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Denver AWP

AWP Two-Year College Caucus Member Sessions - Denver

Thursday- April 8, 2010

9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m.

Room 109

Colorado Convention Center, Street Level
R107. The Literary Magazine at the Two-Year College: Standards, Submissions, and Student Success. (Denise Hill, Nicholle Cormier, Michael Darcher, John Dermot Woods, Bart Edelman, Lindsay Wilson) Faculty advisors and editors of five local and national two-year college journals—Eclipse, Luna, The MacGuffin, The Meadow, SLA.M.—discuss the unique nature of sustainability in a transient student population, how to maintain competitive content standards sought nationally and internationally by both readers and writers, and the opportunities these journals provide in preparing students to transfer their experience to university publications.

3:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m.

Room 106

Colorado Convention Center, Street Level
R195. A One Way Mirror: Writing Children, Writing Ourselves. (Tom Montgomery-Fate, Dan Roche, Sonya Huber, Michele Morano, John Price) Writers who are also parents understand two words well: patience and passion. They also appreciate the Latin stem that the two words share—pati: to suffer. Writing and parenthood might both be described as joyful suffering. Drawing on their own and others work, this panel of writers will explore the continuity and convergence of childhood and parenthood in creative nonfiction—how we often see our children through a kind of one way mirror, just beyond the dim reflection of ourselves.

 
Friday – April 9, 2010

9:00 am – 10:15 am

Room 113V
Colorado Convention Center, Street LevelV F110. Two-Year College Caucus. (Lois Roma-Deeley, Charles Burm, Simone Zelitch) Do you teach at a two-year college? Interested in opportunities at two-year colleges? Join us for our annual networking meeting. With almost half of all students beginning college careers at two-year colleges, and increasing numbers of MFAs landing two-year college teaching jobs, the future of creative writing programs at our campuses looks bright. We will discuss teaching creative writing at the two-year college, hold a short business meeting, and provide tangible resources for faculty.

1:30 – 2:45 pm

Room 113

Colorado Convention Center, Street Level
F177. Who Are Community College Creative Writing Students? (Richard Newman, Mary Lannon, Laura McCullough, Christina Rau, Phoebe Reeves, Jan Ramjerdi) It's no accident that most people of color in higher education started at a community college. The nationwide growth of creative writing enrollment and program development at the two-year level reflects that fact, along with the socioeconomic and other forms of diversity found on community college campuses. Faculty from urban and rural community colleges will discuss strategies for addressing that diversity both in the classroom and in nurturing our students' future careers as writers.

4:00 – 5:00 pm

Reception: Two-Year College Caucus Bookfair Table

- join us for food, drink, and conversation

 
Saturday, April 10

10:30 – 11:45 am

Room 110

Colorado Convention Center, Street Level
S128. The Joy of Assessment: Romancing Narratives of Student Success from Outcomes and Rubrics. (Kendall Dunkelberg, Anna Leahy, Stephanie Vanderslice, Mary Cantrell, Aileen Murphy, Judith Baumel) Assessment: we must do it, so let's make it useful! Panelists from different accrediting regions and varied programs—from the community college to the BA and BFA to the MFA—discuss practical ways to develop learning outcomes, write meaningful outcomes criteria, gather data, and describe the results. This panel provides ideas to streamline the assessment process, meet accreditors' expectations, and communicate the value of our programs as we identify ways to improve them.

Granite Room

Hyatt Regency Denver, 3rd Floor S142.
Two-Year College Writing Programs: Three Models. (Simone Zelitch, Sharon Coleman, Kris Bigalk, Scott Wrobel) More and more two-year colleges are launching creative writing programs, as student interest and demand grows. Three common models of the two-year program, including the AFA in Creative Writing, the AA with Writing Emphasis, and the Certificate in Creative Writing will be discussed, along with the benefits and drawbacks of each, what kinds of students each model tends to attract, and how each model incorporates extracurricular activities and features.

3:00 – 4:15 pm

Room 303

Colorado Convention Center, Street Level
S199. What We Teach and Why—Using the Assessment Mandate to Improve Creative Writing Programs. (Mary Rockcastle, Sheila O'Connor, David Haynes, Kris Bigalk, Shannon Olson) Working from the premise that writing can (and should) be taught, we will look at how sound assessment practices drive good teaching. What should our students know and be able to do? What can be effectively measured and what probably shouldn't be? What tools best evaluate creative work? How do we communicate progress to students and to other interested parties? What kinds of programs best support the learning process? From curriculum mapping through program evaluation, four creative writing faculty will share positive pedagogical changes made in response to various assessment mandates.

AWP Bookfair Exhibitors

Front Range Community College/AWP Two-Year College Caucus

Nassau Community College Creative Writing Project

AWP Conference Sponsors

Austin Community College

AWP Conference Contributors

Front Range Community College

AWP Two Year College Caucus Membership Increasing!

Two-year college faculty had a banner year at the 2009 AWP Conference in Chicago February 11 - 14. Some highlights included:

- Eight panel presentations featuring Caucus members, all of which were well-attended
- Two-Year College Caucus Bookfair table
- Two-Year College Caucus Meeting with over 70 attendees (a record)
- First annual Off-Site Reading at Harold Washington College, featuring three Caucus members and Harold Washington student writers

The Two-Year College Listserv increased its number of members from around 50 to over 200, and we've moved the list over to Yahoo! Groups. To join the list, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awp_two_year_caucus/ and click on "Join Now". We're currently working on preparing panel proposals for Denver in 2010.

AWP Chicago -- Off Campus Reading

Jeffrey Daniels, Director of Creative Writing at Harold Washington College in Chicago, has partnered with the Two Year College Caucus to host our first annual off-campus event:

A Community of Poets and Writers: A Reading by Two-Year College Faculty
Readers will include Al Maginnes (Ghost Alphabet), Lois Roma-Deeley (northSight and Rules of Hunger), Margaret Rozga (recently published in Nimrod and Poetry Midwest), and more.

Friday, February 13th, 2009

Harold Washington College
follow this link for directions from the Chicago Hilton: http://www.mapquest.com/mq/5-_Ax6t2Y1
30 East Lake Street
Chicago, IL 60601

For more information, contact Kris Bigalk, AWP Two-Year College Caucus President, at kris.bigalk@normandale.edu, or Jeffrey Daniels, Director of Creative Writing, Harold Washington College, jdaniels2@ccc.edu