Session 1 | 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. (EDT)

Panel A: Trauma across the Americas (Moderator: Dr. Cameron Crawford, University of North Georgia, Gainesville)

• Theodore Lopata, University of North Georgia, Gainesville (GA): "Joshua Whitehead's Johnny Appleseed and the Culturally Informed Trauma Response"

• Sabrina Fitzsimmons, Columbia College (SC): "Embrace or Ignore America: Immigrants Forced Choice in Okada's No-No Boy and Muaddi Darraj's The Inheritance of Exile "

• Abby D'Antoni, University of North Georgia, Gainesville (GA): "American Rememory: Individual vs. Communal Memory in Beloved "

Panel B: Gory Guts of the Gothic Genre (Moderator: Dr. Jessica Walker, University of North Georgia, Gainesville)

• Lily Allen, Florida State University (FL): "From Pious to Promiscuous: Rewriting the Final Girl"

• Courtney Wall, Brevard College (NC): "From Dracula to True Blood: The Early Gothic Influence on Contemporary Vampire Narratives"

• Sabrina Valentine, Northwestern State University of Louisiana (LA): "Feed me Laughing, Feed me Screaming: Humor and Disgust in Contemporary Gastro-Horror"

Session 2 | 10:30 – 11:45 a.m. (EDT)

Panel A: Queer Expression and Belonging (Moderator: __)

• Persha Cabarroguis, Columbia College (SC): "Moonlight and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: The Navigation of Sexuality through Masculinity, Race, and Childhood Trauma"

• Marisa Jurek, Berry College (GA): "Holy, Holy, Holy!: Religion as a Metaphorical Defense of Homosexuality in Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl'"

• Grace Becker, University of South Carolina (SC): "Beyond Metaphor: Queer Gender Narratives through Anthropomorphic Characters"

Panel B: Communication: Knowledge and Ignorance (Moderator: Dr. Ian Afflerbach, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega)

• Shane Erath, Northwestern State University of Louisiana (LA): "Quantum Rhetoric: A Pedagogy of Ignorance"

• Candice Thornton, Clark Atlanta University (GA): "In Search of Our Voices: Employing Black Feminist Archival Works and Narratives as Praxis"

• Sierra Marando, Florida State University (FL): "Content and Connection: Interaction in Online Fandom Communities"

Session 3 | 12:00 – 1:15 p.m. (EDT)

Panel A: Creating Writing I: Family Relations (Moderator: __)

• Navaeh Hernandez, Angelo State University (TX): "One Long Drive to stand in Place of Many"

• Shahrzad Hamzeh, University of Texas at Dallas (TX): "Dancing in Exile: Sisterhood, Memory, and Forbidden Movements"

• Lauren Bachman, University of North Georgia, Gainesville -- alumni (GA): "Creatures in Suburban Grasslands"

• Emily Clemente, Florida State University -- alumni (FL): "Fruit Salad"

Panel B: Roots of Trauma (Moderator: __)

• Allie Moore, University of South Carolina (SC): "'I can't tell them what really happened': Analyzing the Layers of Trauma and Gaps within Speak: The Graphic Novel "

• Angela Saefke, Northwestern State University of Louisiana (LA): "Mother/Child Relationship: How They Fuck Us Up"

• Baylie Jett Mills, Texas Tech University (TX): "'Integration, Not Exorcism': Six Structural Elements in  the Trauma Narratives of Johnson, Morin, Chee, and Osorio that Lead to Psychological Control"

Lunch break 1:15 – 1:45 p.m. (EDT)

Stick around in the main room for a brief message from Sigma Tau Delta Southern Region Student Leaders at the beginning of this short lunch break.

Session 4 | 1:45 – 3:00 p.m. (EDT)

Panel A: Exploring Systems of Power (Moderator: __)

• Anna Rundbaken, University of North Georgia, Gainesville (GA): "Seeds of Resistance: Earthseed and the Psychology of Collective Empowerment"

• Kelsey Bonner, Florida State University (FL): "The Market for Sexualized Girls: Oryx and the Monetization of the Sexual Childhood"

• Kayla Fontenot, Northwestern State University of Louisiana (LA): "Convict Cowboy: The Culture behind Angola Prison's Rodeo"

Panel B: Creative Fiction II: The Journey Making Us (Moderator: __)

• Leah Kersey, Georgia Southern University (GA): "Land on Both Feet"

• Sydney Michaud, University of North Georgia, Gainesville (GA): "Saving Throw"

• Vanessa Reyes, University of North Georgia, Gainesville (GA): "Further Still"

Session 5 | 3:15 – 4:30 p.m.  (EDT)

Panel A: Space, from Earth and Beyond (Moderator: Dr. J. Ereck Jarvis, Northwestern State University of Louisiana)

• Jackson Melancon, Centenary College of Louisiana (LA): "'Cosmic Slop': A New Historicist Argument for Afrofuturistic Poetry"

• Jim Case, Northwestern State University of Louisiana (LA): "Ongoing Entanglements: Time, Environment, and the Shaping of the Self"

• Jo Hoffman, Centenary College of Louisiana (LA): "Radicalizing Space Colonialism: Pastoral Genre Conventions in Diane Ackerman's 'Jupiter'"

• Anna Rinaggio, Berry College (GA): "'You're one of us, child. You always will be': Binaries, Safe Spaces, and the In-Between in Stone Butch Blues "