03/09/2021

Council of Writing Program Administrators Call for Proposals to the 2022 MLA Convention in Washington, D.C., January 6-9, 2022 

Each year, as an allied organization, the Council of Writing Program Administrators hosts a guaranteed session  at the Modern Language Association (MLA) convention. The MLA’s presidential theme for the 2022  convention is Multilingual US. 

The CWPA Liaison Committee and Mark Blaauw-Hara, CWPA’s President, invite proposals for the CWPA’s  guaranteed session. Particularly in pandemic times, we are about flexibility to accommodate proposals that line  up with your work, and so we encourage you to submit any of the following types of proposals: 

• Full-panel proposals of 2-4 speakers for a 75-minute session including at least 15 minutes unstructured  discussion with attendees. 
• Individual papers or talks of 10-15 minutes that could be combined with 3-4 other individual proposals  to create a 75-minute session. 
• Roundtable discussions of at least 3 panelists oriented toward discussion with attendees. (Not toward  the formal presentation of a full paper or talk.) 
• A workshop with 2-4 facilitators oriented toward participatory, experiential learning for attendees. 

We would be pleased to see proposals that honor the convention’s emphasis on “imagining and supporting a  linguistically diverse commons, to make language a tool of inclusion rather than exclusion … while attending to  the complex histories and erasures that have led to our present condition,” bringing these foci to our work in  writing program administration and the study and teaching of writing, literacy, and rhetoric. In the spirit of  flexibility and accessibility, however, we are also pleased to consider proposals that address the work of WPAs  and teachers of writing and literacy from other perspectives as well. Central criteria for selection include subject  matter and discussion that will represent CWPA and the work of its members well to MLA and its attendees,  and clearly demonstrate the potential to draw attendees to the session. Proposals should explain carefully their  exigence for MLA attendees. 

Proposals must be submitted by Noon PDT, Monday, March 22: 

• Individual (250 words max) or Panel/Roundtable/Workshop (750 words max) proposals should be saved  as a .docx or pdf file and emailed to Doug Downs at doug.downs@montana.edu. Please include  MLA Proposal in the subject line. 
• The proposal file must include a paper title (individual) or session title (panel/roundtable/workshop). • The file should not include presenter names.  
• The email accompanying the proposal file must include the paper or session title and all presenter  names, emails, and affiliations.  

All presenters must be members of CWPA. 

Submission deadline: March 22, 2021, noon PDT 

Committee response: March 29, 2021 

Panelist deadline to join MLA (which is required): April 7, 2021 

Convention location, dates, additional information: Washington, D.C., January 6-9, 2022 

Proposals will be reviewed by the CWPA Liaison Committee: Doug Downs (chair), Jake Castle, Sara  Humphreys, Trish Serviss, Bradley Smith, Tom Sura, and Nicole Wallack.

Questions about this call should be directed to Doug Downs, doug.downs@montana.edu.