{"id":425,"date":"2026-02-27T01:28:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T01:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thencptw.org\/boise2026\/?page_id=425"},"modified":"2026-04-08T00:44:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T00:44:52","slug":"call-for-proposals","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thencptw.org\/boise2026\/call-for-proposals\/","title":{"rendered":"Call for Proposals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Theme: &#8220;Keepin&#8217; Centered @ NCPTW 2026!&#8221;<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>Submission Deadline: April 24, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given the challenges that higher education and writing centers are currently facing\u2014budget cuts, a growing reliance on AI, and political unrest unfolding on campuses\u2014these conditions can feel insurmountably heavy. Persistent burnout threatens to consume writing center peer tutors and administrators as we attempt to reconcile a desire for normalcy with the pressing need to address the issues impacting our work. For writing center practitioners, then, the question becomes how can our communities achieve a feeling of centeredness in a world askew?&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fostering a shared sense of purpose and community from within\u2014what Leahy (1992) described as \u201ccenteredness\u201d\u2014can offer a path for writing centers to build resilience against the instability outside. Centeredness can be a stabilizing force that grounds peer tutors in a shared vision of growth and community. Contemplative pedagogy, Sicari and Tunningley (2024) contend, \u201callows for practices of mindfulness, awareness, and reflection in organic ways, as writing center pedagogy focuses on the importance of the relational, flattening hierarchies, and a focus on the conversation between writer and tutor (or between writers).\u201d These contemplative practices, of course, should also reflect the relationships between tutors and between tutors and administrators.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crises, both from within\u2014and outside of\u2014our educational institutions, inevitably seep into writing center spaces. Centeredness, though, is not meant to escape the reality of this situation; rather, it can be an intentional pursuit of balance\u2014a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">choice<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to share in the fun, hope, and weirdness of writing center work as a means of supporting the wellness of its tutors and administrators. Giaimo (2023) asserted that this focus on wellness does not need to originate from the remedial fixes of neoliberal wellness culture or the toxic positivity that denies hardship, but from restorative, co-created practices that address these sources of unwellness. Community, then, provides the ground where centeredness and hope can be shared and where wellness becomes collective rather than solitary. Writing center community bonds can deepen when we embrace the \u201cproductive weirdness\u201d of writing centers: the unexpected encounters and \u201cmessy humanity\u201d that resist conformity and reveal the whole person\u2014leaving room for flexibility, autonomy, and rejecting the impersonal and overly institutional (Garner, 2024, p. 203). Far from being separate, this weirdness connects purpose, wellness, and hope.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now is not the time to Panic! at the Disco; instead, join us in Boise, and we\u2019ll learn how to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/_ZWb0vbKaHI?si=rUEgWZh0Sh09bpYf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDisco! in the Panic Room\u201d<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> together. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For NCPTW 2026, we seek proposals on all topics related to writing centers, with extra interest in sessions that reflect the conference\u2019s theme:&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do writing center practitioners keep centered, hopeful, and persistent when the world feels deeply askew due to factors outside of our control?<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can writing centers use play and fun as a pedagogical approach to inspire collaboration, community building, and restorative wellness practices?<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What constitutes the daily work of writing centers beyond their core functions (i.e., providing writing support to students), and how might this work contribute to feelings of \u201ccenteredness\u201d among tutors and administrators?<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mattison (2006) argues that every center has its own culture, and that \u201cevery center looks to grow, individually and collectively\u201d (p. 101). How might an individual center\u2019s culture contribute to the collective growth of all writing centers?<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can writing centers balance their desire to be perceived as an alternative to overly institutional spaces (by being our weird, authentic selves!) while still embodying a \u201cculture of academic seriousness\u201d (Wingate, 2001)?<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How are the cultures of individual writing centers shaped by their specific institutional contexts (e.g. community colleges, HBCUs, HSIs, secondary schools, TCUs), and how do these contexts impact writers and peer tutors?<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What might we learn about the differences between enthusiasm, joy, and hope (Vogelaar et al., 2025), and how might those differences guide our practice of fostering positive emotional associations with writing center work without falling prey to performative, toxic positivity?<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can administrators reflect their writing center\u2019s achievements in community-building that \u201csubvert institutional absurdities\u201d when it comes to institutional reporting practices (Cirillo-McCarthy et al., 2023)? What role can\/should peer tutors play in shaping these institutional narratives to ensure their lived experiences are accounted for?&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, we\u2019d love to see poster presentations that utilize a range of anthropological research methods to capture the ways individual writing centers\u2019 microcultures impact their writers, peer tutors, and administrators. For example, what might an artifact analysis reveal about a writing center\u2019s values, practices, and production of positive emotional associations for peer tutors and writers alike?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We encourage all attendees to bring your hopeful weirdness to Boise State, where we plan to build from the authentic idiosyncrasies of each writing center, to re-center our missions and practices in the current climate, and to focus on restorative wellness for all writing center practitioners.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column425_ac1cc7-5b > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column425_ac1cc7-5b > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column425_ac1cc7-5b > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column425_ac1cc7-5b > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column425_ac1cc7-5b > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column425_ac1cc7-5b > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column425_ac1cc7-5b{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column425_ac1cc7-5b > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column425_ac1cc7-5b > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column425_ac1cc7-5b\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion-7c1f7306\" class=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion exclusive\">\n<details class=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion-item\"><summary class=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion-item__title\"><div><b>Proposal Categories<\/b><\/div><\/summary><div class=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion-item__content\">\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Individual Presentations: <\/strong>a 15-20-minute presentation on a question, topic, or issue relevant to the conference theme.&nbsp;Individual presentations will be combined into a conference panel by conference organizers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Panel Presentations: <\/strong>a panel of closely-related talks (3-4) on a question, topic, or issue relevant to the conference theme. Panelists have 75 minutes total for their presentation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Roundtables: <\/strong>75-minute group discussions. Presenters offer introductory remarks and facilitate discussion on a question, topic, or issue relevant to the conference theme.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Poster Presentations: <\/strong>organized as a research fair or art installation, presenters offer a visual representation of their research and then discuss informally with attendees.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Workshops: <\/strong>75-minute interactive session in which organizers facilitate engagement among participants to explore an issue, question, or theme or to produce some tangible product (writing, research, art, etc.).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion-item\"><summary class=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion-item__title\"><div><b>Proposal Guidelines<\/b><\/div><\/summary><div class=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion-item__content\">\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Individual and Poster Presentations<\/strong>: 250-word proposal and a 75-word abstract.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Panels, Roundtables, and Workshops<\/strong>: 500-700-word proposal and a 75-word abstract that outlines the content, goals, and takeaways of the session. Workshop proposals should describe any interactive elements. Please refer to speakers anonymously (e.g. \u201cSpeaker 1,\u201d \u201cSpeaker 2\u201d).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion-item\"><summary class=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion-item__title\"><div><strong>Submission Instructions<\/strong><\/div><\/summary><div class=\"wp-block-themeisle-blocks-accordion-item__content\">\n<p>Submit your proposals at <a href=\"http:\/\/ncptw.info\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"ncptw.info\">ncptw.info\/<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/details>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theme: &#8220;Keepin&#8217; Centered @ NCPTW 2026!&#8221; Submission Deadline: April 24, 2026 Given the challenges that higher education and writing centers are currently facing\u2014budget cuts, a growing reliance on AI, and political unrest unfolding on campuses\u2014these conditions can feel insurmountably heavy. Persistent burnout threatens to consume writing center peer tutors and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-425","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thencptw.org\/boise2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thencptw.org\/boise2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thencptw.org\/boise2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thencptw.org\/boise2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thencptw.org\/boise2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.thencptw.org\/boise2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":625,"href":"https:\/\/www.thencptw.org\/boise2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/425\/revisions\/625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thencptw.org\/boise2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}