University of South Florida
Tampa, Fl.
January, 1, 2014
The increasingly digital nature of writing is contributing to a new research resource for Writing Studies: Big Data. Because of the way Big Data can digitally translate and archive the entire process, cycle, and ecology of writing, it provides Writing Studies researchers with a rich set of tools to investigate the act of writing, writing instruction and curricula, and the cognitive process surrounding writing.
At the University of South Florida, faculty and doctoral students have been applying Big Data research tools and methods to our own archive of more than 130,000 student essays, 30,000 peer-reviews, and hundreds of thousands of instructor comments to explore the writing in the context of university writing programs. In an effort of broadening the conversation about Big Data, USF will host a free, one-day colloquium to explore the implications of Big Data for Writing Studies.
If you have been conducting Big Data research about writing, in any context or department, we would like to invite you to submit a proposal to present your work in a relaxed, round-table style atmosphere. We are looking for presenters currently engaging in research with Big Data and Writing Studies, and are particularly interested in the promises, dangers, methods, and methodologies that Big Data holds for Writing Studies.
We welcome you to submit a brief (250 words or less) description of the research you would like to present, and its implications for Writing Studies. You may choose to submit a traditional-style presentation for a morning session, or an interactive demonstration in which you present a Big-Data research tool and provide participants a chance to experiment and practice with that tool for an afternoon session.
If you are interested in presenting at the Big Data and Writing Studies Colloquium, please send your proposal to Zachary Dixon at parke@mail.usf.edu.
Deadline for submissions is: December, 1, 2013