Working draft. The text and tools are still being checked, and corrections are welcome.

Conventions, themes and program chairs

Every CCCC convention from 1950 on, with its dates, site, theme and program chair as NCTE lists them. For the years in the corpus (1998 on), the last column asks a simple question: how often do the words of the theme turn up in that year's session and paper titles, compared with the other years?

Dates, sites, themes and chairs come from NCTE's page on past conventions (57 themes are listed; the first appears in 1963, and the page has none for 2026 or 2027 yet). The echo is a rough measure. It counts titles that use any distinctive word from the theme (words in more than 3% of all titles, like “writing,” are left out), a word matches from its start (“gateway” finds “gateways”), and a theme's words may be ordinary in the field. Read it as a hint, then open the titles.
YearDatesSiteThemeProgram chairTheme words in titles
2027 upcoming Milwaukee
2026 Cleveland
2025 April 9-12, 2025Baltimore, MD’Computer Love’: Extended Play, B-sides, Remix, Collaboration, and Creativity Kofi J. Adisa 30.6% (others 2.7%)
2024 April 3-6, 2024Spokane, WAWriting Abundance: Celebrating 75 Years of Conversations about Rhetoric, Composition, Technical Communication, and Literacy Jennifer Sano-Franchini 23.4% (others 2.6%)
2023 February 15-18, 2023Chicago, ILDoing Hop in Desperate Times Frankie Condon 1.3% (others 0.2%)
2022 virtual March 9-12, 2022Virtual ConventionThe Promises and Perils of Higher Education: Our Discipline’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Linguistic Justice Staci Perryman-Clark 20.9% (others 5.3%)
2021 virtual April 7-10, 2021Virtual ConventionWe Are All Writing Teachers*: Returning to a Common Place Holly Hassel 15.0% (others 4.5%)
2020 cancelled March 25-28, 2020(Cancelled) Milwaukee, WIConsidering Our Commonplaces Julie Lindquist 16.5% (others 0.2%)
2019 March 13-16, 2019Pittsburgh, PAPerformance-Rhetoric, Performance-Composition Vershawn Ashanti Young 20.8% (others 0.4%)
2018 March 14-17, 2018Kansas City, MOLanguaging, Laboring, and Transforming Asao Inoue 10.9% (others 0.3%)
2017 March 15-18, 2017Portland, ORCultivating Capacity, Creating Change Carolyn Calhoon-Dillahunt 23.6% (others 2.8%)
2016 April 6-9, 2016Houston, TXWriting Strategies for Action Linda Adler-Kassner 17.8% (others 1.9%)
2015 March 18-21, 2015Tampa, FLRisk and Reward Joyce Carter 11.0% (others 0.1%)
2014 March 19-22, 2014Indianapolis, INOpen | Source(s), Access, Futures Adam Banks 12.8% (others 2.6%)
2013 March 13-16, 2013Las Vegas, NVThe Public Work of Composition Howard Tinberg 18.2% (others 2.3%)
2012 March 21-24, 2012St. Louis, MOWriting Gateways Chris Anson 7.4% (others 0.0%)
2011 April 6-9, 2011Atlanta, GAAll Our Relations: Contested Space, Contested Knowledge Malea Powell 17.5% (others 4.1%)
2010 March 17-20, 2010Louisville, KYThe Remix: Revisit, Rethink, Revise, Renew Gwendolyn D. Pough 26.0% (others 1.7%)
2009 March 11-14, 2009San Francisco, CAMaking Waves Marilyn Valentino 8.2% (others 2.0%)
2008 April 2-5, 2008New Orleans, LAWriting Realities, Changing Realities Charles Bazerman 15.3% (others 0.6%)
2007 March 21-24, 2007New York, NYRepresenting Identities Cheryl Glenn 14.2% (others 0.9%)
2006 March 22-25, 2006Chicago, ILComposition in the Center Spaces: Building Community, Culture, Coalitions Akua Duku Anokye 16.9% (others 7.0%)
2005 March 16-19, 2005San Francisco, CAOpening the Golden Gates: Access, Affirmative Action, and Student Success Judith Wootten 18.8% (others 4.3%)
2004 March 24-27, 2004San Antonio, TXMaking Composition Matter: Students, Citizens, Institutions, Advocacy Douglas D. Hesse 19.3% (others 3.3%)
2003 March 19-22, 2003New York, NYRewriting ‘Theme for English B’: Transforming Possibilities Kathleen Blake Yancey
2002 March 20-23, 2002Chicago, ILConnecting the Text and the Street Shirley Wilson Logan
2001 March 14-17, 2001Denver, COComposing Community John Lovas
2000 April 12-15, 2000Minneapolis, MNEducating the Imagination: Reimagining Education Wendy Bishop
1999 March 24-27, 1999Atlanta, GAVisible Students, Visible Teachers Keith Gilyard 14.3% (others 1.4%)
1998 April 1-4, 1998Chicago, ILIdeas, Historias y Cuentos: Breaking with Precedent Victor Villanueva 2.9% (others 0.3%)
1997 March 12-15, 1997Phoenix, AZJust Teaching, Just Writing: Reflection and Responsibility Cynthia Selfe
1996 March 27-30, 1996Milwaukee, WITranscending Boundaries Nell Ann Pickett
1995 March 22-25, 1995Washington, D.C.Literacies, Technologies, Responsibilities Lester Faigley
1994 March 16-19, 1994Nashville, TNCommon Concerns, Uncommon realities: Teaching, Research, and Scholarship in a Complex World Jacqueline Jones Royster
1993 April 1-3, 1993San Diego, CATwentieth Century Problems, Twenty-First Century Solutions: Issues, Answers, Actions Lillian Bridwell-Bowles
1992 March 19-21, 1992Cincinnati, OHContexts, Communities, and Constraints: Sites of Composing and Communicating Anne Ruggles Gere
1991 March 21-23, 1991Boston, MATimes of Trial, Reorientation, Reconstruction: A Fin de Siecle Review/Prophecy William W. Cook
1990 March 22-24, 1990Chicago, ILStrengthening Community Through Diversity Donald McQuade
1989 March 16-18, 1989Seattle, WAEmpowering Students and Ourselves in an Interdependent World Jane E. Peterson
1988 March 17-19, 1988St. Louis, MOLanguage, Self, and Society Andrea A. Lunsford
1987 March 19-21, 1987Atlanta, GAThe Uses of Literacy: A Writer’s Work In and Out of the Academy David Bartholomae
1986 March 13-15, 1986New Orleans, LAUsing the Power of Language to Make the Impossible Possible Miriam T. Chaplin
1985 March 21-23, 1985Minneapolis, MNMaking Connections Lee Odell
1984 March 29-31, 1984New York, NYMaking Writing the Cornerstone of an Education for Freedom Maxine Hairston
1983 March 17-19, 1983Detroit, MIThe Writer’s World(s): Achieving Insight and Impact Rosentene B. Purnell
1982 March 18-20, 1982San Francisco, CAServing Our Students, Our Public, and Our Profession Donald C. Stewart
1981 March 26-28, 1981Dallas, TXOur Profession: Achieving Perspectives for the 1980’s James Lee Hill
1980 March 13-15, 1980Washington, D.C.Writing: The Person and the Process Lynn Quitman Troyka
1979 April 5-7, 1979Minneapolis, MNWriting: A Cross-Disciplinary Enterprise Frank D’Angelo
1978 March 30-April 1, 1978Denver, COExcellence in What We Do: Our Attitude Toward Teaching Composition William F. Irmscher
1977 March 31-April 2, 1977Kansas City, KSTwo Hundred Plus One: Communicating in the Third American Century Vivian I. Davis
1976 March 25-27, 1976Philadelphia, PAWhat’s Really Basic? A Bicentennial Review of the Basic Issues of English Richard Lloyd-Jones
1975 March 13-15, 1975St. Louis, MOUntapped Resources Marianna W. Davis
1974 April 4-6, 1974Anaheim, CAHidden Agendas: What Are We Doing When We Do What We Do? Lionel R. Sharp
1973 April 5-7, 1973New Orleans, LAIssues, Challenges, and Opportunities Richard L. Larson
1972 March 23-25, 1972Boston, MAReconsidering Roles: What Are We About? James D. Barry
1971 March 25-27, 1971Cincinnati, OHComing Together—SOS from the Darkling Plain
1970 March 19-21, 1970Seattle, WA
1969 April 17-19, 1969Miami, FL
1968 April 4-6, 1968Minneapolis, MN
1967 April 6-8, 1967Louisville, KY
1966 March 24-26, 1966Denver, CO
1965 April 8-10, 1965St. Louis, MO
1964 March 25-28, 1964New York, NYFreshman English: Return to Composition
1963 March 21-24, 1963Los Angeles, CAThe Content of English
1962 April 5-7, 1962Chicago, IL
1961 April 6-8, 1961Washington, D.C.
1960 March 31-April 2, 1960Cincinnati, OH
1959 April 2-4, 1959San Francisco, CA
1958 March 27-29, 1958Philadelphia, PA
1957 March 21-23, 1957Chicago, IL
1956 March 22-24, 1956New York, NY
1955 March 24-26, 1955Chicago, IL
1954 March 4-6, 1954St. Louis, MO
1953 March 13-14, 1953Chicago, IL
1952 March 28-29, 1952Cleveland, OH
1951 March 30-31, 1951Chicago, IL
1950 March 24-25, 1950Chicago, IL

Program chairs are named here from NCTE's page. A chair links to a person page when the name matches someone listed at two or more conventions in the corpus.