Call for Proposals open for the 2023 Community

College Humanities Association (CCHA) National Conference 

October 12-14, 2023

Austin Community College, Austin TX

A Life Worth Living Together: Humanities as Collaboration

The promise of humanistic education is traditionally to provide a well-rounded intellectual experience anchored in the study of the arts, literature, philosophy, history, and other disciplines as a window into human experience and human nature. At their best, these disciplines and fields foster reflection upon the past, evaluation of the present, and thoughtful action as we envision the future.

In spite of this, critics of the Humanities challenge its continued relevance as an integral part of foundational higher education. We aim to answer this challenge by exploring how these traditions of inquiry provide a location for collaboration particularly relevant for today’s world. We invite proposals that explore any aspect of the Humanities in the context of Community College education, but we are particularly interested in proposals that emphasize the fundamental collaborative nature of the Humanities and the roles that humanistic inquiries play in providing connections — connections that allow us to examine questions of value, power, community, identity, race, justice, healing, conflict, and transformation.

Proposals are now being accepted here. 

Early acceptance decisions will be made on proposals submitted by March 31st as well as those submitted by May 1st. Proposals are now being accepted through an extended deadline of June 23rd. Beginning May 1st, decisions will be communicated on a rolling basis every 2-3 weeks as proposals are received.

Presentation types/options include the following: individual (15 mins), panel (50 mins), roundtable discussion (50 mins), pre- or post-conference workshop (2 hours), and poster sessions. Please note: All presenters should plan to include time for Q&A. All sessions should fall broadly into either a Pedagogy/Practice or Theoretical/Research category. Questions? Contact us: ccha2023@austincc.edu.

Who Should Attend and Present

Anyone involved in the Humanities in any way (as educators or otherwise) is invited to present at and/or attend the conference. Questions? Contact us: ccha2023@austincc.edu.

Submissions must be received on or before May 1st, 2023. All presenters, co-presenters, and panelists, must register for the conference. Questions can be sent to ccha2023@austincc.edu.

You do not need to be a member to submit a proposal, but everyone presenting or attending must be a CCHA member (through an individual or institutional membership).

All proposals will be reviewed by the Program Committee regarding acceptance. Submissions received by March 31st, 2023 will be notified by end of April 2023. Submissions received by final deadline of May 1st, 2023 will be notified by end of May 2023.

Questions to Think About

In a time when we are experiencing unprecedented organized attacks against open inquiry and critical examination, the Humanities offers students the opportunity to develop themselves as agents for creating open conversations within their communities — in settings including their families, their workplaces, their religious and artistic communities, and their political movements. Further, humanistic study offers us all an opportunity to understand each other better and helps address barriers that too often hinder our ability to work and flourish together.

To provide inspiration, we ask you to consider these guiding questions as you formulate your proposal:

• How do we envision the relevance of the Community College beyond its set of classrooms?
• What is it that we aim to incubate locally, regionally, and globally through the Humanities?
• In what ways can humanistic inquiries and values foster productive collaboration between Humanities faculty, students, and programs and
• other faculty
• other students
• transfer programs
• workforce programs
• advising and student affairs
• administration
• business and industry
• health sciences
• artists and arts organizations
• non-profit and service organizations
• criminal justice organizations
• religious communities
• political actors
• legislative boards
• coordinating boards

Conference Information, Accommodations, and Reservations

You do not need to be a member to submit a proposal, but everyone presenting or attending must be a CCHA member. You can become a member or renew your membership at https://www.cchumanities.org/ (dues are reasonable & affordable).

Anyone presenting or attending must register for the Community College Humanities Association (CCHA) National Conference and pay the appropriate conference registration fee. Registration details are available online at https://www.cchumanities.org/conferences/national/

Conference Hotel and block discount information is also available online at https://www.cchumanities.org/conferences/national/

Additional information will be provided as it becomes available at https://cchaaustin2023.acclahc.org/.