by Rebekah Bresee
Five students had the opportunity to present their academic papers at two literature conferences this past month through the sponsorship of the English department. At these conferences, students present their own scholarly papers or creative works in front of an organized panel of peers.
“The conference can be really inspiring to attend,” senior Blaine Eldredge said. “You are around a great deal of creativity.”
Eldredge presented a personal essay and a collection of poetry at the Northwest Undergraduate Conference for Literature at the University of Portland on April 13.
The NUCL is a regional conference open to college students and honors or advanced-placement high school students. The University of Portland offers prizes and a scholarship on behalf of NUCL.
“I love the ideas of the conference,” Eldredge said. “To honor an undergraduate’s pursuit of scholarship is amazing.”
Senior Diana Cater and junior Jessica Weber also attended the NUCL.
An English and biology major, Cater presented a research paper discussing Randy Shilts and non-fiction science narratives.
“I was looking for a way to combine both of my disciplines in a research paper,” Carter said.
At the conference, students are given 15 minutes to present the main points of their papers. Students are encouraged to use any method they believe will best represent their paper. For example, Cater used visual aides to help the audience understand the concepts of her paper.
“It is a struggle to reformat your paper in a way that’s logical for someone who is listening to understand,” Weber said.
This is Weber’s second year attending the NUCL. She presented two literary critical essays at the conference this year. Weber also shared one of these essays at the National Undergraduate Literature Conference held April 4-6 in Ogden, Utah. As a national conference, it is considerably larger than the NUCL.
“There were 500 papers submitted at the Utah conference and only 200 were accepted,” Weber said.
After presentations, students are encouraged to engage in a question and answer session with their peers who presented similar topics at the conference.
“It is a rare chance to learn under what circumstances a piece is written,” Eldredge said.
Both Eldredge and Weber said this was their favorite part of the conference.
Other events at the conference included a keynote speaker and a reception time, which allowed students to connect with each another, as well as professors from other schools, journal editors and publishers.
“If you haven’t published anything and you are interested in publishing something, the conference is a good place to get that support,” Eldredge said.
For Whitworth students to attend a literature conference through the English department, their paper submissions need to be approved by the English department first. The faculty chooses which works should be sent to conferences. Cater said professors take into consideration who has attended conferences before when selecting papers to be submitted. They want to make sure that many students can engage in this experience.
If a paper is accepted by the conference, the English department then sponsors the student to attend.
“When professors take note of your work, they encourage you to do more with it,” Cater said. “I probably wouldn’t have applied without the encouragement of my professors.”
Though it is a literature conference, it is not limited to English majors. Both the NUCL and the NULC accept research papers such as argumentative scholarly papers on literature and analytical papers of the contemporary culture as well as creative works such as original poems, original essays and fiction.
“After the conference this year, I am really excited to enter my work into a public space,” Eldredge said.
Contact Rebekah Bresee at rbresee16@my.whitworth.edu.