Call for Proposals
Blurring Boundaries: Opening Rhetorical Space(s)
CCCC’s Feminisms Workshop, Indianapolis, Indiana
March 19, 2014
Proposal Deadline: February 28, 2015
The Feminisms Workshop, co-sponsored by the CCCC Committee on the Status of Women, will address how feminist scholarship and pedagogy blurs the boundaries of existing knowledge and works towards the opening of rhetorical spaces that may allow for more diverse visions.
The workshop will examine the following questions in relationship to the topics that we propose: What are the relationships between the past, present and future for feminists in rhetoric & composition? How does our discourse reflect the rhetorical spaces we occupy? What spaces are open to us at different points in time and from differing subjectivities? What spaces are we opening for ourselves? How are we able to transform the academy through the context of coming together in workshops for collaborative learning?
Building on previous years workshops, we are organizing a series of presentations and opportunities to respond to participants’ research in progress. Roundtable discussions enable us to rethink the spaces we occupy and thus discuss how to open and enter such spaces, provide tools for negotiating within them, and make them more welcoming and accessible to others.
Seven invited speakers will guide us through several spaces as we explore the following topics:
Kristi Cole addresses the history of the feminist workshop and the impact of the workshop on women's publishing and career development.
Rebecca Dingo develops a transnational literacy that enacts a networked understanding of women’s oppression and reorients common narratives away from typical savior themes.
Jessica Enoch addresses how feminist historians of rhetoric have accomplished a great deal in recovering figures lost or silenced history through historiographic scholarship.
Maureen Googin considers how Western feminist activism has taken a radical turn moving beyond traditional rhetorical strategies of public protest and confrontation.
Cindy Selfe addresses the voices of women and explores the intersecting resonances they have with globalization, the material conditions of women, digital composing environments, and the power of writing.
Jill Morris considers sexism at technology related conferences and will discuss obstacles to publishing, presenting, and doing research within digital rhetoric.
Gesa Kirsch explores the challenges of “strategic compilation,” as it requires the researcher to draw on the intuitive, reflective, introspective dimensions of the research process, which are rarely showcased in the professional literature or taught in graduate research seminars.
We invite proposals that respond to the above questions for our research-in-progress groups. These workshops will afford participants the opportunity to present and/or discuss their work in progress with featured presenters and peers.
Groups will meet to discuss various challenges, share research ideas, provide feedback on potential publications, or strategize ways of addressing professional and pedagogical issues within the composition classroom. Participants will have the opportunity to focus on their own professional interests as well as to engage in discussions that will help to critique and diversify feminist scholarship and mentoring models.
Please submit a 250-word proposal (1 page double-spaced) to participate in these working groups, indicating if you plan to compose an outline of a current project to present in a panel format (with questions and answers after), or a 5-8 minute presentation that you would like to share and discuss with others. Submit your proposal to [log in to unmask] by December 1, 2013.
Accepted presenters and titles will be listed on the program. You may appear on the Feminist Workshop program in addition to having a speaking role at the Conference on College Composition and Communication.
Questions? Email: [log in to unmask]
We look forward to seeing you there!