Title: Listening to the World
My talk, "Listening to the World," would be about the ways that various world cultures express ideas, make arguments, supply evidence, and express sophistication and intellect in writing -- ways that are sometimes misinterpreted by faculty, writing centers, and writing tutors. I tell stories, explain how styles of expression make logical sense from the standpoint of the culture in question, and provide suggestions for working with students. The book, "Listening to the World," from which the talk is drawn, is available on my website (under "Writing and Culture"). The talk generally is about 40 minutes long to leave ample time for Q&A (which is sometimes the most instructive part of the presentation). I have given similar talks for the California Writing Project, Washington State University, a symposium on writing and culture at Boston University, and at numerous conferences and workshops.
Biosketch:
Helen Fox teaches about race and racism, human rights, peace activism, and international development in the University of Michigan's Social Theory and Practice Program, located in the Residential College. She also teaches writing and compsition theory to future teachers and peer tutors at U-M's Sweetland Writing Center. She is the author of Listening to the World: Cultural Issues in Academic Writing (1994), When Race Breaks Out: Conversations on Race and Racism in College Classrooms (2001; 2009), and the editor, with C. Schroeder and P. Bizzell, of ALT DIS: Alternative Discourses and the Academy (2002), as well as many articles, speeches, and book chapters.