TYCAT 2021 Face-to-face Conference

November 5-6, 2021
Volunteer State Community College
Gallatin, Tennessee

Based on the results of our recent poll, we have decided to press forward with our planning for a face-to-face conference to be held Friday-Saturday, November 5-6, 2021, on the campus of Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee. Our luncheon speaker has been booked, our CFP is ready for distribution, and our chicken biscuit order has been placed. We hope you’ll make plans to join us again this year, as we celebrate our 15th annual conference. Please note that we’ll be monitoring CDC guidelines for indoor events in the months leading up to the conference, and we will implement any safety precautions deemed necessary at the time of our event. Our membership’s health and safety are of paramount importance to us as conference planners.

Our Luncheon Speaker: Renee Hobbs

Renee Hobbs is an internationally-recognized authority on digital and media literacy education. Through community and global service and as a researcher, teacher, advocate and media professional, Hobbs has worked to advance the quality of digital and media literacy education in the United States and around the world. She is Founder and Director of the Media Education Lab, whose mission is to improve the quality of media literacy education through research and community service. She is the author of 10 books and over 150 scholarly articles on digital and media literacy.

call for proposals

2021 Annual TYCAT Conference
November 5-6, 2021
Volunteer State Community College; Gallatin, Tennessee

“Decipher, Critique, Resist, and Create: Understanding and Using Propaganda Education in a Digital Age”

“As people understand how propaganda works, they are empowered to become propagandists themselves by creating and sharing media. In using the power of communication and information to make a difference in the world, they have an opportunity to deepen awareness of the moral and ethical tensions that are built into the practice of persuasion.”  -Renee Hobbs, Mind Over Media 

We are pleased to share the theme for our 15th annual conference: propaganda education. Our guest speaker, Renee Hobbs addresses this theme for educators in her recent work, Mind Over Media: Propaganda Education for a Digital Age. Hobbs argues that we must recognize propaganda as neither positive nor negative, but simply as existing. It is up to us to critically assess information that we encounter. To consider implicit and explicit claims. To analyze and reflect. If all of this sounds familiar, you’ve probably taught a unit on writing a research paper. However, should we take it a step further? Should we teach students to use propaganda to benefit society? How do we accomplish this? This is what we hope to consider during our conference. 

As educators, we are always working to support and empower our students. We want them to be successful in our classes. However, we also want the skills we teach to be relevant long after they leave our course. When we teach our students to decipher sources, to critique biases, to resist unreliable information, and to create their own argument, we are working with them on so much more than how to write a research paper. But this may not always be apparent to them. Come to TYCAT this year and tell us how you are teaching using elements of propaganda education. Or, how you hope to do so in the future. What kinds of inquiry are you using? What types of sources are you requiring? Which assignments are empowering your students to make a difference in the world?

We’re interested in knowing WHY you’re doing what you’re doing (perhaps ground your presentation in a problem or theoretical basis) as well as WHAT you’re doing (consider offering some very practical information, including sharing handouts, assignments, etc.) We will continue to host a number of TYCAT Talks (TED Talks-style presentations) this year in Gallatin, Tennessee at Volunteer State Community College’s black box theater. Each presenter (or group of presenters) will have 15 minutes to offer a dynamic talk on a topic of his/her/their choice plus an additional 5 minutes for questions and discussion. Presenters also have the option of proposing a  more traditional 60-minute panel presentation or a roundtable discussion between peers on a specific topic.  We welcome presentations concerning any aspect of teaching English in the community college classroom. 

Proposals are due for submission by Friday, October 15, 2021.