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Humanities Student Conference 2020

The Humanities Student Conference, “Crossroads,” provides a friendly venue to showcase student scholarship in the humanities and related disciplines. “Crossroads” is organized by the Center for the Humanities in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences at Nova Southeastern University.

The organizers refer presenters to the following definition of the humanities from the National Endowment for the Humanities:

What are the humanities?

“The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study and interpretation of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.”

For information about the inaugural 2019 conference, click here.

flyer
(click to enlarge)

“Crossroads Humanities Student Conference” invites abstract submissions for oral presentations. All presentations should last between 10 and 15 minutes (approximately 5 to 7 pages of text typed and double-spaced in Times New Roman 12pt font). Presenters will be placed on panels of approximately 3 or 4 students. Each panel will last for an hour and 15 minutes, including time for questions. Presenters may be asked to serve as panel chairs.

You may submit an abstract as an individual paper or a group project. If submitting a group paper, please be sure to note this on your abstract and include the names of all students who contributed to the project. Also, please indicate which members of the group will present at the conference. The entire group may present or select representatives.

You may also submit an abstract for a preformed panel of 3 to 4 presenters. If submitting for a panel, please be sure to note this on your abstract and include the names of all the presenters as well as proposed panel title. Panels will be accepted based on the promise of each individual topic and cohesion of the panel.

The official language of the conference is English. Students in the modern languages wishing to present in Spanish or French are invited to do so. In this case, please submit abstracts in both English and the language of choice.

The rooms in which you present will have a computer, a projector, a screen, and Internet access. The building has Wi-Fi. If you plan to use this technology, we strongly recommend that you bring your presentation materials on a flash drive. If you bring your own laptop, please be sure to bring the cable needed to connect it to the projector.

Your presentation may be an excerpt from a longer paper, but it should stand on its own as a self-contained study that is coherent and that has a specific thematic focus. Papers may include both primary and secondary research.

The conference will take place in the Alvin Sherman Library and will last from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will include a continental breakfast, opening plenary sessions, panel presentations, workshops, and a luncheon.

Students from all academic institutions are invited to submit abstracts of 150 words or less to Dr. Andrea Shaw Nevins (andrshaw@nova.edu) no later than January 15, 2020. These should be submitted as Word documents or PDF files. Abstracts should include the following:

  • Name of the presenter(s)
  • Institutional affiliation
  • Status at that institution e.g. sophomore, master’s student, doctoral student, high school student
  • Title of the presentation(s)
  • If a panel, proposed panel topic

High school students submitting abstracts must have a sponsor—one of their high school teachers who endorses the abstract and provides a brief letter of support stating as such. Sponsors are encouraged to attend the conference but are not required to do so.

Please see the following article on “How to Write a Paper or Conference Proposal Abstract” for additional tips.

Abstracts will be reviewed by a panel of faculty from the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences. Notifications will be sent out by January 31st, 2020.

Students planning to participate must register by February 21st, 2020.

More information coming soon.

Our address is 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314. You can find a map and directions to Nova Southeastern University here.

Participants may park for a fee in the parking garage near the Alvin Sherman Library. The Library and Main Student Parking Garage offers four floors of parking to NSU students and to the public. It is one of the preferred parking areas for events on NSU’s campus. It is conveniently located off SW 30th street and is close to the Alvin Sherman Library. You will receive more information about parking once you register. You can find more information on visitor parking here.

Feel free to select any suitable hotel near the campus. See here for select hotels that offer an NSU discount. Note that the hotels closest to the NSU main campus are located in the Plantation/Davie area.
Your conference registration fee will cover the cost of a continental breakfast and lunch on the day of the conference. Vegetarian options will be available. We will try to accommodate any specific dietary requests.

NSU students: No charge
Non-NSU students: $25

All students, NSU and non-NSU, must complete and submit a registration form by February 21st, 2020. Only participants who have registered and paid the registration fee by this deadline will have their presentations included in the program. Note that NSU students and faculty are not required to pay a registration fee, but are required to register. 

Conference Fee:
Please note that all non-NSU students and faculty are required to pay a registration fee. This fee should be paid by the registration deadline of February 21st. 

  • Andrea Shaw Nevins, Ph.D.
  • Aileen Farrar, Ph.D.
  • Yvette Fuentes, Ph.D.
  • David Kilroy, Ph.D.
  • Nelson Bass, Ph.D.
  • James Doan, Ph.D.
  • Vicki Toscano, Ph.D.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions: Dr. Andrea Shaw Nevins, Interim Dean and Director of the Center for the Humanities: andrshaw@nova.edu / (954) 262-8208.

NSU Publications

  • Journal of Class, Race and Corporate Power - Class, Race and Corporate Power is an academic journal affiliated with faculty from the Department of History and Political Science at Nova Southeastern University that examines the politics of corporate power. This includes an analysis of capital, labor, and race relations within nation-states and the global economy. We encourage contributions that explore these issues within holistic frameworks that borrow from a range of scholarly disciplines.
  • Digressions - Digressions is the student-run literary and art magazine sponsored by the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to submit original works of poetry, short fiction, artwork, and photography for consideration in the magazine, which is published yearly in the winter semester.

Suggested Journals

  • PMLA - PMLA is the journal of the Modern Language Association of America. Since 1884 PMLA has published members’ essays judged to be of interest to scholars and teachers of language and literature.
  • Comparative Critical Studies - Comparative Critical Studies seeks to advance methodological (self)reflection on the nature of comparative literature as a discipline.

Career Opportunities

  • Humanities Indicators - A comprehensive resource with the latest humanities data in 5 broad areas including K-12 Education, Higher Education, Workforce, Funding & Research, and Public Life.
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