Hello everyone
—Quick reminder: The English Undergraduate Conference will be held on
Wednesday February 22 in Leonard Hall. The deadline for proposals (which tell
us what you are going to present at the conference) is Wednesday, February 8.
You may submit more than one proposal. The proposal form is attached. You will
hear back from me regarding the time of your presentation after the proposal due
date. I will send around the schedule quite a few times!!Here are some
answers to 12 commonly-asked questions. Send me more if you have them. ALL
English majors (Ed, BA, all tracks), double majors, and minors are invited to
the conference.
1) “what is this conference, anyway?” A conference is an
event in which people who share common interests (in our case, English majors,
minors, and professors) come together to share their work and their ideas.
Presentations are arranged into “panels” of 2-4 people. In our case, each panel
will last for 50 minutes. Presenters present for about 7-15 minutes, depending
on how many people are on the panel. Then there is time for feedback and
discussion.
2) “Ok, so what is a proposal? what can I present?”
An essay you have composed in or out of
class. A work of creative fiction, non-fiction, poetry or any hybrid creative
form that you have composed/created inside or outside of class. A set of ideas
that you have developed (by yourself or with others) over the last few years,
months, or weeks, either inside or outside of class. A study you have done, an
analysis of a poem, play, novel, short story, cultural phenomenon. A reading of
a moment from a film that interests you. A discussion of a work you read in
English Club or in a reading group. A performance of an idea. An obsession. A
preoccupation. You decide. It is your conference.
3) “would it be good
to have some proposals about The Hunger Games?” Oh yes, you bet. Or any other
book you read together and liked.
4) “The proposal form is weird — I
don’t know what to put down”
The categories on the proposal form are very
general and simply help me to organize panels — I might want to put an
analytical essay presentation on a panel with a creative writing presentation to
get a conversation going. Just do your best and remember that you’ll never
learn if you DON’T turn in a proposal.
5) “Is there food?”
Yes, and
coffee. In Nicholson Library. All day. Plus lunch. This year, the pizza will
actually be hot because my neighbor supervises that stuff and I gave him an
earful about cold pizza.
6) “I’ve got so many ideas I just don’t know
what to do with them! What should I do?”
Consider multiple proposals. If you do
more than one thing well, or if you are interested in many things, why not share
that interest? Use the conference as a chance to ask your audience how to pull
things together. Audiences LOVE doing that at conferences. Or simply share
your enthusiasm. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you pay attention
to the time keeper!
7) “do I have to submit a proposal about a paper I
wrote for class? do I have to revise the paper? Do I have to read from a
written paper?” NO. You can improvise; you can perform. You can speak off the
cuff or from a paper you have written or a creative work you have written. Just
make sure you pay attention to the time keeper. If you want help with revision,
go to the Writing Center, or ask a faculty member or a friend. People love
giving that kind of help.
8) “Why aren’t faculty in charge? If we are in
charge, why should I bother? It will just be lame if students are in charge.”
We are going to be together for a day. Is that so terrible? Many professors
will be listening to you instead of teaching. Is that so bad? We are bound to
think that some things are lame if we stand outside and don’t participate,
although there is really nothing wrong with feeling like an outsider. The
conference gives you a chance to define what matters to you, to have a voice no
matter what your perspective and to realize that having a voice is public —
that it gives you and other people some responsibility. If you think some
things are lame, present what’s lame and tell people what to do about it. If you
think something is great, tell everyone about it. We might not all love one
another, but we all get along pretty well. We can handle things
together.
9) “What about time keeping” One afternoon panel in the last
session went on for two hours. No one thought it was lame, there was no
timekeeper. This is great for the last panel. Not so great for the first
panel. If you have a lot to say, let me know on your proposal form!
10) “I’m shy”
Present with a
friend. Have a friend read your work. Present your work despite your shyness.
You are among friends who are interested in what you have to say. The only
thing worse than being talked about is NOT being talked about!
11) “I’m
grumpy”
Then get that energy out! Present something that matters to you.
Make other people grumpy too. Or let them fire you up or cheer you up. But give
us all something concrete to think about. There’s nothing wrong with arguing
about things, is there?
12) “I’m too busy” Present something that you
are busily working on right now. Even, yes even, if it is not finished.
Remember, you don’t have to present a complete paper. Many professors do this
— we present works in progress at conferences in order to deal with being so
busy. It helps us get things done. It can help you too!!
I look forward
to hearing from you and I REALLY look forward to the
conference.