Please join the University of Connecticut First-Year Writing Program for our 21st Annual Conference on the Teaching of Writing on Thursday, April 23 and Friday, April 24, 2026, on our campus in Storrs, CT.
Registration is now open! Registration is available at this link and we are asking that you register by April 10th, 2026.
Registration is $10 for non-UConn graduate students, $20 for contingent faculty and independent scholars, $30 for full-time UConn faculty and ECE instructors, and $50 for non-UConn full-time faculty. UConn grad students can attend for free, but please make sure to register anyway, so we have an exact headcount!
Our theme is: “Wicked Reading for Wicked Problems." We invite you to help us explore ways of approaching these 'wicked problems', such as those that evade consensus, offer multiple solutions, or may even resist resolution at all. Instead, such dilemmas invite us to open space to collaborate, engage, and challenge ourselves within the classroom and our discussions of academic freedom.
We are excited to share that our keynote speaker, Dr. Kendall Gerdes, will be leading us in exploring the role of writing education in connection with academic freedom during times of emergent crises. They are an Associate Professor at the University of Utah and a winner of the 2025 Conference on College Composition & Communication's (CCCC) Outstanding Book Award for their book Sensitive Rhetorics: Academic Freedom and Campus Activism (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2024). Dr. Gerdes will also be hosting a teaching workshop that will engage participants in exploring the possibilities for teaching sensitive and contentious topics in times of polycrisis.
More information on the program and session can be found on our website: s.uconn.edu/fywconference!
For more information, contact: FYW Conference Committee at fywconference@uconn.edu