The 15th biennial Watson Conference will take place November 5th-7th in downtown Louisville, KY. This year’s conference features five two-day workshops ranging from AI and Writing Across the Curriculum to Leadership in Writing Centers to questions of history and materiality in rhetorical studies. We invite you to apply to one of the workshops and join us for a weekend of inquiry, scholarship and community.
For more information about topics and facilitators about 2026 Watson workshops, please visit Watson Conference website:2026 Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition.
Please consider submitting your application using this2026 Thomas R. Watson Conference Application Form and we begin reviewing applications on July 1, 2026. Registration fee is $100 once your application is accepted.
We would love to have you join us! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to y0zhao23.
Warmly,
Steven Schneider, Tim Johnson, Joseph Turner, Saroj GC, and Yuan Zhao
Watson Committee at University of Louisville
Call for Applications
The 2026 Watson Conference (workshops) will be held on November 5-7 in Louisville, KY. Here are introductions to workshops and their co-facilitators.
Workshops and co-facilitators:
- Leading From Our Expertise: Writing Studies and Institutional AI Decision-Making (Crystal Fodrey, Haverford University; Kristi Girdharry, Babson College; Magdelyn Hammond Helwig, Furman University; Christopher Basgier, Auburn University)
- Making Our Work Visible: Writing Center Administrators as Campus Leaders (Kem Roper, Athens State University; Wonderful Faison, Langston University; Candis Bond, Augusta University; Joy Bracewell, Georgia College and State University)
- Rhetorics, Embodiments, Environments (Scot Barnett, University of Indiana-Bloomington; Nathaniel Rivers, Saint Louis University)
- Engaging the Senses in Rhetorical History (Alex Mueller, University of Massachusetts-Boston; Megan Poole, University of Texas-Austin; Vessela Valiavitcharska, University of Maryland-College Park)
- Panhistoriography Revisited: The Act and Art of Writing Capacious Histories (Christa J. Olson, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Debra Hawhee, Penn State University)
In order to apply for a spot in one of this year’s Watson workshops, please submit a current CV and an 800-1000-word statement that addresses the following questions:
- Why did you choose to apply for this seminar? Describe your interest in the topic at hand, and what you hope to get out of the seminar overall.
- Are you working on a publication or pedagogical project that aligns well with the seminar topic? If so, please describe that project.
- What qualifications do you bring to this seminar? What are the focal points of your research and teaching?
- What else should we know about you, your work, and your potential contributions to this seminar?
In answering these questions, you needn’t have an extensive CV or current book project to draw upon. These questions are offered as guidelines to help you as you write your statement, and as a general indication of what workshop facilitators are looking while reading applications. That said, applications will be read holistically, and participants will be chosen based on what facilitators believe best fits the goals of the workshop.