Writing Across the
Curriculum: Challenging
Boundaries
Tuesday 27 October 2015
10am-5pm
Veterinary Conference Centre
JD Stewart Building B01
Seminar Room 115
Writing Hub
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
School of Letters, Art and Media
Presenters
Professor Chris Anson is University Distinguished Professor and Director of the Campus Writing and Speaking Program at
North Carolina State University, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in language, composition, and literacy
and works with staff across the curriculum to reform undergraduate education in the areas of writing and speaking.
Chris has received numerous awards, including the North Carolina State University Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate
Professor Award, the State of Minnesota Higher Education Teaching Excellence Award, the Morse-Alumni Award for
Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education, and the Governor's Star Service Award for his service-learning work at
Minnesota. He was an NCTE Promising Researcher Award Finalist and has received or participated as a co-principal
investigator in over $1 million in grants.
An avid writer, Chris has published 15 books and over 100 journal articles and book chapters and is on the editorial or reader's
boards of ten journals, including College Composition and Communication, College English, Research in the Teaching of
English, Across the Disciplines, Written Communication, Assessing Writing, and The Journal of Writing Assessment. He is
currently working on research exploring the effect of teachers' oral screencast responses on students' understanding and
improvement of their writing.
Chris has given over 500 conference papers, keynote addresses, and invited lectures and faculty workshops.
He has served as Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, President of the Council of Writing
Program Administrators, and has spent seven additional years on the WPA Executive Board. He has also served on the CCCC
Executive Committee and eleven other CCCC committees, as well as several NCTE committees. He chaired the NCTE
Assembly for Research in 1992-3 and was program co-chair of the NCTE Global Conference on Language and Literacy in
Utrecht, Netherlands. He chaired the WPA Task Force on Plagiarism and the WPA Task Force on Internationalization, and
formed the MMLA's Writing-Across-the-Curriculum section.
Associate Professor Karen Orr Vered, from the Department of Screen & Media at Flinders University, teaches
Convergence Cultures, Television Studies, and Kids’ Media Cultures. Karen completed her PhD at The University of
Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television before taking up her current position at Flinders.
Her disciplinary research encompasses children’s media, often with an emphasis on what children do with media, and
feminist television studies. She is the author of Children and Media Outside the Home: Playing and Learning in Afterschool Care (Palgrave, 2008), Co-editor with Sal Humphreys of two journal special issues: Television & New Media, Vol.
15, No. 1 (January, 2014) and Continuum, Vol. 28, No. 2 (March, 2014). Her essays appear in Camera Obscura,
Continuum, Convergence, Screening the Past, Television & New Media, Velvet Light Trap and several anthologies.
In the last few years she has reclaimed her initial academic passion for teaching and shifted her research attention to
questions of reading, writing, and thinking, particularly in the context of First Year studies. Earlier this year she
established a Writing Across the Curriculum & Inside the Disciplines Community of Practice at Flinders. And, with Rowena
Harper, she is currently completing an essay asking why Australian discourse on university writing hasn’t been in dialogue
with the US scholarship on Writing Across the Curriculum. In answering this question, they explore the different
intellectual lineages and political contexts that have shaped approaches to writing in the different systems and look for
points of potential convergence. Karen is the recipient of a Carrick Institute Citation for “Sustained Innovation in Studentcentred Learning and Formative Assessment Practices in Screen Studies” (2008) and a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for
Excellence in Teaching (2007).
This symposium will bring together Writing Across the
Curriculum (WAC) researchers from the University and
across Australia to share best practice and participate in a
master class and workshop with one of the most renowned
scholars in the field, Distinguished Professor Chris Anson
from North Carolina State University. Associate Professor
Karen Orr Vered will consider Writing Across the
Curriculum research from an Australian perspective,
sharing preliminary findings from her WAC-based research
at Flinders University. The symposium aims to help
participants identify common research interests, establish
the aims of an Australian WAC Research Network,
formulate strategies for achieving a vibrant WAC research
culture in the Southern Hemisphere, and assemble
interdisciplinary teams for ARC and other large grant
applications around writing.
10:00-10:30
Registration (Free)
Coffee and biscuits on arrival
10:30-11:00
Welcome and Introduction
Associate Professor Susan Thomas
11:00-1:00
Professor Chris Anson
Master Class and Workshop
1:00-1:45
Lunch (Provided)
Over the last twenty years, Writing Across the Curriculum
(WAC) has become a major research area within the
broader discipline of Writing Studies, largely in North
America. Within the last five years, however, the emphasis
has shifted to focus on WAC research beyond North
America, which has resulted in the expansion of the
International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference
(IWAC) and the establishment of related journals and book
series.
1:45-3:00
Associate Professor Karen Vered
Presentation and Discussion
3:00-4:00
Workshop in small groups
4:00-5:00
Discussions continue over afternoon
tea
Given the recent changes across Australian universities,
both in terms of academic divisions and degree structures,
which have blurred disciplinary boundaries, a considerable
interest in Writing Across the Curriculum research has
taken shape, with many Australian academics having
expressed interest in forming an Australasian chapter of
IWAC and creating a rich culture of interdisciplinary writing
research in the Southern Hemisphere.
5:00
Conclusion
As language evolves in the twenty-first century, the University of Sydney is
adapting its approach to writing for a new generation of media-literate,
globally networked students. The Writing Hub contributes to this important
task by helping students, staff and businesses cultivate the digital literacies
necessary to turn their writing into action, both in the university and beyond.
We join with leading universities around the world in teaching rhetoric as a
way to improve critical literacy in both print and digital communication.
We offer courses to help students develop abilities in argumentation,
composition, cross-cultural communication and critical thinking. Writing
mentoring is also available for all Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences students
and students enrolled in WRIT units. We believe that through collaborative
learning and reflection on their work, students can achieve their writing goals
and reach their potential at university.
Our academic staff are engaged in numerous research projects, providing a
foundation for innovative teaching grounded in rhetorical theory and
practice. In addition, we run workshops and events designed to promote
discussions about rhetoric and writing in the university and in the
community.
We also offer a range of courses and workshops specifically designed for
secondary students and school leavers around HSC writing and transitioning
from high school to university writing.
In addition to our roles within the university, our academic staff are also
involved in a number of corporate projects, collaborating with organisations
to improve the effectiveness of their internal and external communication.
What our students say….
For more information
The Writing Hub
School of Letters, Art & Media
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
T +61 2 9351 2309
F +61 2 9351 2597
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/writing_hub/index.shtml
“I was motivated to engage with this unit of study because I knew the content was
relevant outside of the course.”
“This subject has given me a way to re-evaluate things that once held sway over me.”
“The global focus on writing studies makes this course particularly useful for the
information/digital age.”