"SUSTAINABILITY and WRITING" CONFERENCE SUNY COW 3/30/12 - 3/31/12 PROPOSALS DUE 2/1/12

full name / name of organization: 
SUNY Council on Writing

Call for Proposals "Sustainability and Writing"
SUNY Council on Writing Annual Conference
Fashion Institute of Technology – SUNY, NYC, March 30 – 31, 2012
www.fitnyc.edu/sunycow

PROPOSALS DUE FEBRUARY 1, 2012

Friday Evening Speaker: Jeff Vandeberg, Architect, Chelsea Market

Saturday Luncheon Speaker: Dr. Amy Kimme Hae, Rhetoric, Composition, & Teaching of English Program, University of Arizona

The Fashion Institute of Technology and the SUNY Council on Writing welcome proposals for "Sustainability and Writing" to be held March 30 – 31 2012 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC.

With sustainability at the forefront of so many campus conversations, writing teachers and tutors are prompted to consider how the sustainability movement is influencing our work with students and institutions. Growing concern over population growth, climate change, renewable resources, social justice and environmental issues prompts us to consider how the 21st century literacy practices relate to these concerns.

Activist and writer Paul Hawken discusses the relationship between culture, the environment, and language, stating: "If languages were fungible objects, their loss would have little meaning. But if languages are living things, inextricably intertwined with biological diversity, the loss of ʻverbal botaniesʼ is irreparable, and a monoglot globe is as unthinkable as a world with only one species of tree, flower, and bird." If we think of writing, as Hawken writes of language, as a living thing, how might we construct more diverse curricula in writing studies, in teaching students about genre, in asking students to use writing for civic and social reasons? How has writing already changed in response to the many social and environmental movements that are emerging internationally?

This yearʼs SUNY COW conference theme "Sustainability and Writing" asks us to consider how writing is intertwined in environmental issues, but it also asks us to think about the ecology of writing, writing programs, and the teaching of writing. How is the concept of sustainability changing or influencing the field of writing? How are writing programs adapting to speak to emerging theories of sustainability?

We welcome proposals that consider a range of approaches to the topic in terms of one of the following:
 First-year Writing
 Writing Program Administration
 Writing Across the Curriculum
 Writing Centers
 Secondary Writing Instruction
 Writing and Technology
 Teaching and/or Tutoring Writing

Please visit www.fitnyc.edu/sunycow for more conference information and to submit your proposal.