Call for Proposals

“Rerouting”: Finding Our Way in Changing Landscapes

March 11–14, 2027

Online via Zoom, with local in-person meet-ups

Proposals Due: December 4, 2026

Submit a Proposal

In much of the Midwest, the joke goes: “There are two seasons here: winter and road construction.” For those of us who live and work here, it’s not just a grim joke—it’s a vivid reminder of how, as a society and species, we both change the world around us and are subject to the effects of those changes. We may find ourselves struggling through infrastructure that seems to change daily with new closures, detours, and additions. Our local knowledge of alternate routes can founder against the scale of changes and rapid shift of closures. It can feel as if the landscapes we inhabit are changing around us at a furious pace and in ways we cannot seem to anticipate, leaving us rerouting and, occasionally, wondering if the journey was even worth it.

It doesn’t take much effort to apply this metaphor to our working lives in writing and learning centers. While change has always been a feature of our work and the institutions we work in, the density, speed, and scale of shifts of the past few years may feel meaningfully different from the changes our field has weathered before. The COVID-19 pandemic unsettled what our “place,” in both a material and organizational sense, in the institution could mean (Witman et al., 2024), and many centers continue to work in this changed reality, with all its challenges and new opportunities (Wisniewski, 2026). Significant disruptions in funding from federal and state sources, related budget cuts, changes in staffing, and consolidation and institutional reorganization (the subject of the 2026 IWCA conference) can often complicate navigation further. The problematic incursion of generative AI (GAI) into writing and learning center environments (Essid & Cummins, 2025; Buck & Botvin, 2026) and the related closure or downsizing of significant writing centers nationally (Harper, 2026) can make reaching some destination of sustainable, equitable, and robust work feel like rerouting constantly around new obstacles.

For many in our writing and learning center communities, these new developments exacerbate or highlight existing inequities in our field based on race, gender, ability, and socioeconomic status. In other words, while these changes affect us all, they do not affect us all equally. Experienced across these factors of identity and circumstance, the emotional and psychological impact is substantial. The emotional labor (Costello, 2021) involved in continuing to find fulfillment, purpose, and joy in our work can be easy to lose in the daily struggle of getting by and finding our way through challenges.

The MWCA 2027 Conference, taking place online, invites participants to extend discussions begun in venues such as the IWCA 2026 Conference and to explore and expand this theme of “rerouting” by considering how our field can navigate, learn, and grow in the midst of local and global changes in our material, digital, cultural, and social environments. We invite diverse approaches and methodologies but especially encourage projects employing methodologies from place-based education (Gruenwald, 2003; Yemini et al., 2025) ecocomposition (Devet, 2011; Mohlke-Hill et al., 2025), social and environmental justice (Denny, 2010; Garcia, 2017; Inoue, 2015), and other theory and pedagogies that critically examine the connections between the embodiment of work, how we shape the places and spaces we work in, and equity and justice in writing center labor and spaces.

Participants may consider questions like:

• How have the disruptions and changes described here changed the material conditions of your work? How are you responding, and how might our field respond to similar challenges in the future?
• How can writing and learning centers maintain their commitments to equity, justice, and diversity in language and pedagogy amidst rapidly changing political and social climates?
• What strategies are you and your team using to cope with the emotional labor and psychological stress of constantly “rerouting” through the challenges of the past few years?
• How are local changes in your center or institution a reflection of national or global changes, and how have you employed local knowledge or resources to respond?
• How are you and your writing center community working to help students understand global changes from within their local institutional context?
• How are material factors (the physical space you occupy, the digital spaces you work in, the programs you use to maintain client records, etc.) presenting challenges to your work or opportunities to improve?
• What are practical solutions your center or staff are using to “reroute” and persevere despite obstacles? How might these apply to other settings in our field?
• What strategies for coping with recent challenges are you finding in other fields, and how are you applying these to writing and learning center work?
• How have approaches like collaborative problem solving, de-centered leadership models, or other egalitarian management strategies helped your team overcome challenges?
• How have aspects of your identity or the identities of your staff members helped shape your responses to challenges and disruptions? How have they informed solutions?
• What opportunities or new ways of learning and working have your team found in the process of rerouting?

We encourage you to consider these questions (and more!) as you prepare your proposal for submission. In the submission form, we invite presenters to indicate a preferred session format (all session formats are 70 minutes long):

• Panel Presentation: A group of 3 or more presenters speaking for 15–­20 minutes each on a specific theme or question.
• Individual Presentation: Usually one presenter offering a 15–20-minute presentation (to share a session with another individual presentation).
• Workshop: A participatory session that engages attendees in active learning.
• Roundtable Discussion: Up to 15 minutes of introductory framing by the leader(s) followed by a facilitated discussion among attendees.
• Poster Presentation: A visual presentation and informal discussion.

Keynote and Featured Session Opportunities

MWCA is inviting a presentation, workshop, roundtable, or panel to serve as a member-led keynote. If you are interested in offering your proposed session as a keynote or featured session, indicate your interest on the submission form. If your proposal is not chosen as a keynote, you may still be a presenter at the conference. If accepted as a keynote or feature session contributor, your registration fee(s) will be waived.

Modality, Accessibility, and Local Meet-Ups

This conference will take place online via Zoom web hosting, with a tentative plan to coordinate keynote and feature sessions via a single Zoom meeting space, with concurrent sessions taking place in separate spaces or breakout rooms. More information on the modality and format will follow as we better understand the capabilities of our online meeting spaces and assess third-party options.

All sessions on Zoom will include AI-generated captioning and transcripts. If you require any additional accommodations to fully participate in the conference, please describe these in the proposal submission form.

While this conference will take place online to maximize ability to attend and accessibility, we recognize that many members value in-person meetings to network and build communities of mutual support. In an effort to preserve this option, this conference includes space in our program for local in-person meet-ups, and members can apply for funding from MWCA to support these events. Online meet-ups will also be provided during these times for those without access to a local group or who prefer to remain online to connect.

Time for local meet-up is tentatively included in our program during the following periods:

• Thursday, March 11 from 1:00–4:00 p.m.
• Saturday, March 14 from 4:00–7:00 p.m.

Funds from MWCA in support of local meet-ups can be used for the following purposes:

• Payment for food and beverages
• Reserving space at a local institution, restaurant, or community facility for the meet-up
• Reimbursing members for travel to attend a local meetup
• Purchasing materials (books, food service supplies, snacks, etc.)

We also recognize members in some areas may need support finding members near them and coordinating a local meet-up. If you are interested in learning more about your local network and attending a local meet-up, please indicate this in the relevant question on the proposal submission form.

Proposal Submission

Submit your proposal using Google Forms. This form includes space for a session title, a 500-word description for reviewers, and a 50-word abstract (to appear in the conference program if accepted). Descriptions should be as specific as possible about the role of the presenters, the participation of others in attendance, and the contribution the session makes to our work and scholarship. Proposals are due by December 4, 2026.

All proposals will undergo anonymous review by members of the MWCA board. Decisions on proposals will be delivered by email in late January.

References

Buck, E. H., & Joshua B. (Eds.). (2026). Writing centers and AI: Generating early conversations. The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.37514/PER-B.2026.2791

Costello, K. M. (2021). Naming and negotiating the emotional labors of writing center tutoring. In G. N. Giamo (Ed.), Wellness and Care in Writing Center Work. WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship. https://ship.pressbooks.pub/writingcentersandwellness/chapter/title-here/

Gruenewald, D. A. (2003). Foundations of place: A multidisciplinary framework for place-conscious education. American Educational Research Journal, 40(3), 619-654. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312040003619

Harper, T. (2026, August 19). Why the closing of Harvard’s Writing Center matters. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/08/harvard-writing-center-closure/688331/

Inoue, A. (2015). Antiracist writing assessment ecologies: Teaching and assessing writing for a socially just future. The WAC Clearinghouse; Parlor Press. https://doi.org/10.37514/PER-B.2015.0698

Wisniewski, C. (2026). Convenience and communication. The Writing Center Journal, 44(1), 87-116. https://doi.org/10.7771/2832-9414.2077

Wittman, K., Thomas, J., & Moreno, A. (2024). The writing center is not a place. In S. Rice, J. Katunich, & N. Lape (Eds.), The post-pandemic writing center: A WLN digital edited collection. https://ship.pressbooks.pub/thepostpandemicwritingcenter/chapter/chapter-1/

Yemini, M., Engel, L., & Ben Simon, A. (2025). Place-based education – a systematic review of literature. Educational Review, 77(2), 640–660. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2023.2177260