Regional Events

Participating in regional conferences and events is a great way to connect with other members of Sigma Tau Delta, make new professional contacts, expand your knowledge, and gain valuable experience presenting papers.

If your chapter is contemplating hosting a regional event, your first step should be to contact your Regent for information about promotional, and possible financial, assistance. Note: In order not to conflict with Sigma Tau Delta's annual spring convention, regional events should only be planned for the fall.

Upcoming Regional Event Posts

As a service to its members, Sigma Tau Delta provides links to regional conferences and other non-Society-sponsored English events. Regional events will be posted on this page as they are scheduled.

If you wish to have a link to your conference or event on this web page, please complete the Event Posting Request Form.

Sigma Tau Delta Southwestern Regional Conference

Sponsored by The University of Texas at Dallas and Texas Tech University

Date:
Saturday, October 26, 2024
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CST

Location:
Virtual Event (Teams)

Registration Cost: Free

Purpose: The 2025 Sigma Tau Delta Convention theme is "One of Ours" and the convention (March 2025) ends our Centennial Celebration Year. Preparing for this convention, you are invited to join us for the Southwest Region Conference (virtual on MS Teams) on Saturday, October 26.

Submission Guidelines

We suggest submissions and panels related to family, belonging, community, and similar themes, as well as the Common Reader and Spotlight Author.

• How do you interpret the convention theme as it relates to Sigma Tau Delta's mission?
• Are you writing about the Common Reader "When My Brother was an Aztec" (Diaz)?
• Are you writing about Willa Cather, the Spotlight Author?
  Students may also present papers that they plan to submit to the Sigma Tau Delta Rectangle or Sigma Tau Delta Review (journals).

Submission Eligibility:

Submissions are open to any high school, undergraduate, or graduate student interested in English studies, as well as current and alumni members of Sigma Tau Delta or Sigma Kappa Delta.

Submission Requirements:

Presenters may submit proposal abstracts (~ 250 words) for critical essays or creative works in any written genre. Critical presentations are welcome on any period or genre of literature, popular culture, media, film, rhetoric/composition studies, or pedagogy. Presenters may submit as many proposals as you like, but no more than two will be selected from each presenter.

This event is designed as a practice session for those hoping to attend the 2025 Sigma Tau Delta Convention in Pittsburgh, so individual presentations will be grouped in panels with 2-3 other presenters based on presentation format, genre, topic, time period, etc. We will accept proposals for in-person and virtual presentations, and panels will be organized into synchronous panels with follow-up discussions at the end of each panel. Presentations should be limited to 2,000 words and should be 10-15 minutes. Authors of creative works should aim to fill the 10- to 15-minute individual-presentation block, and presenters may read multiple, related pieces from a collection or a single longer work (fewer than 2,000 words) as long as they do not exceed the time limit.

Document Format for Submissions:

Submissions should be sent via email with the abstract attached as a DOCX formatted in MLA 9th edition. Proofread well!

The email should include the following:

• Submitter's Full Legal Name
• Preferred Name
• University, Chapter, and Advisor's Name and Email
• Position in degree (high school/dual credit, Sigma Kappa Delta, undergraduate [1,2,3,4,5-year], graduate [degree and place in degree], alumni)
• Email and Cell Phone Number
• Descriptive Presentation Title (no more than 12 relevant words)
• 6 Keywords/phrases related to the topic
• If you are submitting with a panel from your university (related topic or genre)
• Additional information

Submission Deadline:  Sunday, October 12, 2024

Email Questions to: sigmataudelta@utdallas.edu with subject line: SW Conference Questions

Registration and Additional Information:

• Completed registration will be considered for presentation. Presenters will be notified the week before the conference of their place in the schedule.
• Submitters are required to attend their event if their submission is accepted.
• Submitters may email questions to Dr. Carie King (carie.king@utdallas.edu) or Dr. Deena Varner (devarner@ttu.edu).

Sigma Tau Delta Southern Regional Conference

Sponsored by the Alpha Upsilon Phi Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta

Date:
Saturday, October 26, 2024

Location: 
Virtual Event

Registration Cost: Free

Purpose: 
The Alpha Upsilon Phi Chapter at the University of North Georgia, Gainesville is proud to host this free, virtual event on October 26, 2024. We welcome undergraduate and graduate presentations in literary studies and creative writing. Individual presentations will be grouped in panels with 2-3 other presenters based on genre, topic, time period, etc. All presenters will read their work synchronously over Zoom and participate in follow-up discussions at the end of each panel. Presentations should be between 8 and 15 minutes. In keeping with the requirements for the Sigma Tau Delta Convention, papers should be limited to 2,000 words. Among other things, we hope this event provides new presenters an opportunity to practice their presentation skills and receive feedback on their work in advance of the Sigma Tau Delta Convention deadline at the end of October

Submission Eligibility:
Participants need not be members of Sigma Tau Delta to present but should be currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program.

Submission Requirements:

Complete the Google Form to apply.

Presenters are asked to submit the following:

• paper title
• an abstract of no more than 200 words
• relevant keywords
• personal details including name, campus email address, university

Authors of creative works, please aim to fill the 8-15 minute individual presentation block. Whether that means reading multiple related pieces from a collection or a single longer work (fewer than 2,000 words), either is suitable.

This event is intended as a practice session for those hoping to attend the Sigma Tau Delta Convention in Pittsburgh, so papers should be limited to 2,000 words. Presentation times should be 8-15 minutes.

Types of Submissions Accepted:

Critical & creative writing

Submission Deadline: 
Papers: Saturday, September 22, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

Email Questions to: Leigh G. Dillard at UNGsigmataudelta@gmail.com with the subject line "Southern Regional Conference."

Additional Information: 

All authors will be notified of acceptance after completion of the review process and will then be sent a registration form. All accepted authors are expected to be present on the day of the conference to present synchronously.

Registration is open to non-presenters as well. All participants in the conference MUST be registered to gain entry to the Zoom space. Find the registration link on the conference website.

High Plains Regional Conference

Sponsored by the Alpha Theta Beta Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta

Date:
Friday, October 11 - Saturday, October 12, 2024

Location: 
Virtual Event

Registration Cost: Free/The conference will be virtual this year.

Purpose and Description: 

The Alpha Theta Beta Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta at Friends University will hold a virtual undergraduate and graduate research conference for the High Plains Region and our neighbors from other regions. We invite all students as well as current Sigma Tau Delta members and alumni members of Sigma Tau Delta to send critical papers and creative works to share in scholarly and creative presentations, and attendance is open to all. 

Submission Guidelines

Submission Eligibility:
Submissions for presentation are open to any undergraduate or graduate student, as well as current Sigma Tau Delta members and alumni members of Sigma Tau Delta.

Submission Requirements:
Submissions for presentation are open to any undergraduate or graduate student, as well as current Sigma Tau Delta members and alumni members of Sigma Tau Delta. Presenters may submit either a critical essay or creative work in any genre, and submissions should not exceed 2,500 words in length. Critical presentations are welcome on any period or genre of literature, popular culture, media, film, rhetoric/composition studies, or pedagogy. If you have a critical topic that you would like to present but have not quite completed the work, you may send a 250- to 500-word abstract of the paper instead.

Please feel free to email the High Plains Regent, Dr. Kassia Krone, at kassia_krone@friends.edu if you have questions about the topic of your paper.

Document Format for Submissions:

• Word document (.doc or .docx)
• Files should be named like this: “LastNameCritical” or “LastNameCreative”
• For both critical and creative works, in the body of your email, please include the title and genre of the submission, a 100-250 word description of its content, and your current institution and class standing if a student, or the institution you graduated from if you are an alumni member. Audio-visual technology will be available.

Submission Deadline: Friday, September 27, 2024

Email Questions to: Kassia Krone at kassia_krone@friends.edu.

Registration and Additional Information: 

• Conference Webpage and Registration Link

Email Questions to: Kassia Waggoner Krone at kassia_krone@friends.edu.

Registration and Additional Information: 

• Conference Webpage and Registration Link

Sigma Tau Delta Far Western Region: Bakke, Roots and Branches

Sponsored by the California Western School of Law

Date:
Friday, March 8, 2024

Location: 
Virtual Event

Purpose: 
Join Pulitzer Prize winner, Louis Menand, for an address on the legacy of Regents of the University of California v Bakke, the seminal 1978 case that upheld race-based affirmative action programs in education, recently overturned by SFFA v Harvard.

Louis Menand is the Lee Simpkins Family Professor of Arts and Sciences and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of English at Harvard University. He has contributed to The New Yorker since 1991, and has been a staff writer since 2001. His book The Metaphysical Club was awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for history and the Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians. His book The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War was published in 2021 and named a notable book of the year by the New York Times Book Review. In 2016, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama.

This event made possible by CWSL’s Dean and Professor Robert K. Castetter and Marjorie B. Castetter Fund.

Email Questions to: Whitney Call at wcall@cwsl.edu  with the subject line "Bakke, Roots and Branches."

Additional Information: 

This is a free, in-person event, open to the public. The talk will take place on CWSL's campus, 350 Cedar, 3rd Floor Auditorium.

RSVP Here

Sigma Tau Delta Eastern Regional Undergraduate Conference

Sponsored by the Alpha Phi Iota Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta

Postponed

Date:
New date to come.

Location:
Mount St. Mary's University, Emmitsburg, MD & Virtual (Zoom)

Registration Cost: Free

Purpose: The Alpha Phi Iota Chapter at Mount St. Mary's University invites Sigma Tau Delta members and recent alumni to participate in their upcoming conference. The theme is Storytelling: Narrative and Humanity.

Submission Guidelines

Submission Eligibility:
While current Sigma Tau Delta members have priority, recent alumni and non-members may also present at regional conferences.

Submission Requirements:
Submissions of individual papers or complete panel proposals are welcome. The deadline for priority submissions is August 11. The final deadline for proposals is September 1.

Send proposals with the subject line Storytelling: Narrative and Humanity Conference as an attachment to LIT@msmary.edu. Be sure to include the following information along with an approximately 200-word abstract (individual paper) or approximately 600-word abstract (complete panel proposal):

• Author/participant name(s) and current academic status, including Sigma Tau Delta membership (membership not necessary)
• Paper/Panel title(s)
• Name of institution(s)

Document Format for Submissions:

• PDF is preferred
• Word document is also acceptable (.doc or .docx)
• Abstracts should be approximately 200 words for an individual paper or approximately 600 words for a complete panel. 

Submission Deadline: August 11, 2024, for priority submissions; September 1, 2024, is the final deadline for final proposals

Email Questions to: Jack Dudley at dudley@msmary.edu.