Re: (New) Inkshed
A couple of posts from a
week or so ago are useful in getting started toward what the new or revitalized
Inkshed organization becomes. I’d like to keep us thinking about that by
reprinting parts of those posts and then adding my own thoughts to this.
Graham Smart had this to say:
“Why not simply let go of the old Inkshed and let whatever group of
people who identify themselves as 'friends of Inkshed' by meeting for a day
after CASDW to support each other's work do just that for a year or two? Then if the interest and commitment is
there, we could create a new organization called New Inkshed or something like
that . . . Inkshed was a great institution that served vital purposes in the
early days of Writing Studies in Canada, and it had a pretty good run. In my
view, though, at this point it's become pretty much an historical artifact and
not a living reality.”
I think the point that I take away here is that we really do need to
re-think what we (people who work in post-secondary institutions and are
interested in issues related to writing) need out of an organization. This
year, 2011, is the second year of meetings for one day after the end of the
CASDW conference. Last year’s meeting really felt like a conversation to me
among serious, interested, thoughtful colleagues, and I think there is a lot of
value in that even if that is the extent to which we decide to meet
face-to-face.
Susan Drain noted the strengths of past Inkshed conferences:
“To my mind the value of Inkshed conferences has primarily been in
two areas: in the emphasis on teaching, first, and second, on collegiality,
especially among the many of our colleagues in this field who are not tenured,
full-time, research-focused, but are passionate and committed and knowledgeable
and curious about writing.”
I agree: no other writing conference in Canada takes as its focus
teaching of writing or the teaching/research intersection. That remains a need and
may even be arguably the most important focus for writing conferences in post-secondary
contexts. Susan also made a point about how knowledge gets created and shared
at meetings, something that Inkshed originally took as a key part of its
mission: “I don't think we need another conference for talking heads, or for
the dissemination of research except as that work is thought through and
addressed in terms of practice at the meeting place of writing and learning.”
Last year at the one-day Inkshed we essentially had a series of conversations,
some sparked by readings distributed ahead of time and some in response to
drafts of work in progress by participants. I think we’ll try to do this again
this year—keep the focus on talk and exchange rooted in either previously read
texts or short statements of issues/topics/problems that the attendees have
identified.
I’m reminded, though, of the title of the organization which
includes the phrase “language and literacy.” How broadly do we want to spread
our concerns beyond writing? CASDW adopted the word “discourse” to get beyond
an exclusive concern with written language; CASLL uses “language and literacy”
to make a similar move. Do we want to retain this broad emphasis or focus more
specifically on the teaching of writing?
A key component of Inkshed when it started was the newsletter (it
was the early 1980s—little use of email, no web, no virtual social networking).
I wonder what technologies we could employ beyond the website and the listserv
to build collegiality and generate knowledge about the teaching/research
intersection? We tried out Google Groups last year, but the technology has
changed since then and doesn’t allow us to post documents any more. What about
a Facebook or Linked In site in addition to the website and listserv? Members could post content to this virtual
newsletter; we could post links to documents and post the documents themselves
on the website. The currency of the news would be up to the membership; if you
hear of something, post it. Facebook pages also have the ability to host
discussions, so we could enable that, too.
As much as possible, I think we should try to use the listserv to
work out ideas for the future of the organization. If possible, I think it
would be great if we could bring a resolution to the business meeting to
consider, adapt, or refer to the executive for further study. I look forward to
reading what others think about where Inkshed should go and how it might get
there.
Roger Graves
Director, Writing Across the Curriculum
780.492.2169
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