Pencils Down Symposium – Call for Papers

Call For Papers: Pencil’s Down,
Student-Led Symposium, Co-Sponsored by EWU English Department, Stands Up Against Bigotry and Weaponized Hatred

Symposium Date: To Be Announced

Symposium Location/Format: To Be Announced

In light of the recent COVID-19 epidemic/pandemic, we are reevaluating the format/location/date/programming for the symposium and will be making an announcement about alternative format/location/date/programming soon.

Abstracts are being accepted on a rolling basis up until April 3rd, 2020.  If it is getting near the April 3rd deadline, and an abstract is being submitted, a more completed draft or even a full paper may be requested to be submitted.  Please contact the symposium committee at SAPHSymposium@gmail.com if you have questions on this or to submit abstracts/full papers for consideration.

Full papers due: April 3rd, 2020

Pencil’s Down is a Student-Led Symposium, Co-Sponsored by the English Department and the Student Assembly of Proletariat Humanitarians (SAPH) at EWU, which is aimed at achieving the following goals:

“We want to stand up to the bigotry and weaponized hatred we are witnessing on our campus and in our communities. We believe that we can make the most impact with a student led symposium. Pencil’s Down aims to showcase students’ ideas and voices on topics that affect them immediately and continually.”

“Our hope is that this will be an event where students can build confidence in their presenting and discourse abilities and connect to others. To foster a sense of unity and equity within the student body will be our primary objective. We are not in this alone, no matter how much it may feel like it.”

The role of the Humanities has often been conceived as both responding to and shaping culture. Nevertheless, departments within the Humanities too frequently take their responsibilities to confront hatred and iniquity in society, along with their potential to address social justice, for granted.

The goal of the symposium is to highlight student voices while confronting hate with and in the humanities. Creative, non-traditional, and digital projects of all kinds are welcome. 

You are encouraged to challenge the current idea and function of the humanities as a discipline. Presentations should be no longer than ten minutes to allow for Q&A at the end of each session. Please submit an abstract of your project, indicating at the top if your project is best suited for a panel discussion, outdoor venue, or gallery walk through. Abstracts should be no more than four hundred words.

Potential Student Topics include: 

• White Supremacy in our local communities 
• Humanities in action: our ability to effect change 
• Socio-Economic disparities 
• Refugees and World Relations Media Representations and Portrayals Deconstructing the Canon
• Ableism in the Academy
• Illuminating Otherness within the Local Community 

This list is not exhaustive; we are open to any and all projects that may subvert or resist the academic establishment. Please email abstracts and full papers to: SAPHSymposium@gmail.com

Additional information for faculty wishing to participate in the symposium:

The symposium invites faculty members to participate in a moderated panel to discuss what social justice in the classroom means in practice. Interested faculty, please submit abstracts to the editorial committee, outlining the material you intend to present.

While the primary focus of the symposium is to highlight student voices, we want to accentuate the role faculty members play in creating strong alliances, empowering students, and influencing classroom dynamics. For this reason, we are especially interested in faculty submissions that address their role in facilitating student experiences at the university.

Potential faculty topics include:

• Confronting Microaggressions in Classroom Discussions
• Considering Accessibility when Designing Assessments
• Job Precarity & the Adjunct Crisis
• Ethical Career Guidance
• Public-Facing Assignments
• Compiling Diverse Reading Lists
• Encouraging Student Dissent
• Allying with Students in Political Activism

This list is not exhaustive; we are open to any projects that highlight what you feel are the responsibilities of faculty members, in particular, when confronting structural iniquities. Please email abstracts to: SAPHSymposium@gmail.com

Faculty proposals will be vetted via the editorial committee’s blind review process. All members of the planning committee hold equal power to veto proposals or participants whose values do not align with the symposium’s overall mission of equity, inclusion, and allyship.