CCCC 2012 - Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC)

Don't miss the 63rd annual convention of the Conference on College Composition and Communication in St. Louis!
March 21-24, 2012

In March of 2012, we will convene in the elliptical shadow of one of the world’s great structures, the St. Louis Gateway Arch?at 630 feet, the tallest human-made monument in the United States. Designed by futurist architect Eero Saarinen and dedicated in 1968, the arch was constructed as a testa?ment to what the Hartford Courant described as “the pioneer spirit of the men and women who won the West, and those of a latter day to strive on other frontiers.” A symbol of hope and progress, the starting point of Lewis and Clark’s expedition and the threshold of the Louisiana Purchase, the arch was designed to represent the triumph of American expansionist ideology. But the arch’s symbol of manifest destiny and westward expansion also has its down side. Through its door to history, we see the subjugation and exclu?sion of indigenous people. We see the unbridled imposition of makeshift law. We see the exploitation of foreign and migrant workers. And we see the eventual destruction and overdevelopment of unspoiled land. Just as we often associate