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Canadian Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (CATTW/ACPRTS)
Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada
May 29-31, 2003 - Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Call for Papers
CATTW/ACPRTS invites proposals for its 2003 conference at Dalhousie
University in Halifax. The CATTW/ACPRTS conference will be part of the
annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada.
The Federation has announced three themes for the Congress:
- Conflict and Cooperation - Local, National, and Global
- Conflict and Cooperation - Representations of Justice
- Conflict and Cooperation - Richness and Creativity
CATTW/ACPRTS welcomes proposals for individual papers on these themes as well as on other topics relevant to the practice and teaching of technical, professional, and scientific writing. Proposals should foreground the research methods and research context on which the paper is based, and should include the relevant references to the literature.
We also welcome proposals on similar topics for round-tables, orkshops,
and informal sessions. While such proposals need not necessarily reflect
formal research, they should relate to current conversations in the field
and should encourage the exchange of ideas and experiences among participants.
Presenters and participants in all conference forums must be members of
CATTW/ACPRTS.
Orientation
Keeping with the themes announced by the Federation, the CATTW/ACPRTS
conference organizing committee invites scholars in technical, professional, and scientific writing, in applied linguistics, in rhetoric, and in other language-related disciplines to reflect on the text below. In political, socio-economic, scientific, and technological contexts and, more generally, in all workplace domains, writers strive to formalize, shape, and provide a clear, succinct style for their discourses. Workplace discourse often originates in contexts that are somewhat informal and that reflect various tensions, oppositions, and divergent interests.
Accordingly, the questions that follow are consequential:
With the globalization of interactions among individuals and the
multiplication of international forums, does written discourse remain a
privileged form of representation for establishing positions on issues and
for resolving problems? Are image and design getting predominant over text?
If not, what added value does written discourse bring to such communicative
activities? What traditional or emerging genres best lend themselves to
this role, and why?
What cognitive and linguistic strategies are enacted in efforts to move
from conflict to cooperation in the practice of a technical communicator?
In teamwork activities in a technical communication classroom? What part
does rhetoric play in this process of moving from conflict to cooperation?
What teaching strategies would best address this issue?
What is the role of ethics in the work of the professional or technical
writer and a technical communication teacher?
How can writers function effectively in contexts of divergent and
conflicting interests in which their products must be reviewed and approved
by different levels of decision-makers?
How can writers reconcile (or can they reconcile?) the perceptions and
logics of local cultures, such as legal institutions, when writing or
translating specialized texts for public audiences?
According to traditional wisdom, science is universal, with regard to
both cooperation and conflict. Is scientific and technological discourse
culturally marked or does it rise above local and national contingencies?
What role does linguistic creativity play in effective communication?
Some support for travel could be available for those participants who
present formal research papers and who request such support, provided that
CATTW/ACPRTS's application to the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation
of Canada for travel funding is accepted. The result of the application
should be known by the end of January 2003.
Presenters and participants in all conference forums must be members of CATTW/ ACPRTS. For membership information, please go to http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~agoldric/CATTW
Proposals of approximately 250 words should be submitted, preferably by
e-mail, by September 22, 2002 to:
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