Rhetoric and Composition @ WSU

Wayne State’s Department of English, and the program in Rhetoric and Composition are proudly hosting the 29th Computers & Writing Conference. This year’s theme – “Digital Urbanism” – juxtaposes computers and writing with contemporary city life, representations of the urban, and the virtual encounters we create when technology and textuality are introduced into our places of work, study, and pleasure. Detroit, Michigan offers a unique opportunity to consider the effects of rhetoric and writing on the urban experience, an experience constantly shaped and reshpaed by emerging and existing technological issues, from the birth of the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company to the introduction of techno music. Today, new kinds of projects, like the New Center’s Digital Detroit and Wayne State University’s concept of TechTown, are creating new kinds of urban experiences.

The Keynote speakers for the event include Geoffrey Sirc, Professor of English, University of Minnesota; Helen Liggett, Professor of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University; and Richard Doyle, Professor of English, Penn State University. In addition to the featured keynote speakers, Computers and Writing 2007 will feature local artists, webloggers, and activists who explore the assemblages of technology, writing, and city space. Through the participation of keynote speakers, featured guests, and conference presenters and participants, Computers and Writing 2007 will integrate issues of virtual urbanism with those concerns writing and rhetoric professionals face today.