2016 SWCA Call for Presenters: Writing Center Inclusivity
In Gender Trouble, Judith Butler warns, “The theories of feminist identity that elaborate
predicates of color, sexuality, ethnicity, class, and able-bodiedness invariably close with an
embarrassed ‘etc.’ at the end of the list” (143). Characteristics such as the ones Butler lists, and
more, are also found in writing center work. In writing center professionals’ conversations about
inclusivity, we often find ourselves categorizing students, such as the “anxious” student, the
“overconfident” student, and student with disabilities, to name a few labels. We can find this
practice of categorization in our training manuals and during our role playing. While categorizing
may support us as we search for established approaches to working with particular types of
student writers, this process may also limit us as we try to discover the strategies that relate to
students with varied backgrounds and roles.
How can we avoid the embarrassing “etc.” in writing center work? What ways can writing center
professionals avoid dependence on categorization as a frame for tutoring approaches? How do
writing center professionals define inclusivity?
For the 2016 conference, we invite presentations that explore inclusivity and related issues,
including but not limited to:

Tutor recruitment, training, and development

Administration and assessment

Outreach at your institutions

Outreach efforts in the community

Space layout and design

Technology

Linguistics and literacy

Research activities and training
Critical Focus
As a critical focus, presenters may want to explore the ways in which we can apply the concept
of universal design to our kairotic spaces (See Price “Defining Kairotic Space”). Universal design
seeks to create and revise physical, intellectual, and social spaces to accommodate and include all
types of learners and writers. Kairotic space, as Margaret Price defines it in Mad at School,
includes “all or most” of the following:

Real-time unfolding of events

Impromptu communication that is required or encouraged

In-person contact

A strong social element

High stakes [spaces and contexts related to grades, enrollment, future academic success]
(61)
Writing centers, studios, and labs are certainly kairotic spaces. And once we have analyzed our
spaces, what do we do with the results? We encourage presentations that explore, engage,
interrogate, and apply these concepts to the conference theme of inclusivity.
Types of Presentations
The conference hosts 60-minute concurrent sessions. Sessions can take the form of the following:

Individual presentation grouped together by related topic (3 presenters, 15 minutes each,
15 minutes Q&A)

Roundtable discussion (2 or more presenters who submit a proposal together)

Workshop led by two or more facilitators (focuses on participant interaction)

Ignite presentations / Pecha Kucha presentations (3 - 4 presenters / session.
See http://igniteshow.com/ and http://www.pechakucha.org/)

Poster presentation

Multimedia installation
Deadline
Proposals Due November 2, 2015
Submit Online Now! http://www.iwca-swca.org/2016-Conference-Proposal-Form.html