Corridors Mid-Michigan 2018:
The Great Lakes Writing and Rhetoric Conference @ Saginaw Valley State University
Proposal deadline extended! Proposals will be accepted through Friday, August 17.
The Rhetoric and Professional Writing Department at Saginaw Valley State University invites you to propose ideas for the second annual Corridors: Great Lakes Writing and Rhetoric Conference on Saturday, September 29, 2018 in Saginaw, Michigan. The Corridors Conference emerged from and reimagines the WIDE-EMU (un)conference co-sponsored by the Eastern Michigan University Written Communication program and the Michigan State University Center for Research on Writing, Information, and Digital Experience from 2012-2016. An (un)conference is like most other conferences, only this one is FREE (!) to attend. To keep the conference sustainable, a DIY disposition is embraced by organizers and encouraged in attendees. One small example of such a disposition might be to reuse a name tag from another conference. Or you might print out your own name badge from a template.
We encourage proposals that respond to the conference theme:
Writing Out Loud!
This year’s conference theme emphasizes writing on and beyond the page and screen. We ask participants to imagine the many ways writing might be seen, heard, or felt, how it resonates or reverberates among and between pages, screens, t-shirts, posters, headphones/speakers, and public spaces in powerful and resounding ways. Whether personal, political, professional, or scholarly, our world is expression, figuratively and literally. Printed texts remain relevant, but complement and compete with a variety of other methods for communication. Writing Out Loud! invites us to explore in the context of two-plus decades of epistemological, historical, and pedagogical study of literacies in and beyond text(s).
“As many scholars in the last decade and a half have argued,” Jennifer Sheppard reminds us in “The Rhetorical Work of Multimedia Production Practices,” “constantly evolving technologies for communication provide us with a rich and diverse set of resources for expression beyond written text.” In the decade since Sheppard’s article, scholarship and pedagogy in Rhetoric and Writing Studies continues to frame the significance of working with and through texts that exist on and beyond the page/screen. For example, in “Mapping the Research Questions in Technical Communication,” Carolyn Rude grounds the field’s central (research) question as: “How do texts (print, digital, multimedia; visual, verbal) and related communication practices mediate knowledge, values, and action in a variety of social and professional contexts?” And considering the relatively untapped capacity of oral/aural texts within the field (especially within technical and professional communication), Moe Folk argues: “Real voice is perhaps the ultimate primary source, every single utterance packing a block quote of additional information for listeners to unpack along with the meaning of the words themselves.”
We invite panelists and participants to engage in reflection upon writing as a means of being resonant, resounding, of participating, or being heard. Explorations might seek to connect in a variety of ways, but we encourage proposals that examine intersections with four overarching concepts and constructs: media, modalities, motives, and movements.
(Design, Delivery) Media
In what ways does the medium of articulation and expression for writing impact, influence, and inform the expression itself?
(Generative, Genre) Modalities
In what ways does the (single-, multi-, inter-) modality of writing impact, influence, and inform the expression itself?
(Personal, Professional, Political) Motives
In what ways does the internal motivation of the writer impact, influence, and inform the outcome of the act of writing?
(Social, Spatial) Movements
In what ways do social, spatial, and shared movements shape the delivery and reception of writing?
Session Formats
We invite proposals configured to fit the following session formats.
- Talk—Talk sessions feature four 12-minute segments for speakers.
- Make/Do—Make/Do sessions feature demonstrations or guided acts of creation as the outcomes. One speaker or group leads the full session.
- Collaborate—Collaborate sessions feature roundtable discussions focused on the intersection of the conference theme with the following topical frames: (1) professional development for grad students and early career writing scholars; (2) WAC/WID; (3) FYE/General Education; and (4) Writing Centers. Discussion will spark from five-minute, evocative conversation starters presented by 8-10 speakers per session.
Each session runs 70 minutes. Space will also be available for ad hoc, on-the-fly, spontaneous discussion, action, and collaboration.
Click here to submit your proposal.
**"free," sort of.
That’s right—Corridors is a free conference in that we will not be charging any registration fee. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. But keeping things free requires a "DIY" spirit. We ask that you print a copy of the schedule and program from the web site before coming and bring your own name tag—any from any other conference will do, or make your own. You are also on your own for all beverages, food, and lodging (for those who wish to stay over instead of making it a truly one day experience).