College English Association
44th Annual Conference

4 - 6 April 2013
Savannah Riverfront Marriott
100 General McIntosh Blvd.
Savannah, Georgia

Conference Theme: Nature
In earlier centuries, "Nature" set the parameters, as Philip Round states,"of conversations about everything from church doctrine to village order." Often discussions of gender, character, authorship, and even civil discourse turned to questions of "customary precedent and natural law." By the twentieth century "nature" was used to delineate the new literary study of "nature writing," while also used in broader terms to question the changing nature of our society with the onset of the digital age, postmodernism, new views of gender and race construction, and even changes within academia.  What is the "nature" of the academia today? How has the "nature" of publishing and authorship changed with the digital age?  How has the "nature" of our profession changed?  In what ways does "nature" define us? Or do we define "nature?" For our 2013 meeting, CEA has invited papers and panels that explore the literary, the pedagogical, and the professional "nature" of our field as well as presentations in any of the areas English departments typically encompass, including literature criticism and scholarship, creative writing, composition, technical communication, linguistics, and film. We also welcome papers on areas that influence our work as academics, including student demographics, student/instructor accountability and assessment, student advising, academic leadership in departments and programs, and the place of the English department in the university.