NEWS
We want your nominations for the Lisa Ede InnovatiVE instructor Grant! Learn more here.
Deadline for submission: September 25, 2026
The 2026 Fall Conference will be held on Friday / Saturday, October 23 - 24 at the Cascade Campus of Portland Community College in Oregon.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION—LINK BELOW
Registration for our Fall 2026 Conference : Swimming Sideways with keynote speaker Dr. Darin Jensen, held at the Cascade Campus of Portland Community College on October 23 and 24th, is open! The conference will kick off on Friday with a reflective workshop from 4 to 5:30, followed by a reception at Double Mountain Overlook Taproom.
To register for the conference click here.
HOTEL INFORMATION—LINKS BELOW
We have reserved a block of rooms at the Fairfield by Marriott. Use this link and book by September 23rd to secure the conference rate of $104 a night. Rooms may be cancelled without penalty 48 hours in advance.
Of course, Portland has many hotel options. For a more Portland-centric hotel option, we recommend The Kennedy School and Cascada Retreat, both located relatively close to the Cascade Campus.
Program Co-Chairs
Kris Fink (kfink@pcc.edu)
Samm Erickson (samm.erickson@pcc.edu)
Local Arrangements Co-Chairs
Alex De La Cruz (alex.delacruz@pcc.edu)
Alex Lee (alex.lee10@pcc.edu)
CONFERENCE THEME: “SWIMMING SIDEWAYS”
In the Pacific Northwest, we are warned against rip currents—powerful, channeled currents that pull water away from the shore. If caught in a rip current, survival necessitates not swimming against the current but, instead, swimming parallel with the current until one is free of its pull and it is safe to swim back to shore.
Like waterways, our pedagogies and our personhoods are influenced by movement—historical, cultural, technological, and political. Together, we will consider how these currents carry us forward, where we encounter resistance, and how we might navigate them with intention and care.
As we reflect on these changes in the world of 2026, TYCA-PNW welcomes proposals that celebrate your work, that reveal your dilemmas, and that lay bare the shifting tides and currents in which you currently find yourself. We invite you to share strategies for swimming sideways in the face of the currents that might pull us away from the values that are deeply embedded in our instruction of first-year-composition.
As you develop your proposal, you might consider:
What currents are shaping your teaching right now?
Where do you see tension, resistance, or transformation?
How do you help students navigate complex intellectual and social landscapes?
What practices sustain you and your students in times of change?
How do you manage resistance, fatigue, and complex systems while maintaining or growing your work?
Portland Community College, Cascade Campus