Engaging, inspiring speakers contribute enormously to the success of our conference.
Thank you for providing your presentation proposal for our consideration!

In Scripture, light not only depicts God’s presence and transforming power; it also illuminates knowledge and witnesses to the Truth. God’s people are called to be a light to the nations.

C.S. Lewis noted that knowledge comes not simply by looking at things from the outside in an analytical fashion, such as studying a sunbeam in a dark room; we must also look along the shaft of light—stepping into its path and seeing what else it illuminates. The renewal of Catholic education is not only a venture of studying about the Church’s intellectual tradition, but stepping into it and seeing what—and, more importantly, Who—it reveals from the inside.

St. Catherine of Siena said that, “the task of the educator is to bring the soul from the shadows of ignorance into the light of truth.” Inspired by this calling and the compelling scene depicted in Caravaggio’s The Calling of Saint Matthew, we will explore how Catholic liberal education moves our hearts, minds, and world toward “Stepping into the Light,” at Christ’s invitation to, “Follow me” (Matthew 9:9).

Where possible, we encourage presentations that draw from and reflect the conference theme, but we also consider separate topics.

As you prepare your proposal, please keep the following in mind:

• Please submit your proposal by our deadline of Monday, February 2.
• You will be notified by Friday, February 27, regarding the status of your proposal.
• Breakout speakers are chosen from among our registered National Conference attendees. We are pleased to offer a small honorarium; however, we are unable to waive the speaker’s registration and travel costs. If your proposal is accepted, you are asked to register yourself for the Conference within a week.
• Plan on up to 50 minutes for your presentation, including time for Q&A or an interactive portion. Our participants have told us that, in addition to theory, they are looking for practical tools for immediate use in the classroom.
• Any handouts will be made available to participants electronically. (We will collect the digital copies of your handouts closer to the Conference date.) If you need to use printed handouts during your session, kindly bring them with you because copying facilities at the conference venue are limited. Please bring about 50 copies of each handout.
  
• Please note that we will record the audio of each presentation. Conference attendees have access to all the recordings for at least 90 days after the end of the program.
• For reference, please view the 2025 program HERE.

Please submit your proposal using this form. Complete the form once for each separate proposal.