Writing (and adopting language) for a CFP

CFP

I’m thinking about submitting a proposal for the conference held by the SW Texas Pop Culture and American Culture Association. The theme of the conference is “Food and Culture in a Global Context.”

Drawing me in

A few things draw me to this call. First, the suggested topics are interesting, especially some of the panel categories. Also, the call seems rather broad, which eliminates some pressure of submitting the perfect proposal. Instead, by looking at their CFP, I gather that they value multiplicity from a broad range of scholars and scholars-in-training (me!). Also, the conference is local and I know Jen has said that the folks are nice. That’s good to know. I have yet to attend a conference, and I’d like the first one to be with people who are friendly.

Audiences

Like I said, the conference calls for many voices on a large array of topics (each category has its own CFP). The overall conference theme seems to be targeting folks who are interested in cultural studies work. And while that kind of academic work should be included in an abstract, different subject areas value different kinds of voices. I’m interested in quite a few areas, but mainly the ones I see myself submitting relate to the classroom. That said, for each category, I will have to see what kinds of knowledge it seems like they value.

Language

For the purpose of attempting to co-opt some language, I will look at the Rhetorics of New Media CFP. Clearly, I would want to include the words: “rhetoric” or “rhetorics” and “new media.” Beyond that, I think words like digital, networked, global, culture, social media, and space would be appropriate when putting together a CFP.