Arizona Writing and Social Justice Conference

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February 14–15, 2018   ♥   ASU   /   U of A

Dates / Locations / Times

Wednesday, February 14, 2018: Arizona State University, Ross-Blakley Hall (room 117), 1102 S McAllister Ave, Tempe, AZ  |  9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Watch recordings of the conference. 

The Arizona Writing and Social Justice Conference video playlist

Thursday, February 15, 2018: University of Arizona, Transitional Office Building, 1731 E 2nd St, Tucson, AZ  |  9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Program

PDF iconaz-writing-social-justice-conf-2018-program-final.pdf

Sponsors

Department of English (ASU)
School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies (ASU)
New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (ASU)
Department of English (UA)

Faculty Organizing Committee (alphabetical order)

Joni Adamson (ASU), Damian Baca (UA), Lee Bebout (ASU), Susan Briante (UA), Maritza Cardenas (UA), Hayriye Kayi-Aydar (UA), Marcia Klotz (UA), Adela Licona (UA), Joe Lockard (ASU), Elenore Long (ASU), Leerom Medovoi (UA), Louis Mendoza (ASU), Cuate Mexica (ASU), Keith Miller (ASU), Michael Stancliff (ASU), Corri Wells (ASU)

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(Archived) Call for Participation

We invite your participation in the Arizona Writing and Social Justice Conference, a two-day conference on writing and the pursuit of social justice in Arizona and the world. 

This trans-disciplinary conference will discuss how writing engages and/or supports justice movements for disempowered and marginalized communities. 

ASU and UA are organizing the conference to integrate scholarship and practice from creative writing, community literacy, English education, ESL studies, literature studies, rhetoric, and other writing-centered disciplines. 

The range of potential topics includes:

  • border studies and writing,
  • immigration issues,
  • bi- and multi-lingual writing,
  • refugee language-learning and writing,
  • human rights literature and its histories,
  • indigenous communities,
  • prison writing,
  • writing for and about sexual communities,
  • community health and writing,
  • writing for social movements,
  • environmental justice literature,
  • community-centered creative writing,
  • homeless writers,
  • working-class and labor writing,
  • and more. 

Speakers may include students, faculty, Arizona writers, social activists, and community members.  

To participate, submit a brief 150-200 word abstract for a 20-minute presentation and include a bio of equal length. Send these to both Joe.Lockard@asu.edu and mklotz@email.arizona.edu by November 30, 2017. Presentation format is flexible, including prose or poetry readings, talks on activism and writing, or academic papers. We will send acceptance notices by December 15. 

Some selected student presentations from both universities will receive an honorarium as travel support. The conference will encourage mixed ASU-UA presentation panels and seek to further discussion between campus communities.