Featured Speakers
Isabel Baca
Keynote Speaker Isabel Baca, Associate Professor, University of Texas at El Paso, is the author of Service-Learning and Writing: Paving the Way for Literacy(ies) through Community Engagement, an edited collection that demonstrates how writing instruction and/or writing practice can complement community engagement and outreach in local, national, and international contexts. She founded and directs the Community Writing Partners program in the Department of English at UTEP.
Arielle Hudson
Arielle is a Senior, Secondary English Education major at The University of Mississippi and is a native of Tunica, MS. As an education major, Arielle has stimulated a passion for educating students on the importance of literacy. In her spare time, Arielle enjoys reading African American literature, competing in pageants, and spending time with her friends and family. Arielle's heart for service led her to create her personal platform, Literacy L.I.G.H.T.S, which stands for Literacy Lets Individuals Gain Height to Success to combat the illiteracy rate in the state of Mississippi. In addition, Arielle volunteers and advocates for literacy programs such as JumpStart and the Lafayette Literacy Council. She also volunteers as an English teacher for a tutoring program called the Marks Education Project under the School of Education. Among her passion for literacy education, Arielle has a strong desire to build more informed and aware U.S. citizens through her future work as a Lawyer, Educator, and Policymaker. Arielle currently serves as The Black Student Union President and a Senator in the Associated Student Body.
Liz Lane
Dr. Liz Lane is an Assistant Professor of Professional Writing at the University of Memphis. She teaches in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication program in courses such as Document Design, Web Design and Online Writing, and undergraduate and graduate seminars in Technical Writing. She serves as co-managing editor of Spark: A 4C4Equality Journal, an open access venue of activist rhetorics. She has published widely on activism, digital rhetoric, and technical communication. Her work has appeared in Computers & Composition, Composition Studies, Ada: a Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology, and various edited collections in writing studies.
Leah Davis
Leah Davis, a senior psychology major at the University of Mississippi, originally hails from Tupelo, Mississippi. Leah is a proud Luckyday Scholar, and a proud member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. During her tenure at the university, Leah has passionately advocated for diversity and inclusivity, empowerment of students, sexual assault awareness and prevention, and mental health awareness. Her extensive efforts and collaboration with the Associated Student Body and the UM Black Student Union have worked towards race relations, student issues, and policy implementations. Beyond her advocacy work, Leah has engaged in several mentorship programs geared towards high school and first-year college students to promote academic excellence and overall student wellness. Leah has also served with the Office of Admissions as an Orientation Leader and an Apex Leader. During her spare time, Leah enjoys spending time with family and friends, and enjoying her love of music. She is a dedicated member of the UM Concert Singers and former member of the UM Gospel Choir. She has served with local churches in the Lee, Chickasaw, and Lafayette County areas. Leah currently serves on the executive board of the Black Student Union and UM Active Minds.
Liz Egan & her Writing Center Staff
Liz Egan is director of the Writing Center and the Center for Academic Success and Excellence at Millsaps College, where she also teaches creative writing. The Millsaps Writing Center was founded in 1987 and features a staff of 25 writing consultants who study a range of disciplines across the humanities, sciences, and business. Consultants complete a three-semester curriculum of writing pedagogy, beginning with a training practicum they take before employment, and continuing with a writing center theory course and concluding with a writing center research methods course. In recent years, Millsaps Writing Consultants have presented their original research at IWCA conferences in Chicago, Atlanta, and Columbus, OH, as well as annually at the Mississippi Writing Center Association conference and TutorCon.
Don Unger
Don Unger is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Writing & Rhetoric at the University of Mississippi. He has Ph.D. is in Rhetoric & Composition from Purdue University. His research addresses how network technologies shape activism and community writing. He serves as the Co-Managing Editor of Spark: A 4C4Equality Journal and as the Social-Media Editor for Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society.