Field Report: News from the College English Association Regional Affiliates

During its formative decades, the strength of the CEA resided in its dozens of regional affiliates. Their activities, including multiple regional conferences, were reported in The News Letter of the College English Association. Once the CEA separated their annual conference from the Modern Language Association—and, then, after the journal changed its name and shifted its publication schedule from 10 issues a year to four in order to feature longer scholarly essays—the number of affiliates dwindled and reports of their activities faded from the pages of The CEA Critic.

What happened next has been wonderful, not to mention in the true spirit of the CEA’s mission. In recent years, there has been a robust revitalization of the regional affiliates. Some have been active since the 1940s, others have been reborn, and still others are in their infancy. Members dot the landscape:

• The Caribbean

• Florida

• Georgia-Carolinas

• Indiana

• Michigan

• Middle-Atlantic

• New Jersey

• New York

• North Carolina-Virginia

• Ohio

• Pennsylvania

• Rocky Mountain

• South Central

• Tennessee

• Texas

• The Thomas Merton Society (an allied organization)

Some of these groups sponsor regional conferences and publish their own journals. For too long, The CEA Critic has neglected their important work. In order to remedy this lapse, we are instituting a new feature, “Field Reports,” that will on occasion highlight the activities of our CEA affiliates. In addition, for those groups that sponsor a regional conference, The CEA Critic will share, with our national readership, an essay chosen for publication by the organizers of the regional conferences. A short overview of these some of these affiliates follows.

Indiana CEA

The annual conference of the Indiana CEA (ICEA), with the theme “Identity at the Intersections,” was held at the University of Indianapolis in October 2018. The conference featured some 45 presenters, with the keynote by poet and novelist Helen Frost. Frost is the author of several books for young people, including Hidden, Diamond Willow, Crossing Stones, The Braid, and Keesha’s House, which was selected an Honor Book for the Michael L. Printz Award.

ICEA president Leah Milne and her colleague Stephen Zimmerly, both from University of Indianapolis, will host the 2019 conference with the theme “Author/ity: Questions of Power in and Beyond English.” The 2019 conference keynote speaker will be Natalie Lund, whose YA novel We Speak in Storms will be published in September 2019. For more information, visit the Indiana CEA website https://indianacea.weebly.com or email indianacea@gmail.com. For 2020, ICEA has been invited to participate in Indiana University’s bicentennial celebration, “Beyond Boundaries: Indiana Academies Symposium,” designed to highlight and celebrate the richness of Indiana’s intellectual capital.

Michigan CEA

The Michigan CEA (MCEA) will host its annual conference October 5, 2019, at Michigan State University in East Lansing. The conference theme is “Borders, Walls, and Bridges.” The featured luncheon speaker will be Dennis Hinrichsen, Lansing’s Poet Laureate. The organizers seek papers on a broad base of topics, including literature; composition; pedagogy; film; linguistics; technical writing; race, class, cultural, and gender studies; classroom management; evaluation; research; on-line instruction; union/administration issues; and creative writing. Proposals are due by September 24, 2019. For more information, contact conference organizers Joyce Meier (meierjo@msu.edu) or Cheryl Caesar (caesarc@msu.edu) or visit the MCEA website at https://michigancea.org/.

Mid-Atlantic CEA

The CEA-Middle Atlantic (CEA MAG) affiliate includes more than 70 professionals located in Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, DC. The organization’s 2019 conference on “The Post-Disciplinary Academy” was held at Bowie University. The 2020 conference, with the theme “Tides: Ebbs and Flows,” will be held in March at Prince George’s Community College. For more information, visit the CEA MAG website at: https://www.umes.edu/CEAMAG/. Note, too, that the CEA MAG also sponsors the regional journal, The CEA MAG Journal. For more information, contact affiliate President Alex Howe (AHowe@udc.edu), Editor David Kaloustian (dkaloustian@bowie.edu), or CEA MAG Liaison Linda Di Desidero (linda.didesidero@gmail.com).

New York CEA

The New York CEA (NYCEA) boasts a current membership of 250 higher-education professionals. In...