ORANGEBURG, SC — Noted Author and educator Dr. Chris Anson will be the keynote speaker for Claflin University’s 16th Conference on Contemporary English and Language Arts Pedagogy in Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions on October 25-26 at Ministers’ Hall. The theme of the conference is Writing Across the Curriculum which focuses on writing in classes outside of composition, literature, and other English courses.
Anson will speak at 2:30-3:45 p.m. on Wednesday in Ministers’ Hall. His topic will be “Impossible to Plagiarize: Design Strategies for Worry-Free Classrooms”. His presentation is free and open to the public. Anson will also lead an assessment workshop on Thursday at 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. titled “Helping Students to Evaluate Writing: Tools for Formative Assessment” on Thursday.
Registration begins on Wednesday at 8:30-9:30 a.m. in Ministers’ Hall. The topic for the opening session at 9:30-10:45 is Race Matters. Other topics scheduled for the first day of the conference are: Adolescent Literature (9:30-10:45 a.m.), Disciplinary Methods and Identities (2:30-3:45 p.m.), Writing Processes in a Multi-Genre Creative Writing Class (2:30-3:45 p.m.) and Differentiating Our Instruction: Diversifying Ourselves to Address the Changing Demographics of College Writers (4-4:40 p.m.).
Anson is a professor and director of the Campus Writing and Speaking Program at North Carolina State University. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in language, composition, and literacy and works with faculty across the curriculum to reform undergraduate education in the areas of writing and speaking. Before moving to NCSU in 1999, he spent fifteen years at the University of Minnesota, where he directed the Program in Composition from 1988-96 and was Professor of English and Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor. He received his Ph.D. and second M.A. in English with a specialization in composition studies from Indiana University, and his B.A. and first M.A. in English from Syracuse University. He has published 15 books and more than 110 journal articles.
Presentations scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 26 are: The Hate U Give, an examination of the New York Times Bestseller — The Hate U Give — and its author, Angie Thomas (9:30-10:45 p.m.), The Teaching of Foreign Languages (10:10:50 p.m.), Workshop on Assessment (11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.), Teaching Matters (2:15-3:30 p.m.), Composing Narratives (2:15-3:30 p.m.), and Text, Image and Talk About Writing (3:45-5 p.m.).
Professors and teachers from 10 institutions will participate in this year’s conference. For the first time, teachers from South Carolina’s independent schools (K-12) will participate and present at the conference. Three sessions will feature creative writing and research by undergraduate students.
For more information on the pedagogy conference at Claflin University, contact Dr. Mitali Wong at 803-535-5221 or wong@claflin.edu).