2017 Transitioning to College Writing Symposium
Welcome to the Transitioning to College Writing Symposium website, hosted by the University of Mississippi’s Department of Writing and Rhetoric. Each year, the UM Writing Project and our department, along with other UM partners, present a themed Transitioning to College Writing Symposium in support of writing instruction in our area.
We hope you will join us in Oxford, MS for the seventh anniversary of our TCW Symposium on Thursday, October 19, and Friday, October 20, 2017. Take some time and explore our website. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Our theme this year is “Enduring Issues: Innovative Solutions in the Writing Classroom.” Our theme is based on the realization that each year, we face some enduring issues, and each year, we learn from and encourage each other to bring innovative solutions to these issues. This year, as in years past, we have a group of energetic and thoughtful program planners from Mississippi’s public and private middle school, high school, and 2- and 4-year colleges and universities who have been assisting us in developing a symposium program that responds to the needs of our Mississippi educators.
We’ll also continue with our tradition of bringing outstanding scholars of composition studies and writing center studies, and we’ll be continuing with the pre-symposium workshop we introduced at the 2016 symposium: Writing Teachers Writing, a dedicated time for writing teachers to think about their own scholarship, led by Bud Hunt (Bud the Teacher blogger), a teacher-consultant with the Colorado State University Writing Project, an affiliate of the National Writing Project, a group working to improve the teaching of writing in schools via regular and meaningful professional development. Bud is a former co-editor of the New Voices column of English Journal, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English, and a co-founder of Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation. In 2013, Bud was named a ConnectED Champion of Change by the White House. This event is developed and hosted by the University of Mississippi’s Writing Project, which also co-hosts the annual symposia with the Department of Writing and Rhetoric.
Our visiting scholars this year are Kathleen (Kathy) Blake Yancey, the Kellogg W. Hunt Professor of English at Florida State University in the rhetoric and composition program. Her research interests include composition studies, writing knowledge, creative non-fiction, and writing assessment.
We are also honored to have Renee A. Moore, Instructor of English at Mississippi Delta Community College. The former high school English and journalism teacher was 2001 Mississippi Teacher of the Year as well as a recipient of the national Milken Educator Award. In 2013, Moore received the Ovid Vickers Award for Excellence in Teaching of English from her colleagues in the Two-Year College English Association of Mississippi (TYCAM).
Each year, we include a featured speaker who brings experience with writing center studies, and we’re very pleased to have Daniel J. White with us for our 2017 program. Daniel is a former SWCA officer and current MSWCA president and board member. He teaches Information Literacy and Writing courses at Mississippi College, and he has collaborated on online tutoring and tutor training at three MS writing centers
We believe that our symposia are outstanding examples of the value of thinking collaboratively. We thank our academic and public sponsors who support the TCW Symposium. Because of such support, we are able to offer low registration fees and travel grants for our attendees. This would not happen without the support of the University of Mississippi’s College of Liberal Arts, School of Education, Division of Outreach, University of Mississippi Writing Project, and Department of Writing and Rhetoric. Sincere thanks also for the support given us by the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program (METP), the University Writing Centers, and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.