Selected Presentations
Since 1989 Derek Owens has given over 70 presentations at such
conferences as the Conference on College Composition and
Communication, Modern Language Association, Association for the
Study of Literature and the Environment, and International Writing
Centers Association. Selected presentations include:
Invited Speaker. "Reading Apocalypse, Writing Eutopia." Writing
Studies in the Humanities: Democratic Education and the Politics of
Institutional Reform. University at Binghamton. February 19,
2010.
Keynote Speaker. "Growing a (Writing Program) Garden." Two-Year
College Association--Pacific Northwest. Portland, OR: October 10,
2009.
Chair, Participant, Panel Organizer. "Thinking Big and Making It
Happen: Stories, Strategies, and Lessons Learned from Several
Large, Recently Created Writing Programs." Conference on College
Composition and Communication. San Francisco: March 12, 2009.
"Ripping Up My Syllabus." Conference on College Composition and
Communication. New Orleans, LA: April 5, 2008.
Invited Speaker. Reading of poetry and nonfiction. "Writers Speak."
Spring 2008. Southampton College, NY: March 26, 2008
Keynote Address. "Sustenance and Sustainability in the Writing
Center." Northeast Writing Centers Association 2007 Conference.
University of Connecticut, March 31, 2007.
Invited Speaker. "If You Build It, They Will Come: How We Designed,
Budgeted, and Got Approval for an Institute for Writing Studies."
Hofstra University, April 18, 2007.
Plenary Speaker. "The Cultural Work of Writing Centers: Contesting
Boundaries and the Importance of Local Resistance." International
Writing Centers Association and National Conference on Peer
Tutoring in Writing, Minneapolis, MN, October 22, 2005.
Keynote Address. "Tracing Memory's Braille: Mapping Lost
Narratives." New York College English Association. April 16,
2005.
"The Importance of Critical Geography and Place-based Literacy for
Composition." Invited lecture, Indiana University of Pennsylvania,
April 15, 2004.
"Does CCCC Matter? A Critique and Call for Change." Conference on
College Composition and Communication, March 26, 2004.
"21st Century Neighborhoods." North American Interdisciplinary
Conference on Environment and Community. Saratoga Springs, NY:
February 19-21, 2004.
Invited Speaker. "Surviving Dreamtime." University of Kentucky.
August 26, 2003.
Invited Speaker. "Prospects for an Ecological English: Implications
and Applications of Composition and Sustainability." Association
for the Study of Literature and the Environment. Boston, MA: June
5, 2003.
Invited Speaker, Drake University, “Sustainable Neighborhoods:
Studying Local Communities through Student Writing in the
First-Year Seminar.” April 8, 2003.
Invited Speaker. "Writing in Place." Boston College, First-Year
Writing Program, October 17, 2002.
Invited Speaker. "Composition and Sustainability." Plenary Speaker,
Annual Conference for the Association for the Study of Literature
and the Environment. Flagstaff, AZ: June, 2001.
"Nine-Way Mind." EPoetry 2001. State University at Buffalo. April,
2001.
"Between Apocalypse and (E)utopia: A Multimedia Performance."
Conference on College Composition and Communication. Atlanta, GA,
March, 1999.
"Environmental Literacy and Sustainable Composition." Thomas R.
Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition. Louisville, KY,
October, 1998.
"Survival, Sustainability, and Freshman Composition." Utopian
Studies Conference. Montreal, Quebec, October, 1998.
"Shock Pedagogy: Teaching (the) Extremities." (Chair). Conference
on College Composition and Communication Convention. Washington,
DC, March, 1995.
"Writing in Tongues in the Virtual Sanctuary." Interactive
Technologies and Network Media Panel. Society for Literature and
Science. Boston, MA. November, 1993.
"Taking Afrocentric Rhetoric Seriously." Conference on College
Composition and Communication Convention. Boston, MA, March,
1991.
"Writing Differently: New Feminist Approaches to Composition."
Conference on College Composition and Communication Convention.
Chicago, IL, March, 1990.
"What is 'Feminine' Composition, and Why Should We Teach It?" MLA
Convention. Chicago, IL, December, 1990.
"Circumventing the Closure of 'Closure': 20th Century Alternatives
to a Dualistic Problem." MLA Convention. Washington, DC, December,
1989.
Selected Committee Participation, St. John’s
University
- Co-Chair, Middle States Program Review
- Student Engagement Task Force
- Academic Planning Committee
- Institute for Core Studies, Personnel & Budget
Committee
- Core Self-Study Committee
- Middle States Self-Study Committee
- Academic Technology Steering Committee
- Title III Grant Team
- English Department, Acting Chair
- Faculty Senate
- Student Affairs Committee
- Common Core Faculty Pilot Assessment
- Departmental Publicity Committee
- Faculty Service-Learning Board
- Graduate Advisory Committee
- Graduate Education Policy Committee
- English Dept, Personnel and Budget Committee
- Undergraduate Education Policy Committee
- Multicultural Student Advisory Committee
- Research II Subcommittee
- Writing Program Committee (Chair)