Guidelines for Presenters

Eligibility

To present a paper or collaborative work at the annual meeting, you must be a current member of the Religious Education Association and registered for the annual meeting by June 1st. Event registration and membership are available through the REA website at www.religiouseducation.net.

Research Interest Group Presentations

Presenters of research papers must submit their full papers no later than May 31st. Papers must be sent electronically to the Executive Secretary at secretary [at] religiouseducation [dot] net. Papers are not limited, but an appropriate length would be 6000 words (not including the title, abstract, and references) because that is the restriction for submissions to our journal Religious Education. Keep in mind that participants are expected to read papers before the meeting. Papers sent to the Executive Secretary should be in this format:

  • PDF file format — unlocked (otherwise we cannot use it in the proceedings)
  • Author, institution, email address, “REA Annual Meeting” [date of meeting] in upper left hand corner of first page, prior to centered title, then abstract
  • Times New Roman 12 point
  • 1” margins
  • Single spaced
  • Page numbers, bottom center
  • Use Chicago 16th edition (in text author-date citation)
  • Endnotes (Not Footnotes) followed by bibliography

Presenters of research papers will typically be paired with at least one other presenter and will share a session known as a “Research Interest Group.” All papers will be posted on the website prior to the meeting, and published in conference Proceedings (also available on the website). 

  • Presenters should assume that those attending the session have read the paper in advance. 
  • Equal time for presentation and discussion will be allotted to each presenter in a session. A facilitator will be assigned to facilitate each group of presentations and may invite discussion either after each presentation or after all presentations are completed.
  • Presenters should carefully prepare a 15 minute presentation. Please do not attempt to read your paper within this short timeframe. The most productive presentations will remind attendees very briefly of the basic argument and outline of the paper, and lay out a few key issues for discussion. 
  • Presentations for this annual meeting are on Zoom. Screen sharing for presentations is available, including audio. If you need technical assistance sharing your presentation via Zoom, please contact info [at] religiouseducation [dot] net.

Remember that REA conference attendees enjoy and expect time for lively discussion among participants and presenters.Presenters of papers may revise and submit their papers for possible inclusion in the conference issue of the Religious Education Journal. Detailed information will be sent to the presenters following the annual meeting. The Proposals Selection Committee will act as the peer review jury. The journal editor will make the final selections.

Collaborative Sessions

These sessions will model collaborative academic inquiry around a particular topic related to the theme. Research and practical wisdom may be shared through a panel presentation, a dialogue or interview, or other modes of embodied engagement. Remember that REA conference attendees enjoy and expect time for lively discussion among participants and presenters.

Presenters of Collaborative works who are not submitting formal papers are required to submit an outline of the main concepts/issue, the methodology, and the primary sources grounding the presentation for posting on the website. This outline must be submitted electronically no later than May 31 to the Executive Secretary at secretary [at] religiouseducation [dot] net. 

OUTLINES NOT RECEIVED BY THAT DATE WILL RESULT IN CANCELLATION FROM THE ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM. The outline should be two pages, single-spaced, 12 point, Time New Roman font, 1” margins all around, and must be received in electronic format (‘doc’ or ‘pdf’). 

Additional resources or handouts supporting the presentation may also be submitted in advance for posting on the website. These materials are also due May 31.

Collaborative sessions are on zoom. Please do not plan on reading PowerPoints slides or showing lengthy videos (longer than 10 mins). The hope is to spark, sustain, and engage in collaborative work with other REA members. Present main topics, themes, and offer discussion questions or themes for the group to engage.

Poster Presentations with optional digital media

Presenters of Posters are required to submit an outline of the main concepts/issue, the methodology, and the primary sources grounding the presentation for posting on the website. This outline must be submitted electronically no later than May 31 to the Executive Secretary at secretary [at] religiouseducation [dot] net.

Poster Presentations will be allotted a specific timeslot during the meeting. To facilitate conversation across levels of expertise, established members in the field and in the organization may be invited to briefly respond to each of the posters. See additional Poster Instructions online.

A poster is a graphically based approach to presenting research. In presenting your research with a poster, you should aim to use the poster as a means for generating active discussion of the research. In our online conferences, this means a slide deck with no more than 5 slides. We prefer the Ignite! format.

Virtual A/V Guidelines

All presentations will take place on Zoom. To become familiar with some basic Zoom features, such as screen sharing, chat, reactions, etc., please see these resources: 

At least a week before the meeting all speakers will be able to find their session’s Zoom meeting on the schedule under the menu to the left of their session (where the microphone symbol is). Feel free to practice in the actual meeting in which you’ll be presenting.

 On the day of your presentation, arrive to the session about 15 minutes early so that you can test your connection, camera, microphone, screen sharing if needed, and also get any updates from the session host.

In-Person A/V Guidelines

The REA recognizes the importance of using digital equipment during presentations. Most of the time we will be hosted by a university whose “smart” classrooms have the requisite technology available. There is a place to note your audiovisual needs in the proposal submission form. Please fill out that section so that we can plan accordingly.

If you will need A/V support for your presentation, please let our executive secretary know before May 31.  Requests after June 13 cannot be accommodated. Projectors cannot be used with poster presentations.

If you plan to use digital media (such as DVD) or a laptop display for your poster presentation, your presentation will need to run from your personal laptop. Presenters must provide their own speakers for sound. Small tables for laptop computers will be available upon request. Laptops must run on battery power (or inform us if your laptop will require a power supply). In order to accommodate sufficient tables, power supply, internet access, and spacing, please submit requests to our executive secretary before May 31.  Requests after June 13 cannot be accommodated.

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