Call for Proposals

 

OBTC  – Teaching Conference for Management Educators

 

June 16-19, 2010

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

 

Early Submission Deadline: December 4, 2009

Drop-dead Final Deadline: January 8, 2010

 

The 2010 conference theme is:

Engaging Difference

 

OBTC is unlike many other academic conferences, in that we have expectations for high degrees of interactive participation in most sessions.  There is an informal and collegial atmosphere, with longer breaks between sessions and many conversations; often into the night.  Most attendees stay on campus, which this year is in the breathtaking mountain setting of Albuquerque.  New Mexico's richly varied landscapes and cultures lend themselves to considering how we encounter and engage with difference as management educators.

 

We'd also like to invite you to consider several sub-themes for this year's meeting!

 

v  Difference in classroom practices

o   Whereas policies often specify how to handle difference in our classrooms, such as students with ADA accommodations, how do we handle garden variety encounters with difference in our classrooms? Do we, for example, encourage [require??] students to create heterogeneous teams? How do we include students with radically different world views and opinions? What kinds of classroom spatial changes do we make to encourage different classroom experiences? What might innovation in classroom practice look like, when we consider differences?

 

v  The structuration of difference

o   Practices in the classroom are assumed to be based on a cause-effect rationale. We give exams to induce students to study and learn course material well; those who know more do better on the exam. Such assumptions privilege agency at the expense of understanding how classroom structures affect learning and learning outcomes. How might structuration theory, or very simply, the recognition of how influential context is in our actions, help us better engage difference? How much deviation from 'normal' classroom practices like attendance policies and linear, verbal discussions do we allow students? How are differences in classroom engagement measured, and evaluated?

 

v  Where's the magic?

o   In an age with increasing demands for published scholarship, accreditation learning assurances, and decreasing budgets, it is easy to forget about the wonder of learning. How are you creating magic for yourself and your students? What can you share about re-invigorating our courses and relationships with learning? What are you doing to enable learning that is so cool and fun you can't wait to get into your classroom to facilitate it?            [I am indebted to Joe Dobson for this theme]

 

 

Founded in 1889, UNM is located along old Route 66 in Albuquerque.  The campus has a contemporary and unique Pueblo revival architectural theme, and looks to the Sandia Mountains in the east and beyond the Rio Grande river to magnificent mesas in the west. New Mexico has a rich cultural heritage, with numerous museums, rich and varied art, beautiful southwestern pottery and an eclectic music scene. All conference venues and the vibrant Nob Hill District are within 10 minutes walk from the residences. The site coordinator is Ann Cunliffe (Cunliffe@mgt.unm.edu).

 

The conference will include several plenary talks by distinguished academics, a Thursday evening event at the historic downtown district including a traditional Mexican meal and a ghost walk, and the traditional Friday night Talent Show and Awards Program once again emceed by Jerry Biberman. Preconference activities begin Sunday, June 13^th and, among others, will include the Doctoral Institute. OBTC 2010 will follow in the rich OBTC tradition of innovation, friendship, and activities you didn't think could be at an academic conference! Come join us!

 

The conference and submission site will be up by early November, as we are currently evaluating vendor proposals to manage this process for us. PLEASE do not wait to begin your proposal, because the submission deadline has not substantially changed since last year even though the submission site will be up later than last year.

 

You're encouraged to use a proposal submission template, found at the Program Coordinator Kathy Lund Dean's web site http://cobhomepages.cob.isu.edu/lundkath/OBTC/OBTC_index.html . If you'd like to use your own proposal document, please include the following items for reviewer evaluation:

 

1. Title page, with author and contact information. This will be uploaded separately for blind review.
2. Abstract: please limit the abstract to 100 words. Please also include appropriate key words.
3. Planning details: These include proposed audience, maximum number of participants, type of session [Activity with debrief? Brainstorming? Course replica?], any special requirements, length of session requested, and proposal level [Curriculum? Course? Student?]
4. Introduction to your session and its takeaways
5. Theoretical grounding: From where do your main ideas come? If participants or reviewers want to read more, where do they go?
6. Session description: How will you use your requested time? What will happen in the session?
7. Application to conference theme and/or sub-theme(s): How does your session fit within the overall theme or any of the sub-themes?
8. References

 

Please contact me (lundkath@isu.edu) to discuss ideas and plans, especially well before the December 4 submission date.  In many cases I can connect you with experienced OBTC presenters to help design and develop your proposal.

 

We will again use rolling reviews and plan to put most of the program together with papers submitted by the December 4, 2008 early submission deadline.  Papers received up until the final deadline of January 8, 2009 will be considered on a space-available basis.  We hope to give notification of acceptances by the end of January 2009.  We will run an OBTC 2010 blog to help people interact prior to the conference and publish a proceedings CD.

 

--

Kathy Lund Dean, Ph.D.
College of Business
Idaho State University
921 South 8th Avenue, Stop 8020
Pocatello, ID  83209-8020
208-282-3461 (office)
208-282-4367 (fax)
http://cobhomepages.cob.isu.edu/lundkath

Program Chair, OBTC 2010
University of New Mexico
http://www.obts.org

Associate Editor, Journal of Management Education
http://jme.sagepub.com
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