The College English Association—Caribbean Chapter welcomes proposals for presentations in English (20-minute papers) for our 2014 conference, which will be held at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, on March 14-15, 2014. The title is “Language Speaks Us” and the topic is Language(s) and Identity. This event will be an opportunity to discuss the ways in which texts are conceived, nurtured and produced, and received by the public, in both historical and contemporary contexts. “Text” is to be interpreted broadly and comprises literature, nonfiction, advertisements, maps, architecture, music, film, visual and performing arts, facebook posts, SMS and IMs, and many other tracts. For more information, please visit our website at http://blogs.uprm.edu/ceacc/.
The specific topics to be addressed by the conference include but will not be limited to:
– Mono/Multilingualism, Authenticity, and Identity
– Circulation of Minority-Language Texts
– Linguistic Anomalies in Multilingual Societies
– Language-Education in Multicultural Classrooms
– Institutional Hierarchies and Language Policies
– Literary Canon(s) and Community Identity
– Language and Community
– Constructing Community through Print-texts
– Language and Coding in Transnational Texts
– Contact Zone, Borderlands, and Languages
– Code-Switching, Language Transfer
– Cross-meaning Language in Literature/Film
– Accents, Dialogue, and Slang in Literature/Film
– Linguistic Shifts and Social Media
– Language and Facebook, Twitter, Youtube
– Language in Construction of Multiple Histories
– Circulation of Monolingual Texts in Multilingual Societies
– Multilingual Literatures
– Resistance and Domination through Language
– Comparative Representations of Language in Traditional and E-media
– Pedagogy and Digital Education in Multilingual Cultures
– Geographies of Multilingual Books
– History of Multilingual Publishing (censure, success, imitation)
– The Multilingual Book Trade (Historical and Contemporary)
– Circulation of Early Multilingual Print Texts
– Translation, Texts, and Identity
– Multi or Mono-Linguistic Policies in Public Spaces (signs, monuments, documents)
– (Post)colonialism and Language Hierarchy in Multilingual Spaces
– Multiculturalism and Language Policies
On a rolling basis, we welcome abstracts for individual papers or panels of 2-4 scholars. Submit abstracts of 100-200 words in the body of an e-mail message (not an attachment) by 30 September 2013 to cea.cc.conference@gmail.com.
Venue: The conference will be held in the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez (UPRM). Renowned for its colonial architecture and its pictures town square, Mayagüez is a major college town with many restaurants and pubs catering to the 14,000 students at the UPRM as well as the students from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, the Antillean Adventist University and the Eugenio María de Hostos School of Law. In addition, its location in the west coast of the island makes the town a convenient spot to stay when visiting the town of San German, founded in the sixteenth century, or the excellent beaches in the town of Cabo Rojo and the town of Rincón, the surfing capital of the Caribbean.
Transportation:
San Juan Airport (Code: SJU) 110 miles; 2-hour drive. Direct to/from: most major US cities and Madrid. Transportation to Mayaguez: Car rental (recommended) or via públicos.
Aguadilla Airport (Code: BQN) 20 miles; 45-minute drive. Direct to/from: JFK, Newark, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale. Transportation to Mayagüez: Car rental (recommended), taxi.
Hotels:
Howard Johnson’s (Downtown Mayaguez)
70 Calle Méndez Vigo, Mayagüez (Phone: 787-832-9191)
Holiday Inn Mayagüez
2701 Highway #2, Mayagüez (Phone: 787- 833-1100)
For more information on the venue, transportation and lodgings, you can visit our website (http://blogs.uprm.edu/ceacc/conference-venues/mayaguez-2014/) or visit Lonely Planer (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/puerto-rico/southern-and-western-puerto-rico/mayaguez).
