CEA 2027/GATEWAYS

WESTIN HOTEL/ST. LOUIS. MO.

APRIL 1-3, 2027

Tracing its history back to French explorers in the second half of the 18th century, the great city of St. Louis began as a fur trading post named after King Louis IX of France and was established on the ancestral lands of the Osage Nation, Missouria, and Illini Confederacy. Becoming part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the city famously came to be known as the “Gateway to the West,” serving as a launching point for generations of explorers and settlers expanding the frontier. Yet, we must remember that the city also serves as a gateway to its past as part of indigenous lands transformed through its colonial history into a major river port and trading center that fostered migration both outwards and inwards for centuries. Today, St. Louis invites us to reflect on the continued significance of gateways in our 21st-century lives.

For its 2027 annual conference, the College English Association (CEA) invites proposals for papers and panels that explore the theme of “Gateways” and their significance in literature, criticism, and pedagogy.  Potential areas of interest:

• How do gateways expand literary and cultural spaces but also, as access points, mark out boundaries and limits?
• Do gateways invite gatekeepers to enable and limit access? Is it possible to imagine gateways without gatekeepers?
• How can we imagine literary and cultural gateways to foster inter-cultural, cross-cultural, and trans-cultural interactions?
• How do we envision pedagogical approaches to create gateways for our students to new literary vistas, critical thought, and professional opportunities?
• How can gateways in both their physical and symbolic significances (like the city of St. Louis and the Gateway Arch) connect the territorial to the cultural, imaginative, and spiritual in literary-critical studies?
• In what ways can we re-imagine our scholarly and pedagogical work to open up interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary gateways?

The CEA Conference encompasses a wide range of areas, including literary studies, creative writing, rhetoric and composition, technical communication, linguistics, and film. We further encourage proposals in areas about our wider role as academics, including student/instructor accountability and assessment, student advising, academic leadership in departments and programs, and the place of the English department in the university.

Centrally located, St. Louis offers a variety of adventures just outside the doors of our conference hotel. The Westin is a short walk to the famous Gateway Arch, which houses the Museum of Westward Expansion. Even closer is Busch Stadium, home to the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s a quick trip on the light rail (just outside the hotel) to Forest Park (bigger than NYC’s Central Park!), where you’ll find the St. Louis Art Museum (it’s free) and the St. Louis Zoo (home of the Penguin & Puffin Coast). Or channel your best Judy Garland and visit the World’s Fair Exhibit at the Missouri History Museum.

Our conference hotel is located in Cupples Station, a city landmark consisting of several Romanesque-style warehouses built bewteen 1893 and 1894. Take a break and wander over to Gateway Park, where you can stroll the 1.7-mile paved path for views of the Arch, Old Courthouse, and the Mississippi River. Enjoy a meal at any number of downtown eateries with enough choices to please any palete.

As always, the CEA extends a special invite to students pursuing a graduate degree, not only to attend the conference but to submit their presentations to the CEA Outstanding Graduate Student Paper competition. The award carries a grand prize of $250 and publication of the winning essay in the CEA’s flagship journal, THE CEA CRITIC.

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. Learn more about roundtables here: https://cea-web.org/about-roundtables

SUBMISSION SITE OPENS AUGUST 15, 2026.

The submission deadline for proposals of 200-300 words is November 1, 2026. Only one submission per individual, please. Notifications of proposal status will be sent in early December. Electronic submissions can be made here: https://www.conftool.pro/cea2027/ starting August 15, 2026. 

Note that all presenters must be members of CEA. Please direct any questions to the Conference Chair, Ani Mukhopadhyay at kuam2132@tamuk.edu.