Writing Conference Proposals

Conferences provide valuable opportunities to learn more about your discipline while also connecting with other scholars--including graduate students and professors at other institutions. They remain irreplaceable components of professional development. You should try your best to attend at least one regional or national conference per year.

In Rhetoric & Composition, a healthy number of conferences welcome submissions from researchers at all levels. Here's a brief list:

Conference on College Composition and Communication
National Council of Teachers of English Annual Conference
FemRhets
Computers & Composition
International Writing Centers Association
Thomas R. Watson Conference (Biannual)
Rhetoric Society of America Conference (Biannual)
Southern Regional Composition Conference (Annual)

Most of these conferences take place at different cities every year. Others, like the Watson Conference, remain at one institution and are hosted by a university.

Staying Aware of CFPs

To stay aware of upcoming deadlines and information, you should add the conference websites to your web browser's bookmarks tab. It also helps to mark the deadlines in a calendar. You can even use Google to create reminders and alerts for upcoming dates. Finally, subscribe to the WPA-L. It's the most active list-serv for writing teachers. (If you're worried about cluttering your inbox, then you can use Google's settings to create a folder label and instruct your mail server to send messages directly there instead of your main inbox.)

Generating Ideas

You have more ideas for interesting proposals than you probably think. The best ideas often come from your daily experiences as a writer, editor, or teacher. Start by reflecting on and brainstorming questions, challenges, or dilemmas you've faced recently. Possibilities could include an assignment you've used in the classroom, uncertainties you've faced regarding pedagogy and classroom management, or reactions you've felt to various articles you've read.

Current graduate students usually work on a range of projects for their coursework. It makes perfect sense to adapt these projects for conferences. If you're collaborating with other students, consider forming your own panel. Many conferences invite individual as well as group proposals.

Rhetoricians also often present papers on problems they've seen in public discourse, and they write about how certain theories or approaches in our field can help illuminate those issues. On the other hand, they can also use issues from pop culture and discourse to complicate our current understandings of how writing and communication work. For example, a rhetorician might explain how feminist rhetorical theory can help us understand and engage the recent surge in attention to sexual harassment. Or you could write a proposal articulating the implications of net neutrality laws to education and writing pedagogy.

Locating Sources

The next step lies in linking your ideas to current scholarship. You don't need to become an expert in a specific area of rhetoric or writing overnight. However, you should visit resources such as comppile as well as the major journals for articles that seem related to your topic. We keep a separate, comprehensive list of journals here.

Even if our library doesn't subscribe to a specific journal, you can search and browse the contents online. Then you'll use the publication information to request a scan of the article through ILLIAD. The library usually processes scans within 3-5 days. You'll receive a notice in your ILLIAD account when the PDF is ready. You can download the PDF and keep it for personal scholarly use. There is no due date for return.

Themes & Formatting

It's important to pay close attention to the CFP. Read the language carefully and decide if your work fits this venue. However, keep in mind that many conferences may change their theme annually. That means you have some flexibility in terms of content, and you don't need to explicitly address the theme in your proposal. In fact, trying to force your work into a theme may hurt your chances of acceptance. Use your best judgment.

For example: The FemRhets conference most likely wouldn't accept a conference proposal on Twitter and public discourse unless it considered some aspect of gender. Meanwhile, the Watson Conference would still consider this proposal, even if the annual theme didn't specifically address technology or public discourse. Tailoring the proposal to fit the theme would help in this case, but only if you could find natural and organic overlaps and connections.

Proposal length for conferences can very widely. Length requirements range from several thousand characters to a few hundred words. You should never assume that your proposal will be reviewed if you don't adhere to the guidelines. Even if your proposal comes in at "a few words" over the limit, you should do your absolute best to trim it down.

The proposal needs to begin with a clear statement about your topic and what you tend to argue in your presentation. You should do your best to "get to the point" in the first 2-3 sentences. After that, you can elaborate on your project's context and significance. Then you'll offer a few sentences explaining how your proposal engages with current scholarship--either by elaborating and furthering current approaches, or outlining a different approach.

You should be careful in articulating your differences with current research. Even if you offer a radically different method or perspective, try to treat other scholarship in a fair and civil way. There's a decent chance that someone you critique could wind up reviewing your proposal at some stage, or sitting in the audience when you deliver your presentation. Disagreement is fine, but always try to acknowledge the contributions of scholars you intend to dispute. This will improve your chances of acceptance.

People often wonder if they should include a works cited with their proposal. The answer often depends on the format and length requirements. If you have space, then do it. But if you feel a need to use all of your allotted space to explain your ideas, then at least provide indirect citations and identify key sources in the body of your proposal.

After Submission

You might wait anywhere from a few weeks to a  few months for a decision on your proposal. National conferences like CCCC often take several months, because their proposals undergo a rigorous 2-stage review process organized by dozens of conference planners and researchers. They are also reviewing thousands of proposals. Smaller conferences receive fewer, and they undergo a one-stage review process by a smaller committee.

If your proposal is rejected, don't take it personally. Everyone receives rejections. You probably won't receive specific feedback, as you would with a journal article. Upon rejection, revisit your proposal and consider having colleagues review it. You may have a good idea, but it needed a different framework or the intervention didn't come in clearly. You can still revise and submit that proposal to another conference, or even develop it into an article.

If you receive an acceptance, then read it carefully and follow their instructors. Many conferences ask you to officially accept their invitation. You may have additional instructions to follow to reserve your place.

The next step involves registration and travel planning. Before you pay any money yourself, notify your department chair and graduate program coordinator. They will guide you through the process of filling out travel paperwork. Universities often have complicated processes and require forms submitted in advance of travel. Every institution has its own policies and rules.

Travel cost varies, but national conferences tend to run higher than regional. You may need to pay for registration and airfare up front, and receive reimbursement later. Wait on booking your plane tickets and hotel until you hear from the department. Many institutions are required to use specific travel vendors, rather than services like Expedia. Follow their guidelines. Keep any and all documents and communication about your travel in a separate file. Some faculty even have a special "travel" folder for emails and correspondence. Also keep all of your receipts, electronic and otherwise. You'll probably be required to submit them. Even when you're ready to turn in all of the required paperwork, it's smart to make copies for your own records.

Faculty may offer to complete your paperwork for you. That can help, but you should try to look over the forms yourself and make sure the information provided is accurate. You should never feel timid or anxious about following up with administrators to make sure all paperwork is filed accurately and in a timely manner. It's very easy for forms to get lost in the shuffle.