The 2008 Conference, The New Work of Composing, will follow previous Watson Conferences in alternating plenary sessions with concurrent sessions.

Plenary Session I-New Perspectives on Technology, Media, and Communication:

• Andrew Feenberg- Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Technology in the School of Communication, Simon Fraser University
• N. Katherine Hayles- Distinguished Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles
• Lev Manovich- Professor of Visual Arts, Universtiy of California, San Diego
• Mitchell Stephens- Professor of Journalism, New York University

Plenary Session II-New Forms of Textuality:

• Janet Murray- Professor and Director of Graduate Studies School of Literature, Communication and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Matthew Kirschenbaum- Associate Professor of English, University of Maryland
• Richard Miller- Chair and Professor of English, Executive Director of the Plangere Writing Center, Rutgers University

Plenary Session III-Access and Agency:

• Valerie Kinloch- Assistant Professor of Adolescent Literacy and English Education, The Ohio State University

• David Kirkland- Assistant Professor of English Education, New York University
• Joe Lambert- Executive Director, Center for Digital Story Telling
• Omar Wasow-PhD Candidate in African American Studies and Political Science at Harvard University and Co-founder of BlackPlanet.com
  

Plenary Session IV-Text and Image:

• W.J.T. Mitchell- Professor of English and Art History, University of Chicago.
• Diana George- Professor of English and Director of Composition, Virginia Tech
• Anne Wysocki- Associate Professor of English, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Plenary Session V-The New Work of Composing: A Roundtable on Teaching, Scholarship, and Administration:

• Jonathan Alexander- Associate Professor of English and Campus Writing Coordinator, University of California, Irvine
• Cheryl Ball- Assistant Professor, Illinois State University
• Scott DeWitt- Associate Professor of English, Director of the Digital Media Project, The Ohio State University
• Bump Halbritter- Assistant Professor, Director of the MSU Documentary Lab, Michigan State University
• Charles Kostelnick-Professor and Chair of English, Iowa State University
• Andrea Lunsford- Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor of English and Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, Stanford University