Texas A & M-Commerce 18th Annual English Graduate Conference in English

Just received this from Dr. Lackey - another fairly local conference to consider submitting to and possibly attending - get those lines on your CV!! (Interesting that this graduate student organization also chose "egad" as their acronym, isn't it? Of course, ours is better because it's EGADS! with that exclamation point - makes all the difference!!)

Poets, Practice, and Passion in the Profession: A Dare to be Different

Texas A&M University-Commerce will hold the 18th Annual English Graduates for Academic Development (EGAD) Conference on February 26, 2010. We are pleased to welcome slam poet and educator Taylor Mali as our keynote speaker for the conference (more information at taylormali.com). Taylor’s mission statement includes this important line: “I want to be a spokesman for teaching’s nobility, one of the poets laureate of passion in the classroom.” His goal—to be part of a movement that brings smart, successful, and qualified people into classrooms across America. Althusser posits that teachers are the only people tenably positioned to bring about effective change, and we at EGAD feel that we are all teachers in some sense, using words and language as the “weapons.” Althusser refers to our efforts to create meaning in our lives and in the lives of those we touch, through teaching, tutoring, writing, and performing.

EGAD is now accepting proposals for papers and panels dealing with contemporary issues in academia. While adherence to the conference theme is not necessary, it is encouraged, and we welcome submissions from all areas of academic discourse including, but not limited to: English, History, Journalism, Political Science, Education, Psychology, and Sociology. Submissions due Jan. 8, 2010. Registration materials will be sent upon acceptance to the conference. Panels will be organized by topic.

Suggested areas of interest:

Critical Theory
Foreign Language Studies
Science Fiction
Academia/Professional Issues
Composition & Rhetoric
Linguistics/ESL
Pedagogy
Pop Culture
Grad Student Issues
Writing Center Theory & Practice
Film Studies
Literary Studies
Technology in the Classroom
Drama
Art
Creative Writing*

*N.B. The conference will include sessions dedicated to Creative Writing, both for writers to share their works with an audience and for writers to learn from experienced writers, including a poetry workshop with Taylor Mali.

Share your passion for your profession with us at EGAD by submitting your paper/panel abstract of 250-500 words by January 8, 2010. Electronic submissions are encouraged, and should be sent as MS Word or .rtf document attachments. Panel proposals and workshops are welcome, as are individual paper proposals. Notification of acceptance and registration information will be sent electronically upon acceptance decision.

Please visit our site for further information and a chance to witness Mali’s passion and powerful delivery. https://webmail2.utb.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=a266115b623d444e9e4bd0abd4dd87f8&URL=http%3a%2f%2forgs.tamu-commerce.edu%2fEGAD%2f

Send inquiries and abstracts to:
EGAD
c/o Angela J. Kennedy
Department of Literature and Languages
P. O. Box 3011
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Commerce, TX 75429-3011
email: https://webmail2.utb.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=a266115b623d444e9e4bd0abd4dd87f8&URL=mailto%3aEGADConferenceChair%40gmail.com