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2008 Special Session FAQsYou may wish to print these pages before you submit your proposal so that you can refer to them while submitting your proposal. Beginning in January 2008 click here to open the special-session proposal form (note that this form will open in a new browser window).Although the following questions and answers apply specifically to special-session proposals and calls for papers, many of the questions and answers apply to other types of MLA sessions as well. General Special Session QuestionsQ. What is a special session?A. A special session is a session that has been organized and proposed by an individual MLA member, as opposed to a session that has been organized by an MLA committee, division, discussion group, or allied organization. Special-session proposals are reviewed by the Program Committee, and it is the job of the Program Committee to decide which proposals will be approved as sessions for the convention. For complete information on the procedures for proposing a special session, please refer to the Procedures for Organizing Meetings at the MLA Convention, which can also be found in the September PMLA. Q. Can I propose a special session if I am not an MLA member? A. No. Only current MLA members may propose a special session. Q. What is a call for papers? Is it required for organizing a session? A. The call for papers listing is a way for session organizers to invite MLA members to submit papers for possible sessions. Calls for papers are not a requirement for proposing a special session. The call for papers is not an announcement of your special-session proposal and has no bearing (positive or negative) on the evaluation of your eventual proposal. Q. How can I submit a call for papers? A. Calls for papers may now be submitted through the MLA Web site under the "Convention" heading. To submit a call for papers, your listing must be received in the convention office by 4 January 2008 and be no more than 35 words in length, including the session title, a brief description, submission requirements (papers, abstracts, word or page limits), and submission deadline (most are listed as early to mid-March). Your name and contact information are not included in the word limit. Q. Does the title of my special session have to be the same as the title of my call for papers? A. No. Q. Do I have to contact everyone who responds to my call for papers? A. Yes. Members who place calls for papers should acknowledge receipt of proposals and notify members whether their proposals could be included in the session. Q. What is the deadline for proposing a special session? A. Special-session proposals must be submitted electronically or postmarked no later than 1 April. Your special-session proposal must be submitted on the MLA special-session proposal form by the 1 April deadline for your proposal to be reviewed by the Program Committee. Proposals that are incomplete, submitted after the deadline, or not submitted on the special-session form will not be approved. Q. When will proposal forms be available? A. Special-session proposal forms for the 2008 convention will be available online beginning in January 2008 at the MLA Web site. Proposal forms may also be requested from the MLA convention office at convention@mla.org. Q. How can I make sure that my proposal will be accepted? A. There is no way to guarantee that your proposal will be accepted. You may find it useful to review "What Makes a Successful Special-Session Proposal?," which was written by a former Program Committee member. It is very important that in part 4 of your proposal (Session and Participant Details) you explain the focus of your proposed session in reference to existing scholarship, how your proposed session builds on the existing scholarship, why you chose the speakers and papers you did, and how those speakers will work within the session. The Program Committee tends to accept only those proposed sessions that are supported by a strong written proposal and not solely because of a timely subject, a worthwhile cause, or a prestigious speaker. Proposals that are not submitted on the MLA proposal form, that do not contain all the requested information, or that contain participants who are not MLA members (or have not been granted waivers of membership) by the 7 April deadline will be at a disadvantage. For complete information on the procedures for proposing a special session, please refer to the Procedures for Organizing Meetings at the MLA Convention, which can also be found in the September PMLA. Q. How can I propose two special sessions? A. Each MLA member may propose only one special session per convention. Q. How can my colleague and I propose two connected sessions? A. Special sessions are individual proposals and are evaluated as such. The Program Committee attempts to approve sessions on a wide range of subjects and approaches, taking care not to approve too many sessions on the same topic. Multiple special sessions on the same or similar topics will compete against one another. Due to subject conflicts, scheduling conflicts, and the Program Committee's attempts to include sessions on a wide variety of subjects and approaches, we are not able to accommodate connected or related sessions. Q. How can I invite a nonmember or VIP to be a session participant? A. At the discretion of the executive director, waivers may be granted for nonscholars, scholars who work outside the United States and Canada, and scholars who work in disciplines other than language and literature. Please refer to the questions and answers below regarding waivers of membership. Q. When will I hear if my proposed special session has been accepted? A. The Program Committee will meet in early May to review the proposals. Letters regarding the committee's decisions will be mailed to session organizers by early June. The MLA will contact only the session organizer regarding the outcome, so it is the responsibility of the session organizers to inform their session participants of the committee's decision. Q. Our society would like to apply for allied organization status, and one of the prerequisites is to have sessions accepted at the MLA convention. What do we need to do? A. This requirement was established in part to demonstrate the applying organization's ability to create sessions that would withstand the MLA's proposal review process. The Program Committee does not give special consideration to sessions that are proposed as part of the allied organization application process. Your proposal should focus on the merits of this particular proposed session and should not be used to promote or advertise your organization. All special-session proposals must follow the same submission requirements (see questions and answers below), and are subject to the same review processes. Special-Session Proposal Form QuestionsQ. How can I propose a special session online?A. Visit the MLA Web site beginning in January 2008 at www.mla.org/ssp_main to reach a page with general proposal information and requests for audiovisual equipment. Below that, click on the box that says "Submit Proposal Electronically." You will need to type in your MLA membership ID and password to access the form. If you have questions regarding your membership ID or password, visit www.mla.org/login or e-mail the MLA membership office at membership@mla.org. This proposal form is designed to be completed online and submitted electronically; it is not a form that can be downloaded or mailed in. Once you have accessed the proposal form, follow the prompts and complete the information for the various sections of the form. At the bottom of each page, you have the option to save and finish later or continue to the next page. The final page (View Special-Session Proposal) allows you to view the information that you have input and make any necessary corrections. Be sure to print out this page and keep it for your records. Once your form is complete and you have reviewed its contents, click "Submit." Once you submit your form you will be unable to access it again to make any changes. Q. Will I receive confirmation that my proposal was received? A. If you are using the electronic special-session proposal form, an automatic computer-generated confirmation e-mail will be sent to you after you have completed your submission online. Because of the large number of proposal forms received close to the 1 April deadline, we are not always able to acknowledge receipt of proposal forms received through the mail. So that the confirmation e-mail is not blocked by your spam-blocking software, please make sure that your e-mail is set up to receive e-mail from the MLA domain (mla.org). Q. Can I give a paper or act as presider for a session I am proposing? A. Yes, you may list yourself as presider, panelist, or respondent for the session you are proposing if you feel that this arrangement creates the best possible session. Q. Is the session organizer the same person as the presider? A. Not necessarily. The session organizer is the person who has organized and submitted the session and is listed on the form as the contact person who will receive notification of whether or not the session has been accepted. The session organizer's name will not appear in the Program unless that person is also participating in the session. The presider will introduce the session and the speakers at the convention and is responsible for directing the session, enforcing time limits, and providing the required fifteen-minute discussion period. The presider's name and affiliation are listed in the Program. Session organizers may list themselves as presiders for their sessions, but it is not a requirement. Q. Is it necessary to list a presider for my session? A. No, it is not necessary to list a presider. If no presider is listed, however, your proposal should explain how the session will function without one. Q. What is the average number of papers for a session? A. Each MLA session is one hour and fifteen minutes in length. The Delegate Assembly has approved the policy that there must be a fifteen-minute discussion period at the end of each session; therefore, the Program Committee strongly recommends that there be no more than three principal papers in a session. If you plan to have more than three speakers, it is helpful if you explain how the session will run and why that best suits your session. Proposals that appear not to leave adequate time for the fifteen-minute discussion period may be at a disadvantage. Q. What is a roundtable session? How do I propose one? A. A roundtable session is composed of brief presentations and group discussions instead of formal paper presentations. For the electronic proposal form, there is a section on the first page of the form under "Meeting Information" where you can select either "Formal Session" or "Roundtable". That section is located on page 4 of the paper proposal form. When you select "Roundtable" on the electronic proposal form, the form will change to provide spaces for the participants' names and affiliations but not for paper titles. Q. How many speakers can we have in a roundtable session? A. Roundtable sessions may have up to eight participants, including presiders and respondents. Each MLA session is one hour and fifteen minutes in length, with the last fifteen minutes reserved for discussion. Proposals that appear not to leave adequate time for the fifteen-minute discussion period may be at a disadvantage. Q. How can I list paper titles for my roundtable session? A. Roundtable sessions are composed of brief presentations and group discussion. There is space to list only the speakers' names and affiliations, not paper titles. Q. How do I list more than one presider for my session? A. Usually only one person serves as presider for a session, so there is space for only one presider on the proposal form. If you feel that your session requires two presiders, you should explain this need in the body of your proposal (part 2), include the second presider's related scholarship and purpose (part 3), and send an e-mail to scourtney@mla.org after submitting your special-session proposal submission, explaining that there is a second presider and including that person's name and affiliation. Q. Is it possible for two presenters to share one presentation at my session? A. Yes, you may have copresenters on your panel, provided that they are able to give the paper within the allotted time. If you are completing the electronic proposal form, there is a link located next to the paper title and above the affiliation for each speaker position. If you click "Add copresenter," you will access a pop-up box with space for the name and affiliation of the copresenter. Please do not try to include the information for both copresenters in the space allotted for one presenter, since this may create errors in your proposal. Q. Is it possible to list more than three presenters for my session? A. If you are using the electronic form, you can add presenters to your session by clicking "Click here to add more presenters" on part 2 of the form (Session Participants page), below the name of the third participant. This link will bring you to a pop-up page that will allow you to add presenters and papers to your panel. If you are using the paper form, the only way to add speakers is to attach additional sheets to your proposal form. If you plan to list more than three speakers, it is helpful if you explain how the session will run and why that best suits your session. The Program Committee strongly recommends that there be no more than three principal papers in a session, and proposals that appear not to leave adequate time for the required fifteen-minute discussion period at the end of their session may be at a disadvantage. Q. Are there any participation restrictions? A. Yes. So that as many members as possible may have the opportunity to be active in convention programs, a member may be listed only twice in the Program. Reading a paper, serving as a roundtable panelist or as a respondent, or presiding at a session leads to a listing in the Program. The two listings may occur in a single session or in two different sessions. No more than two panelists from the same institution may participate in a session. Q. What will happen if one of my session participants is not a current member? A. Only current MLA members (or those whose membership requirements have been waived) may be included in your special-session proposal. Session participants must be MLA members by the 7 April deadline to be listed in the Program. If a session participant is not a member (and the waiver requirement has not been met) by the 7 April deadline, your proposal will be reviewed by the Program Committee without that person's name or contribution to your panel. If your proposal is accepted and the nonmember subsequently joins the MLA, you can request to have that person's paper listed in the MLA Convention News and Program Update, which is distributed at the convention. For information regarding waivers of membership, please refer to the questions and answers below. Q. May I submit temporary names and paper titles now and finalize the information if the session is accepted? A. No. All the information that you provide in your special-session proposal form should be complete, and the information contained on the Final Program Copy section should appear exactly as you would wish it to appear in the Program if your proposal is accepted. Session and paper titles cannot be changed once they have been submitted. The names you include as presider, respondent, and speakers should be the names of the people who will be participating in those positions for your session at the convention. You should have commitments from all the session participants before submitting your special-session proposal. Special sessions are approved on the basis of the proposals submitted, so any late changes made to the names of your session participants could result in cancellation of the approved session. Q. One of my panelists is a member, but when I entered the name the system indicated that the person's name could not be found. A. Session participants' names must be input exactly as they appear in the MLA membership database. If a member's name is not input exactly as it is listed in the database (including capitalizations, middle names, initials, etc.), the computer will not recognize the name as a member. Sometimes accents in the name or a change in affiliation may confuse the system even if the name is typed correctly. You may select "nonmember/not sure" if there are any questions and continue submitting your proposal. Once we receive the proposal forms, we manually check the membership status of all session participants and e-mail the proposers if there are any membership questions. Our check supersedes any questions that the system may have raised. Q. What is a waiver of membership? A. Waivers of membership may be available for scholars working outside the fields of language and literature and for scholars with no affiliation in the United States and Canada. MLA members, including those in the emeritus category, are not eligible for waivers of membership. A waiver of membership may be granted to a person once every five years. Session organizers and presiders are not eligible for waivers of membership. For additional information on waivers of membership, please refer to the Procedures for Organizing Meetings at the MLA Convention, which can also be found in the September PMLA. Q. How do I request a waiver of membership for one of my participants? A. To request a waiver of membership, complete the Waiver of Membership Request Form and submit it along with your special-session proposal by the 1 April deadline. If you are submitting your special session online, you should access the waiver form through the "Thank You" page at the completion of your special-session submission. Forms for requesting a waiver of membership can also be accessed through the Convention section of the MLA Web site (under 2008 Program Copy Forms), or you may contact the convention office at convention@mla.org and ask to have the paper form sent to you. You will need to have your MLA membership ID and password available to access the electronic form. If the waiver is not approved, the participant may still become an MLA member by the 7 April deadline to participate in your session. For additional information on waivers of membership, please refer to the Procedures for Organizing Meetings at the MLA Convention, which can also be found in the September PMLA. Q. How can I request funding for a participant? A. Limited funds are available each year to provide partial assistance to persons who are not MLA members and who would not normally be expected to attend a professional meeting in the field of language and literature. A waiver of membership must first be approved before a request for funding may be made. Funding requests made on the MLA Fund Request form must reach the MLA convention office by 15 April and must explain how the participant would enrich the program. If you submitted your waiver request form online, you should access the funding request form through the "Thank You" page at the completion of your waiver request. You may also request a paper form from the convention office (convention@mla.org). For additional information on waivers of membership, please see the questions and answers above. Q. Who is responsible for requesting audiovisual equipment, and what is the deadline for that request? A. The session organizer is responsible for including all audiovisual requests for the session in the designated "Audiovisual Equipment" section on the special-session proposal form at the time the proposal is submitted. All audiovisual requests must be submitted by 1 April. It is the session organizer's responsibility to obtain all audiovisual requirements from the session participants before submitting the special-session proposal. Late requests cannot be accommodated. Q. When I submitted my proposal, the system replaced punctuation marks and underlines with typos and symbols. What should I do? A. There are often punctuation errors that occur in the submission of the electronic forms, and the Program Committee members are advised of this possibility. The Program Committee members will disregard any odd punctuation or symbols in their review of the special-session proposals. You may also type an underline mark before and after a word or sentence to indicate that it should be in italics (e.g., _Professor_ to indicate Professor). Q. How can I make changes to my proposal after it has been submitted? A. All special-session proposals must be complete and correct at the time they are submitted. Special sessions are approved on the basis of the proposals submitted, so any substantial changes could result in cancellation of the approved session. If your session is accepted, the session information printed in the Program will be taken directly from the Final Program Copy section of your proposal. Before you submit your proposal, make sure that the information included in your proposal (participants' names and affiliations, session title, paper titles, audiovisual equipment, and accessibility requirements) appears exactly as you would wish it to appear in the Program. Any information not included in the Final Program Copy section of your proposal form may be omitted from the Program. The final page of the online proposal form (View Special-Session Proposal) allows you to view the information that you have input and make any necessary corrections. Make sure to print out a copy of this page for your records. Once you submit your electronic special-session proposal form you will be unable to access it again to make any changes.
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