Computers and Writing Conference

By Moriah Silvers 

From May 15-18, the University of Georgia hosted the 2025 Computers and Writing conference. This conference is the primary conference for scholars and instructors who use computers to teach or analyze writing and communication. The conference's success relies heavily on the hosting institution, as they propose the theme, possible keynotes, and activities, as well as donating time, space, and even some funding. This year’s theme was “Agency and Authorship,” emphasizing how place, agency, and the digital world interact and intertwine. Thanks to the several English Department faculty and staff, as well as graduate and undergraduate students who assisted in planning and executing this incredible conference, it was a major success that I was lucky enough to attend. 
 

As a first-year English MA student, I have attended a few academic conferences prior to this one, but the Computers and Writing conference was my first experience at a Rhetoric and Composition-focused conference. It was also the first conference I attended where I did not have to present, and, instead, my primary job was to experience and soak in as much of the conference as possible. The first thing that stood out to me was how close-knit and cooperative the Computers and Writing community is. On Thursday night, there was an opening reception at Athenaeum; everywhere I went, I heard folks catching up since the past year, asking how their research/teaching was going, or offering to introduce/introducing each other to fellow attendees. It was also very insightful to witness firsthand how much work the hosts put into making a conference successful; being a student at UGA and knowing some of the faculty and staff in charge (Dr. Kreuter, Dr. Harding, Dr. Steger, Dr. King, and Clare Baeckeroot), I was more aware of how hands-on they were with ensuring that things ran smoothly than when I have attended conferences elsewhere. Seeing the effort required to host such an event was enlightening.

The highlight of the conference, though, was most definitely the sessions themselves. Even though my research falls within the field of Rhetoric and Composition, I had no idea how diverse research in this field could be, even at a relatively specific conference! My favorite session was “Agency, Style, and Optimization: Exploring Universal Paperclips in Pedagogy and Digital Rhetoric,” which focused on utilizing a clicker game as a teaching tool for technical writing and as an impetus for discussing agency in regards to AI, and my favorite single presentation was “I Like to Buy or Receive Cookbooks Because _____: Junior League Cookbooks’ Role in Circulating Place-Based Agency,” which discussed how the design of and recipes within these cookbooks evoke a sense of place and community even when they are used/read outside of the community in which they were created or moved online.