cfp.english.upenn.edu

March 14-16, 2013
Eisenhower Hotel & Conference Center
2634 Emmitsburg Rd, Gettysburg, PA

During three days of battle, the landscape of Gettysburg was forever altered. What was once a small town and farming community was transformed into a memorial site that would be haunted by the lives lost and changed in the war. While many of the battlefields have been preserved, the events that took place on them have inscribed deeper meanings into the landscape and left traces that resonate within the American cultural psyche as we project our national narrative onto the landscape itself. The significance of Gettysburg in the American national narrative speaks in part to a question of our relationship to landscapes, both as physical places and as mental topographies shaped by our experiences and our imaginations. This year’s theme focuses on stories of our past and present, on the way we engage with history and the landscapes we inhabit.

PCEA invites proposals for critical interpretations and original creative works that celebrate any aspect of our theme. We also welcome all proposals related to the study and/or teaching of literature, film, composition and linguistics, as well as creative work.

Proposals are due by January 30, 2013, and should include the following information:
Name
Institutional Affiliation/Position (if applicable)
Mailing Address (including zip code)
Phone number
E-mail address
Title of proposed presentation
250-500 word abstract
A/V equipment needs, if any (Note: We can provide A/V projectors, but presenters must bring their own laptops)
Special needs, if any

Submit proposals by email to the PCEA Program Chair at penncea@gmail.com.
• Presenters must join PCEA in order to participate.
• To preserve time for discussion, PCEA limits individual critical and creative presentations to 15 minutes.

Please note:
Undergraduate student participation is limited to faculty-organized and led panels. Faculty organizers should submit panel information, including contact information and abstracts to the program chair. Individual undergraduate proposals will not be accepted. Undergraduate students are welcome to attend the conference.

PCEA 2013 Graduate Student Writing Contest
Graduate students who submit an abstract for a presentation at the PCEA 2013 Conference (or who will be part of a pre-arranged panel) are also invited to compete for the PCEA Best Student Paper Awards. Awards are given in three separate categories:
• Critical Essay
• Creative Poetry
• Creative Prose
These awards carry a small monetary prize. Students who compete must be PCEA members. Award winners will also be considered for publication in PCEA’s journal, Pennsylvania English.
 
Contest Submission Information
To compete, submit the complete work no later than January 30, 2013 to the PCEA Program Chair at penncea@gmail.com.
• Designate “PCEA Contest Entry” in the subject line of the email
• Include the title of the work and the author’s name in the email message.
• Remove the author’s name from the work itself.
• Submit papers as MS Word documents attached to email.

Submissions of critical work should be the equivalent of a conference paper, including notes and works cited (max. 12 pages), and follow MLA format for documentation and citation. For creative work, submit 8-12 pages of double-spaced prose (fiction or creative non-fiction) or 4-6 poems. No mixed genre submissions, please. Contest entrants must present their papers at the conference to receive prizes.

Critical or creative entries that do not follow submission guidelines and those that are received after the deadline will not be considered.