Category: Uncategorized

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 and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are holding a virtual option for their meetings in 2026, which occur during and following the 2026 CCCC Annual Convention. Below you will find dates and times for Standing Groups and SIGs 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

Meeting Date & Time: Friday, March 6, 2026, 3:30–5:00 p.m. ET

Please join us for the annual business meeting of the Global & Non-Western Rhetorics Standing Group. Our business meetings focus on updating attendees on our group members’ accomplishments and discussing new opportunities, upcoming events, and our expanding web presence. For 2026, we will also undertake a semi-structured discussion of the Standing Group’s inception, evolution, and future direction, including institutional and extra-institutional challenges to that direction. All scholars interested in GNWR studies are welcome to join. To accommodate our members who live or work abroad, or who are otherwise unable to attend the annual Conference on College Composition and Communication, we will conduct our annual business meetings remotely via Zoom. Registration is required to help us track attendance. If folks need to disconnect a little early in order to get to the CCCC annual business meeting, that’s not a problem.

Sign up: Please contact Tarez Graban for a Zoom registration link.

The Role of Reading in Composition Studies SIG Virtual Meeting

Meeting Date & Time: Monday, March 16, 2026, 7:30–8:30 p.m. ET

The Role of Reading in Composition Studies SIG will be holding a virtual session in addition to the in-person session at the Cs. We look forward to sharing and discussing current research on reading, as well as exploring best practices for teaching reading. We anticipate that issues related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as teaching reading in this time of heightened political rhetoric and misinformation will likely arise in these discussions. We will also discuss Eric Levitz’s “Is the Decline of Reading Poisoning our Politics?” You are not required to read this article, and we will provide a summary of it for those who do not. We look forward to using this article as a jumping off point for discussion– for those interested– but will likely move beyond the article to address a range of issues of interest to attendees.

Sign up: Please contact Ellen Carillo to request the Zoom link and a PDF of the article.

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.

Friday, November 13, 2020
1:00–2:30 p.m. ET

View the webinar recording

CCCC membership is required in order to attend or view a recording of this webinar. Join now.

This panel features four recipients of the 2020 CCCC Gloria Anzaldúa Rhetorician Award and the CCCC Scholars for the Dream Travel Award. The presentations will be followed by an audience-driven Q&A session as well as networking time.

Presenters:

S. Brook Corfman, University of Pittsburgh
“Against Performance: Conference Themes and Trans Critique”
Spurred by the generic and uncritical use of “performance” across presentations at the 2019 CCCC conference—quite distinct from Vershawn Ashanti Young’s call—I bring trans studies and composition into conversation, including trans studies’ critiques of performance theories. I question when and how composition turns to other fields for its methods and innovations, showing how the tension of the composition–performance–trans studies triangle elucidates composition’s broader habits of borrowing without speaking back to other areas of cultural study.

Elise Dixon, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
“Making and Unmaking: What the Lesbian Avengers Taught Me about Writing”
This presentation details a queer and cultural rhetorics framework for understanding how queer communities’ communal composing practices allow them to enact the process of world making. Through ethnographically informed qualitative interviews, I detail themes related to making from former members of the Lesbian Avengers—an activist group prominent in the 1990s—to illuminate how the communal practice of making is a deliberate and complex rhetorical act of world building, especially for marginalized communities. I conclude by discussing what lessons (academic) leaders can learn from activist organizations such as the Avengers and how to apply those lessons in their administration.

Florianne (Bo) Jimenez, University of Massachusetts Amherst
“Echoing and Resistant Imagining: Cultural Rhetorics and Decoloniality in Filipino Student Writing”
I’ll be presenting my research on Filipino student writing during the American colonization of the Philippines at the turn of the twentieth century. Using theories from cultural rhetorics and decolonial thinking, I offer an overview of the transnational discourses on race, class, and language that collided at the colonial schoolhouse and analyze how student writers negotiated, resisted, and subverted US colonial ideology through writing in English.

Loretta Ramirez, California State University, Long Beach
“Critical Pedagogy and Chicanx Rhetorical Inheritances: Recovering Chicanx Historical Genealogies to Decolonize Composition Classrooms”
Developing insights from my work in decolonial theory and the long history of Chicanx visual and textual rhetorics, this presentation examines ways in which introducing genealogies of cultural rhetorics into the composition classroom may foster inclusive practices. By contextualizing student rhetoric within various cultural inheritances, I suggest that writing programs might better foster strategies wherein students enter their own historical rhetorical lineages to locate, assess, and participate in the formation of their own academic voices.

Moderator:

Timothy Oleksiak, University of Massachusetts Boston
Timothy Oleksiak is an assistant professor of English and director of the Professional and New Media Writing program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. His work on queer listening and rhetoric has appeared or is forthcoming in Composition Studies, PRE/TEXT, College Composition and Communication, Peitho, and Pedagogy.

 

Respondent:

Jackie Rhodes, Michigan State University
Jackie Rhodes is professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University. A two-time cowinner of the CCCC Lavender Rhetorics Award (for Techne: Queer Meditations on Writing the Self and Sexual Rhetorics: Methods, Identities, Publics), she focuses her scholarly work on intersections of rhetoric, sexuality, and technology.

 

Share your learning on Twitter at #4Cchat.

View additional webinars in the CCCC Webinar Series.