WKU News

The English Department seeks submissions for its annual English 100 & 200 conference to be held on Thursday, April 18^th at 4 PM in Cherry Hall 125.   The goal of this conference is to celebrate the strong writing produced in ENG 100 and 200 classes. Submissions should be emailed to jane.fife@wku.edu no later than Friday, March 29^th.

Students are given the opportunity to take work they have written for either of these classes and to submit it to a board of faculty. If selected, students then read their papers to a group of peers and faculty before the floor is opened to questions. Dr. Jane Fife also notes that this conference also “gives faculty a little more to smile about and enjoy instead of thinking about those classes in terms of all the stacks of paper they have to grade.”

While the conference used to have special themes involved with submissions, it is now open-ended to whatever topics students have written about in their classes. Students have written about love, politics, environment, and even monsters in the past. One thing that all the papers presented have in common, however, is their exhibition of great writing and voice.

“I think lots of times, in addition to smart ideas and interesting insight, there’s often a distinctive voice,” says Dr. Fife. “Often there’s something that’s striking in terms of an idea or an approach.”

Dr. Fife also notes that this conference gives students the opportunity to feel good about their work and to see writing in a new light beyond the constrictions of the classroom.

“I think there’s something else we hope for in students’ papers, something that raises the bar beyond just fulfilling the assignment well,” Dr. Fife explains. “The best work gives readers something enjoyable to read and that they will remember for a while.”

Students in ENG 100 or 200 are encouraged to submit any paper that they see as exceptional or that they are proud of. Dr. Fife explains that students sometimes look at their papers and recognize that they have written memorable work; this experience may be a good sign that the paper is conference-worthy.

“If you feel like that the paper hits some mark beyond the mundane expectations of fulfilling the assignment, it may have that extra something special that might engage an audience.”