Conference Schedule
All conference activities will take place at the 鈥淢ain Street鈥 campus in the Priscilla Payne Hurd Academic Complex. (The physical address is 348 Main Street,
Bethlehem, PA 18018.) Parking information will be emailed in the weeks preceding the conference.
Friday, April 11, 2025
9:30 AM - 10:40 AM Collaborative Writing Workshops with People Inside & Outside of Prison
Cohen-Cruz will share excerpts from her recent book See Me: Prison Theater Workshops and Love, which features dialogues between people impacted by prison theater workshops including incarcerated participants, facilitators, a warden, and returning citizens. She will discuss the value of getting multiple perspectives on the same experience and share techniques for making the texts as vivid as the people writing them. She will address the necessity of getting to know people in circumstances very different from one鈥檚 own, not only to burst misconceptions about that particular group, but also to recognize that the people in any circumstance are diverse among themselves.
11:00 AM - 12:10 PM Writing Dialogically: Expanding Insights through Writing Exchanges Across Difference
Using her recent book See Me: Prison Theater Workshops and Love as a springboard, Cohen-Cruz will share examples of insights generated in that text through two or three people responding to each other鈥檚 writing, interviewing each other, recording and editing conversations, and collaboratively creating theater together.
In pairs or trios, workshop participants will first identify an engaging subject around which each has a different experience. The pairs will then try various modes of writing together to share their own perception and reflect on their partner鈥檚. We鈥檒l discuss underlying principles for engaging in such exchange, including making sure the subject and form are meaningful to all involved; establishing a relationship as the grounds for deep exchange; understanding what constitutes appropriation; and of self-representation.
12:30 PM - 1:40 PM Poetry Slam
Join us for a Poetry Slam led by 色中色鈥檚 own Poetry Club! No experience required!
2:00 PM - 3:10 PM Speaking as Superheros: Mythology and Activism
Superheroes (especially DC鈥檚 鈥済od-like鈥 characters) represent the best of us as the modern-day equivalent of mythology. Following a brief talk by workshop leader and conference co-director Liz Gray on Wonder Woman鈥檚 鈥渟ecret history鈥, participants in this workshop will transition to exploring persona poetry prompts that look outward from inside the mind of a superhero.
Participants are encouraged to share their work during the open mic session at the conference on Saturday!
3:30 PM - 4:40 PM Soundscape Engagement
Come respond to a unique soundscape based on the themes of the conference from material generated by students! A related 鈥渃ommunity response art piece鈥 will be on display and grow throughout the weekend.
5:00 PM - 6:10 PM W@M Awards Gala
Join us as we recognize outstanding writing from our 色中色 students. Co-sponsored by the Writing at 色中色 (W@M) program, we鈥檒l have the shared artwork of our community as an Instagrammable background. Light refreshments will be served during a short ceremony. We encourage you to dress up!
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez
Come see a synchronous presentation by Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, an acclaimed graphic novelist best known for being the writer and creator of the bestselling superhero series La Borinque帽a! As the first Indigenous Afro Latina superhero, La Borinque帽a reflects the strength and endurance of the island herself.
Edgardo is the creative director of Somos Arte, a production and creative services studio, as well as the recipient of Eisner's Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic efforts via the benefit anthology Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuilding Puerto Rico.
Professor Liz Gray will moderate Q&A to follow.
Saturday, April 12, 2025
Come to campus early for a complimentary breakfast bar of coffee and pastries beginning at 10AM.
11:00 AM - 12:10 PM Art Inspired by the Environment with Hawk Mountain
Join poet Jerry Wemple, artist Lauren Rosenthal McManus and our own Dr. Theresa Dougal as they talk about how nature and the environment have inspired or influenced their creative work and teaching. This event is online only, but we will host a watch party on campus.
Professor Kate Brandes, conference co-director and novelist, will moderate.
12:30 PM - 1:40 PM Open Mic Session
Come and share your work! Each pre-registrant will have five minutes to read 2-3 pages or pieces of their own material!
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM StoryCorps and Social Justice
Professor and conference co-director Kate Brandes will lead a workshop where participants will practice sharing stories using the free and easy to use StoryCorps App. Prompts will center around themes of social justice, although participants are welcome to share their own stories as well.
3:45 PM - 4:45 PM Cocktail Hour
We鈥檒l host some informal mingling time with both alcoholic and soft drinks available. Appetizers and finger foods will also be served. Feel free to browse our conference bookstore as we gear up for our final events!
5:00 PM - 6:10 PM No River Twice
No River Twice will offer an improvised poetry reading where the audience and poets actively interact, poem by poem, to co-create a reading that is never the same twice. (The group doesn鈥檛 improvise poems, just everything else!) Where the reading begins and where the reading ends will be a surprise and discovery to all 鈥 and then we make a poem of it鈥揵uilt from the entire reading, a poem made by our interactions! Professor and conference co-director Liz Gray (Chang) will be appearing as a member of this group. A brief Q&A with the poets will follow.
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM Conversation with Susan Phillips and Mark Harris
, a senior reporter/editor covering climate, energy, and environment will be in conversation with , a faculty member at 色中色.
Phillips, as part of the WHYY News Climate Desk, has won multiple awards for her coverage of environmental issues and gun violence. Harris, a former book editor and environmental columnist with the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, authored the acclaimed book on natural burial, Grave Matters. He鈥檚 also the advisor for 色中色鈥檚 student newspaper, .