Conference Coordinators with Guest Speakers and Performers
On Saturday, February 21st, 2009, the English Department sponsored its 1st Annual Conference for Undergraduate and Graduate Students, English as A Field of Change and Flow: Contemporary Practices and Research in English Education, Literature, and Linguistics.
Volunteers...the Heart and Soul of English as a Field of Change and Flow
Marked particularly by outstanding student and faculty participation, both as volunteers and as presenters, the conference is currently highlighted on the institution’s homepage in an article by Marta Yazmín García Nieves titled “Se reinventa la enseñanza del inglés” (The Teaching of English is Reinvented). To access this article, please refer to: http://www.uprm.edu/news/articles/as2009036.html. The conference also notably attracted a wide sector of the public, particularly from the western region of Puerto Rico, and included local public high school students, undergraduate students and faculty at the University of Puerto Rico-Aguadilla (CORA), students and faculty from a number of other UPR campuses, local principals, practicing teachers, and teachers-
Chardon Lobby Filled by Conference Attendees
in-training. The work of twelve UPRM students was presented at this conference, and included presentations by two undergraduate students, one of whom is currently a major in the Humanities Department. Feedback on the conference has been especially positive with many follow-up requests for a 2010 2nd annual conference as well as for collaboration with the invited guest speakers and performers, The Rebel Poets/Power Writers, in other forums. The English Department’s own student organization L³ recently sponsored a Power Writing workshop, inspired by their collaborative work at the conference and is already planning a much larger Power Writing activity for the academic community-at-large. Numerous photographs of the conference were posted on Facebook and are, of course, available there for those with a Facebook account. One of our personal favorites is included below. Drs. Judy Casey and Mary Sefranek profoundly thank the diverse groups of students, faculty, personnel, and administration who supported the conference and made it a resounding success. Enhorabuena to all!
Welcome to the Department of Rebel English!
*This blog entry is titled “feed” based on terminology used in the collective Power Writing workshop that took place at the conference. It is simply a shortened version of the word “feedback” but significantly underscores the need for writers to be fed nourishing, constructive critique of their on-going work.