SAMLA News v41 available now!

SAMLA's 93^rd Annual Conference

Social Networks, Social Distances

November 4–6, 2021

Atlanta Marriott Buckhead Hotel & Conference Center
Atlanta, Georgia

The theme for SAMLA 93 is Social Networks, Social Distances. As the experiences of the last year or two have taught us, social networks and social distances are in some respects two sides of the same coin: two opposites ("networks" and "distances") held together by "social," their common denominator. Along these lines, the tools we use to come together can be the same ones we use to keep ourselves apart. Viewed historically, if ten or fifteen years ago the mantra was "social networks," given the community modern telecommunications platforms promised to deliver or solidify, that mantra has been replaced with "social distances," on account of the health protocols we need in combatting COVID-19. Ironically, however, one of the ways we are able to maintain social distance is through the use of the modern telecommunications platforms that can also be used to divide us. Looked at from yet a different angle, we have also seen that the tools and platforms that can bring one group into closer community often do so at the expense of community with a different group. As such, in some ways, rather than being opposites per se, networks and distances can also be thought of as complementary: a network implies distance, and vice versa. SAMLA 93 invites inquiry into these and related questions and concerns, most of which are probably barely suggested by the foregoing. At stake are all the issues central to our membership: language, representation, location, technology, education, and how each (or all) of these interact with society at large.

For those interested in helping build the programming for SAMLA 93 by proposing their own Calls for Papers, please see our SAMLA 93 Call for Papers page. On it, you will find directions for submitting your Call using the SAMLA 93 CFP submission form. SAMLA welcomes panel proposals addressing the conference theme as well as all other relevant professional and research interests in a broad range and wide diversity of intellectual fields. For any questions, please contact us at [email protected].

Conference Registration is now live. Early Registration prices extend through October 4 while SAMLA 93 attendees will be able to register online until October 21. After that, attendees will need to register on-site during the conference Thursday-Saturday. SAMLA 93 attendees must be current SAMLA members in addition to paying for registration.

 SAMLA invites Chairs to submit their fully formed panels using our Session Information form. The current deadlime to submit an SI form is July 16. As a note: if you are a prospective chair and have garnered enough abstracts to necessitate multiple sections of your panel, please label those panels using A, B, C, etc. SAMLA welcomes multiple sessions.

SAMLA invites prospective conference participants to submit abstracts to our annual General Call for Abstracts. The General Call will be used to build programming from abstracts that did not resonate with any of our currently published CFPs. SAMLA will review all submissions internally, and accepted abstracts will either be placed on an extant panel or combined with other General Call abstracts to create new sessions. Please complete the following form to submit your abstract and information by July 31, 2021: SAMLA 93 General Call for Abstracts Submission Form.

The Undergraduate Research Forum (URF) is now open. SAMLA's URF is an integral part of our annual conference. Undergraduate students are able to present papers in the traditional conference format and begin developing professional experience that will suit them both in their undergraduate studies and their lives after graduation. Undergraduate students should either: 1) work with a faculty member in putting together a session/panel or 2) submit their individual abstract to the General Call for Abstracts. Faculty members should complete the following form once they have selected and confirmed their topic and participants: SAMLA 93 URF Session/Panel Information Form. Submissions will be accepted through September 7, 2021.

SAMLA welcomes proposals for visual representations of scholarly work for its annual Poster Session. The session allows presenters the chance to share their research with attendees through graphic design and multimodal composition. The Poster Session is held conjointly with Friday night's Presidential Reception, creating opportunities for discussions about languages and literatures in a dynamic setting. We welcome posters from any and all prospective conference participants, including: undergraduate students, graduate students, independent scholars, post-doctoral fellows, and part- and full-time faculty members. To submit a proposal for a poster, please complete the SAMLA 93 Poster Session Proposal Form by October 4, 2021.

Exhibitor Registration is open. SAMLA does not charge a registration fee to exhibit at our conference; however, we do ask that exhibitors provide us some basic information so we can better assist them. To begin the process of exhibiting at this year's conference, please fill out the following form: SAMLA 93 Exhibitor Registration Form. The deadline for submitting this form is October 1.

SAMLA 93 conference program advertising is a service open to all current members, affiliate groups, and exhibitors, and we are proud to offer advertising space in our annual conference program. To reserve your ad space and submit your payment online, please complete our SAMLA 93 Program Ad Reservation and Payment Form by September 3, 2021. Ad copy will be due October 1, 2021. Files should be sent as PDF attachments to [email protected].