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Canadian Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (CATTW/ACPRTS)

Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada
May 29-31, 2003 — Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Call for Papers

CATTW/ACPRTS invites proposals for its 2003 conference at Dalhousie
University in Halifax.  The CATTW/ACPRTS conference will be part of the
annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of
Canada.  The Federation has announced three themes for the Congress:
1. Conflict and Cooperation – Local, National, and Global
2. Conflict and Cooperation – Representations of Justice
3. Conflict and Cooperation – Richness and Creativity
CATTW/ACPRTS welcomes proposals for individual papers on these themes as
well as on other topics relevant to the practice and teaching of
technical, professional, and scientific writing. Proposals should
foreground the research methods and research context on which the paper
is based, and should include the relevant references to the literature.
We also welcome proposals on similar topics for round-tables, workshops,
and informal sessions. While such proposals need not necessarily reflect
formal research, they should relate to current conversations in the
field and should encourage the exchange of ideas and experiences among
participants.
Presenters and participants in all conference forums must be members of
CATTW/ACPRTS.
Orientation
Keeping with the themes announced by the Federation, the CATTW/ACPRTS
conference organizing committee invites scholars in technical,
professional, and scientific writing, in applied linguistics, in
rhetoric, and in other language-related disciplines to reflect on the
text below.
In political, socio-economic, scientific, and technological contexts
and, more generally, in all workplace domains, writers strive to
formalize, shape, and provide a clear, succinct style for their
discourses. Workplace discourse often originates in contexts that are
somewhat informal and that reflect various tensions, oppositions, and
divergent interests.  Accordingly, the questions that follow are
consequential:
? With the globalization of interactions among individuals and the
multiplication of international forums, does written discourse remain a
privileged form of representation for establishing positions on issues
and for resolving problems? Are image and design getting predominant
over text? If not, what added value does written discourse bring to such
communicative activities? What traditional or emerging genres best lend
themselves to this role, and why?
? What cognitive and linguistic strategies are enacted in efforts to
move from conflict to cooperation in the practice of a technical
communicator? In teamwork activities in a technical communication
classroom? What part does rhetoric play in this process of moving from
conflict to cooperation? What teaching strategies would best address
this issue?
? What is the role of ethics in the work of the professional or
technical writer and a technical communication teacher?
? How can writers function effectively in contexts of divergent and
conflicting interests in which their products must be reviewed and
approved by different levels of decision-makers?
? How can writers reconcile (or can they reconcile?) the perceptions and
logics of local cultures, such as legal institutions, when writing or
translating specialized texts for public audiences?
? According to traditional wisdom, science is universal, with regard to
both cooperation and conflict. Is scientific and technological discourse
culturally marked or does it rise above local and national
contingencies?
? What role does linguistic creativity play in effective communication?

Some support for travel could be available for those participants who
present formal research papers and who request such support, provided
that CATTW/ACPRTS’s application to the Humanities and Social Sciences
Federation of Canada for travel funding is accepted. The result of the
application should be known by the end of January 2003.

Proposals of approximately 250 words should be submitted, preferably by
e-mail, by September 22, 2002 to:

Céline Beaudet
Programme Chair
CATTW/ACPRTS 2003
Département des lettres et communications
Université de Sherbrooke
Québec, Canada J1K 2R1
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Telephone: (819) 821-8000, extension 2264
Fax: (819) 821-7285



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_____________________________________
Natasha Artemeva
President,
CATTW/ACPRTS

School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
Carleton University
1125 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1S 5B6

Tel.+1 (613) 520-2600 ext.7452
Fax +1 (613) 520-6641
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.carleton.ca/~nartemev/index.html

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