The ECWCA 2013 Conference will be hosted at Clarion University on April 12-13, 2013.

Call for Papers [Deadline for Proposals is 2/15/13]

The things that we share in our world are far more powerful than the things that divide us.
–Donald Williams, American astronaut

“Commons” are resources owned or shared by everyone. This year, the Writing Center at Clarion
University is exploring the idea of language as “commons” and writing centers as sites of
commons activity—like the Boston Common or the Critical Commons. Clarion will host the East
Central Writing Center Association Conference on April 12-13, 2013, and we invite you to help
us think through ethical, philosophical, and practical questions such as:

• Is language, in fact, a commons?
• Language is often a means of exclusion, for example, the long history of English only initiatives, shame inflicted on ESL/ELL students because of their academic writing. How might the idea of commons help mediate long-held assumptions about language and difference?
• What is the role of the writing center as a site of language-commons activity?
• Historically, the commons are often juxtaposed with enclosure. Are modern notions of authorship or ownership of language a form of enclosure? What about censorship?
• How do ideas of social authorship/collaborative authorship/communal authorship interact with “traditional” academic practice?
• In a world of increasing connectivity between media and text (that is typically encouraged, mind you), why has there not been a push for this same connectivity for authorship? What is the line between the individual and the communal and where/when do they collide?
• How can writing centers help students understand the gray area of authorship when experts still struggle?
• Where does intellectual property end and “common knowledge” begin? How do writing centers help student negotiate the boundary?
• The internet has changed the way we present ideas. Language has become abbreviated, and big ideas are broken down into short summaries that can be accessed and processed quickly. Is more basic information part of the commons, free of authorship, or do we have to attribute these summaries to those who compile them?
• What role does stewardship play in language-as-commons? Is there are responsible way to use language? A right way?
• Language-as-commons recasts received notions of collaboration and collusion. How do consultants share examples and ideas to the students without crossing this obscured line?

We invite proposals for individual or panel presentations, poster session, roundtable, or workshop. Submit proposals here. Proposals are due by midnight on February 15, 2013.

For more information about the ECWCA 2013 Conference, please contact Dr. Chris McCarrick at Clarion University: cmccarrick@clarion.edu or 814-393-2739.