CALL FOR PAPERS

Writing the World Symposium – April 18-20, 2012
A regional, interdisciplinary conversation on literacy, ecology, and social justice
Theme: Ecotones: Productive Spaces, Converging Communities

Keynote Speakers: Allen D. Kanner, PhD, ecopsychologist and practicing child, family, and adult psychologist, and Paul Kei Matsuda, PhD, Arizona State University second language writing scholar.

Featured Speakers: Michelle Eodice, PhD, University of Oklahoma, Executive Director of the Learning, Teaching, and Writing Program, and Judith Hendry, PhD, University of New Mexico, environmental rhetoric and communication scholar

Presentation proposals, paper and poster abstracts, and film synopsis with submission screening copy due by February 24, 2012

The Writing the World Symposium is an interdisciplinary symposium that focuses on a broad range of practical and theoretical issues in literacy, ecology, and social justice today. The theme for the 2012 conference is “Ecotones: Productive Spaces, Converging Communities.”
An ecotone is a space wherein distinct ecological communities converge, resulting in rich diversity and unpredictable creative potential. In a broad sense, an ecotone might be a neighborhood, border town, cultural practice, artistic production, historical moment, or scientific observation. Ecotones emerge when one academic discipline informs another, academy meets community, civilization dialogues with nature, and theory enters into practice. Ecotones challenge us to deconstruct, consolidate and recreate our identities as neighbors, citizens, scholars, and environmental stewards. By serving as its own kind of ecotone—a productive space where communities converge—the Writing the World Symposium hopes to foster meaningful conversations that point the way to direct and influential action.

Submission: Send your presentation proposal, poster, film, or paper abstract of 500 words or fewer to: wtw.symposium@gmail.com. The submission should be an attachment in Word (doc or docx), PDF, or RTF format. Include a working title for your paper or presentation. Please also include a brief biography specifying your name, institution, department or discipline, and research interests. For panel presentations, submit a single document containing a working title for the panel, working titles for each of the presentations, and the abstracts for each presentation. See special requirements for film submissions, below and on the WAC Alliance website. All submissions must be received by February 24, 2011.
Graduate Presentation Format: We welcome graduate students to submit proposals for individual presentations (15 minutes) or three-person panels (45 minutes per panel) in any discipline or combination of disciplines that address the symposium’s theme. We welcome multi-media presentations as well as traditional papers.
Undergraduate Poster Format: Undergraduate students may submit proposals for individual poster presentations in any discipline or combination of disciplines that address the symposium’s theme. Find the guidelines for poster presentations on the WAC Alliance page at http://www.unm.edu/~wac/.


Film Submission and Format: Undergraduate and graduate students may submit a DVD (NTSC format only) or the URL to a YouTube or Vimeo online video. Films must be 10 minutes or less in any genre, and the subject matter should address the symposium’s themes.  Find the complete guidelines for short film submissions on the WAC Alliance page at http://www.unm.edu/~wac/

Submission copies of DVDs should be mailed to:

Department of English Language & Literature
Attn: Deborah Paczynski
MSC 03 2170
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001

For more information: contact Writing the World Symposium steering committee chair, Deb Paczynski, dpaczyns@unm.edu, or find conference information on the WAC Alliance page at http://www.unm.edu/~wac/