We are excited to offer 7 unique and engaging workshops, lead by our distinguished ACCUTE peers. These workshops cover topics and issues from pedagogy and editing to laughter and human rights. You can find full descriptions and registration forms for these workshops here.
Workshop: Laughing Allowed? Human Rights and Humour Rites
Day 1, 10:30 a.m. May 30, 2025
Danielle Bobker, Concordia U
Sandy El-Bitar
For a lot of people “punch up not down” is still the golden rule for comedy. But today more and more jokes that used to be off limits are moving from the extreme corners of the internet into mainstream media. How are clashing approaches to humour affecting you and your students? How do you respond? This interactive workshop asks how we can encourage thoughtful, inclusive disagreements about humour in our literature classrooms, whether the source of the humour is a canonical satire on the syllabus or something more contemporary or spontaneous. Concepts from critical humour studies like superiority theory, play theory, and ironic inauthenticity will help us to make sense of how interpretations of the same joke can vary wildly, while legal and pedagogical principles such as the freedom of speech, academic freedom, and trauma-informed teaching will highlight the need to set up discussions of humour in a way that both promotes nuance and respects the dignity of all students.
REGISTER:
Space: 15 attendees
Workshop: Writing Research Proposals for SSHRC & Other Postdoctoral Fellowships
Day 2, 1:30 p.m. May 31, 2025
Organizer: Daniel Newman, U of Toronto
Post-Doctoral Fellowships (PDFs) are increasingly important and standard in the academic career path of emerging literary scholars. In Canada alone, these prestigious awards include fellowships funded by SSHRC, Banting, the Killam foundation and numerous governments and institutions. Unfortunately, PDFs remain misunderstood or even mysterious to many PhD students and recent graduates, a situation that is particularly visible in one of the key parts of the applications: the research proposal. This workshop uses excerpts from real PDF proposals in English Literature to highlight common problems with proposal-writing, notably those concerning the document’s unique audience and purpose; it also offers some practical strategies for avoiding those problems. The workshop is therefore best suited to people planning to apply for a PDF in 2025-2026. Though it’s not required, attendees might benefit from bringing a draft proposal, if they have one (even if very rough). Time will be allotted for Q&A and discussion.
REGISTER:
Space: unlimited
In the Cards: A Pedagogy and Divination Workshop
Day 2, 3:30 p.m. May 31, 2025
Organizer: S. Trimble, U of Toronto; Dina Georgis, U of Toronto
What kind of reader are you? What kinds of questions do you ask? And what might this illuminate about the kind of teacher you are? This workshop playfully engages these questions through a guided exercise using oracle decks. The purpose of the workshop is twofold: to offer Humanities teachers, both new and experienced, an opportunity for self-reflexive thinking about pedagogical styles and strategies; and to playfully experiment with a creative practice – the use of oracle decks – that has many possible in-class applications, from low-stakes writing prompts to close reading and collective storytelling exercises.
REGISTER:
Space: 20 attendees
Workshop: Renewing and Re-jigging?: Exploring Movement Activities in the Writing Classroom in the Age of AI
Day 3, 8:30 a.m. June 1, 2025
Organizer: Lara El Mekaui Valerie Uher
Anyone teaching in 2025 knows there is a vital need to refresh, renew and reconfigure our methods of teaching writing and liberal arts subjects in the age of A.I.. But where to begin? The workshop will explore the benefits of kinesthetic, theatrical and voice-based activities in controlled class environments. How far do these activities implore students to write without interference or reliance on Generative A.I? Organizers Dr. Lara El Mekaui and Valerie Uher will draw from their own experience as instructors to consider this question, and lead participants to share the upsides and pitfalls of their own movement-based approaches.
REGISTER:
Space: 25 attendees
Workshop: Care For: Epistolary as Reflection, Research, and Resistance
Day 3, 1:30 p.m. June 1, 2025
Organizer: Jorge Vallejos
Care For introduces letter-writing to academics as a form of care for themselves and care for others. Academia can be isolating, confusing, and hostile. Merging theory and practice of radical self-care (influenced by queer disabled poets Gloria Anzaldua and Audre Lorde), with epistolary herstory and writings by racialized feminist academics who write letters as praxis, we will explore letter-writing as act and site of reflection, research, and resistance. We will discuss, and practice, letter-writing as a way of being that differs from the individualistic norm of the white hetero-patriarchal ableist academic industrial complex. Three short open letters will be read by participants in advance. Pen and paper, and a screen-free environment are encouraged. Access needs and accommodations will be respected; please inform ACCUTE and the facilitator prior to the workshop. All participants are encouraged to make the workshop be a safe(r) space.
REGISTER:
Space: 12 attendees
WORKSHOP: Using Groups and Teams: A Practical Approach to Forming, Using, and Troubleshooting Student Teams in English Literature Class
Day 4, 10:30 a.m. June 2, 2025
Organizer: David Creelman
This interactive workshop will focus on how to use student teams within the English Discipline. We’ll start by considering how to form diverse and effective teams. We will outline the key principles about how to use teams, and we’ll consider such activities as discussion groups, cross-over groups, debates, Readiness Assurance Activities, and games. We will also examine different forms of peer assessment and tackle some of the challenges that come with assessing groups. Finally, we’ll explore the challenges of using teams in accordance with the principles of student accessibility and dealing with teams that become dysfunctional.
REGISTER:
Space: 50 attendees
Workshop: Editing Your Own Work: A Five-Step Approach
Day 4, 3:30 June 2, 2025
Leader: Letitia Henville
It’s hard to edit your own writing, especially when your deadline is looming. This session introduces a step-by-step approach that will enable you to see your own words through a series of lenses that bring a fresh perspective to your writing. You’ll learn to use x-ray vision—that is, a way to look through the content of your own text, to see through to its structure. By editing at a structural level, you’ll be able to see what you’ve actually written—not what you think is on the page—and make strategic choices about the ‘rules’ you want to follow and the ones you want to break. Participants will leave this session with a set of concrete actions that they can take to effectively edit their own work and make it tighter, more efficient, and more readable.
REGISTER:
