Call for Papers
American Literature Association
22nd Annual Conference
Dates: May 26-29, 2011
Location: The Westin Copley Place
(617-262-9600)
Conference Director: Alfred Bendixen
Conference Fee: For those who pre-register before April 15, 2011: $90
($60 for Graduate Students, Independent Scholars, and Retired Faculty).
After April 15, the fees are $100 and $70.
Deadline for Proposals: January 30, 2011
The
The Boston Westin Hotel is now sold out. Please contact A Room with a View for information on the designated ALA overflow hotel. They will secure the lowest available rates within walking distance of The Westin Hotel. A Room with a View can be reached at 1-800-780-4343. This is a FREE SERVICE for all ALA attendees.
Our
Conference Details: For the 2011 conference, the
Individuals may also propose papers or panels to the conference director by January 30, 2011. Preference will be given to papers and panels that represent authors, genres, or topics that are not covered by the societies that make up the ALA. Proposals must follow the guidelines described at the end of this notice.
Tentative Conference Schedule:
Thursday, May 26 2011: Sessions from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM
Opening Reception: 6:00 - 7:00 PM
Friday, May 27, 2011: Sessions from 8:10 AM until 6:30 PM.
Book Exhibit: 9 AM – 5 PM
Special
Saturday, May 28, 2011: Sessions from 8:10 AM until 6:30 PM.
Book Exhibit: 9 AM - 5 PM
Sunday, May 29, 2011: Sessions from 8:30 AM until 1 PM
Book Exhibit: An exhibit of scholarly books will be held during the first three days of the conference. About twenty publishers are expected to take part. To have your books represented at the exhibit, ask your publisher to consider taking part in the book exhibit or to contact Scholar's Choice (see information below), which will organizing exhibits for publishers. Publishers should direct any questions to Alfred Bendixen at [email protected] -- We welcome the participation of publishers and are one of the few scholarly organizations that does NOT charge an exhibit fee.
Scholar's Choice: The Scholar's Choice will again have a combined book exhibit at the 2011
Any members interested in having their book displayed at the 2011
The conference fee covers the costs of the conference including the opening and closing receptions; it does not include any meals. All of those who are on the program are required to pre-register. For those who register before April 15, 2011, the pre-registration rate is $90 ($60 for Graduate Students, Independent Scholars, and Retired Faculty). After April 15, the conference fee becomes $100 ($70 for Graduate Students, Independent Scholars, and Retired Faculty). Registration Information for the conference will be available on the website in January. The website will list the program as soon as it is available - a draft will probably appear during the second week of March. Copies of the printed program will be mailed in late April to all who pre-register. Please note that we will NOT mail out registration information.
The easiest way to find out about the conference and all
Please note that the American Literature Association maintains the lowest conference fees of any major scholarly organization because it operates without a paid staff. We cannot help you find a roommate or spend a great deal of time answering personal phone calls. If you have any questions that are not answered by this announcement, please contact the conference director, Alfred Bendixen, Executive Director of the ALA, at [email protected]
Procedures for Author Societies: The representatives of the various author societies that make up the American Literature Association will organize most of the program. Societies are expected to offer their own calls for papers using their websites, email list-serves, newsletters, other publications, or mailing lists. Each society is also encouraged to post a call for papers on this ALA website by sending the CFP to the conference director at [email protected] as soon as possible. Societies are expected to advertise the national conference in their publications or on their websites. This expectation can be met by including the following notice in appropriate publications and websites:
The American Literature Association's 20th annual conference will meet at the
The official representatives of each author societies should confirm tentative plans for sessions with the conference director by email at [email protected] before Nov 1, 2010. This is essential if any society is requesting more than two sessions and a business meeting. All that is required is an email noting the number of desired sessions and any special requests. If your society, for whatever reason, chooses not to sponsor a session this year, please let the conference director know that.
By January 30, 2011, the conference director should receive an email describing the society's panel or panels. That information should follow the following format for each panel:
1. The subject line of the email should read ALA 2011: Name of Society. This enables the conference director to file emails efficiently. Then provide the rest of information as both an attachment (preferably in WORD) and pasted in. Please do not use PDF files. The
2. Please provide your session information so that it can be pasted into the final program. Please look at the following sample and then at the specific instructions that follow:
The Sublime in Sample's Poetry
Organized by the Ima Sample Society
Chair: Joseph Goodscholar,
1. Irony and Angst in the poetry of Ima Sample, Noah Problem,
2. The
3. Sample's Mambo Poems and the Humor of Mark Twain, Uriah Heap, Independent Scholar
Audio-Visual Equipment required: None
Requested slot: Thursday or Friday morning
Business Meeting Requested: immediately following panel if possible
A. Provide the exact Title of the Session as you wish it listed in the Program. (Please try to be both concise and precise). Please do NOT use CAPS or BOLD or special fonts or highlighting in any part of your proposal. Please do not indent.
B. On the second line, please write Organized by Name of Your Society
C. Then list: Chair: Name, Affiliation
D. For each paper, begin with a number, hit tab, then provide the title of the presentation in quotation marks, and then the correct name of the presenter, and his or her academic affiliation. For independent scholars, you may identify a society, a place, or just note independent scholar or biographer or anything you deem appropriate. You may list a respondent, if appropriate and desired. Please note that we use commas not periods.
E. Then write Audio-Visual Equipment Required and state NONE or request the specific equipment desired. The
F. Because of the complexity of the program, we cannot permit individual societies to request specific time slots, but you may designate two preferred days and request either morning or afternoon. The conference director will attempt to honor all reasonable requests provided the required program information arrives by January 30, 2011, but no promises or guarantees can be made.
H Please italicize book-length works and foreign phrases and use quotation marks for
shorter works.
I Please remind all of your participants that no-one may present more than one paper at the
J Please include a phone number where you can be reached in the event that the conference director is unable to email you.
K. Proposals that fail to follow these directions will be returned to the proposer.
3. Please note that the
4. If you wish to also schedule a business meeting for your society, please request Business Meeting and provide any desired days and times. It is important that you let the conference director know if you wish the business meeting to come before or after a panel. Please note that we cannot guarantee to provide specific times.
5. At the end, please provide the email addresses of all participants in case we need to contact individuals. Please note that it is your responsibility to have your participants register for the conference and to make sure they understand that they are expected to register
The conference director will attempt to confirm the receipt of all emails within 3 business days. The conference director may refer you to the website but will never send you an attachment to open, because of the danger of computer viruses. By the first week in March, the conference director will let you know the day on which your panel or panels are scheduled. You should inform your participants of the day and instruct them to register using the information on the website at www.americanliterature.org and explaining that their early registration and payment saves the organization time and money. We'll send a program to everyone who pre-registers.
6. If any conference proposal comes in after the deadline, the conference director may be unable to place it on the program and will not be able to consider requests for specific times.
Procedures for Individual Proposals: Individuals may propose either a paper or a panel or round table to the conference director no earlier than December 1, 2010 and no later than the deadline of January 30, 2011. The conference director will give preference to papers and panels on authors, texts, and topics not covered by the member societies of the ALA. Those proposing a paper or panel on a topic represented by an author society should consult with the relevant society before submitting the proposal to the ALA. All proposals must be by email and should be both pasted in and included as attachments (preferably in WORD).
For an Individual Paper: In the subject line of the email, please put ALA 2011 Proposal: and then a brief title of between one and five words. That will enable the conference director to file emails efficiently. Please provide the title of your paper and an abstract describing the paper (usually between 250-600 words) and then a brief discussion of your status (i.e., an Associate Professor who has published a book and several articles on this topic/author; a graduate student who is offering part of his/her dissertation, etc.) or a two-page vita if that is easier. It is important that your abstract enable the conference director and his advisory committee to evaluate the nature of your work. You must also indicate whether you need any audio-visual equipment to present your work. Please provide a phone number (which will only be used if email fails to work for some reason).
In choosing papers, the conference director may need to emphasize the ways in which individual papers contribute to the formation of logical and coherent panels,
.
For a panel: Please follow the guidelines for author societies described above so that the conference director can paste in the panels and round tables that are accepted. In the subject line of the email, please put ALA 2011 Proposal: and then a brief title of between one and five words. Provide a clear description of the panel and its goals, the titles of individual papers, appropriate abstracts for the papers, and a brief description of the participants and their relevant work. It is crucial that you note any audio-visual needs in your proposal. . Please also provide separate lists of the email addresses for all of your participants. Finally, please provide your phone number (which will only be used if email fails to work for some reason.)
In evaluating the quality of a proposal, the
Some reminders:
The deadline for all proposals from individuals and panels from author societies is January 30, 2011.
No-one may present more than one paper at an
Please make sure to indicate any audio-visual requests with your proposal. Late a/v requests may not be considered.
Please make sure to follow the instructions above. Our hope is that the use of electronic submissions will enable the
Participating author societies are required to advertise the national conference and are encouraged to post call for papers on the
The conference director will attempt to acknowledge the receipt of all emails within 3 business days and will try to respond as quickly as possible to all proposals.
Please remember to paste in your proposal into the email as well as provide it in an attachment.
Thank you for your support of the American Literature Association
