Dr. Cherelyn Bush presented a paper, “Ritual and Region in Student Writing,” at the Florida College English Association Annual Conference, November 8, 2007

Faculty News         Academic Calendar
 

Dr. Cherelyn Bush recently attended and presented a paper at the Florida College English Association Annual Conference. The Conference was held at the Indian River Community College November 7-9, 2007. The Florida College English Association had a call for papers in the winter and accepted Dr. Bush’s paper proposal. The theme for the conference was “Reading through the Muck,” with a focus on Florida issues. Her essay was titled, “Ritual and Region in Student Writing,” and focused on regional distinctions noted in students’ essays denoting a family ritual.

The Florida College English Association notes that one purpose of the organization is to “provide a forum for exploring the professional concerns of teachers of college English and related subjects. Another purpose is to provide an official voice for FCEA members to make their views known on issues of professional concern.” The first conference was held in 1961. The focus of Reading through the Muck encouraged those who participated to “write and present Florida works that challenge authority, speak to ecological interests, explore Florida authors’ works, and address composition issues such as research and documentation.”

The Indian River Community College is located in Fort Pierce Florida. It was established in 1960 and serves 32,000 students. Many of the sessions were held in the recently built Kight Center for Emerging Technologies, an award winning building for technology and other purposes. This building was designed and built with benefactors contributing funds for different wings or floors.

Dr. Bush presented on Thursday morning. She was scheduled into the Curriculum Design Session. The moderator for the session was Donald Skinner, of Indian River Community College. Marlowe Arnold, also of Indian River Community College first presented on “Paintings as Inspiration for Poetic Writing.” Ms. Arnold’s presentation was riveting. Dr. Bush provided a handout for the audience, and discussed the distinctions noted in a freshman or developmental Freshman Composition assignment. Dr. Bush highlighted the regional distinctions detailed in family rituals as evidenced on the east coast, Midwest and Florida. She detailed specific orientations for each geographical area and humorously shared specifics of the student’s writing. She noted that fishing is a planned for annual event in Michigan and a daily occurrence in Florida. She suggested that region or geography does impact student writing in a manner not conscious to them.

She encouraged audience reflection and had a dialogue about what they recognized in their student’s writing. The audience actively participated in a discussion and Dr. Bush accumulated several email addresses to provide additional information about both the Family Ritual assignment and the Formal Oral Presentation. Dr. Bush was pleased with the information she gained from the discussion and also the interest in the assignment.

Dr. Bush attended several sessions, including Session 3- Southern Magic, Session 4- Old Florida and the Reception, where she was seated with prominent IRCC board members. Dr. Bush attended Session 1-Civil Rights and Colonialism and Session 2- Women and Place, before the Keynote Luncheon with author Bob Morris and the presentation of awards and recognitions such as the Distinguished Colleague award.

She obtained valuable information in the attended sessions which will be shared in a workshop for her peers. One idea about family recipes she incorporated into her English 102 courses. Other ideas may be implemented into her classroom teaching.

Dr. Bush has shared the Florida College English 2008 conference information with her Edward Waters College colleagues.