{"id":27,"date":"2026-08-24T14:46:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T14:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cunycompositionconference.com\/?page_id=27"},"modified":"2026-08-31T17:11:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T17:11:53","slug":"call-for-proposals","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cunycompositionconference.com\/?page_id=27","title":{"rendered":"Call for Proposals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<link rel=\"preconnect\" href=\"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\">\n<link href=\"https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css2?family=Fraunces:ital,opsz,wght@0,9..144,400..800;1,9..144,400..700&amp;family=Newsreader:ital,opsz,wght@0,6..72,300..600;1,6..72,300..500&amp;family=IBM+Plex+Mono:wght@400;500&amp;display=swap\" rel=\"stylesheet\">\n<style>\n.cfp{--ink:#16121C;--head:#57379C;--brand:#7D55C7;--brand-hover:#6A45B4;--gold:#B79BEE;--gold-lt:#C9B4F2;--gold-dk:#57379C;--cream:#F1EBFA;--text:#1B1722;--muted:#4E4859;font-family:'Newsreader',Georgia,serif;color:var(--text);font-size:17px;line-height:1.75}\n.cfp p{margin:0 0 1.1em}\n.cfp h1,.cfp h2,.cfp h3,.cfp h4{font-family:'Fraunces',Georgia,serif;font-variation-settings:'SOFT' 0,'WONK' 1,'opsz' 60;color:var(--head);line-height:1.25;margin:0 0 0.5em}\n.cfp h3{font-size:26px;margin-top:1.8em}\n.cfp h4{font-size:18px;margin-top:0}\n.cfp em{font-style:italic}\n.cfp ul,.cfp ol{margin:0 0 1.3em;padding-left:1.4em}\n.cfp li{margin-bottom:0.55em}\n.cfp a{color:var(--head);text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:0.15em}\n.cfp-hero{background:var(--ink);color:#fff;padding:44px 36px;margin-bottom:36px}\n.cfp-eyebrow{font-family:'IBM Plex Mono',ui-monospace,monospace;font-size:11px;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:0.16em;text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--gold);margin-bottom:14px}\n.cfp-hero h2{color:#fff;font-size:clamp(28px,5vw,42px);line-height:1.1;margin:0 0 4px}\n.wp-block-post-title{position:absolute;width:1px;height:1px;padding:0;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;clip:rect(0 0 0 0);white-space:nowrap;border:0}\n.cfp-subtitle{font-family:'Fraunces',Georgia,serif;font-style:italic;font-weight:600;color:var(--gold);font-size:clamp(17px,3vw,22px);margin-bottom:18px}\n.cfp-rule{width:56px;height:2px;background:var(--gold);margin:20px 0}\n.cfp-meta{color:rgba(255,255,255,0.85);margin-bottom:10px}\n.cfp-deadline{color:#fff;font-size:18px}\n.cfp-section-label{font-family:'IBM Plex Mono',ui-monospace,monospace;font-size:11px;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:0.16em;text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--brand);margin:2.2em 0 0.2em}\n.cfp-qlist li{margin-bottom:1em}\n.cfp-qlist li strong{color:var(--head)}\n.cfp-formats{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(240px,1fr));gap:16px;margin:0 0 1.5em}\n.cfp-format{background:#fff;border:1px solid rgba(87,55,156,0.16);border-top:3px solid var(--brand);padding:18px 18px 8px}\n.cfp-format-meta{font-size:14px;color:var(--muted);margin-bottom:8px}\n.cfp-cta{background:var(--cream);border-left:4px solid var(--brand);padding:26px 28px;margin:36px 0}\n.cfp-btn{display:inline-block;background:var(--brand);color:#fff !important;text-decoration:none !important;font-family:'IBM Plex Mono',ui-monospace,monospace;font-size:13px;font-weight:500;text-transform:uppercase;padding:15px 26px;letter-spacing:0.1em;margin:6px 0 14px}\n.cfp-btn:hover,.cfp-btn:focus{background:var(--brand-hover)}\n.cfp-alt{font-size:15px;color:var(--muted)}\n<\/style>\n<div class=\"cfp\">\n  <header class=\"cfp-hero\">\n    <p class=\"cfp-eyebrow\">Call for Proposals<\/p>\n    <h2><span style=\"text-decoration:underline wavy var(--gold);text-decoration-thickness:2px;text-underline-offset:0.16em;\">Errors<\/span> in Our Expectations<\/h2>\n    <p class=\"cfp-subtitle\">Mina Shaughnessy &amp; Basic Writing 50 Years Later<\/p>\n    <div class=\"cfp-rule\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n    <p class=\"cfp-meta\">The City College of New York, CUNY \u00b7 New York, NY \u00b7 June 10\u201312, 2027<br>Chair: Missy Watson \u00b7 Co-Chair: James Dunn<\/p>\n    <p class=\"cfp-deadline\"><strong>Proposals due Monday, November 23, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n  <\/header>\n\n  <p>2027 marks fifty years since Mina Shaughnessy published her pioneering book, <em>Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing<\/em>. Much has changed in the last five decades, including our students, their writing, our pedagogies, and the sociopolitical contexts of institutions and nations. Yet, far too much has remained the same, especially when it comes to misguided assumptions about\u2014and thus expectations for\u2014students, language, and literacy. For this conference, we invite proposals that examine an array of errors in our expectations.<\/p>\n\n  <h3>Background<\/h3>\n  <p>The City College of New York, a core institution in New York City\u2019s public university system (CUNY), is oft-cited as the birthplace of Basic Writing. City College\u2019s foundational role in the field is inseparable from the Open Admissions policy of 1970 and the research conducted in response by Mina Shaughnessy. Shaughnessy\u2019s research and on-the-ground efforts fundamentally challenged the notion of the \u201cbasic writer\u201d as deficient and \u201cuneducable,\u201d and instead framed students\u2019 \u201cerrors\u201d as linguistically sound and logical results that occur when writers (are expected to) learn new language systems and discourses.<\/p>\n  <p>Since Shaughnessy, teacher-scholars of Basic Writing have continued the tradition of contesting the mismatch between expectations and realities when it comes to:<\/p>\n  <ul>\n    <li>what is meant by \u201cbasic writing,\u201d<\/li>\n    <li>who is considered a \u201cbasic writer,\u201d and<\/li>\n    <li>what role \u201cerror\u201d and error correction play (and should play) in teaching writing.<\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n  <p>In Basic Writing and Composition Studies writ large, we have also long addressed problematic myths and expectations that have been hard to shake despite decades of research debunking them. For instance, consider how we as a whole have yet to fully detach from assuming that\u2026<\/p>\n  <ul>\n    <li>Writing is a solitary and objectively assessable practice<\/li>\n    <li>Composition is and should be one mode of text-based communication<\/li>\n    <li>The five-paragraph essay is an ideal genre for student learning and communication<\/li>\n    <li>Teaching and testing for grammar rules enhances student learning and writing<\/li>\n    <li>Marking \/ correcting \u201cerrors\u201d in student writing helps improve students\u2019 grammar<\/li>\n    <li>Students should arrive to college already \u201cprepared\u201d to read and write for college<\/li>\n    <li>Students learn best in our classes when required to use English and English only<\/li>\n    <li>All writers should achieve the same English-only standards within our courses \/ degrees<\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n\n  <h3>Sets of Questions<\/h3>\n  <p>To collectively grapple with these and other \u201cerrors in our expectations,\u201d we invite proposals that address any of the following sets of questions:<\/p>\n  <ol class=\"cfp-qlist\">\n    <li><strong>What are the legacies of Mina Shaughnessy\u2019s scholarship?<\/strong> How has Shaughnessy\u2019s work impacted composition teaching for the better? What criticisms and transformations of Shaughnessy\u2019s work have been (or still need to be) incorporated into the field?<\/li>\n    <li><strong>Who are the fundamental theorists of early basic writing scholarship, and how have they impacted the trajectory of basic writing today?<\/strong> What historical contributions from marginalized voices (e.g., instructors, students) warrant acknowledgment? And how might we amplify them?<\/li>\n    <li><strong>Who is a \u201cbasic writer\u201d today?<\/strong> How have students and their needs changed (or remained the same) in the last 50 years? How might we better deconstruct the stigmatized label of \u201cbasic writer\u201d to better reflect students\u2019 linguistic assets and intellectual capabilities?<\/li>\n    <li><strong>Where is \u201ccomposition\u201d going?<\/strong> What politics remain in BW models like ALP, Stretch, and Directed Self-Placement? How might we re-envision the field in light of new student demographics, ever-growing curricular and labor demands, and the dissolution of CCCC?<\/li>\n    <li><strong>What are the errors in our expectations in college composition today?<\/strong> What do we know about who our students are, how they actually learn, use language, and write, and how our expectations and teaching practices neglect (or even worsen) these socio-linguistic realities?<\/li>\n    <li><strong>What are the errors in expectations in higher education and society writ large today?<\/strong> What do we know from scholarship in composition studies that outsiders ought to know? What strategies and opportunities are there to share disciplinary knowledge with broader audiences?<\/li>\n    <li><strong>What are the errors in our expectations for what counts as \u201caccess\u201d and \u201cequity\u201d in composition and higher education?<\/strong> How might we better support students with language differences, disabilities, neurodivergencies, as well as family, life, and time constraints?<\/li>\n    <li><strong>What sorts of curriculum, teaching, and feedback strategies are needed to resist errors in our expectations about students, language, and writing?<\/strong> And how might we best address GenAI, multimodality, cross-languaging, remote learning, and digital technologies in our teaching?<\/li>\n    <li><strong>What advocacy exists and\/or is still needed to resist errors in our expectations about program administration<\/strong>, including and especially the politics of placement, enrollment caps, course credit, curriculum development, assessment, and administrators\u2019 job security and promotions?<\/li>\n    <li><strong>What advocacy exists and\/or is still needed to resist errors in our expectations about teacher training<\/strong> and the ongoing exploitation of adjuncts who are overworked, underpaid, and situated in precarious, unstable positions that lack benefits, job security, and power?<\/li>\n  <\/ol>\n\n  <h3>Who Can Apply?<\/h3>\n  <p>We welcome proposals from all members of the academic community, including (under)graduate students, adjunct instructors, full-time faculty, new and seasoned basic writing teachers, and researchers of basic writing, composition studies, writing centers, and beyond.<\/p>\n\n  <h3>Presentation &amp; Session Formats<\/h3>\n  <p>We welcome the following presentation and session formats:<\/p>\n  <div class=\"cfp-formats\">\n    <div class=\"cfp-format\">\n      <h4>Individual Presentation<\/h4>\n      <p class=\"cfp-format-meta\">1 presenter \u00b7 15 mins. total<\/p>\n      <p>A single presentation\u2014either theoretical or practical (see below)\u2014that will be combined into a panel with two others.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"cfp-format\">\n      <h4>Theoretical Panel<\/h4>\n      <p class=\"cfp-format-meta\">3 presenters \u00b7 15 mins. each<\/p>\n      <p>Panelists theorize, historicize, or critique core concepts, existing scholarship, and\/or propose new frameworks.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"cfp-format\">\n      <h4>Practical Panel<\/h4>\n      <p class=\"cfp-format-meta\">3 presenters \u00b7 15 mins. each<\/p>\n      <p>Panelists exemplify and evaluate specific pedagogical approaches, curricular designs, or institutional practices.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"cfp-format\">\n      <h4>Roundtable Discussion<\/h4>\n      <p class=\"cfp-format-meta\">3\u20136 speakers \u00b7 60 mins. total<\/p>\n      <p>Leading teacher-scholars discuss specific, pressing topics or questions, inviting audience questions and participation.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"cfp-format\">\n      <h4>Teaching Workshop<\/h4>\n      <p class=\"cfp-format-meta\">3\u20136 speakers \u00b7 60 mins. total<\/p>\n      <p>Interactive sessions focused on practicing hands-on strategies, curriculum development, or classroom activities.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <h3>How to Apply<\/h3>\n  <p>For <strong>individual presentations<\/strong>, prepare a proposal that includes:<\/p>\n  <ul>\n    <li>The Title of the Presentation (&gt;20 words)<\/li>\n    <li>An Abstracted Description (&gt;50 words)<\/li>\n    <li>A Full Description (&gt;250 words)<\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n  <p>For <strong>panels, roundtables, and workshops<\/strong>, prepare a proposal that includes:<\/p>\n  <ul>\n    <li>The Title of the Session (&gt;20 words)<\/li>\n    <li>An Abstracted Description (&gt;150 words)<\/li>\n    <li>A Full Description (differentiating speakers) (&gt;600 words)<\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n\n  <div class=\"cfp-cta\">\n    <h3 style=\"margin-top:0\">Submit Your Proposal<\/h3>\n    <p><strong>Submit by Monday, November 23, 2026.<\/strong><br>Proposal acceptances will be announced by February 1, 2027.<\/p>\n    <p style=\"margin-bottom:1.2em;font-size:1em;\" style=\"margin-top:1em;font-size:0.95em;color:inherit;\" >Prefer a document version? <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1xpR73inMDw67Yh_0y0Wl2igKKy-2fYtpEHe3mmrx3ao\/edit?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">View the CFP as a Google Doc<\/a>. Questions? Email <a href=\"mailto:cunycompositionconference@gmail.com\">cunycompositionconference@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<a class=\"cfp-btn\" href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/wUGj6oM5ex6nnSj1A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Submit a Proposal<\/a>\n    \n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Call for Proposals Errors in Our Expectations Mina Shaughnessy &amp; Basic Writing 50 Years Later The City College of New York, CUNY \u00b7 New York, NY \u00b7 June 10\u201312, 2027Chair: Missy Watson \u00b7 Co-Chair: James Dunn Proposals due Monday, November 23, 2026 2027 marks fifty years since Mina Shaughnessy published her pioneering book, Errors and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cunycompositionconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cunycompositionconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cunycompositionconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cunycompositionconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cunycompositionconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/cunycompositionconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48,"href":"https:\/\/cunycompositionconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions\/48"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cunycompositionconference.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}