Cultivation 2020

March 28th, 2020-West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia

English Graduate Student Union Conference

Though the land be good, you cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation —Plato

Traditionally, the word cultivation evokes agrarian images of tilling, plowing, and working the earth. This same definition can apply within writing as authors and scholars break up the topsoil of the discipline and prepare the way for new ideas and concepts. For our annual graduate conference, we seek to celebrate the products of cultivation emerging within the literary world.

Conceiving writing as cultivation prompts renewal and growth within the disciplines of literary research and creative writing, opening the door to emerging topics that keep an eye towards the future. Cultivation encourages cross-talk, intersectionality, and the conception and development of new approaches.  In the spirit of creating and cultivating, we seek to bring together scholars who are cultivating or addressing cultivation in a variety of areas.
Potential topics include (but are not limited to: Ecocriticism, Digital Humanities, Native American Studies, Education and Pedagogy, Representation and Diversity, Sexuality Gender and Identity, Performance Art- original poetry, fiction, or nonfiction pieces, Labor and Work, Food Studies, Community and Relationships, Folklore and Culture, Rhetoric and Composition. 

Please submit a 250-300 word abstract and a short bio to egsuconference@gmail.com  by January 29th, 2020.