Penn State Lehigh Valley:

Welcome to the home page of the Annual Penn State Lehigh Valley Diverse Literacies Conference.

The PSU-LV Diverse Literacies Conference has become a very successful professional educator meeting in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. Focusing on significant, current educational issues such as the diverse literacies students bring into our classrooms, the diverse literacy competencies necessitated by and developed through modern living, and the need to effectively reach all our students, the conference is attended by interested educators of various grade levels and student populations.

Since its inception, the conference has been featuring prominent scholars as keynote speakers: in 2007, the conference plenary talk was delivered by Danling Fu and, in 2008, our keynote speaker was Patrick Shannon. This year, we were fortunate to feature Dr. Mary Kalantzis as our keynote speaker. Dr. Kalantzis is a nationally and internationally scholar of literacy, who has done pioneering work on the pedagogy of multiliteracies.

What's New?

2009 Diverse Literacies Conference

The 2009 Diverse Literacies Conference, organized by Penn State Lehigh Valley in collaboration with the Penn State Lehigh Valley Writing Project, was held on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at the Bear Creek Resort and Conference Center in Macungie, PA. The theme of the conference was Differentiated Instructional Practices for 21st Century Teachers: The Merging of Context, Culture, and Curriculum. The event, which was attended by approximately 150 college students and local educators of various levels and specialities, featured Dr. Mary Kalantzis, a nationally and internationally known scholar of literacy, who has done pioneering work on the pedagogy of multiliteracies. In her keynote speech titled Multiliteracies in Practice, Dr. Kalantzis invited participants to rethink heritage conceptualizations of diversity and literacy, and provided recommendations for enhancing students' communicative repertoires through the incorporation of multiliteracies practices in daily instruction. The conference program also included a diverse and exciting selection of other presentations, and several exhibitors of educational materials.

Dean Kalantzis' presentation on Multiliteracies in Practice is available here.

Also, at the Past Conferences page you will find a copy of the conference program and pictures of the event.

2008 Diverse Literacies Conference

The second annual installment of the Penn State Diverse Literacies Conference was held on Saturday, October 3rd, 2008. The conference featured Dr. Patrick Shannon as keynote speaker, as well as a number of other presentations related to the conference theme Teachers Teaching Teachers: Exemplary Practices in the Diverse Classroom.

At the Past Conferences page you will find a copy of the conference program and pictures of the event.