Call for Proposals

Now accepting proposals for the 2018 Power of Words Conference! All you need to do is:

1. Read the information below carefully
   
2. Use the following form to submit your proposal by March 15, 2018
3. Email your CV or resume to the director@tlanetwork.org

DEADLINE for submission: March 15, 2018

The 15th Annual Power of Words Conference will be held October 12-14th, 2018 at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, and we are seeking your session proposals!

This powerful conference brings together writers, storytellers, performers, musicians, educators, activists, healers, health professionals, community leaders, and more. Together we explore the written, spoken, and sung word, seeking to find how it can bring liberation, celebration, and transformation to individuals and communities.

We invite your proposals for experiential, didactic, and/or performance-based sessions that focus on writing, storytelling, drama, film, songwriting, and other forms of Transformative Language Arts (TLA).

We encourage proposals from people of color, low-income people, people with disabilities, queer-identified people, and people of transgender and/or gender-non-conforming experience.

Session Type

After filling in the presenter information (name(s), email address(es), phone number, mailing address, bio(s)), you will be prompted to choose your Session Type. Please submit a separate proposal for each session. There are five types of sessions (adapted from NASCO Institute):

• Presentation: Participants receive information from one or more presenters. The presentation may include activities, discussions, or Q&A but for the purpose of transmitting information from presenters to participants.
  

• Panel: Much like a presentation, but participants instead receive information from multiple presenters engaged in a facilitated discussion. See below for 2017 panel topics.
  

• Workshop: Participants work together or individually to create something, such as a body of shared knowledge, piece of art, or poem. The facilitator of the session primarily serves to help the group develop their work by providing a framework and methodologies, but does not necessarily contribute to the work product.

• Skill Training: Participants practice a skill or set of skills with the instruction and guidance of a trainer. A skill-share requires appropriate materials and space for participants to practice a skill, such as a dance floor for embodied movement or small groups for communication skills. If time/space/materials are limited, not every participant may have a chance to practice directly and instead learn from observing others demonstrating/learning. However, if only the presenter demonstrates the skill, the session is more properly a presentation.

• Performance: Participants witness a performance of storytelling, theatre, song, music, etc. by one or more performers. The performance is the main component of the session, and may stand on its own or be preceded or followed by discussion or other types of engagement.

• Networking: Participants connect with each other, generally for the purpose of developing relationships that will be of use in the future. A facilitator will provide structures for participants to learn about the backgrounds, skills, aspirations, connections, problems, and successes of other participants. Networking is often a primary objective of conference attendees and thus most sessions already serve this function, even when not intentionally designed for this purpose.

Panel Proposal

If you are wishing to participate in a panel, you will be prompted to submit the following information:

• Topic -- Please submit multiple proposals if you wish to contribute to more than one panel:
  
• • Self-Care for TLA Facilitators
  • TLA in Community Organizing for Social Change
  • Research & Clinical Applications of TLA
• Contribution -- What you wish to contribute to the panel discussion, including what experience and/or expertise will you be drawing from.
  
• Focus -- What questions and/or themes you would like to be included in the discussion agenda.
  

All Other Proposals

If your session is a presentation, workshop, skill training, performance, and networking opportunity, you will be prompted to submit the following information:

• Session Title
• Print-Ready Session Description -- 50-100 words, formatted for print/website. Please see examples of descriptions here.
  
• Session Outline / Notes -- Please provide an outline of your session and/or any notes on the session. This information is for our review and will not be distributed. For example, describe the purpose of your work, how it will unfold, and who might benefit.
  
• Participation Level -- Lecture-based, lecture & discussion, or highly interactive
  
• Duration -- 90 min or 45 min (you can check both if you're flexible)
  
• Category -- The thematic strand which is most applicable to your proposal. You may check more than one, but please do so only if each are an integral theme in your session:
• • Narrative Medicine (healing and health related to the written, spoken, and sung word)
  • Right Livelihood (making a living from what you love in service to your community)
  • Social Change (community building , activism, and more)
  • Engaged Spirituality (spiritual and/or religious practices related to TLA)
  • Ecological Literacy (restoration, reinhabitation, environmental justice, and place-based TLA)
• A/V Needs -- Flipchart, projector, and/or speakers.
  

Terms/Agreements

Finally, there are three terms/agreements for presenting at POW:

• CV or Resume -- Your proposal is not complete until you email director@tlanetwork.org your CV or resume.
• Attendance -- If you're proposal is selected and you accept the invitation you are agreeing to attend the full conference.
• Registration -- We request that all presenters register by the early bird deadline. At this point we do not have the funding to give all presenters complimentary registration. Presenters who register by the early bird deadline will receive $20 off the early bird rate: $190 for members and $210 for non-members. Scholarships are available for people who need help covering registration.
  

You will be notified if your session is accepted by the beginning of May, 2018. Thank you!

For further information or questions, please contact the director@tlanetwork.org.

DEADLINE for submission: March 15, 2018