University Writing Program

Conference Schedule

The University of Florida’s University Writing Program invites proposals for its third annual Conference on Pedagogy, Practice and Philosophy. Considering the proliferation of new media technologies and shifts in pedagogical practice, design, and implementation in the face-to-face as well as online or hybrid class setting, we seek presentations from graduate students and other interested faculty that address the ever-changing dynamics of the college composition classroom, while also attending to the challenges and opportunities these changes afford for both students and instructors. Proposals are by no means limited to examples of pedagogical approaches and practices for the online or hybrid classroom, or those focusing solely on new media technologies. Above all, the conference is designed as a practicum foregrounding collaboration and exchange. With that in mind, the overarching goal of this conference is to create a network for sharing effective, innovative, and creative approaches to composition pedagogy in practice. While the conference is graduate student focused, faculty members are also encouraged to participate, particularly those with experience teaching online and/or hybrid courses. We are likewise pleased to invite proposals from various other college and university instructors, faculty, and adjuncts across the disciplines, with a broader goal of sharing effective strategies for teaching elements of composition in today’s classroom.

Conference Format

Instead of having panelists read traditional twenty minute conference papers, we welcome proposals for ten to twelve minute presentations or demonstrations that illustrate pragmatic approaches, strategies, and techniques for teaching writing effectively. Accepted participants will be grouped into themed or conceptual panels, but our goal is to extend the dialog and conversation across the conference sessions. We are also open to proposals for roundtable discussions, which are to model a conversational, collaborative, and audience-centered or participatory format.

Presentation topics may include (but are not limited to):

• Online, computer-based writing instruction and assessment/feedback
• Technical and Professional communication pedagogy
• Pedagogical approaches to writing in and across the disciplines
• Collaborative learning and peer teaching and assessment
• Utilizing multimodal strategies for teaching composition
• Effective and innovative strategies for peer review processes
• Managing student collaboration in the online or hybrid classroom
• Approaches to the reading-to-writing process
• Teaching writing as a process in the traditional vs. online and/or hybrid classroom
• Exploring race, class, gender, and/or sexuality in the writing classroom
• Exploring highly controversial subject matter in the writing classroom
• Approaches to teaching and writing about visual rhetoric
• Current-traditional rhetoric, expressivism, and epistemic pedagogy models
• Creating teaching moments during office hours and/or instructor-student conferences
• Prewriting techniques and strategies emphasizing writing as a process
• Research strategies and methodologies: using libraries and available online resources

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Susan Lang is Professor of English, Integrated Scholar, and Director of the First-Year Writing Program at Texas Tech University. Her research interests include big data and writing program administration, working specifically with first-year writing program development, assessment, data and text mining as well as Web 3.0 and social media integration, and faculty engagement—all while serving on a number of committees that impact Texas Tech’s students and faculty directly, such as the Core Curriculum Committee, the QEP Development Committee, and the Writing Advisory Committee. She has published many pedagogical and theoretical essays appearing in such journals as College Composition and Communication, Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, College English, The WAC Journal, and Computers and Composition, having also co-authored numerous other articles, and book chapters related to her teaching and research interests. She is currently finishing a two-year, almost completely quantitatively driven study of how students and instructors use e-handbooks. Dr. Lang has also been affiliated with the Drama League of New York, initially as a web designer and consultant, and, for the last eight years, member of the Board of Directors, and has participated in cross-cultural collaborations with Bulgarian and Romanian artists over the last five years.

Submission

To submit a proposal for an individual presentation, please email a 250 word abstract in .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf format to Chris Gage at cgage@ufl.edu. Be sure to include your contact information, affiliation, and position/title on the abstract. To propose a roundtable, please email a description of the discussion, a rationale of what it seeks to accomplish and why it is significant, and the names, affiliations, and positions/titles of each participant. Proposals must be submitted no later than November 21st. Accepted participants will be notified by December 1st. For further information about UF’s Writing Program, visit http://writing.ufl.edu/.