historical legacy of anti-Asian racist policy and practice and the more recent invocation of anti-Asian rhetoric by national leaders, which we believe has contributed to a political climate that enables hate crimes such as these attacks.

We reaffirm our organizational commitment to ethical communication; to “supporting the agency, power, and potential of diverse communicators inside and outside of postsecondary classrooms” (CCCC Mission Statement); and to accountability for hate speech that paves the way for additional acts of violence.

We support all CCCC members in using their voices to combat racist violence and using their expertise as educators to create teaching and learning environments that help students negotiate toxic public discourse. Likewise, we support CCCC members in creating professional spaces that allow those who are targeted by such discourse to find empathy and healing. We stand as allies joined in the work of antiracist change-making in educational and other institutions.

We encourage you to visit the Anti-Asian Violence Resource website for strategies and tools for action, as well as the Asian Americans Advancing Justice site for professional learning opportunities.

This position statement may be printed, copied, and disseminated without permission from NCTE.

March 3, 2021

This week, CCCC 2021 Program Chair Holly Hassel and event staff completed the difficult task of narrowing our list of accepted sessions by approximately 50 percent to accommodate the financial and logistical constraints of shifting from an in-person Convention to a virtual event. The CCCC Annual Convention is contracted several years in advance and typically involves a year of program planning. Moving online required months of contract renegotiation and multiple revisions to the program. Holly described this process in detail in a pair of blog posts published earlier this year, available here and here.

Throughout this process, transparency has been our watchword. However, we recognize that understanding why and how previously accepted sessions were cut from the Convention program does not mitigate the surprise, pain, and frustration of learning that your session was among those cut from the program. In a year marked by losses large and small, we are deeply sorry for inflicting an additional professional and personal disappointment.

As we move forward with CCCC 2021 preparations, we reaffirm our commitment to transparency and openness as we strive to create a welcoming, accessible, and inclusive virtual space in which to connect with one another online until we are able to come together in person once again.

The Northeast CCCC Summer Conference originally scheduled to take place at Boston University during the summer of 2020 has been moved online and will be held virtually over Zoom from July 6–7, 2021. The conference theme—Critical Literacies in the 21st Century Classroom—remains the same. For more information please see the website: https://necccc.org/

The conference program is now available.

Conference registration is open with the following rates. Registration will close at 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday, July 2, 2021.

• $40 CCCC members
• $65 NCTE members
• $115 nonmembers
• $30 for graduate student/retiree

Register here

Plan to virtually attend #4C22 with personal and professional goals in mind. Select sessions aligned to those goals and be prepared to explain how they will contribute to your professional know-how in these areas. CCCC provides a certificate of participation and has partnered with the University of San Diego to offer 3.0 graduate-level semester hours of continuing education credit. Visit the course page for further details about continuing education credit.

REGISTRATION:  Remember to register! Registration is required for all speakers.

NCTE EVENT POLICIES: Please review prior to Convention.

CCCC 2023 LAND/WATER ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Please visit this resource for researching and creating your own CCCC 2023 Land/Water Acknowledgement.

PROGRAM DETAILS:

On-demand recordings will be available for attendee viewing until May 18, 2023.

ON-DEMAND SESSIONS:

Recording:

• For your on-demand session recording, we highly recommend presenting your session just as you would at an in-person event.
  • For Panel Presentations/Roundtable Sessions: If your session is fully on demand, we request you record the session with all of your co-presenters together, either in person or as a meeting via Zoom. If you are not able to record it together as a single presentation, please combine your recordings and upload only one video file. Only one person from your session needs to upload materials.  
• The recommended length of your presentation is a minimum of 15 minutes and a maximum of 75 minutes.
• We recommend ending your presentation with a slide showing your contact information—email, website, phone number—so attendees can contact you with comments or questions.
• In order to be ADA compliant, presenters must include closed-captioning or a session transcript for all on-demand sessions. You may use whichever captioning or transcript service you’d like, but we recommend: 
  • Zoom 
  • Rev 
  • Zubtitle 
  • TranscriptionStar 
  • Handbreak

Tips and Tricks:

• Use hardwired internet service when recording 
• Use a headset for clear audio 
• Embed video clips into your PowerPoint presentation 
  • Select a slide, then go to Insert> Video 
  • Select Video on My PC. 
  • Select the video you want to add from your computer, then select Insert 
• Include proper introduction and closure; thank the audience 
• Choose a quiet environment 
• Test lighting and camera positioning prior to presentation 
• Be mindful of your background 
• Mute your microphone when not speaking 

Uploading:

Session recordings and additional materials may be uploaded via this form on the 2023 CCCC Annual Convention Website.

For your video, you may upload either an MP4 or you may send a link to the video of your session that has been uploaded to one of the following hosting services:

Preferred Video Hosting Partners: YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, SlidesLive
Other Recommended Services: Zoom Recordings, Wistia, Sprout Video, Brightcove, iPlayerHD, VeritasTV, Crowdcast, and Wix Video 

If you send a link in the form to a video that has been uploaded to another hosting platform there is no size restriction. Please set your video as unlisted, so it is only accessible via a direct link.

• Approved File Types for attaching via the form: 
  • PDF 
  • If you are uploading a video recording directly to our form, the video must be an MP4 and the size limit is 100MB. 
• If your presentation is in PowerPoint, Word, etc., please convert it to a PDF prior to uploading. 
• Please limit to one video, one handout, and one transcript file per session. We are unable to upload more than one video to the platform. 
• Your file names should include part or all of your session title depending on title length, and it should also include the file type. For example: PresentationTitle_Video, PresentationTitle_HandOut, PresentationTitle_Transcript.
  

Virtual session recordings will be available to registered attendees in the digital platform until May 18, 2023. 

The deadline to submit virtual materials is 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, February 3, 2023.

ADDITIONAL FAQ:

• What happens to presentation content after May 18, 2023?
  Presentations will be archived at NCTE for historical purposes.
• Can presenters share their own presentation outside of Convention?
  Yes, presenters are free to share their presentations outside of the 2023 CCCC Annual Convention after Convention has concluded. Please be mindful not to share presentations prior to Convention as it will devalue the program. We do, however, highly encourage you to promote your presentation on social media.
• Can video presentations be downloaded from the Convention platform?
  No, archived video presentation content will not be downloadable.
• Can I include music in my presentation?
  Music can be used in your presentation only if you own the rights, have purchased the rights for this purpose, or if you have permission to do so.

If you have additional questions regarding technical logistics for your presentations, please email us at ccccevents@ncte.org.

Several CCCC Standing Groups are holding a virtual option for their meetings in 2024 outside of the Annual Convention dates. Below you will find dates and times for Standing Groups that have provided information on virtual meetings. This list will be updated as we receive requests for meetings to be added.

Global & Non-Western Rhetorics Standing Group’s Annual Business Meeting

Meeting Date & Time: Friday, April 19, 2024, 5:00–6:15 p.m. ET

Sign up: https://tinyurl.com/GNWR-Meeting2024

Legal Writing & Rhetoric Standing Group Annual Business Meeting

Meeting Date & Time: Friday, April 19, 2024, 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m.–12:00  p.m. PT

Sign up: Please contact Lindsay Head to receive the Zoom link.

The Role of Reading in Composition Studies SIG Virtual Meeting

Meeting Date & Time: Thursday, April 18, 2024, 7:00–8:00 p.m. ET / 4:00–5:00 p.m. PT

The Role of Reading in Composition Studies SIG will be holding a virtual session in April in addition to the in-person session at the Cs. Attendees at the virtual meeting will discuss teaching and research as it relates to postsecondary reading and will also have the opportunity to put together panels and sessions focused on reading for next year’s Cs, so bring your ideas!

Sign up: Please contact Ellen Carillo at ellen.carillo@uconn.edu to receive the Zoom link.

Studio+ SIG

Meeting Date & Time: Monday, May 20, 2024, 1:00–2:30 p.m. ET

The Studio PLUS SIG works to support Studio approaches and programs being used across various educational contexts.

Sign up: Please contact Mark Sutton to request the Zoom link.

 

January 2021

As an organization dedicated to the study of the power and effects of language and discourse, we feel the need to address the events of January 6—specifically, the riots and insurrection at the Capitol building during the congressional meeting to certify the results of the 2020 election. This event, though unprecedented in its particulars, was an expression of historic white supremacist narratives, and continued a tradition of domestic terrorism by white nationalist groups and their allies and affiliates. In this sense, this event marks a continuation of this historic white nationalist narrative, and in particular, the increasingly virulent attacks on democracy. In this statement, we draw attention to the power of language to call forth and bring about action, the power of rhetoric and writing to heal our pain, and our responsibility as educators.

We condemn the actions of the rioters of January 6th in the strongest possible terms, just as we condemn the language and actions of those who worked to legitimize and enable this event. Several statements issued by professional organizations and academic institutions are now in circulation; these speak to the magnitude and impacts of the riots, as well as to our obligations as professional educators to speak to the relationships among language, power, and social formations and actions. CCCC is committed to fostering inclusivity, equity, and social justice. The violence at the Capitol and the ongoing efforts at voter suppression are clear examples of what is at stake in this work.

We reaffirm our mission as teachers and scholars of rhetoric and writing to equip students with the means to make sense of their worlds and to instruct them in practices of attending to the meaning others may be making of their own. At present, it is possible for people to exist within bubbles of harmful misinformation. These spheres of misinformation are, in fact, cultures sustained by community relations, so this is part of the exigence for the educational work to be done. To strip misinformation of its power is not only critical but relational, and is attentive to the human interests at work. As literacy educators, we have a moral obligation to cultivate rhetorical awareness, so that as communicators, students will approach harmful, hateful messaging with the means to discern the distinctions between facts and lies and the motives at work in diverse rhetorical situations. Likewise, we call upon literacy educators to redouble their pedagogical efforts toward responsible use and dissemination of information.

A path forward includes strategies for both healing and action. Even as rhetoric has been largely responsible for creating the environment in which we now find ourselves, we offer rhetoric (including the repertoire of linguistic and actionable tools afforded by its use) to facilitate something positive: healing. We can work toward healing by supporting students and members of color, by providing avenues for students to process grief through writing and discussion, and by cultivating in students the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to make ethical and responsible choices as they engage in civic discourse. Lastly, we can continue to do our part as educators to produce citizens who understand, value, and advocate democratic principles that are built on a foundation of radical representative inclusion.