FAQ for Attendees

Watson Conference Commitments

The 2021 Watson Conference organizers strive to create a different kind of conference environment, a brave space that “emphasizes the need for courage rather than the illusion of safety” (Arao & Clemens, 2013, p. 141). To accomplish this will take work from all involved. We therefore invite all participants—presenters, moderators, attendees—to support our project by joining us in certain commitments. During the opening session, breakout groups will discuss this document and ideas for revising it for future Watson conferences.

Accessibility

ASL interpretation and CART captioning will be provided for all sessions. 

Spanish-English interpretation will be provided for three Wednesday sessions: Dr. Cherie Dawson’s keynote, “White Institutions, Racialized Emotional Labor and BIPOC Scholar Fatigue” (12-1 pm EST), the panel “Making Social Justice Work an Integral Part of the Conference on College Composition and Communication” (1:30-3 pm EST), and the roundtable “Beyond the Land Acknowledgement: Decolonial Actions for the Watson Conference and the University of Louisville” (3:30-5:15 pm EST).

If you have additional access questions or needs, please email us at watson@louisville.edu, or use the Zoom chat feature to message a Watson staff member.

Thank you to our fantastic team of interpreters and our CART captioner!

Recording

We are recording the conference and sharing individual session recordings with the presenters, but we will not be posting anything publicly on our end. We ask presenters who wish to make their recordings public to edit out segments where attendees are featured.

Please feel free to turn off your cameras and adjust how your name is displayed. Also, please do not make your own video or audio recordings of sessions. Thank you!

Social Media

We invite you to use the hashtag #WatsCon21.

Raffle

Although we can't feed you in person this year, we are pleased to be able to send four lucky conference-goers some treats that we will be purchasing from a few local Black-owned businesses. (This is limited to U.S. folks only, unfortunately.) Peruse the options and indicate what you’d like to receive if you are selected.

Music

Before the opening and closing sessions, we played songs from Introducing Kendall Carter. Kendall Carter is a jazz organist/pianist and composer from Louisville, KY. You can purchase his digital album on Bandcamp.

Gratitude

So many people have helped facilitate this conference. In alphabetical order, we are grateful to:

Michael Benjamin
Robin Carroll
Lisa Cox
Hilaria Cruz
Jacob Duncan
Lauren Fusilier
Karoline Gardner
Brandon Harwood
Timothy Johnson
Frank Kelderman
Stephanie Kerschbaum
Adela Licona, The Art of Change Agency
Mark Mattes
Hung Nguyen
Megan Poole
Glynis Ridley
Chris Scheidler
Stephen Schneider
Jason Seitz
Mary P. Sheridan
Erika Sparby
Steve Smith
Corinna Stephens
Karl Swinehart
Sandy Tarabochia
Taleia Willis
Breakout room moderators:

  • Heather Adams, Olalekan Adepoju, Charlotte Asmuth, Michael Baumann, Michael Benjamin, Morgan Blair, Cassie Book, Hilaria Cruz, Jess Enoch, Katherine Flowers, Joe Franklin, Lauren Fusilier, Tim Johnson, Tobias Lee, Deborah Lutz, Megan Poole, Caitlin Ray, Taylor Rose, Wendy Sharer, Maggie Shelledy, Mary P. Sheridan, Brittany Smart, Cara Snyder

Pet parade hosts:

  • Charlotte Asmuth, Lauren Fusilier, Rebecca Pattillo, Brittany Smart

Zoom-bomber rehearsal crew:

  • Olalekan Adepoju, Michael Benjamin, Cooper Day, Timothy Johnson, Ron Sheffield, Cara Snyder, Liz Soule, Babara Olinger

...as well as others who know who they are!