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

As the Catholic liberal education movement matures, ICLE is happy to offer a new Scholars Track at our National Conference. The Scholars Track will feature academic presentations designed to enrich the life of the mind, with papers on topics ranging from literature to math, theology to music.

The theme for our 2025 National Conference is inspired by the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23): Cultivating the Heart. Like the apostles, the Catholic educator prepares the earth and plants the seed of God’s word for a bountiful harvest. The heart – of both the teacher and the student – is the first ground to be cultivated.

Jules Breton’s 19th century oil painting, La Bénédiction des blés en Artois (The Blessing of the Wheat in Artois), depicts the faithful bringing Christ to the world, praising Him, and seeking His blessing.

May we prepare all hearts to welcome with joy the Word of life!

Where possible, we encourage papers 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 Saturday, February 15.
• Proposals should be in the form of a 300-word abstract.
• You will be notified by Friday, February 28, regarding the status of your proposal.
• Scholars Track presenters 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.
• Each Scholars Track block is 60 minutes in length. During the 1-hour period, two presenters will present their papers for 18 minutes each, leaving time at the end of the session for Q and A.
• 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 up to 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, you may view last year’s program HERE. (The Scholars Track has not previously been offered.)

Please submit your proposal HERE.