CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Inkshed Working Conference 14:
Reading Technologies
May 1-4, 1997; Geneva Park Conference Centre, Orillia, Ontario
*What "Reading Technologies" means*
At this conference we're going to focus on the ways technologies
(old and new) shape the processes of reading and writing. We're
particularly interested in examining electronic environments. In
the title, we're using "reading" in at least two senses:
* In the strict sense of the kinds of reading technologies
available ("reading" as an adjective). What kinds of
technologies for exchanging texts (from marks on paper to
telephone lines, from books to the Web) now exist, and how
have they shaped reading and writing -- and what new
technologies are emerging, for instance, as a result of
computer networks? How do the technologies we use when we
read texts (whether those texts be in a book, journal,
magazine or newspaper, or on a computer screen, perhaps via
the Internet) affect and shape our reading? How does the
technology of reading shape the ways we write?
* In the sense of what we're doing when we're reading
technologies themselves ("reading" as a verb). How do the
techologies we use affect or determine who gets to read and
write, whose voices get heard and attended to? What
cultural assumptions are implicit in or enacted by the
technologies the technologies we use to read and write?
How do the technologies shape our sense of who our readers
are, and what role we play as writers? How do they change
the learning of reading and writing?
*Thirteen ways of looking at a conference*
You're probably aware that the Inkshed working conference has a
history of stretching the limits of what a conference is, of
rethinking tacit definitions and unspoken assumptions. Inkshed
14 will be no exception. We want to give you some sense of what
we anticipate the conference will be like, so that you have some
sense of the range of proposals that would fit (both thematically
and in terms of presentation format).
At Inkshed 14 we want to _enact_ some of the range of reading
technologies we're talking about. We imagine a conference where
whole-group activities (presentations, inkshedding, Talent Night,
you name it) punctuate extended periods of, well . . . Sustained
Silent Reading. Attendees will have a chance to read texts
prepared by other conference participants, as well as texts
written by people not in attendance. There will be substantial
amounts of time to sit in comfortable chairs reading. If you
attend, we expect you to bring your fuzzy slippers and your
favorite coffee mug . . .
Additionally, texts will be available in a variety of formats:
some texts will be available as the customary printed documents,
some as computer diskettes accessible by a variety of programs,
some will be available via the World Wide Web, some will appear
as posters, and others will appear in ways we haven't thought of
yet. You'll also have as many chances as we can arrange to sit
in front of a computer screen reading or writing. In other
words, at the Inkshed 14 conference you will have access to as
many reading technologies as we can make available for trial,
use, demonstration and critique during and between conference
sessions.
And, naturally, we expect that there'll be a good deal of
inkshedding at this conference, both in whole-group sessions in
response to presentations, and by people responding individually
to texts that they've read during the conference. In fact, such
individual reading and responding will form the basis of some of
the whole-group presentations.
What we _don't_ expect is the traditional technology by which
texts are presented -- the conventional 20 minutes of oral
reading, or even full frontal paraphrasing. If you're
comfortable with that format and would like to use it, we'd
welcome your proposal -- but we'd like to talk with you about
alternative methods of presenting your text and having it
attended to and discussed.
To get you started thinking about what you might propose, here
are some possibilities for presentation technologies:
* write a paper and circulate it at, or in advance of, the
conference, and engage in a discussion of it at the
conference
* set up a poster and create an "activity center" for study
and research and conversation on the ideas you're concerned
with.
* create a "poster session" online -- for instance, as a
local URL on a portable PC; participants could play with it
without the time constraints and problems of trying to get
an Internet connection
* structure an exercise, where participants would do
something within a certain time period, or continuing
throughout the conference, and Inkshed about it
* set up a session whereby participants could experience a
particular kind of technology for the exchange of texts -- a
MOO session, or an electronic discussion forum.
*Delivering a paper*
It's important, however, to keep a firm grip on the baby while
we're getting rid of the bath water. At Inkshed 14 accepted
proposals will be listed in the program as presentations, and
will be shared and discussed -- and in more depth and detail than
is possible in a conventional "read a paper in twenty minutes and
answer a couple of questions at the end" conference format.
We invite, then, analytic papers, participatory demonstrations
and explorations, poster sessions, case study reports, and other
forms we haven't thought of. Proposal should be concerned with
ways in which new and old technologies for exchanging texts
affect either the processes or the products of writing. We'd be
particularly interested to have collaborative proposals.
*Sending us a proposal*
First. We need to talk. We want to hear ideas about what you'd
like to propose -- fuzzy ideas, half-formed notions, whims -- and
we intend to provide as much help as we can reasonably give you
in developing not-so-traditional formats for presenting those
ideas. This is not a traditional agonistic competitive paper
call. Your document will not be blind reviewed by a reader eager
to find a way to turn away two-thirds of the proposals. The
organizing committee sees its job as including as many proposals
as we can fit in. We also expect that since what we're asking
you to do is so unconventional, it will take some time for you to
figure out how your ideas might shape and be shaped by the
conference.
So, if you're interested in proposing something for Inkshed 14,
we'd like to hear from you (and the sooner the better). By
November 15, we need to have a paragraph or so from you about
your possible topic, as well as some idea about the format you
envision presenting it in.
By December, you'll need to have your proposal written in SSHRC-
speak. Information about this deadline will be forthcoming.
You can send your proposal or your suggestion to the whole
organizing committee at this email address:
[log in to unmask]
Or you can write individuals at the following addresses:
Russ Hunt: [log in to unmask]
Marcy Bauman: [log in to unmask]
Margaret Procter: [log in to unmask]
Andrea Lunsford: [log in to unmask]
Mary-Louise Craven: [log in to unmask]
Roger Graves: [log in to unmask]
Or you can send a proposal by paper mail to either (depending on
your national postal predilections):
Russ Hunt Marcy Bauman
Department of English Writing Program
St. Thomas University University of Michigan - Dearborn
Fredericton, New Brunswick 4901 Evergreen Road
E3B 5G3 Dearborn, Michigan 48128
Inkshed Working Conference 14
St.Thomas University
Fredericton, N.B., Canada
Email [log in to unmask]
