CASDW invites nominations for its Annual Research Award—an award given to the author(s) of the best journal article or book chapter published by a 2015 CASDW member during the 2015 calendar year. Co-authored articles or chapters will be eligible as long as one of the authors was a CASDW member during the year of the award.  The deadline for nominations is March 15, 2016. The winner of the award will be announced at the 2016 CASDW conference at the University of Calgary.

The selection criteria are as follows:

•    Significance and contribution to the field.
•    Depth of the research.
•    General quality of the writing, including its comprehensibility.
•    Originality.

The award includes a prize of $100 and a one-year CASDW membership for the following year.

Please note: Ideally, e-mail nominations will include an attached pdf of the journal article or book chapter, as well as a complete reference.

Nominations should be sent in an e-mail addressed to Graham Smart (gsmart@connect.carleton.ca) and copied to the three other members of the selection committee: Natasha Artemeva (natasha_artemeva@carleton.ca), Margie Clow Bohan (C.Bohan@Dal.ca), and Stephanie White (stephanie.white@uwaterloo.ca).

Authors are invited to nominate their own publications as well as those of other CASDW members.

The Joan Pavelich CASDW Annual Award for the Best Dissertation in Writing and Discourse Studies recognizes the most outstanding PhD dissertation in Writing Studies, Discourse Studies, Rhetoric, or a cognate field for the preceding year. The award will be given to a student in a Canadian university or to a Canadian student studying outside Canada.  To be eligible, dissertations must have been defended between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2015. An announcement of the winning dissertation will be made at the CASDW Annual General Meeting.

The award includes a prize of $100 and a one-year free CASDW membership for the following year.

The deadline for nominations is April 1, 2016. Self-nominations are accepted. The assessment criteria for the award are the following: (1) the overall quality of the writing and thinking; (2) the significance of the question(s) addressed in the research; (3) the importance of the new knowledge presented in the thesis; and (3) and methodological rigour and/or innovation.

Applicants/nominators should send the following items to each member of the selection committee listed below: a pdf file containing the dissertation (or a link to an online repository), a CV, and a cover sheet with the applicant’s full name, citizenship, institution and degree program, and the contact information for their primary supervisor.

Jay Dolmage dolmage@uwaterloo.ca

Rachael Cayley rachael.cayley@utoronto.ca

Andrea Williams al.williams@utoronto.ca

Sheila Hannon smehanno@uwaterloo.ca

Duncan Koerber dkoerber@ryerson.ca

It’s time to renew your annual CASDW (Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing) membership. You can quickly do so using the secure payment link here.

If you are serving on the CASDW executive or committee, including the awards committees, or if you plan to present at this year’s conference in Calgary, we ask that you take the time now to renew your membership now rather than leave it to later.

One benefit to joining CASDW or renewing your membership for 2016 is that you will be eligible to be considered for the annual CASDW awards for the best article or book chapter and the best dissertation published in 2016. Those awards would look great on your annual report or CV. And, when our budget permits, graduate student members of CASDW are also eligible for partial reimbursement of costs related to their attendance at the CASDW annual conference.

I would like to ask all members to encourage your colleagues and graduate students to become members of CASDW, to participate in our annual conference, and to consider submitting an article to the Canadian Journal for Studies in Discourse and Writing. Please don’t keep CASDW a secret. We need new members  and look forward to welcoming them into our association. If you know someone who might be interested in joining CASDW, please direct them to our website for information about the association and for the Call for Papers for our 2016 conference.

Finally, while you are doing all of your virtual paperwork, here is the link for registering for the 2016 CASDW conference to be held in Calgary, Alberta, May 28 to 30.

I am looking forward to seeing you this spring in Calgary,

Jo-Anne Andre

President, CASDW

The Power of Writing: Explorations of the Energy of Writing and Discourse

The Eighth Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing (CASDW / ACR)

University of Calgary – Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Saturday, May 28 to Monday, May 30, 2016

CALL FOR PAPERS

We invite papers on all aspects of writing studies for the eighth annual conference of CASDW/ACR, the largest gathering of writing studies scholars in Canada.  In particular, we invite papers on research on writing theory and pedagogy connecting with our theme of The Power of Writing. This theme encompasses research and theoretical studies of not only the effects of writing, but also the energy and efforts required to cultivate and sustain effective writing and writing program initiatives.

Papers might address topics such as:

• the nature of effective and powerful writing in the academy, the professions, and the workplace
• how strong and energetic writing programs are created and supported or undermined
• writing and power
• the writing centre as a “writing resource”
• writing in the energy sector and Canada’s natural resource fields
• the discourse of environmental activism – local and global
• teaching students to write: what motivates and energizes writing instruction?
• how writing shapes, challenges, and energizes communities

We invite papers that draw on work in genre studies, rhetorical theory, writing studies, writing centre theory and practice, and professional and technical writing research and practice. We welcome papers that connect with CASDW’s heritage as a place for sharing research on technical and professional writing as well as those that connect with its more inclusive mission to examine all forms of discourse and writing and to explore pedagogical practices and innovations.

The proposal deadline is January 25, 2016 February 1, 2016 (extended)

Please download the full CFP for proposal requirements.

Teaching Associate – Writing Centre – USG 8
1-year contract (maternity leave); Start date: August 31, 2015

The Writing Centre Teaching Associate provides writing and communications support to individual students, as well as classroom support to students and instructors as required. The Teaching Associate helps undergraduate and graduate students develop their writing and multi-modal communication skills. Because the Teaching Associate sees a variety of work, including discipline-specific assignments, papers, reports, résumés, proposals, presentations, and technically and theoretically complex dissertations, this person must be knowledgeable about a range of genres and disciplinary conventions. They must be able to respond to students at different levels and with different skills. Writing and communication support is provided through individual appointments both in person and online, at drop-in sessions, and through workshops and presentations.

The Teaching Associate works in a collaborative environment with responsibilities for information sharing and team work on projects, including taking the lead on organizational initiatives as required. The position of Teaching Associate requires exceptional communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills, as well as flexibility, initiative and resourcefulness, approachability, and a knowledge and understanding of the university and its community.

The ideal candidate will have:

A Master’s degree or equivalent in writing or composition studies, TESOL, Education, or a related field.

Experience tutoring or teaching students at the post-secondary level, ideally at both undergraduate and graduate levels

Demonstrated ability to design clear, engaging and accessible learning resources including design and delivery of interactive workshops

Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment

Qualified applicants can submit a resume and cover letter to Clare Bermingham cbermingham@uwaterloo.ca