Hannah Hanson ’25 and Julia Bleakney organize national conference on GenerativeAI’s impact on writing centers.
Generative AI has the potential to impact all aspects of education and its impact is already being seen. Writing centers, which are ground zero for student experiences with writing innovations, are no exception.
When Julia Bleakney, director of The Writing Center in the Center for Writing Excellence, had the chance to chair the annual International Writing Centers Association’s one-day “Collaborative” conference, the theme of generative AI was an obvious pick. The conference, which attracted writing center directors, assistant directors, and graduate and undergraduate consultants, invited workshops and presentations addressing the affordances and challenges of using AI writing technologies in writing center appointments as well as for writing center administrative work.
Bleakney also knew immediately that being involved with organizing a conference from start to end would be a rewarding and educational experience for a student. Enter Hannah Hanson ’25, a Writing Center consultant and English major with a concentration in Teacher Licensure. Hanson worked on all aspects of the conference, including reviewing proposals, communicating with participants, coordinating with leaders of the International Writing Center Association, planning the conference proceedings and designing the program and name badges.
The conference, “2024 IWCA Collaborative@CCCC: Reckoning with Generative AI in our Writing Centers,” was held on the campus of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. (Each year, the conference is held adjacent to the larger Conference on College Communication and Composition, hence the “@CCCC.”)
On the day of the conference, Hanson and Bleakney staffed the welcome table and helped over 100 participants check in, find sessions and troubleshoot issues. Hanson was a keen and collaborative conference organizer from beginning to end and gained a valuable insider’s view of what it’s like to organize an academic conference.