Thinking and Writing Beyond Two Cultures:
STEM, WAC/WID, and the Changing Academy

In 2008 The Times Literary Supplement included the publication of C. P. Snow's 1959 Rede Lecture, The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution, on its list of the 100 books that have most influenced Western public discourse since the Second World War. Although Snow's lecture prompted a dustup between scientists and literary elites over who could lay claim to the superior form of knowledge, over time the sides and tenor of the "Two Cultures Debate" have changed. As the debate has expanded throughout the natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences to include various disciplinary groups and the beliefs, attitudes, and perspectives with which they are bound together as "cultures," it has evolved into a conversation about how knowledge is recognized, valued, and taught across the cultures of the university. The 2014 conference aims to advance this conversation through presentations that attend to the unfolding legacy of the Two Cultures Debate as well as those that revisit and challenge Snow's original formulation.

The conference will be organized into three categories, each focusing on a different dimension of the debate: Philosophy and Politics; Pedagogies, Programs, and Curricula; Critical Thinking and Writing. While scholars and teachers are invited to submit proposals that engage in or with one of these dimensions of the debate, the conference intends to promote, across categories, a multidimensional conversation that addresses the following questions (and perhaps others):

How do linkages between critical thinking and writing operate within and/or even define a "culture" of the university?

How do linkages between critical thinking and writing vary among cultures that exist as the major divisions of knowledge (natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences), within the major divisions of knowledge (biology, literature, criminal justice, etc.), and across the major divisions of knowledge (science journalism, sports studies, medical humanities, etc.)?

How are linkages between critical thinking and writing shared across the cultures of the
university?

How might linkages between critical thinking and writing influence and/or be influenced by the shifting cultures of the university?

How do linkages between critical thinking and writing interface with technology in and/or across the cultures of the university?

How might linkages between critical thinking and writing be part of integrating high school
students and their prior knowledge into the cultures of the university?

How might linkages between critical thinking and writing aid in transfer of learning within and/or across the cultures of the university?

How might linkages between critical thinking and writing in and/or across the cultures of the university prepare students for graduate and/or professional work?

Submit proposals to Paul Pasquaretta, Coordinator of the Research and Writing Institute: paul.pasquaretta@quinnipiac.edu. We welcome both individual and group proposals. Panel sessions will be 90 minutes to allow for discussion; individual presentations will be limited to 20 minutes. Please include the following in your proposal:

•Conference category
•Title of panel/presentation
•Information about each presenter:
name
full title/position; department/program
institutional affiliation
phone number and email
•500-750 word abstract/session description. Please include the following:
purpose/goals for proposed session
connection to conference theme
expected outcomes/take-away for participants
section activities (if applicable)
selected references (not included in word count)
•Equipment and materials needed (computer, projector, internet access, audio speakers, white board, flipchart, etc.)

Deadline for Proposals: Friday, May 23, 2014

Presenters are invited to submit their work for review for publication in Volume 3 (2015) of Double Helix: A Journal of Critical Thinking and Writing: http://qudoublehelixjournal.org/index.php/dh/index

For more information about "Thinking and Writing Beyond Two Cultures," contact Paul Pasquaretta, Coordinator of the Quinnipiac University Research and Writing Institute, at 203-582-8509 or paul.pasquaretta@quinnipiac.edu.