High Plains Regional Conference
Sponsored by the Sigma Beta Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta
Date:
Friday, October 17 - Saturday, October 18, 2025
Location:
Virtual Event
Registration Cost:
Free
Registration:
Everyone who plans to attend the conference, whether you are presenting, attending, or moderating, please:
Register Here
The Sigma Beta chapter of Sigma Tau Delta at Chadron State College will hold a virtual undergraduate and graduate research conference for the High Plains Region and our neighbors from other regions. We invite all students, as well as current and alumni members of Sigma Tau Delta, to submit critical papers and creative works for presentation and discussion. Attendance is open to all.
Guest Author: Jenna Goldsmith, PhD, is a poet and writer living in Northern Illinois. She is Senior Instructor I at Oregon State University Cascades (remote) and Director of the low-residency MFA Program in Writing. Her 2022 chapbook CRUSH was the winner of the Baltic Writing Residency Chapbook Contest. She was City Poet Laureate of Rockford, Illinois from 2023-2025.
Website: www.jennalgoldsmith.com
The conversation and Q&A will take place on Friday, October 17, in the evening. We will also have a couple of other activities of interest, including a session to generate roundtable submissions for the 2026 International Convention in March, as well as an open mic night.
Submission Guidelines
Submission Eligibility:
Submissions for presentation are open to any undergraduate or graduate student, as well as current Sigma Tau Delta members and alumni members of Sigma Tau Delta.
Submission Requirements:
Presenters will first submit an abstract based on a paper they plan to present. Presentations may be based on either a critical essay or creative work in any genre, and submissions should not exceed 2,000 words in length, and presentations should be between 8-15 minutes (as per the national convention guidelines as well). Critical presentations are welcome in any period or genre of literature, popular culture, media, film, rhetoric/composition studies, or pedagogy. Please feel free to email the High Plains Regent, Dr. Mary Clai Jones, mjones@csc.edu, if you have questions about the topic of your paper.
Submission Deadline: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Acceptance Notifications: no later than Friday, October 10
Email Questions to: Mary Clai Jones at mjones@csc.edu
Schedule
(all events are listed in Mountain Time)
Friday, October 17
- 6:30-7:30 Guest Author Q&A,
- 7:30-8:00 Open Mic
*In the event there is not guest author, then our open mic will run from 6:30-7:30 PM Mountain Time*
Saturday, October 18
- 9:00-11:30 morning sessions
- 11:30-12:45 Lunch Break and Convention Roundtable Networking
- 1:00-5:00 afternoon sessions
