The College English Association, a gathering of scholar-teachers in English studies, welcomes proposals for presentations on women’s issues for our 40th annual conference, celebrating the organization’s 70th anniversary.

The Women’s Connection is now inviting papers and panels addressing gender issues as they relate to the general conference theme, design. Topics might include, but are not limited to
• How do we design programs in women’s studies? How does the design of a course or a lesson affect the reception or understanding of women’s issues?
• How does the world of design (in fashion, art, decorating) influence or intersect with women’s writing?
• How do the narrative designs of individual authors function to illuminate gender issues?

General Conference Theme:
CEA welcomes proposals for presentations on the general conference theme, Design. We live in a world atomized into text messages and jump cuts, socially constructed snippets on networking sites, fragmented blogs and news bites, ones and zeroes. In such a context, is there still a role for conscious design - of literature, of art, of rhetoric, of learning? After the death of the author, who designs the texts we love to see, read, and study? Or do we make our own designations, sketching out the plot, shading in the design, creating meaning as we find it?

CEA also accepts proposals for presentations in any of the areas English departments typically encompass, including literature, creative writing, composition, technical communication, linguistics, and film. We also welcome papers on areas that influence our work as academics, including student demographics, student/instructor accountability and assessment, student advising, academic leadership in departments and programs, and the place of the English department in the university.

All presenters at the 2009 CEA conference must become members of CEA by January 1, 2009. To join CEA, please go to
http://www2.widener.edu/~cea/membership.htm
Find out more about the College English Association:
http://www2.widener.edu/~cea
Find out more about lodging and registration:
http://www2.widener.edu/~cea/conferencetravel2009.htm