CCCC 2009

I'm not in because I didn't apply. One can only present on Saturday afternoon for so many years in a row before deciding one needs to take a year off.

I'm writing primarily to link to Becky's blog entry about a panel on students' citation practices being rejected from C's this year. Like many others, I'm beginning to wonder about the priorities of a conference dedicated to college composition and communication if a panel analyzing the results of a study of students' citation practices doesn't make the grade. Perhaps we're swinging the other way on the whole pedagogical imperative? Perhaps if it has direct classroom application or it comes out of classroom work, that means it's not theoretical enough?

Nothing seems more central to what we do than an analysis of the ways students draw on the work of others in their own writing. If we teach writing as conversation, aren't we also responsible for understanding better how students conceptualize those other voices in the conversation?

I comfort myself by telling myself that at least I won't miss Becky's panel.