Guidelines for Research Cells Participants, Discussants, and Reporters

TransCanada is not just a conference; it is a future-oriented project that aspires to foster ongoing and constructive dialogue about Canadian literature and the institutional structures that inform it. The various "collaborative" clusters and the research results of this dialogue will emerge from the Research Cells. The Research Cells, then, are designed as the laboratory site where the future directions of the field of Canadian literature in general, and TransCanada in particular, will be discussed and mapped out.

All cells are scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 25, from 2 to 5:30 p.m. The three-and-a-half-hour slots allocated to the cells are intended to provide ample time for discussion and future research plans. We would like to recommend the following structure, although cell participants could decide as a group to follow their own structure, and/or whether they wish to have a break.

Hour One: Presentations

- 10 minutes for Discussant's introductions.

- 10 minutes for each participant to present his/her project.

Hour Two: Discussion

- The Discussant will animate discussion by foregrounding common points and points of difference among presented projects, and by raising 2 or 3 key questions arising from the project presentations to initiate discussion.

- 60 minutes of open discussion.

Hour Three: Collaboration & Recommendations

- 30 minutes: The Discussant will lead the group in addressing the question of collaboration: What is collaboration? Why collaborate? Why is collaboration presented these days as the "right" way to conduct certain kinds of research? What is the logic of collaboration that underlies certain kinds of collaborative models (e.g., SSHRC's research clusters)? What is gained and what is lost through collaboration? What forms can collaboration take? Can certain collaborative forms generate new critical possibilities?

- 30 minutes: The Discussant will lead discussion toward formulating recommendations: what should happen in Phase II of TransCanada at Guelph, as well as in subsequent phases of TransCanada; various collaborative possibilities and models that the participants (may) decide to pursue through Phase II of TransCanada; what specific configurations of the projects presented should be pursued in collaborative format; new research directions / themes to be pursued; research teams to be formed; specific research and publishing projects (e.g., co-authored books, special issues of journals, collections of essays, co-authored articles, and/or special sessions in Phase II of TransCanada).

The Reporters for Research Cells will report on the Research Cells on the Plenary Session: Reports from Cells, Sunday, June 26, 2:00-3:00.

The Reporters are not expected to present detailed minutes of the Cell sessions. Rather, they should offer a summary of the discussion after the project presentations by drawing the assembly's attention to key points and key words. They are also expected to document the details of the discussion about collaboration, and present in point form the recommendations each Research Cell will make. This information will be used to plan Phase II of TransCanada. (For documentation and archival purposes, the Reporters should attempt to attribute, when relevant, key points to individual delegates.)

Guidelines for Position Paper Presenters and Reporters for Position Papers

Position Paper Presenters are expected:

not to formally read or deliver one's paper--since it has been posted online and assumed to have been read by delegates in advance of the session. The writer of a given position paper is expected instead to summarise one's argument (taking approximately 5 minutes to do so).

Reporters for Position Papers are expected to:

- summarize statements by presenters;
- report on the key points made in the Position Paper sessions' group discussion;
- and present key words and problematics that the position papers address.

For your reference, the outline of this type of session as written up in the conference proposal was as follows:
"Position papers directly focused on issues relevant to the three main conference themes ... will be posted on the web, allowing participants to read them before the conference. The presenters will then present the gist of their arguments, while the Discussants will synthesize them and generate discussion."