WKU News

On Saturday, November 9, the WKU Writing Project will host the conference Writing That POPS: Using POP Culture to Teach Writing. This conference offers educators and future educators the chance to professionally develop themselves to better teach writing to their students. This year, the conference will focus on using popular culture to teach students writing skills that can benefit them both in and out of the classroom.

The conference will be organized around eight different guest speakers, each providing experiential knowledge on how popular culture can shape and teach writing. The keynote speaker, Dr. Cindy Childress, is a ghostwriter whose clients include international bestsellers.

Jon Meyers, the conference organizer, says Dr. Cindy (as she likes to be called) has been “generous” and “super-supportive of the event.”

“Like me, Dr. Cindy believes that learning and content from inside the classroom is most effective when it leaves the classroom, when there’s some sort of practical application to a student’s life,” said Meyers. “She has designed a special session exclusively for our conference that will focus on not only using pop culture in a student’s writing – but then how that writing can enter into pop culture itself.”

The seven other guest speakers are as follows: Hetty White (musician/writer/filmmaker), Randy Fox (author/journalist), Nichole Miller (English teacher), Emily Diehl Brooks (English teacher), Bradley Hathaway (M.F.A. candidate), Amanda Krimmer (college English instructor), and Jon Meyers (M.F.A. candidate in screenwriting).

These guest speakers will host workshops and talks about a variety of topics including brainstorming, how one person’s writing can have a global impact, and how writing can become a part of popular culture. Meyers said that the aim of the conference is to provide teachers with the tools to allow students to be effective both in and out of the classroom.

“The goal is to inspire instructors and future instructors to engage their students most effectively by using pop culture in the writing classroom. Then beyond that I’d love for the attendees to become pop culture creators themselves, and encourage their students to do the same,” said Meyers. “Every voice matters – and I’d love for people to take the skills they gain in the writing classroom and exercise that voice outside of the classroom.”

The conference will take place on November 9 from 7:45 AM to 1:00 PM. Students with a valid ID can attend for free, and faculty can attend for $15 per person or $20 for two people. To register, contact jon.meyers043@topper.wku.edu prior to November 2. Learn more about the conference at www.facebook.com/WritingThatPops.