How do we respond to difficult circumstances? Do we always act in right ways—according to some ethical imperative or ideal? Do we care if we do? Do we feel helpless or rely on some higher power (whether God or governments) for solutions? If we aren't the sufferers, are we simply grateful to have avoided suffering?

For our 2007 meeting, CEA invites papers and panels that consider how we construct and understand empathy or ethical responsibilities and how those understandings inform what we write, read, and teach.

We invite papers or panels on all areas of literature, languages, film, composition, pedagogy, creative writing, and business/technical writing by experienced academics, as well as from young scholars and graduate students, that explore aspects of the conference theme.

Proposals may interpret the CEA theme broadly, including—but not limited to—the following possible areas:
• Natural disasters—hurricanes, floods, fires, epidemics, earthquakes, drought

• Man-made tragedies—war, genocide, ecological accidents

• Personal struggles—disfigurement, disability, poverty, refugee status, discrimination, job loss, divorce

• Corporate choices—bankruptcy, excess profit, layoffs, off-shore companies, tax policy, union demands, outsourcing, work ethics

• Departmental circumstances—spousal accommodations, adjunct employment, merit evaluations, tenure and promotion policies

• Teaching issues—cheating, plagiarism, collaborative or service learning, diversity, difference

We encourage consideration of these and other questions related to the conference theme:

• How are empathy and/or ethics portrayed in literature and film?

• How do works of fiction, poetry, film, and memoir discuss values and build empathy?

• What are the connections between empathy, ethics, and eloquence?

• Does human response to matters of suffering differ historically and regionally? How is that response depicted in literature, film, and other media?

• How are matters of empathy, ethics, revenge, and self-service addressed in the English classroom, in what we read, write, research, teach, and practice as professionals?

• How are our students challenged to consider these matters? What is the role of difference in the classroom: differences in culture, in ethnicity, in gender, in sexual preference?

• Can we teach students to care about and empathize with one another and with people outside the classroom and in other countries?

• How can teachers help students to think critically and ethically so that they can question and write about their assumptions regarding the universality of their own values and ideas?

• What cultural conflicts and ethical issues should we discuss in college classrooms?

• How political should classrooms be?

• Which topics work well for research papers and other assignments?

• How does the collaborative classroom handle these issues?

• What problems of ethics and empathy do we face within the classroom and the deparment, and between the English department and other college departments?

• What choices do we face with new technology and online classes?

• How concerned with global issues should our classrooms be?
Submission Instructions

New submissions policies apply this year. No longer will proposals in special panel areas be submitted directly to special panels chairs. Instead, CEA prefers to receive all submissions, including those for special panels, electronically through our conference management database:

http://english.ttu.edu/CEA/conftool/index.php

Electronic submissions open September 15 and close on November 30

Abstracts for proposals should be between 200 and 500 words in length and should include a title
Submitting electronically is a two-step process: (1) setting up a user ID, then (2) using that ID to log in—this time to a welcome page which provides a link for submitting proposals to the conference. If submitting a panel, panel organizers should create user IDs for all proposed participants.
Though CEA prefers to receive proposals through the conference database, we will accept hard copy proposals, postmarked no later than November 20, via regular mail.

Hard copy proposals should include:
• Name
• Institutional affiliation, if applicable
• Mailing address
• Phone number
• E-mail address
• Title for the proposed presentation
• Abstract of 200-500 words
• A-V equipment needs, if any
• Special needs, if any

If you are willing to serve as a session chair or respondent, please indicate this in your cover letter.
Address hard copy submissions and all other conference correspondence to the Program Chair: Ed Demerly, English Division, Henry Ford Community College, 5101 Evergreen Road, Dearborn, MI 48128-1495, 313-645-9659, edemerly@aol.com
CEA Membership is required for all presenters. Conference registration material will arrive in January and will indicate registration fee payment deadlines. CEA membership dues must be paid by January 1, 2007 for presenters' names to appear on the program.

Special Panels
As with conference-theme proposals, new submissions policies apply this year to special topic panel proposals . No longer will proposals in special panel areas be submitted directly to special panel chairs. Instead, CEA prefers to receive all such submissions electronically through our conference management database housed at http://english.ttu.edu/CEA/conftool/index.php

Special panels will be organized in the following areas. If your proposal addresses one of these areas, submit your proposal to the database by November 30 . Note : Hard copy proposals will also be accepted, but must be sent through U.S. mail by November 20 to Ed Demerly.

All presenters must join CEA by January 1, 2007 to appear on the program. For membership information, contact Joe Pestino at <jpestin5@naz.edu>