The Futures of Writing Centres
Call for Proposals
CWCA/ACCR 2024 Virtual Conference
May 22-24, 2024
Deadline extended to February 24, 2024.
Access a PDF version of this Call for Proposals.
Introduction
Feelings of excitement and uncertainty regarding the new and emerging year have served as a collective reminder that individuals who work in Writing Centres1 constantly have an opportunity to shape the future, for our institutions and ourselves. As continuing to move forward is the only option, how should we do so? How do we move with and embrace the possibilities while still being tired from all we have endured and continue to endure?
Deva Woodly explores futurity as “the conviction that the part of the story one is living in is not and cannot be the whole of it” (2021, p. 206). Woodly’s holistic perspective on futurity encourages us to actively embrace the past and the present as important parts of looking toward, planning for, and creating the future. Thus, while futurism “demands a dynamic imagining of the future in a new age,” many remind us that engagement with the past is necessary for imagining a better future (Tan, 2023, para. 1). Métis writer, professor and lawyer, Chelsea Vowel, writes, “uncovering Black/Indigenous presence in the past, then asserting our existence in the present and into the future can be a way of seeing into, or even making, better futures” (2022, p. 12). This making of better futures is critical for José Esteban Muñoz (2009) who views queerness, not as a way of being, but as a way of doing, a performing of potential that unfolds out of past moments and enacts queer utopian possibilities. Writing centre futurism requires that we take what has been lived and learned—about our colonial, ableist, and hetero-normative institutions and communities—to see our way into and enact better futures for all.
With the theme “The Futures of Writing Centres” the Canadian Writing Centres Association/L’Association canadienne des centres de rédaction invites reflection on the current state of writing centres and, more specifically, how writing centres will need to adapt to the many uncertainties of their many futures. We invite you to consider how writing centres, and those impacted by them, will continue to meaningfully address what lies ahead considering the effects of the past, the weight of the present, and the fears of/for the future. With this call, we invite engagement from all colleagues involved in writing instruction inside and outside of writing centres. We encourage submissions from students, staff, and faculty in contingent, contract, or permanent roles of all writing-related fields of study and all intersecting identities. We specifically invite both speculative research and empirical research, including RAD (Replicable, Aggregable, and Data-driven) research studies.
1“A writing centre is a physical and virtual space where writers learn more about the practice and process of communication, primarily through writing but increasingly through audio and visual modes as well. Writing centres under different names (e.g., Learning Centre, Writing Studio, Writing Hub, Academic or Scholarly Communication Centre, Learning Commons), remain writing centres as long as their primary purpose is supporting the development of writing and writers” (CWCA/ACCR, 2021).
Proposal Prompts and Questions
Here are some prompts to motivate your thinking:
- What are ethical and meaningful ways to think about “futures,” when the present is already so fraught, complex, and demanding?
- How do we maintain engagement when we are exhausted and when our labour is unrecognized and underappreciated?
- How do we meaningfully address the emotional labour of writing centre work?
- What dreams do we have about how linguistic justice can be enacted in the future, in light of AI tools and their bias toward the “privileged, majority language user” (Nee et al., 2022, p. 1)?
- What future do we envision for writing centres through the lens of racial justice? How should writing centres enact commitments to antiracism and advocate for disruption of the status quo while existing in institutions that are, in many cases, founded on racist and colonial ideologies?
- What are fears we have about “the future” and how can we thoughtfully address them as a community?
- How can we do fear differently?
- What race, queer, gender, disability, class, and intersectional community contexts and concerns are top of mind for people in these communities? How can we ensure that writing centres will do the work now that is needed to create safe and accountable spaces for these communities in the future?
- What lessons do we need to carry from the past and present to see our way into these futures?
- How do we reconcile the great work being published regarding futurism and disability justice (e.g., Stafford et al., 2022; Dembsey, 2020) with the underlying assumptions in our institutions that disabled students are required to learn in an environment not created for them, get “fixed,” and overcome?
- How do we positively impact the future in the context of precarious employment?
- As a significant portion of writing centre staff are peer tutors and contract staff, who may transition to other studies and careers, how might these individuals translate their writing centre relationships, activism, learnings and practices into other disciplines and domains?
- How do we contend with “returning to normal” when “normal” was always a problematic idea and an exclusionary myth?
- How do we challenge the movement toward de-professionalization that we see in our field? How do we create writing centre futures that are open and accessible while simultaneously supporting administrators to value the work of writing centre professionals?
- How do we plan and look forward to the future of writing centres in the face of complex world events, including the climate crisis?
- (How) can we refuse “business as usual” and “Standard Operating Procedures” in these contexts and in the creation of writing centre futures?
Proposals may also extend to other topics and areas of study in the writing centre and writing studies fields. In other words, if it’s about writing and you aren’t sure if it fits, submit it!
Format of Presentations
Presentations will be virtual. We will accept proposals in the following formats:
Presentation Panels
Presentations can share a study, or an evidence-based pedagogical practice, on engaging writing centre experiences and stories, and on research into the history, theory, philosophies, and praxes of writing centres.
Presentations are programmed into one-hour timeslots. Single presentations are usually 15 minutes in length and can be delivered by a single presenter or a group of co-presenters. The conference committee will organize accepted proposals for single presentations into thematic groupings which will follow this format:
- Presentation A – 15 minutes
- Presentation B – 15 minutes
- Presentation C – 15 minutes
- Q&A – 15 minutes
Alternatively, proposals can be submitted for a thematic grouping of presentations to fill the entire one-hour timeslot, using the format above.
Roundtables/Conversations
In Indigenous methodologies: Characteristics, conversations and contexts, Nêhiyaw and Saulteaux scholar Dr. Margaret Kovach (2009) writes, “An open-structured conversational method shows respect for the participant’s story and allows research participants greater control over what they share with respect to the research question” (p. 124). While Kovach’s focus is on conversational methods for conducting research, we invite conference participants to share in conversations and stories in the ethos she describes.
Roundtables/Conversations are 30 minutes long. These sessions are ideal for works-in-progress, pedagogical innovations, case studies, story swaps, and taking up an issue currently being discussed in our field. Roundtables/Conversations can be led by an individual or a group. Individually-led Roundtables/Conversations should invite conversation and/or stories from participants, whereas group-led Roundtables/Conversations can invite attendees to listen in on a group’s conversation or story exchange.
Proposals should indicate the session’s focus, why it is of interest to writing centre colleagues, and whether the session will be individually-led or group-led. Individually led sessions should indicate how you plan to engage in an active and dynamic conversation with participants. For a story swap, please provide the theme of stories that you are interested in sharing and inviting others to share about their writing centre foundations and experiences. For case study discussions, please include central elements of the case study that you are looking to work through with colleagues.
Interactive Workshops
Workshops are an opportunity to model a practice, strategy or innovation with your colleagues through collaborative hands-on activities. Proposals should clearly describe the practice you intend to feature, the overall structure of the session, and how you will actively engage the participants. Workshops are typically 50 minutes in length.
Virtual Writing, Research and Pedagogy Poster Session
This Virtual Writing, Research and Pedagogy Poster Session will offer opportunities to showcase writing centre practices. Have an exciting new program you are proud of? Clever new handouts or resources? A poster detailing a research project? A video walkthrough of your centre? Proposals should clearly describe what you intend to showcase, and the materials you will present (poster, audio, and/or video).
We intend to use technology to replicate the experience of wandering a poster hall at an in-person conference, virtually. Presenters will have the opportunity to showcase their materials (poster, audio, and/or video) online and interact in real-time with conference attendees.
Your Suggestions
We are open to other presentations — add these to your proposals.
Presenter Resources
● Even at a virtual conference, include a land acknowledgment! Here is a resource to support creating a meaningful land acknowledgment
● Accessibility best practices for conference presentations
● How-to support & resources for creating accessible digital documents & images
● Learn how to remove personal information from a word document
Submission Information
Proposals due: January 28, 2024 – Deadline extended to February 11, 2024.
Proposal abstract: 70-100 words
Detailed proposal descriptions: 300 words
How to Submit
Follow these steps:
1) Complete this form
2) Submit a de-identified .docx file to cwcaconference@gmail.com using the session title as the document title. A de-identified document is one where your personal information has been removed from both the content in the document and the document metadata. You can learn how to do this from the resource above.
Become a Reviewer!
Contact the conference committee at cwcaconference@gmail.com
References and Reading
CWCA/ACCR. (2021). CWCA/ACCR position statement on Writing Centres in Canada.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IfhPvcR8lv9_k4pKJkDf4psCrWV_YjMg/view
Dembsey, J. M. (2020). Naming ableism in the writing centre. Praxis: A Writing Centre Journal, 18(1). https://www.praxisuwc.com/181-dembsey
Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous methodologies: Characteristics, conversations and contexts. University of Toronto Press.
Muñoz, J.E. (2009). Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity. NYU Press.
Nee, J., Macfarlane Smith, G., Sheares, A., & Rustagi, I. (2022). Linguistic justice as a framework for designing, developing, and managing natural language processing tools. Big Data & Society, 9(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517221090930
Stafford, L., Vanik, L., & Bates, L. K. (2022). Disability justice and urban planning.
Planning Theory & Practice, 23(1), 101-142. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2022.2035545
Tan, G. (2023, May 10). Indigenous futurism: A way forward? Upstart. https://www.upstart.net.au/indigenous-futurism-a-way-forward/
Vowel, C. (2022). Buffalo is the new Buffalo. Arsenal Pulp Press.
Woodly, D. R. (2021). Conclusion: On futurity. In Reckoning: Black Lives Matter and the democratic necessity of social movements (pp. 206-216). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197603949.003.0007
Conference Chair
We’re excited to introduce Megan Gregorchuk as this year’s conference chair.
Hi everyone! My name is Megan Gregorchuk and I am the Chair of the 2024 CWCA/ACCR conference. I’m currently a graduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University completing my Master of Education in Student Affairs. I’ve been an Academic Writing Tutor through Wilfrid Laurier’s Writing Centre for four years and have had the privilege of tutoring as an undergraduate and graduate student. Through this role, I continue to help reimagine what it means to be a tutor in the higher education setting and make a difference for the writers we work with.
My key areas of research interest have centred around coping with emotional labour, accessibility, and applying Universal Design for Learning in the writing centre context. I’m excited to be organizing this year and I look forward to another great conference!