In his text, The Machine in the Garden, Leo Marx investigates the juxtaposition of the pastoral and the industrial in culture and literature. He ultimately asserts the presence of the machine within the garden – or rather, a machine that transcends the bounds of urban industry. Thus, according to Marx’s text, life “seems almost made over new” as the previously solid demarcation between the rural and urban sectors of life disappears. Marx’s mid-twentieth century theory directly applies to the current twenty-first century’s experience with rapidly expanding technology and the conceptualization of a new digital world without bounds.

The 9th Annual EGSA Conference aims to investigate society’s new digital face and its ever-expanding presence within the field of English. The conference’s plenary speaker will be Dr. N. Katherine Hayles, a professor of literature at Duke University and noted scholar in the postmodern field, whose work concerns the relationship between science, literature, and technology.

This conference welcomes submissions from all areas of English studies, including literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, technical writing, and creative writing. Though we encourage a broad interpretation of our chosen theme, we ask the following questions to begin – but not to exhaust – the investigation of the machine in the garden, version 2.0:

Literature:

• ·         How is literary criticism changing as a result of our society’s dependence upon technology?

• ·         Has the “Dystopia” foreshadowed in some literary texts arrived today as a result of the technology age?

• ·         How has critical analysis investigated these shifts in society across any historical period?

Linguistics:

• ·         What sort of linguistic shifts are expected as we move toward a more technologically driven society?

• ·         How does the advent of new jargons affect social interaction?

• ·         How has technology opened new avenues for language studies?

Rhetoric and Composition:

• ·         What implications will the digital shift in our society have on today’s writing classroom?

• ·         How might teachers need to adapt their focus in their classrooms to meet the needs of students?

• ·         How has technology impacted traditional rhetorical devices?

Technical Writing

• ·        How might the field of technical writing develop as a result of needing more technologically savvy workers?

• ·        How has the field of technical writing developed as a result of this new shift in the society?

• ·        How have these changes in society affected the writing of the discipline?

We also welcome any creative or technical writing pieces that investigate our theme. We will have a reading of creative pieces, including but not limited to: narratives of experiences with shifts in culture, short stories depicting the shift in the digital world, or any genre of creative writing that reflects the conference theme. We will also provide a gallery to display submissions of technical writing.

Please submit an abstract or synopsis of approximately 300 words to egsa@uncc.edu in the body of the e-mail or as a Microsoft Word attachment by December 15, 2008, with “EGSA Conference” as the subject line of the e-mail.
 

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