CEA ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS

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.) 

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.) 

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. 

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

Reach out and we can help you. Email us at cea.english@gmail.com.  

COME FIND OUT!

The College English Association invites UNDERGRADUATE students to participate in our

annual conference by presenting their research at ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS. Even better, we welcome you to experience all the excitement of hanging around people who love the same things you do. 

WHY JOIN US? 

• Experience firsthand how literary criticism is delivered and debated.
• Make the move from a passive consumer of someone else's research to the author of your own. 
• Watch how the professionals do academia--learn from the best.
• Thinking about grad school? Talk to current students and professors from around the country and the world. (Plus, it looks great on your application!)

A roundtable is like a classroom but smaller and with strangers who are interested in what you have to say crossed with a table at a coffee joint (and the coffee is free!). It’s group of presenters sharing their work in flash-essays: highly condensed, high-impact presentations (typically 300-1000 words, or 2-5 minutes) that deliver core research findings, a specific argument, or a compelling narrative. During roundtable sessions, the speakers and audience engage in discussion with each other in an open conversation.

Our conference theme is “Gateways,” and you can think about what you are studying in those terms. But we also welcome presentations on general topics in the study of language, literature, culture, and film. Pretty much anything you're studying in your classes. Read more about our theme HERE

Reach out and we can help you. Email us at cea.english@gmail.com.