By questioning how we consciously and unconsciously create our conception (and perception) of space (be it communal, regional, national, or global, at family level, the work place, in the Academia, etc.) we can tackle infinitude of topics that can lead us into a better understanding of culture and the beings that embark in the quest to create/invent/imagine culture.

The topic is meant to be incredibly vast and ambiguous. Part of the general goals of the Conference is to force its participants to push the boundaries, both at personal-academic levels, and of the discipline in general. The main goal of this year’s conference is to force us to question how we perceive our world, both as academics and as members of a community.

Dr. Elaine Lawless, Professor at the English Department of the University of Missouri will be our Keynote Speaker.

We have chosen to organize it into five categories of presentation, which we are tentatively considering sessions; however, the modes of presentation are necessarily open for discussion and will partly depend on the proposals we receive. Initially the categories are:

- Theory
- Applied work
- Technology
- Field work
- Alternative modes of representation

Abstracts
DEADLINE EXTENDED!
Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words and are due by February 15th, 2006 via email to folkethn@indiana.edu. Please list Spring Conference in subject heading. Abstracts should be sent as attachments using either MS Word or RTF formats, and names should be left off the attachment. Acceptance notification will be via email and will be sent beginning March 1st 2006.

Panel proposals are also welcome. Please send proposal for panel abstract with paper abstracts. We will also be organizing forums for presenters who have works in progress who would like to present but feel that their work isn’t at a stage for a formal presentation. These will be grouped into similar topic areas for discussions.

Questions about submissions or the conference should be sent to minmarti@indiana.edu. Our conference website can be accessed at http://www.indiana.edu/~esa/2005conference/index.htm.