REGIONAL/AFFILIATE NEWS

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Indiana English​ is a competitive, peer-reviewed academic journal where faculty-scholars and graduate students alike can publish literary criticism, creative works, pedagogical scholarship, or other work in their fields. The open-access journal is supported by the INDIANA CEA (ICEA) and is published online. 

PROPOSAL DEADLINES

• MAY 16, 2025 Rocky Mountain CEA 7th Annual Pop-Up Conference "AI in the Composition Classroom"
• MAY 20, 2025 International Thomas Merton Society Conference "Thomas Merton and the Sprit of Place"
• AUGUST 15, 2025 Indiana CEA (ICEA) 2025 Conference: Harmony and Discord
• SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 Michigan College English Association ZOOM Conference: Survival and Healing

CONFERENCE DATES

•  JUNE 14, 2025 Rocky Mountain CEA 7th Annual Pop-Up Conference (Virtual)  "AI in the Composition Classroom"
• JUNE 19-20 , 2025 International Thomas Merton Society  "Thoas Merton and the Spirit of Place" Denver, CO
• OCTOBER 4, 2025 Michigan College English Association ZOOM Conference: Survival and Healing
• OCTOBER 17, 2025 Indiana CEA 2025 Conference: Harmony and Discord. University of Indianapolis.

AI In the Composition Classroom

AI has the potential to enhance, redefine, or hijack the writing process.  That reality has captured the attention of modern rhetoricians. As a pop-up conference we seek 500-word essays about the role of writing teachers in defining AI in the composition process. Do we allow other interests to determine the role of AI in academic writing for us, or should we define a vision for integrating AI in the composition classroom?  

Here are some questions to guide your avenue of approach into this exciting topic.

• How do we navigate this new and expanding AI terrain as teachers and academic writers? 
• What is AI's role or function in the classroom?
• How do we define and acknowledge rhetorical situations (context, audience, and purpose) when AI is part of the writing process? 
• How do writers, rhetoricians, and composition teachers incorporate AI constructively into the writing process?
• What are some pitfalls we should avoid when using AI?  
• How do we (or should we) fold AI into traditional or legacy writing processes? 
• How is AI situated in our own and our students' academic research? 
• How do we preserve students' critical thinking and engagement in an AI-enabled world?

A pop-up conference offers essays less formal than conference papers. In this pop-up conference, presenters look to open a conversation by sharing  perspectives, experiences, or percolating ideas in tightly-crafted, well-argued 500-word essays. 

Send proposals, abstracts, and/or completed 500-word essays to Gary Mills   

at gary.mills@afacademy.af.edu and James Meredith at Meredithjh602@gmail.com . Final papers and titles are not due until  June 11, 2025; however, your reply and level of interest (participant or audience) is due no later than May 5.

THOMAS MERTON & THE SPIRIT OF PLACE

June 19-22, 2025 Regis University, Denver, Colorado 

In his journeys in California, New Mexico, and Alaska, and in Asia, gazing on Kanchenjunga, Thomas Merton found himself increasingly “on the edge of great realization.” What is the essence of that realization, and what messages might be divined in the spiritual landscapes of Merton’s final year of life? Who are the “ancestors” – human, animal, mineral, cosmic – whose stories provide a word of hope in this moment of reckoning for the human community and the suffering planet? Such questions are especially fitting as we gather at Regis University at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. 

 
Proposals of no more than 250 words and a short biographical statement (one to two sentences) should be submitted by May 20, 2025, by e-mail attachment to itms2025@merton.org or by mail to: ITMS 2025, Thomas Merton Center, Bellarmine University, 2001 Newburg Road, Louisville, Kentucky 40205 USA. 

SURVIVAL & HEALING    

Our world has been torn by recent political upheavals, environmental damage, prejudice against people who are different in any way, and wars. How can we survive and heal from these conflicts? How can we discuss these issues in our classrooms? What kind of writing assignments can help students process and understand our turbulent era? Which works of literature illuminate these themes? The conference program chairs welcome papers from a pedagogical perspective, creative responses to the themes of Survival and Healing, and literary analyses of works with these themes. 

The Michigan College English Association accepts proposals from experienced academics, young scholars, and graduate students. We encourage a variety of papers, including pedagogical work, scholarly essays, creative writing, as well as workshops, creative writing circles, and other activity-directed sessions. All proposals will be peer-reviewed. Participants do not have to live in Michigan or the United States, though we often feature in-state work.

Conference proposals are due by September 18, 2025. Early submissions are welcome. Please send your name, university affiliation, e-mail address, phone number, time preference, and a 200-word abstract or sample of creative writing to Program Chairs Janet Heller and David Settle via e-mail at janetheller@charter.netand mceatreasurer1@gmail.com . To submit a panel proposal, please include the information for all members (5 maximum participants) in the same proposal. 

HARMONY & DISCORD   

October 17, 2025 /   University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis IN

“Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony.”

-Heraclitus, 6th century BCE

In our current moment, which is characterized by consistent, fast-paced change, the idea of “discord” seems more relevant than ever. Not only are we grappling with heightened polarization and ideological divides, but we are also navigating technological shifts and developments, like those surrounding generative artificial intelligence (AI). It might seem difficult to locate moments of “harmony” in this ever-evolving environment, but there is hope and goodness in the work we do as teachers, writers, scholars, and collaborators. Additionally, the contention generated by the coexistence of “harmony” and “discord” can influence transformation by bringing various viewpoints and perspectives into conversation.

The 2025 ICEA Conference invites proposals that explore the theme of “Harmony and Discord” (or related topics) through the lens of postsecondary English studies. Potential subject areas include:

• Literary analysis and/or textual criticism
• Creative writing
• Linguistics or language studies
• Rhetoric and composition
• Professional and technical writing/communication
• Pedagogy
• Knowledge production and meaning-making
• Writing across the curriculum (WAC) 
• Writing in the disciplines (WID)
• Teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL/TEFL/TELL, etc.)
• Cross-disciplinary or interdisciplinary work
• Creative submissions (readings of original poetry, fiction, etc.)

Send a 200-word proposal along with your name, position, and affiliation to indianaCEA@gmail.com by August 15, 2025. If proposing a full panel, send a single proposal with individual presentation titles and information for all speakers. Graduate students are welcome to submit, and undergraduate students with faculty sponsors/support will be considered. If your proposal is accepted, you will be required to join ICEA to present. We are an affiliate of the College English Association (CEA), and successful ICEA proposals can also be submitted for the 2026 CEA Conference in Charlotte, NC. 

ICEA also offers two awards:

• Best Graduate Student Presentation Award
  • Award amount: $100.00
  • Instructions: Submit your complete paper to indianaCEA@gmail.com by September 15, 2025. The award recipient will be announced at the conference.
• Teacher-Scholar Award
  • Award: Certificate
  • Instructions: Nominators and nominees should be ICEA members. Send your nomination (along with a brief paragraph outlining the nominee’s accomplishments) to indianaCEA@gmail.com by September 15, 2025. The list of nominees will be distributed to the ICEA Executive Board for voting. The award recipient will be announced at the conference.