2026 OWCA Webinar and Reading Club Call for Papers:

The Online Writing Centers Association (OWCA) is seeking presenters for our upcoming 2026 Webinar and Reading Club series. We will prioritize proposals submitted by Tuesday, January 20th, 2026.

Webinars:

OWCA Webinars provide a space to share experiences, ideas, strategies, and questions about online writing centers. Most OWCA Webinars are open to a public audience, are presented via Zoom, and are recorded for posterity. Recordings remain accessible to OWCA members and the public through our website. You can read more about OWCA Webinars, access recordings, and review materials from past webinar presentations on the OWCA website’s Event Archive.

OWCA Webinars are typically scheduled for one hour and incorporate both presentation and participation elements. A typical Webinar will include a presentation on a given topic for approximately the first half of the hour and an interactive discussion or activity for the second half of the hour, emphasizing practical takeaways for audiences looking to implement new ideas in their writing centers. The Online Writing Centers Association particularly values topics specific to the unique affordances and constraints of online writing tutoring. Additionally, we encourage topics that would benefit a tutor audience as some organizations use our Webinars as a form of professional development. You can review samples of successful webinar proposals here.

Reading Clubs:

We are also looking for those interested in participating in and leading Reading Clubs. The OWCA Reading Club occurs every other month. Reading Club provides a space to discuss writing center scholarship. Based on the article or book chapter chosen, participants will share experiences, ideas, strategies, and questions about the text and how it may relate to online writing centers (OWCs) and online writing tutoring. Texts do not have to be recent. Foundational texts in the field may be revisited, providing an opportunity to reflect on new questions, challenges, or opportunities for or in writing centers since initial publication of the text.

Topics:

Examples of topics for webinars and reading clubs include (but are certainly not limited to): increasing accessibility in online spaces; exploring digital technology and writing; sustaining centers in times of monetary crisis and budget crisis; facilitating writing groups; working in MSIs; responding to AI and integrative technology; elevating student and tutor voices; supporting graduate students; assisting multilingual writers; engaging in grant writing; etc.

Submissions:

We welcome applications from anyone in the broader online writing centers community. As part of our organization’s commitment to anti-racism, we particularly encourage applications from writing center scholars and practitioners of diverse backgrounds and centers, including international and global scholars.

You do not have to be an OWCA member to submit an application or to present; however, we encourage you to learn more about the benefits of OWCA membership.

If the OWCA Virtual Events Committee selects your application, committee members will collaborate with you to prepare accessible materials for the presentation; you can find examples of accessible materials on our conference site. The OWCA is committed to providing accessible professional development opportunities to the online writing centers community. All presentations include simultaneous ASL interpretation.

Questions:

If you have questions and/or concerns, and to submit, please reach out to the Chair of the Virtual Events Committee, Alanna Bitzel, at alanna.bitzel@unlv.edu