English Department prepares for SAMLA conference

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, the English department invited students to attend a practice conference which held presentations for two student-written papers. Speakers Isangelic Reyes and Ileana Lampón were given a forum to rehearse for the annual Southern Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) conference in November.

The annual SAMLA conference aims to unite scholars dedicated to advancing academics in literature and linguistics, arranged through a common theme. This year, they confer under the banner of “Hospitality,” which they define as the interpersonal relationships and boundaries that influence the transmission of ideas.

The mini conference, held at 3:30 pm in Smith Hall, Room 267, reflected this communicative spirit. Though the attendees were limited to invested members of the English department and speaker Lampón was unable to attend, the exercise continued successfully, and the remaining presentation provoked a lengthy and positive conversation.

Reyes, a senior English major from Andalusia, Alabama, presented her paper “L2 Compliments and the Limits of Linguistic Hospitality.” The paper explores the linguistic nuances of how compliments spoken by second-language speakers may be filtered through biases held by native-speaking recipients, as Reyes explained.

“I chose this topic because, being Hispanic, I was interested about whether or not there were some stereotypes that may influence native speakers when they’re speaking to non-native speakers, and if those stereotypes may influence how they treat them, whether spoken properly or not,” Reyes said. “I was actually able to learn more about other factors, not just stereotypes, that can affect communication, as I cover in my presentation.”

Reyes also spoke about her participation in the conference and likewise advised other students who may be interested in joining future SAMLA events.

“I’m going to graduate school, so I’m trying to make sure I get some type of experience for better opportunities and assistantships,” Reyes said. “Remember what your reason is and how you’re seeing these opportunities to help you grow – that way, it’ll build your confidence, and you’ll feel more secure about yourself whenever you go there.”

Lampón, a senior graphic design and English major from Enterprise, Alabama, will be presenting her paper “Holy Terror: Anti-Catholicism in Gothic Literature.” Though Lampón was unable to attend the mini conference, her experience presenting at prior SAMLA conferences has confidently prepared her for this next opportunity.

“I was in Dr. Robertson’s gothic literature class, and through some stories that we covered I saw a common theme of anti-Catholicism,” Lampón said on her inspirations.“It can generalize and stigmatize a lot, including historically Catholic populations in Spain and Italy – with most of these stories originating in the shift from Catholicism to Protestantism.”

Lampón spoke on her history attending SAMLA conferences.

“I initially didn’t know that undergraduates could attend these conferences, let alone present at them, and to be able to do it twice has been a great opportunity,” Lampón said. “I thank my professors for encouraging me to present, otherwise I likely wouldn’t have.

“One thing that’s important from my experience from the art field is that networking is very important. Being able to hear other academics talk about their research kind of gives you a new insight, as well as enabling you to talk with them one-on-one – it is a good way to make connections.”

Professor of English Dr. Ben Robertson will accompany the speakers during the conference, as heassisted students and faculty with participation in the conference for the past few years. This year, Robertson also organized three sessions for the conference under the sub-theme “Disrupted Hospitality.”

Robertson spoke on the purpose of opportunities such as the SAMLA conference.

“The idea is to get some professional experience and good public-speaking experience,” Robertson said. “It’s a pretty big conference - and having undergraduates participate means we want to enable as much as possible.”

Students interested in participating in a future SAMLA conference may contact Dr. Robertson via his email, bprobertson@troy.edu. They may also research the upcoming November conference and other events at southatlanticmla.org.

Additional opportunities in the English department can be found through their Instagram @troy.english.dept.