2015 Conference CFP and Invitation Letter
August 15, 2014
The Officers and Board of Directors of the College English Association invite you to join us for the 46th Annual Conference of the College English Association at the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana. (One South Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46204; Phone: 317-632-1234; Fax: 317-616-6299; www.indianapolis.hyatt.com), March 26-28, 2015.
The Conference Theme: Imaginations
We live in an age when news travels at lightning speed. This is mostly a good thing. Long before our local evening news sports reporter tells us how many points our favorite player scored in the game, all we have to do is go to our smart phones, click on the sports app of our choice, and then find the link that tells us the scores of the day. We can even watch highlights of the game if want to on our smart phones, thus, momentarily eliminating the need to go home after work to watch the highlights on our televisions screens.
If we are political junkies, we can also go to our smart phones and read about national or global politics or watch live coverage of congressional hearings right in the comfort of our homes. If we are addicted to celebrity culture, we can go to websites dedicated to revealing the good and not so good choices of our favorite stars, oftentimes, soon after a
good or bad incident has occurred. The bad part about news traveling at lightning speed, though, is that it does not give us opportunities to daydream, think quietly, or to sit in silence. The fact that news is just a few clicks away or on television all day denies us chances to use our imaginations these days. Imagining who we are or who we want to be is part of the human experience, but increasingly our human experience is competing with media that wants to do the imagining for us. Since news is so instantaneous, it is almost impossible to escape its tentacles. For our 2015 meeting, CEA invites papers and panels that will ask all of us to momentarily put away our smart phones, laptops, tablets, etc., so that we can refocus our energies on the wonders of our imaginations to consider the following questions: In what ways can we encourage our institutions, colleagues, students, and even ourselves to find meaning in using our imaginations for self-reflection and creative output? And how can we use those introspective moments, broadly speaking, to help us to become better teachers? (For suggestions, please see the attached Call for Papers.)
The CEA serves the scholar-teacher dedicated to bringing his or her own scholarly and critical perspectives into the classroom for the benefit of students. For more information about CEA, please check our web site <http://cea-web.org/>.
For program scheduling queries, contact Coretta Pittman, CEA 2015 Program Chair, Baylor University, English Dept., One Bear Place # 97406, Carroll Science Building, Room # 106, Waco, Texas 76798 and by e-mail: [log in to unmask] (please enter “Program Chair” in the subject line).
For information on our online submission page, please see our web site at <http://cea-web.org/>.
For general conference information, contact Juliet A. Emanuel, CEA Executive Director (see address, phone number, and e-mail address below); or Steve Brahlek, CEA President, Department of English, Palm Beach State College, 4200 Congress Ave., Lake Worth, FL 33461 and by e-mail: [log in to unmask].
Juliet A. Emanuel
Executive Director, CEA
Department of Developmental Skills, N499L
BMCC/CUNY
199 Chambers St.
New York, NY 10007
Telephone: (212) 220-1406
Fax: (718) 783 3317
Thank you.
Linda Di Desidero, PhD
Director, Leadership Communication Skills Center
Marine Corps University
Gray Research Center, Room 122
Quantico, Virginia 22134