ACCUTE 2023 – CALL FOR PANELS

Call for Conference Panels – Congress 2023

THE CALL FOR PANEL PROPOSALS IS NOW CLOSED.

CFPs for ACCUTE 2023 will be circulated in the Fall issue of The Angle and published on our website.

ACCUTE will accept proposals for papers in the following categories:

GENERAL CFP

MEMBER-ORGANIZED PANELS

Member-Organized Panels are proposed by an ACCUTE member for the annual ACCUTE conference. Member-Organized Panels are not invitational: the organizer describes the topic but does not pre-select the participants. As with general submissions to the ACCUTE conference, paper proposals and submitted papers are peer reviewed, with the panel organizer acting as the first vettor. The organizing member is expected to attend the ACCUTE conference to act as Panel Chair. Note: Member-organizers do not typically present on the panels they organize and are ineligible for ACCUTE travel funding unless they are submitting a paper for another panel.

CREATIVE WRITING PANELS

Creative Writing Panels are also member-organized panels, but they are organized by the Creative Writing Collective (CWC) and will focus on creative writing and/or creative writing pedagogy. They may also take the form of literary readings. The CWC may offer suggestions for a range of topics, such as decolonization and creative writing; creative writing mentorship and pedagogy; building anti-racist writing workshops; craft and process. The submission process is the same as for Member-Organized panels.

Suggested topics for Creative Writing Panels:
  • Decolonization and creative writing
  • Building anti-racist writing workshops
  • Writing as social practice
  • Intersectionality in writing communities
  • Intercultural and intergenerational knowledge-sharing
  • Creative writing mentorship and pedagogy
  • Research creation
  • Interdisciplinarity, collaboration, and creative writing
  • Literary readings (including works in progress)
  • Craft and process
  • Editing and publishing
  • The pandemic’s effects on the discipline of creative writing
  • Student experiences in creative writing programs
  • New media intersections of art and technology
  • Creative humanities
  • A topic not on this list!

JOINT SPONSORED PANELS

Joint Sponsored panels are held at the ACCUTE conference but are co-sponsored by another association. They are initiated by an ACCUTE member who is also a member of the organization that jointly sponsors the panel. Joint Sponsored panels are intended to foster links between ACCUTE and other scholarly associations, whether those associations regularly attend Congress or not. Of special interest to ACCUTE are those organizations that address fields that have traditionally been under-represented at our conference. While ACCUTE welcomes panels that correspond with the annual Congress theme, any topic that reflects ACCUTE’s mandates or the interests of its members will be considered.

PANEL FORMATS

A panel may follow the conventional three- or four-paper format, but we also encourage proposers to consider alternative formats such as:

  • Round Table: Participants present and have a discussion on a designated topic.
  • Pecha Kucha or 7-14-28 or Ignite: Participants offer rapid-fire showcases with limited time/number of slides, followed by discussion.
  • Workshop: Participants work collaboratively and with attendees on a practical problem (eg., a crux in interpretation, developing course syllabus, constructing an effective grant proposal).
  • Demonstrations: Participants present on teaching or technological innovations, with explanations and discussion.
  • Interview session: Participants give a brief presentation and are then interviewed by the next panelist, who then presents their work.
  • Storytelling panel: Discussion based on participants’ narrative presentations: a “stories of….” approach.
  • Collaborative presentations: Participants present as a group or team (rather than individually).
  • Closed-Door Meetings or Discussions: Participants meet privately in the context of ACCUTE. Such a meeting space can be made available to those who request it, especially for priority and equity-deserving groups.

 HOW TO SUBMIT A PANEL PROPOSAL

To submit a panel proposal, please email ACCUTE (info.accute@gmail.com) with the following information:

  • The proposed panel title and format, including type of proposal (Member-Organized, Creative Writing, or Joint-Sponsored; if Joint Sponsored indicate the co-sponsored organization)
  • Your name, institution, and email address
  • The text of the CFP to a maximum of 200 words

If accepted, your CFP will be circulated in September with a deadline for submissions of mid-November. Submissions will come through the Online Proposal Submission Form on the ACCUTE website, and then be forwarded to panel organizer(s) for first vetting. Submissions not selected for the panel will go into the General Pool for consideration.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD CFP?

Some CFPs attract many submissions; some, few or none. A successful CFP is neither too general (Munro’s fiction, problems in poetry) nor too specific (Jungian approaches to The Great Gatsby, use of the first person in experimental fiction). It identifies an interesting or timely topic or critical problem, or an under-represented area, and reflects current scholarship in that field. Think of the eventual audience as well as the potential submitters: try to pick a topic that is not overly specialized and that has a general or cross-field appeal. Craft the CFP carefully, without issuing too many directives, and let your submitters show what they can do with it. Finally, be sure to spend some time publicizing the CFP to the kinds of scholars who would be an asset to the event.

We encourage anyone planning a panel to consult ACCUTE’s Equity Statement and to consider how their panel fulfills the ambitions and values it seeks to uphold.

Please contact Erin Knight at info.accute@gmail.com with any questions. For questions specific to Creative Writing panels, please contact Shazia Hafiz Ramji at shaziahafizramji@gmail.com.