Beyond IQ - Boston Call for Proposals

[joshwriting]

In particular, I am hoping that siderea, dmnsqrl, superfinemind, baronet, panterazero, and queen_of_wands will notice this. (I am very aware that queen_of_wands is up to her ears in packing and transitioning... but I still hope!)

The whole form can be found at http://www.giftedconferenceplanners.org/Boston/proposal.html

Call For Proposals

Beyond IQ: Theory and Practice with the Highly and Profoundly Gifted

Emotions and Creativity
April 13-15, Radisson Hotel, Chelmsford, MA

Proposal Deadline: Proposals are due January 31, 2007!

All proposals should relate directly to the general topic of the conference, which focuses on understanding the characteristics, needs, and paths unique to the highly and profoundly gifted. The themes of Emotions and Creativity are important to the conference, but are not the only subject we are discussing. In your abstract, please specify the relationship of your proposed presentation to the topic and, if appropriate, the theme.

Proposals for the Pre-conference workshops should be directed at Teachers, Administrators, or Counselors. Each Pre-conference workshop period is 3 hours.

Proposals for the Conference can be for adult sessions (introductory, intermediate, or advanced), young adult sessions, or children's workshops for ages 6 - 12. Unlike the pre-conference sessions, all conference sessions are 65 minutes in length. Adult sessions must include a minimum of 20 minutes for discussion and questions. The young adult sessions should be highly interactive and concentrated, and allow for at least 60 minutes of discussion. The children's workshops are to be discovery-based learning.

Accepted presenters will be responsible for expenses related to conference attendance, including costs for travel, accommodations, and printing. The lead presenter will receive a complementary conference registration; additional presenters will receive a 50% reduction of their conference registration fee.

Overhead projectors and screens will be provided on request. Other audio-visual equipment may be available and should be requested with the proposal.

Comments

[joshwriting.livejournal.com]

"Are you involved in organizing this conference?"

This is a tricky question. I am in charge. Organizing, though, is another question.

Yes, your surmise on format is right. We are between the two. Generally, we assume our participants can read, so we try to avoid reading to them as much as possible.

I typoed on the 'academic field' part. There was an 's' at the end the first time I typed it.

The theme, while important, is only a part of what drives what we do. We have the general topic, as well, of HG/PG folks. But there are three other areas to be considered besides the presentations to the "adult" conference on giftedness.

The workshops for 6-9 year old and 9-12 children range from game playing to book discussing, to theory and exploration to...

We also have a strand for "Off Topic" presentations. Last year, those included a knitting workshop and fiscal management, among others.

And finally, we have the young adults, who appetites are voracious and varied. So, any of the above topics might well interest some of them. And I did not mean to have you describe a field when I said "talk about." I had in mind more an exploration in one of them that you think would be interesting.

Hmm... I don't know if you have looked at last year's program.

http://www.giftedconferenceplanners.org/Boston/program2006.html

gtg - more later!

[queen-of-wands.livejournal.com]

Oh, last year's program helps tremendously. I saw "conference" and thought "can not produce any new research now that is not a dissertation chapter!" Better to think of it as giving a workshop to a well-educated audience than as giving an academic paper, eh? In that case, I'd be very interested in putting together something on Spirituality and (Gifted) Children. I am imagining something that would involve presenting an analytic framework that comes out of the scholarship and using that as a springboard to facilitate conversation, possibly with the inclusion of some sort of a short meditation, but I worry about alienating anyone whose religion isn't exactly mine. I might also want to tap a friend or two to collaborate with. What I'm imagining would probably be interesting to both adults and young adults. Is that the sort of proposal you're after?

I am still struggling with the category of the gifted. Can you point me toward writing (as if I had time for more reading) that theorizes the category and/or describes the history of the category?

[joshwriting.livejournal.com]

Yes, that is the sort of proposal I am thinking of (or one of many different types).

Yes, there is the risk of offending people whose beliefs are different than yours. I assure you that it happens as often on the educational philosophy end as anywhere else. There is a heavy spiritual element within our population, though, many of whom are looking for more than a purely "scientific" world view, if you will. Metaphysics is not alien to our conferences, though it ebbs and flows over time.

Looking at the 2006 program, I think pointing you to 2005 might serve, as well: http://www.giftedconferenceplanners.org/Boston/program2005.html

A reasonable and reasonably short set of definitions of gifted can be found here: http://www.riage.org/gifteddef.html

This presents what we knew in 1919:
http://www.geocities.com/josh_shaine/What_we_knew_about_teaching_gifted_children_in_1919.htm

And a timeline based history of gifted education:
http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=607

3 pages, total. More can be had in discussion or reading, but I suspect you'll be fine with those as starters.