|
“MnWE News”
Conference Issue,
March-April
2019
Back Issues of
"MnWE News"
Click here to
register for
MnWE Conference
(online on or
before March
30).
In this issue:
1.
WHAT IS THE APRIL 5-6
CONFERENCE ABOUT
AND WHERE IS IT?
2. WHO ARE THE
LUNCH KEYNOTERS
AND A.M. PLENARY
SPEAKERS?
3. WHAT ARE
BREAKOUT TOPICS
AND
PARTICIPATING
SCHOOLS?
4. MISC.:
HOTELS ARE
FILLING
QUICKLY!
GIVE AWAY YOUR
OLD BOOKS?
5.
SIGN UP BY APRIL
1 FOR GRADUATE
CREDIT FOR
ATTENDING MnWE!
6.
RESPONSES TO
JAN.-FEB.
“PRONOUN WARS” &
“GRAPHIC NOVELS”
7. About
MnWE:
Forwarding the
News,
Joining/Leaving,
Representatives
If you are a
MnWE
representative,
chair of a
department, or
Writing/English
Coordinator,
please forward
this email to
colleagues in
English,
Writing,
Reading, ESL,
and related
fields. Many new
faculty and
writing tutors
may not be on
the email list.
If you are a
long-term member
of this
listserv, thank
you
for your
continued
participation.
If you are new,
welcome! Our
listserv emails
go to over 1500
English,
Writing, and
related Upper
Midwest faculty.
To join, send a
request to the
editor at
richard at
jewell dot net.
Next
conference:
“Connecting
Reading and
Writing,”
North Hennepin
Community
College
Fri.-Sat., April
5-6, 2018
Our
website is at
www.MnWE.org.
You are welcome
to attend our
next
Committee
meeting,
immediately
after the second
day of the MnWE
Conference; or
ask me–richard
at jewell dot
net–how to
Skype in to the
meeting. –
Richard Jewell,
Editor
1. WHAT IS THE
APRIL 5-6
CONFERENCE ABOUT
AND WHERE IS IT?
Would
you like to save
$10 on
registration? If
so, register
now, or no later
than 11 pm
Saturday, March
30: go to
www.MnWE.org
or click
here on
Register for
MnWE Conference
.
Your
preconference
registration
helps us save
money on food
orders and
allows us to
print a nametag
for you.
The conference
this year has
one of our best
lineups ever at
a handsome and
comfortably
accessible
campus, North
Hennepin
Community
College, in the
northwest Twin
Cities metro
area not far
from I-94 and
I-694. Parking
is free, and you
can register at
the door if you
haven’t
registered
online. For
directions, go
to
www.MnWE.org
or click
here:
Directions,
Campus Map, and
Parking
.
This year’s
theme,
“Connecting
Reading and
Writing,” has
created much
enthusiasm among
presenters from
throughout
Minnesota and
two nearby
states. We have
a near-record
seventy events
and breakouts
from which to
choose.
Our
profession used
to assume, a few
generations ago,
that reading
well was a gift
some students
had from family
or genes. But we
know, now, that
reading can be
taught and
practiced at any
age, like other
skills-based
processes. We
can do more than
just say, “Go
research” or “Go
read a great
novel.” We need
to learn how to
help students
become
process readers.
But how
should we do
this? Different
needs require
different
strategies.
Using these with
students is
becoming,
increasingly, a
part of good
pedagogy in
lower-division
English/Writing.
Many of us are
learning, for
example, how to
ask students to
look for topic
sentences in
research
materials–or, in
literature, how
to find both
elements and
the topic
sentences. If we
can increase our
students’
reading skills,
we can help them
improve,
sometimes
substantially,
their learning
of writing and
literature.
---
2. WHO ARE
THE LUNCH
KEYNOTERS AND
A.M. PLENARY
SPEAKERS?
For more
information:
2019 Keynote and
Plenary Speakers
Friday 9 am
Plenary:
“Writing
and Reading:
Beyond
Assignments for
the Teacher”
by Jodi Baker,
Literacy Coach,
Champlin Park
High School and
Augsburg Univ.;
Kristi Romo,
Literacy Coach,
Anoka High
School and
Bethel
University; and
Patti Green,
Literacy
Consultant,
Hamline
University
Friday Lunch
Keynote: “Diversifying
Books,
Especially for
Children” by
author and
Minneapolis
Community and
Technical
College Teaching
Professor
Shannon Gibney,
and Associate
Professor of
Library and
Information
Science at St.
Catherine
University Sarah
Park Dahlen
Saturday 9 am
Plenary:
“Strategies for
Connecting
Reading and
Writing” by
Heather Camp,
Director of
Composition and
Coord. of
Writing Across
the Curriculum,
Minnesota State
University-Mankato;
Robin Murie,
Teaching
Specialist,
Minnesota
English Language
Program,
University of
Minnesota-Twin
Cities; and
Jennifer Robey,
Reading and
Student Success,
Century College
Saturday Lunch
Keynote: “I
Read It but
Don’t Understand
It” by two
of the top
experts and
educators in
College Reading
in Minnesota
Public Colleges:
Shirley Johnson,
Department of
Reading, North
Hennepin
Community
College; and
Linda Russell,
Department of
Reading,
Minneapolis
Community and
Technical
College
(retired)
---
www.MnWE.org
---
3.
WHAT ARE
BREAKOUT TOPICS
AND
PARTICIPATING
SCHOOLS?
This year’s
conference has
thirty-two
participating
institutions
from six states.
The institutions
include fourteen
public
universities,
eight community
colleges, two
high schools,
one bank, and
eight private
colleges.
Special events
include two
keynotes during
lunch, and two 9
am plenary
panels (see
above). Food
includes morning
snacks and
coffee, two
lunches
(included in
your
registration
fee), and two
happy hours and
dinners
(self-pay;
Friday night’s
happy hour and
dinner are
particularly
popular).
In
addition, there
are thirty-nine
breakouts given
by seventy-one
presenters on a
wide range of
subjects, most
of them related
to connecting
reading and
writing. They
range from
workshops and
panels to
individual
presentations
and from
high-level
strategies for
teaching reading
in college-level
English and
Writing to
deeper
examinations of
what reading
means, and to
creative writing
presentations
and strategies.
Subjects
range from
college- and
developmental-level
strategies for
teaching to
issues of
literacy,
talking, audio
texts, digital
and video
learning, and
reading online
conversation.
They also
include research
reading,
multi-lingual
and culturally
diverse reading,
children’s and
adult
literature, ESL
reading,
comprehension,
WAC, scholarly
reading,
textbook
reading,
networking,
critical
thinking and
reading, and
writing-center/tutoring
work.
Participating
universities
include the
Universities of
Minnesota-Crookston,
Duluth, and Twin
Cities; Mankato,
Metropolitan,
Moorhead, and
Southwest State
Universities;
the Universities
of Wisconsin-Eau
Claire, La
Crosse, and
River Falls;
Dakota, North
Dakota, and
South Dakota
State
Universities,
and North Dakota
State College of
Science. Other
schools include
Anoka Ramsey,
Century,
Hennepin Tech,
Inver Hills,
North Hennepin,
Minneapolis,
State Fair
(Missouri), and
Rochester
two-year public
colleges; Anoka
and Champlin
Park High
Schools; U.S.
Bank; and
private schools
Alverno,
Augsburg,
Bethel, Hamline,
St. Mary’s, St.
Thomas, Viterbo,
and Walden.
---
4. MISC.: HOTELS
ARE FILLING
QUICKLY!
GIVE AWAY YOUR
OLD BOOKS?
HOTELS:
Those of you
reserving rooms
should act
quickly. We are
in competition
with the NCAA
Final Four
Tournament. Some
of our hotels
already are
filled, and
others are
priced much
higher than
usual. To see
our list of
hotels, go to
Hotel List and
Directions
.
USED
BOOKS: Do
you have some
old books on
writing or
literature
pedagogy,
theory, or
history that
you’d like to
give away? Bring
them to our
“Free Books”
table! You also
can find books
there you might
like to take
home. Any used
(or new) books
on theories or
teaching methods
about
composition,
writing, and
literature are
fine, as well as
histories of
writing and
literature: for
example, books
by Peter Elbow
and literary
theory books are
very welcome and
will be
available to
take home.
5. SIGN UP BY
APRIL 1 FOR
GRADUATE CREDIT
FOR MnWE'S
CONFERENCE!
Anyone may earn
one graduate
credit from
Southwest
Minnesota State
University for
attending one
MnWE Conference
day and writing
a related
research paper
(class may be
repeated up to
two additional
times). For
questions about
this course—“Eng
656: MnWE
Practicum”—please
contact
lisa.lucas@smsu.edu
or see
www.smsu.edu/academics/programs/english/?id=11637
.
---
6. RESPONSES TO
JAN.-FEB.
“PRONOUN WARS” &
“GRAPHIC NOVELS”
Five people
responded to the
Jan.-Feb. “Email
News,” four of
them about
“Pronoun Wars.”
In that short
article, I
offered a list
of guidelines
for eliciting
from students
the pronouns by
which they want
to be called:
e.g., a
non-binary
student might
ask to be called
“they, them,
theirs.” Three
people
commented,
however, that
when I talked
about my
non-binary
friend and
former student,
I used the
pronouns “she”
and “her.” On
the one hand, I
followed the
first guideline
in the list and
asked her what
to use. She
still wants to
be called “she,
her, hers.” On
the other hand,
she actually
identifies as
asexual, which,
I discovered, is
different from
“non-binary.”
However,
in spite of
these facts and
changes, I do
wish that I had
taken advantage
of the
opportunity to
talk about her
as “they/their.”
Doing so would
have set a good
example not only
of what some
people now want
to be called,
but also, even
more clearly, of
how such plural
pronouns sound
when referring
to a single
individual–hence
the title of the
article,
“Pronoun Wars”
and our
decisions about
whether to use
plural pronouns
in a sentence
discussing one
person.
In
another
Jan.-Feb.
article, about
graphic novels,
a reader added
an additional
useful
suggestion: “I
think the best
resource for
teaching graphic
novels is Scott
McCloud’s
Understanding
Comics.
McCloud teaches
readers to read
images, symbols,
and movement as
well as words.
I like the idea
the French have
about graphic
novels or BD [bandes
dessinées];
they consider it
the ninth art
worthy of its
own study.”
---
View previous
"Email News"
issues.
---
---
5. About
MnWE
(repeated in
each newsletter):
FORWARDING/JOINING:
Please forward
this email to
others,
especially if
you are a MnWE
representative
listed below.
Your newer
full-time and
adjunct faculty
members,
graduate
students, and
writing center
tutors may not
receive it.
If you
are not on the
listserv and
would like to
join it, simply
send your
request and
email address to
richard at
jewell dot net.
WHO WE ARE:
“MnWE” is
“Minnesota
Writing and
English,” an
organization
with a
coordinating
committee, a
listserv, and an
annual spring
conference by
and for college,
university, and
college-in-the-high-schools
English and
writing faculty,
graduate and
undergraduate
students, and
related academic
and literary
scholars,
writers, tutors,
and others in
the Upper
Midwest. Our
purpose is to
bring together
these
communities in
Minnesota,
western
Wisconsin, north
and central
Iowa, and the
eastern
Dakotas.
Our
website is
MnWE.org;
our geographical
center is
Minneapolis-St.
Paul. Over 2500
faculty, tutors,
and graduate
students are on
our listserv.
Our listserv
members come
from public and
private two-year
colleges, state
universities,
private
four-year and
graduate-degree
colleges, high
schools, and the
Universities of
Minnesota,
Wisconsin, and
North Dakota.
Our activities
are led by a
large, active
committee of
representative
volunteers.
GRADUATE
CREDIT:
Anyone may earn
one graduate
credit from
Southwest
Minnesota State
University for
attending one
MnWE Conference
day and writing
a related
research paper
(up to three
times). For
questions about
this course—“Eng
656: MnWE
Practicum”—please
contact lisa
dot lucas at
smsu dot edu
or see
www.smsu.edu/academics/programs/english/?id=11637
.
HOW TO REMOVE
YOURSELF FROM
THE LIST:
If you want to
be removed from
this listserv,
please do so
yourself,
following
directions at
the very bottom
of this email.
If you try
without success,
then send an
email to
richard at
jewell dot net
indicating (1)
this problem,
(2) your
specific email
address copied
from the
directions at
the bottom of a
MnWE mailing,
and (3) your
request for
removal.
FORMATTING,
INVITATION, &
CREDITS:
These listserv
emails usually
are formatted in
a simple way
using html. If
you cannot read
them, please go
to the link at
the top right to
see them on the
Web.
If you
have any
questions, we
invite you to
email any of us
on the
committee. You
also are always
invited to
attend any of
our five MnWE
Committee
meetings per
year. You also
are invited to
offer
suggestions—or
volunteer your
leadership—for a
special or
double section
at the annual
conference.
This
newsletter is
written
primarily by
Richard Jewell
without
copyright so
that anyone may
quote,
paraphrase, or
forward any or
all sections freely, unless
otherwise noted.
We ask only that
you give credit
to “MnWE
Newsletter”
and/or “www.MnWE.org“;
and when you use
material that
has been quoted
or paraphrased
in this
newsletter from
other sources,
please be sure
to give proper
credit to the
original
source.
---
---
Richard Jewell,
General
Coordinator
Larry Sklaney,
Conference
Coordinator
Danielle
Hinrichs,
Program
Coordinator
Gordon
Pueschner, Onsite
Coordinator
Ellen Zamarripa,
Volunteer
Coordinator
Jana Rieck,
Communications
Coordinator
Alexander
Champoux, UMN,
2018 Site
Coordinator
Vanessa Ramos,
NHCC, 2019 Site
Coordinator
richard at
jewell dot net
- (612) 870-7024
larry dot
sklaney at
century dot edu
- (651) 747-4006
danielle dot
hinrichs at
metrostate dot
edu - (651)
999-5960
gordon dot
pueschner at
century dot edu
- (651) 686-4468
ellen.zamarripa
at mail dot
waldenu dot edu
janal dot
rieck at yahoo
dot com
champ147
at umn dot edu
vramos at nhcc
dot edu
MnWE.org
Minnesota Writing & English
A Consortium of
Colleges &
Universities
|
Mission:
Transforming
writing and
English
into teaching
and learning experiences using methodologies
that serve students best
Vision:
Bringing
scholarly ideas
and practical
pedagogy
together
to create our
futures
.JPG)
Donald Ross of
the University
of
Minnesota and
Taiyon Coleman
of St. Catherine
University run a
breakout session
about
literature. In a
later year, they
jointly provided
a MnWE keynote.
Geoffrey Sirc of
the University
of Minnesota
runs a small
breakout after
his keynote
presentation.
Many University
of Minnesota
faculty have
given
presentations at
MnWE, as well as
faculty and
graduate
students from
many other
universities,
colleges, and
high schools.
MnWE started in
2007.
The cofounders
were Richard
Jewell, here
giving a welcome
after lunch, and Donald
Ross, second
picture above.
MnWE has drawn
presenters from
Minnesota, the
states and
province around
it, and at least
five other
states and
countries.
During a 2016
breakout,
Beata Puschner
presents on improving
classroom
inclusion of ELL
students. MnWE
attracts a
variety of
people in other
departments and
positions, too,
from ESL and
Reading to
Library Science
and
college-in-the-high-schools
faculty.
|
