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University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Home > Explore/UWP Information > News > UW-Parkside Writers Conference 2018 UW-Parkside Writers Conference 2018

UW-Parkside Welcomes all Writers!

Published: March 9, 2018
By: Mary Lenard

Calling all writers! The Department of Literatures and Languages invites all students--you do not have to be an English or Modern Languages student-- to attend our annual writers conference! Most panels will feature 3-4 presentations of 10-15 minutes, but some will have space for 7-8 shorter presentations. Refreshments are provided, and the entire conference will be free and open to the public. In particular, we welcome all UWP students and prospective students.

WEDNESDAY, May 2: Oak Room

5                                Sigma Tau Delta Induction; Keynote Address, and Welcome Reception

Welcome Address by Chair of Department of Literatures and Languages

Keynote Speaker: Carly-Anne Ravnikar, Poet Laureate of Kenosha

Induction of New Members

THURSDAY, May 3: Oak Room

8-9:15                      Coffee with Shakespeare

Organizer: Dr. Tara Pedersen

Join students from ENGL 320, Shakespeare, over coffee as they present analyses of short passages from Shakespeare's plays.

9:30-10:45                 Bodies and Beings

Moderator: Dr. Dana Oswald

We are seeking submissions for papers and works that interrogate the nature of bodies and/or identities. We welcome papers that think about bodies of all kinds, from Frankenstein’s Monster to bodies in film; from Grendel’s Mother to Graphic Novels.

11-12:30                    Teresa Peck Award and Me, Too Panel (refreshments provided)

Moderators: Dr. Joe Benson and Dr. Linda Crafton

For this year’s Literature and Languages Writers Conference, in conjunction with the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Center and the Teresa Peck award, we are seeking students who might be interested in serving on a discussion panel in relation to the “Me Too Movement.” This session will include the Me, Too panel, award ceremony, and lunch.

12:30-1:45                 Transitions, Translations, and Spaces in Between

Moderators: Dr. Sarah Piña and Dr. Dana Oswald

We are seeking submissions for papers and works that deal with questions of process of shifting between one state of being or another. Papers might consider acts or processes of translation in the literal linguistic sense, or in more figurative ways. These papers might think about boundaries and the ways in which people transgress or shift those boundaries.

2-3:30                      Coming of Age: bildungsroman

Moderator: Dr. Mary Lenard

We are seeking submissions for papers that address questions of development, education, and coming of age. These papers can be on this issue in Young Adult or Children's literature, but may be in other genres, including film and poetry, from The Odyssey to Fun Home. Papers could also be on adult bildungsroman (novels of development or education).

3:30-4:45                   English 266 Public Forum

Organizer: Dr. Dana Oswald

5-5:50                      STAR WARS!

Moderator: Benson

We are seeking presentations about the Star Wars franchise. Presentations can be up to ten pages of fan fiction, or five to ten page critical presentations. We would also be interested in a group of students creating a discussion panel. Dr. Josef Benson will be presenting from his forthcoming book Star Wars: The Triumph of Nerd Culture.

6-8                             Film Studies

Moderator: Dr. Jay McRoy

The University of Wisconsin – Parkside invites students to present their best past or current work in film studies. Papers on any theme, film, filmmaker, genre, tradition, or platform (major motion picture, art film, streaming series, etc.) are welcome. Each participant will have 10 minutes to present their essay (along with a short clip or other form of textual illustration), and then the discussions begin! Do not miss out on this excellent opportunity to participate in this important (and fun!) academic event. As conference presentations are a staple of today’s academic and corporate landscape, this event affords participating students the rare opportunity to gain valuable presentation experience within a supportive professional/ academic setting.

FRIDAY, May 4: Oak Room

8-8:50                        Coffee Hour: Composition Round Table: the Personal in the

Composition Classroom

Moderator: Dr. Teresa Coronado

We are seeking personal narrative papers from current or former students in English 100, 101, or 201, or comparable composition-focused courses.

9-9:50                      Poetry Reading

Organizer: Benson

10-10:50                  Afro-Futurism: Senior Seminar


11-11:50                  English Language Arts Pedagogy: Teaching Fiction and Nonfiction


Moderator: Dr. Suzanne Swiderski

We are seeking submissions of instructional plans that include the full pedagogical cycle -- outcomes, lessons, and assessment -- for addressing fiction and nonfiction texts in the K-12 classroom. We welcome plans that focus on either a traditional form of literacy (i.e., novels, short stories, essays, poetry, or drama) or a nontraditional form of literacy (i.e., viewing or speaking/listening) for students in a specific educational context.

NOON:                     WORKING LUNCH:

Chat with faculty members and alumni about jobs, work, writing, graduate school: your future! This is an opportunity to network with alumni working in a variety of fields in the area, and learn about their work, and how they have used their degrees and education in their professional lives.

Refreshments provided.

1-1:50                        Professionalization Panel: follow up to Working Lunch

A panel of alumni and faculty members will speak about their professional backgrounds and experiences; respond to audience questions; and offer professional or educational advice.

2-3:15                      The Subaltern Will Speak: Recovering Transnational Voices

Moderator: Dr. Sarah Piña

We are seeking interdisciplinary submissions which explore the experiences, cultures, and histories of marginalized peoples across borders, continents, oceans, and beyond—across time, disciplines, and/or lines of social identity in an effort to further recover often-oppressed, lesser-known voices which have been conventionally relegated to the margins in a variety of disciplines and spaces, and as a means to foster heightened cultural, historical, and social awareness through these transnational approaches.

3:30-4:45                   It’s the End of the World as We Know It


We are seeking submissions that address the ways that literature, from any time period, illustrates how people react to profound changes in their physical environment(s). Papers might consider ecocriticism as a useful lens, but submissions are welcome from other theoretical angles, especially feminist theory, critical race theory, gender theory, animal studies, or disability studies.

5-5:50                      Straylight

Organizer: Dean Karpowicz 

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