CEA ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS

People engaged in discussions at a conference.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO A TRADITIONAL CONFERENCE PAPER

A conference paper is both a written document and an oral presentation. It should be polished, although it need not be perfect. And it should be complete. At CEA, panel presentations are usually 15 minutes. As general rule, one double-spaced page takes 2-2.5 minutes to read out loud. Thus, you are looking at @ 8 pages double-spaced. Collegiality means you adhere to the time limit. And that means you have practiced.

If your presentation is more of a noodling on ideas and not a complete paper, then you should consider submitting it for a roundtable rather than a panel. (As with traditional panels, the Conference Chair will organize roundtable submissions by topic.)

IS YOU PAPER MORE EXPLORATORY?

If your presentation is more of a noodling on ideas and not a complete paper, then you should consider submitting it for a roundtable rather than a panel. A roundtable presentation is a live, interactive dialogue centered on works-in-progress or thematic questions. (NOTE: As with traditional panels, the Conference Chair will organize roundtable submissions by topic.)

LESS FORMAL. FEWER WORDS. MORE DISCUSSION

Roundtables are less formal than panels. Roundtable presentations are generally shorter than papers—we call them "flash essays" of about 500-750 words. Here, the speakers engage in discussion with each other, and the audience is usually invited to engage more directly than at panels. A roundtable is more of an open conversation: speakers come with their own insights and points of view but not necessarily with a topic to analyze or a thesis to defend.

NEW FOR 2027: UNDERGRADUATE ROUNDTABLES

CEA invites undergraduates to enjoy the conference experience by sharing their work in flash-essay roundtable sessions. A flash essay is a highly condensed, high-impact presentation (typically 300-1000 words, or 2-5 minutes) that delivers core research findings, a specific argument, or a compelling narrative. During roundtable sessions, the speakers and audience engage in discussion with each other in more of an open conversation than in traditional panels

NOT SURE WHERE YOU FIT?