MENAWCA 2019 Conference:

Resilience through Reconstruction

MENAWCA’s 6th biennial conference will be held at the Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon, on the 24th and 25th of April 2019. MENAWCA’s conferences are a platform for writing teachers, writing tutors and writing center administrators working in the MENA region to present, discuss and collaborate on issues related to the teaching, tutoring and learning of writing. Our 2019 conference theme is ‘Resilience through Reconstruction.’

The conference theme is inspired by the history of Beirut, the host city of the MENAWCA 2019 Conference. Beirut’s sense of life, energy, and dynamism is immediately apparent, stemming from its geographical position and venerable past. In the recent past, the capital of Lebanon survived more than a decade and a half of conflict and turmoil but refused to die. Through reconstruction activity and a rush of rebuilding, it demonstrated its resiliency. Similarly, writing centers have witnessed confrontations and challenges at different levels but eventually manage to survive amidst academic institutions in a distinct way.

The theme of ‘Resilience through Reconstruction’ reflects the positioning of writing centers at the regional level where multilingualism can be a source of vigor and also a challenge in terms of specific needs. Hence, writing centers are flourishing through reconstruction to suit the needs of the locale. The service industry in Beirut is the chief strength of its offerings, and this matches with the mission of writing centers: to serve and support incoming writers. Proposals that correspond to the theme of “Resilience through Reconstruction” are highly encouraged and survival narratives are welcome to be shared.

We invite proposals for sessions on any aspects of this theme, with specific reference to the MENA context. We especially encourage any proposals submitted to the postponed 2018 MENAWCA conference.

Dr. Mary Queen is Associate Professor of English and Dean of Academic Support Services at the American University of Kuwait, which includes the Writing Center, the Tutoring Center, the Academic Advising Center, and the Office of the Registrar. After earning her Ph.D. in Composition and Cultural Rhetoric from Syracuse University in 2005, she joined AUK in its second year of operation as an Assistant Professor of English. As a specialist in Composition and Rhetoric, she founded and developed the Writing Center at AUK in 2005. She also served as Writing Program Coordinator in the English Department for three years, collaborating with faculty to develop and expand the Writing Program curriculum to focus on serving the literacy needs of students across the university. In her thirteen years at AUK, Dr. Queen has served AUK in a variety of capacities, chairing and participating in numerous departmental, college, and university committees, and serving as Interim Registrar in AY 2013-14. She was promoted to Dean of Academic Support Services in 2017.