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A Roadmap for the Cultural Rediscovery of America

After the crash in 2008, numerous journalists, activists, educators, and arts
advocates floated the idea of a new Federal Writers’ Project. Although it became
clear by late 2009 that President Obama’s stimulus package would not fund such a
project, it continued to seem like a powerful idea that contributed to the organization
of this conference—Writing Democracy. The primary goal of the Program
Development Workshop is to extend this timely conversation to you and consider the
possibilities for creating a national network that could link existing local projects
and give rise to new ones. Just as the FWP vigorously debated its purpose, methods,
and goals in the 1930s, we invite you to join us for a lively discussion about how
together we might provide a new “road map for the cultural rediscovery of America”
in the 21st century (19, Overmyer qtd. in Hirsch).
1)  1930s Federal Writers' Project (2:00 – 3:00 p.m.)
Opening Remarks: “Lessons from the FWP,” Jerrold
Hirsch, Professor of History at Truman State University
Discussion:

Ø  What elements of the FWP are relevant for universities/

communities today?
Ø  Specifically, what methods and goals might be relevant to our
context?
Ø  Does “the cultural rediscovery of America” express an idea that
a.  addresses the current context; and
b.  might encompass existing community-based research and
writing projects in service learning, writing program, and
other university-community partnerships?
2)  University-Community Projects 2011 (3:00 – 4:00 p.m.)

Roundtable: “Notes from the Field” - David Jolliffe,

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville; Jean Bohannon,
Georgia State University; Tim Dawson, Program for
Deliberative Democracy; J.D. Isip & Tonia Taherzadeh
EGAD, Texas A&M-Commerce; Greenville activists.
Discussion:

Ø  What common themes, goals, methods, and practices are

characteristic of contemporary university-community projects?
Ø  What are the outcomes for students? Faculty? Colleges and
universities? Communities?
Ø  On both national and local levels, what are the pitfalls and
problems of such projects?
Ø  Whose stories are being told? What is the nature of those stories?
What other stories might be told?
Ø  And how do those stories gain critical traction, i.e., in analytical
and issues-oriented academic and public writing?
3)  Next Steps: An FWP for the 21st Century? (4:00 – 5:00 p.m.)
“Models for a National Institute for ‘Writing Democracy,’”
Deborah Mutnick
 Public Sphere
Here There Writing
Democracy

Universities Communities

Archival
Ethnography Oral History Critique
Research

Local Regional National International

Ø  National Writing Project
Ø  National Conversation on Writing
Ø  National Day on Writing
Ø  Writing Across Communities
Ø  StoryCorps
http://storycorps.org/

Ø  Neighborhood Story Project

http://www.neighborhoodstoryproject.org/books.html

Ø  Digital Storytelling Project

http://www.storycenter.org/index1.html
Ø  Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in
Public Life http://www.imaginingamerica.org/

Ø  Hemispheric Institute of Performance and

Politics http://hemisphericinstitute.org/hemi/
Discussion:
Ø  Is there interest in exploring the possibilities for a national consortium and what

principles would inform it?

Ø  Is there a need for such a project?

Ø  What key themes might inform a “cultural rediscovery of America” in the current

conjuncture?
Ø  In a time of “dispossession” and “fightback” (Welch email), what kinds of stories

would we want to tell?

Ø  If there is interest, how do we proceed? Form an exploratory committee? Seek

funding? Initiate a pilot project?

Ø  Should we propose a full-day workshop at CCCC 2012 for Writing Democracy?