In June of this year, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in the U.S. dechartered the Conference on College Composition and Communication (more colloquially known as the 4Cs). Many of us have attended CCCC events, either online or in-person. Even more of us have benefitted from CCCC resources. Over the last month, the Canadian Writing Centres Association/Association Canadienne des Centres de Rédaction (CWCA/ACCR) and Canadian Association of Study of Discourse and Writing/Association Canadienne de Rédactologie (CASDW/ACR) worked together to draft a statement of solidarity to share with our sister association, the 4Cs. We are sharing this statement with you in the spirit of solidarity. If you have any questions about the drafting and approval process, please let us know.
The CASDW/ACR and CWCA/ACCR Statement of Solidarity with the CCCC
The Canadian Writing Centres Association/Association Canadienne des Centres de Rédaction (CWCA/ACCR) and The Canadian Association of Study of Discourse and Writing/Association Canadienne de Rédactologie (CASDW/ACR) stand in solidarity with the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) as this crucial organization navigates new territory following the alarming and hasty decision by the NCTE to decharter the CCCC. Canadian colleagues join with you in navigating the systematic and ongoing undercutting of our field on both sides of the border.
The de-chartering of a 77-year-old organization has sent shockwaves across the Canadian writing studies community. Many of us have attended CCCC conventions, benefitted from position statements, learned from workshops, and participated in cross-border collaboration with colleagues. In our Canadian context (where the field is relatively new by comparison to U.S. contexts), we look to the CCCC for guidance and also ethos for our field, sharing key statements and other resources as needed. The CCCC is a significant resource for scholars and instructors in Canada (a colonial nation) with only two major writing studies associations that address both writing studies as a field more broadly as well as writing centre studies (as a specialized field within it) and one peer-reviewed journal titled Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie (DW/R).
We are heartened to see our U.S. colleagues coming together, holding symposiums, sharing statements and planning for a post-NCTE future. Similarly, in our Canadian context, our field has long learned to be resilient, withstanding funding cuts, lack of resources, and deprofessionalization. While we in Canada are a relatively small contingent of scholars, we offer not only our solidarity but the following supports, if needed:
- During the transition time, we are archiving materials crafted by the CCCC and directing members to these materials that can fuel advocacy work in their own contexts as well as those abroad.
- Our boards will connect with members of the executive of the CCCC to see what support we can provide and what collective lessons we can document to fuel pushback against precarity in writing studies, in Canada, the USA, and beyond.
- Canada has specific privacy laws that protect information from political turmoil and bad decisions. We are happy to both protect information and share resources.
Despite the uncertainty our U.S. colleagues face right now, the CASDW/ACR and the CWCA/ACCR remain committed to the work of nourishing the writing studies community in Canada and contributing to similar ones abroad in dynamic ways. We join hands with the CCCC in the journey towards its reincarnation.
Marci Prescott-Brown (University of Toronto) President of the CWCA/ACCR
Christin Taylor (Wilfrid Laurier University) Vice President CWCA/ACCR
Sreemali Herath (University of Manitoba) President of the CASDW/ACR
Sara Humphreys (University of Victoria), Vice President CASDW/ACR