Fall 2008 Call for Proposals & Conference Information

Mon, 2008-06-09 16:16 — Samm Erickson


Proposal submission form

"The story is one of the basic tools invented by the human mind for the purpose of gaining understanding. There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories." --Ursula K. LeGuin

As two-year college teachers, we have the honor of assisting our students to learn to describe their realities, evaluate existing realities, and find means to effectively influence or alter those realities. Through continuing education, writing and reading, students represent the realities of their lives and are introduced to the realities offered by various disciplines and professions. In other words, we are all sharing stories.

How does your institution address realities of student enrollment, pedagogy, technology, politic, and alternative leaning? How do you respond to or influence these changing realities?

We call on the participants of the 2008 PNW-TYCA joining us in Bend, Oregon, to share their stories of how - in the teaching of writing and literature they:

• inquire how writing and literature reveal our histories and make realities available for thought and deliberation;
• examine how writing and literature create accountability for truth and evidence, establish responsibilities to act on what we find, and develop our communal response to those realities;
• consider writing and literature in relation to the complex realities of contemporary society;
• attend to the realities of teaching and learning in our changing world;
• contemplate our roll as teachers of writing in preparing citizens who can responsibly represent, reflect on, and act in the worlds they inhabit and rebuild
• propose actions by which writing and our profession may make and sustain this world as a more habitable place.


Proposals due July 15th

Proposal submission form

Send to Eleanor-Sumpter Latham or Risë Quay
Central Oregon Community College
2600 NW College Way, Bend, OR 97701

Fall 2008 Hotel and Travel Information

Sun, 2008-06-08 16:22 — Samm Erickson


Conference Hotel and Travel Information

The conference hotel is the Phoenix Inn and Suites offering rooms at $99/night plus tax (10%) for double/queen or king suites (handicapped king suites are the same price). The hotel also has spa suites and family suites, but not at the conference rate; if you want one of these rooms, mention the conference when registering: TYCA has been promised better than the standard rate. Rates apply from Thursday Oct. 10 through Sunday night Oct. 12.

Our rooms are reserved until September 9; after that, the conference rate will still apply but availability isn’t guaranteed. The hotel offers a hot, complimentary breakfast, the usual cereals, bagels, muffins, and juices, plus Belgian waffles, eggs, and biscuits and gravy).

Currently, plans have been made but not confirmed to provide shuttle transportation between the hotel and the college.

Fall 2008 Keynote Speaker

Sun, 2008-06-08 16:20 — Samm Erickson


Thomas Doty: Storyteller

Since 1981, Thomas Doty has traveled the countryside performing and teaching Stories from the Native West. A lover of journeys, he saunters through the places stories come from. He listens to folks tell their stories. He composes stories. Thomas Doty participates in a living oral tradition.

A skilled and experienced teacher of storytelling, Doty is Storyteller and Author in Residence at Dragonfly Place, A Center for the Study of Storytelling, Literature and Performance in the Siskiyou Mountains near Ashland, Oregon.

He is also the author of a series of Doty and Coyote books, and many of his stories have been broadcast on Public Radio. He has received several awards, including a Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award from the national American Indian Program.

Recent projects include returning the Sacred Salmon Ceremony to its original native site on the Rogue River in 2007 and the installation and dedication of We Are Here, a 20 foot tall native carving in downtown Ashland in 2006. Doty also co-directs Reading the Rocks, the Takelma Language Project, and serves on the international Board of Directors of CIRCLE, the Centre for Indigenous Research, Culture, Language and Education located at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

"My stories are for people of all ages," says Thomas Doty. "Children delight in the mythic adventures of Coyote and Bear and Crow. Adults look beyond the narrative to see what the stories offer a world searching for solutions."

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