Spring 2008 SYMPOSIUM

The 5th annual University Writing and Research Symposium will take place on Thursday, April 10 through Friday, April 11 on the Mount Vernon campus of The George Washington University. The Symposium is a forum in which students in the first-year writing course (UW20) dynamically engage the public dimension of their research and writing.

Writing is a social act: audiences shape writing, and in turn, writers attempt to shape audiences. UW20 students whose proposals are selected will share their scholarly work with an authentic peer audience comprised of fellow students, faculty,  friends, and community members drawn from across the University and the Washington, D.C. area. This capstone event is an opportunity for students and faculty to see what their peers in other first-year writing courses are doing and to get useful, sometimes eye-opening feedback on their own work. Describing the Symposium as "one of the year's best programs," Dean of Freshmen Frederic Siegel has noted that "the intellectual engagement of freshmen is one of our most important priorities and the Symposium works perfectly in this regard."

All students are encouraged to attend the Symposium, and the final program of presenters will be selected by a review panel of UW20 faculty. Proposals are due Friday, March 28. Selected presenters will be notified on Thursday, April 3. For details, see the Call for Proposals.

SPONSORSHIP: The Spring 2008 University Writing and Research Symposium was organized by the First-Year Writing Faculty of the University Writing Program, with sponsorship and support from the UWP, the Elizabeth J Somers Women's Leadership Program, Mount Vernon Campus Life, Gelman Library, the University Bookstore, and the Office of the Dean of Freshmen.

Spring 2008, University Writing Program, 801 22nd St. NW, Rome Hall 553,
Washington, DC 20052 | phone: (202) 994-0208| fax: (202) 994-3196
Site maintained by 2008 Symposium Director, Ryan Jerving, jerving@gwu.edu.