NSU Writing and Communication Center Graduate Assistant Coordinator Featured as Keynote Panelist at 2021 Southeastern Writing Center Association Conference

 

Adara Cox, NSU Writing and Communication Center (WCC) Graduate Assistant Coordinator, was featured as a keynote panelist for the 2021 Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA) virtual conference, February 11-13, 2021. Cox is a graduate student in the Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (CRDM) master’s program in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences (HCAS).

The keynote panel was dedicated to elevating the voices, experiences, and practices of undergraduate and graduate tutors who identify as Black/African American. The panel was moderated by Dr. Talisha Hatiwanger Morrison, Director of the University of Oklahoma Writing Center and the Expository Writing Program, and Assistant Professor of Writing. Panelists also included Chanara Andrews-Bickers, doctoral student at the University of Georgia; Genevieve Onyiuke-Kennedy, Georgia Tech alumna; and Micah Williams, undergraduate student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

According to Cox, “As a second-year attender of the SWCA conference, speaking with an all-Black panel was the highlight of my experience this year! The feeling of having willing listeners from writing centers across the southeastern region listen to my story as a Black consultant made me feel like my voice mattered. Although there is still work to be done, I am honored that I was a part of a panel that allowed me to continue breaking social barriers.”

 

According to SWCA President and WCC Faculty Coordinator, Janine Morris, Ph.D. (HCAS Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts Assistant Professor), “This year’s conference theme, ‘Trauma and Transformation,’ recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice, social unrest, natural disasters, and significant changes in the structure and leadership of higher education have greatly accelerated the pace of change, prompting all of us in the writing center field to reconsider many aspects of our work.”

In addition to presenting on the Keynote, Cox was an individual and co-presenter on several other panels throughout the conference.

To learn more about the CRDM Program, visit https://hcas.nova.edu/academics/graduate/masters/composition-rhetoric-digital-media.html

To learn more about the NSU Writing & Communication Center, visit https://www.nova.edu/wcc/

To learn more about the Southeastern Writing Center Association, visit https://southeasternwritingcenter.wildapricot.org/