Hospitality is often understood as an act of welcome, yet it also raises complex questions about boundaries, authority, and belonging. Drawing on the philosophical framework of Jacques Derrida—who describes hospitality as a tension between openness to the stranger and the conditions that regulate entry—this panel invites proposals that explore how hospitality functions as a pedagogical framework for teaching reading, writing, and interpretation. Proposals may explore hospitality through literary analysis, composition pedagogy, rhetorical theory, cultural studies, or interdisciplinary approaches.

We are particularly interested in papers that consider how narrative, film, television, or other forms of popular culture can illuminate questions of belonging, exclusion, and ethical responsibility, and how such texts might function as accessible entry points for students encountering complex theoretical ideas. Presentations might also examine audience awareness and rhetorical responsibility in writing, interpretive openness in reading practices, or the role of the classroom as a site where intellectual hospitality is practiced and negotiated.

Possible questions for exploration include: How do texts invite or resist audiences? How do writers “host” their audiences? How do classroom practices encourage students to engage with unfamiliar perspectives? And how might teaching literature, writing, or popular culture help students reflect on broader social questions of welcome, exclusion, and ethical encounter?

Please submit a proposal of around 300 words to both Josef Vice (jvice@purdueglobal.edu) and Laura Getty (Lgetty@ngu.edu) no later than July 15, 2026