The Center for Engaged Learning will host an international conference on "Critical Transitions: Writing and the Question of Transfer."
This two-day conference will feature multi-instutional research conducted by faculty from around the world (and from right here at Elon) and will include plenary speakers Etienne Wenger (author of books including Situated Learning and also Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity) and Graham Smart (author of titles including Writing the Economy: Activity, Genre, and Technology in the World of Banking). The conference is one of the products of the 2011-2013 Elon Research Seminar, which has been facilitated by Jessie Moore (Elon), Randy Bass (Georgetown), and Chris Anson (NC State).
Here’s a brief description of the focus of the Seminar and the conference:
From high school English and first-year college composition through advanced professional and technical communication, writing curricula are constructed under a foundational premise that writing can be taught – and that writing knowledge can be “transferred” across critical transitions. First-year composition is often a required course for all students with the assumption that what is learned there will transfer to other coursework and throughout students’ educational careers. Senior capstone courses often integrate writing instruction that is intended to transfer to post-graduation writing in new workplaces or graduate or professional programs. Arguably, all of modern education is based on the broader assumption that what one learns here can transfer over there – across critical transitions. But what do we really know about transfer, in general, and writing transfer, in particular? Is “transfer,” and all of the assumptions that tag along with it, the best term to use to understand, enhance, and found writing education?
Registration for the conference is free to Elon faculty, staff, and students.
The conference schedule is available at: http://www.elon.edu/e-web/academics/teaching/ers/writing_transfer/schedule.xhtml
A registration form for Elon faculty is available at: http://tinyurl.com/eloncriticaltrans. The final day to register for the conference is May 31.
If you have questions about the conference, please contact Jessie Moore.