17th Annual Fall Carolinas Writing Program Administrators Conference
September 12-14, 2022
Proposal deadline: 11:59 p.m., Thursday, September 1, 2022
Visit this link to register and submit a proposal to speak and visit the Fall Conference website to pay for your registration.
Theme: Presence, Attendance, and Engagement
As we attempt to live and work through difficult times, many of us struggle with questions about how to get by as teachers and scholars, let alone how to persevere or thrive.
Even when students are physically or virtually present, they may not be attending to the concerns we want them to in order to succeed in class. Asking for them to engage with us and with their peers in that work, as important and necessary as it may be, can feel even more daunting, especially when we can barely summon the strength to engage them or our work ourselves. Recognizing and embracing reciprocal teaching and learning invites students to not only be active learners, but also invites them to be teachers. This is a critical component in reciprocity and one that serves everyone that crosses the threshold of a classroom.
And yet we need to do so in order to perform the critical work of our profession: reciprocal teaching, learning, administering programs, and sharing knowledge as well as administrating our writing programs.
Beyond the classroom, we are members of our local communities. How can we similarly be present in our communities, attending to their–and our–needs, and also engaging them in beneficial, productive, and supportive ways? How can we locate what we need to thrive and how can we offer contributions that, in turn, support our communities?
Put more briefly: how do we facilitate presence, attendance, and engagement?
Carolinas WPA invites submissions for presentations, discussion roundtables, workshop ideas, or other forms of conversation-starters to be held at our fall conference at Wildacres Retreat in Little Switzerland, NC, on Sept. 12-14, 2022.
- Presentations can include (but certainly are limited in imagination!) traditional presentations of research, concepts you’ve tried with meaningful success in the classroom, ideas around pedagogy and teaching you feel are worth sharing, reflections from the field, and so much more! (30 or 60 minute presentations, including Q&A)
- Discussion roundtables involve large or small group dialogue around a central theme or subtopic. These can include case studies, “problem/solution” scenarios, or practical applications that benefit from group discussions. Responses to published think pieces related to our field or provoking questions that help usher meaningful reflection are also invited. (45 or 60 minute presentations, including Q&A)
- Workshop ideas are more participatory. These might include developing assignment concepts, revising syllabi based on research, reflection, or new pedagogical approaches, exploring new classroom activities, etc. (45 or 60 minute presentations, including Q&A)
- Other possibilities are concepts that are still in creation mode. Maybe it’s an idea you have brewing for publication, or a larger conference. Maybe it’s the beginning stages of IRB study that you’d like feedback for. Maybe it’s just space to share reflections on the past few years and hear, “me, too.” (30 or 60 minute presentations, including Q&A)
Proposals include:
- Names and contact information (email, phone, home institution) for each person associated with your proposal
- Type of presentation/roundtable/workshop/etc. and time requested, if any
- A title and 200-word (more or less) description for the program
Deadline for proposals: Thursday, September 1, 2022
We recognize that there are many reasons for caution about an in-person conference, especially a rural retreat, during the COVID pandemic. Wildacres has available at the top of its home page a “Commitment to Care Plan” document outlining the protocols the staff has in place for visitors: https://wildacres.org/ . Additionally, we will look at CDC recommendations leading up to Wildacres. At the moment, we will ask participants to mask indoors during presentations and group meetings. Outdoor and inside personal occupancy spaces (bedrooms) will be left to participant discretion. Please note, masking policies are subject to change. Our wish is to be respectful and safe!
Questions can be sent to Kevin Brock (brockkm2@mailbox.sc.edu) or Shawn Bowers (bowerss@queens.edu).