Before you start conferencing, we wanted to steal a moment of your time to say a few words.

We are very excited and proud of this year’s conference.  The presentations are amazing, and because of the challenge of accommodating many time zones, we hope that you can easily view all of the synchronous events. The format of the conference was based on feedback as to how best to come together as a research community during a pandemic. We came up with a structure that is both familiar (“we did this virtual thing last year”) and newish (“Enhanced Sessions” “Roundtables”), and has small blessings (“You have up to 10 minutes for Flipgrid presentations!”). 

This conference would not have happened without the efforts of several groups of people that deserve our deep-felt thanks:

First, a thank you goes out for all if you who submitted a paper.  We received many submissions, all of which were excellent, making a rich program that speaks to many interests, perspectives, and facets of research relevant to text and discourse. 

Second, we would like to thank members of the Governing Board for shaping the direction of the society in regards to social equity issues.  At this conference, members will continue conversations regarding racial equity in science that were started at last year’s conference. We are pleased that Rod Roscoe will give a keynote on social justice in STEM education. His address will be followed by the discussion on how to increase diversity in our research community.

Third, we would like to thank members of the society for feedback and suggestions regarding the conference’s format. Based on that feedback, we are introducing Enhanced and Round Table Discussion formats for discussion-based sessions. We want to thank presenters and the moderators of these sessions for their bravery of doing something new in our venue. 

Fourth, we would like to acknowledge our members and their scholarship. Jean-Francois Rouet and Anne Britt will share the Distinguished Scientific Contributor Award for their 25 years researching how people comprehend and learn from multiple texts.  As the recipient of the Tom Trabasso Young Investigator Award, Doug Lombardi will give a talk on science literacy. As mentioned earlier, Rod Roscoe will give a keynote on equity in science. And congratulations to Anne Cook, Scott Crossley, and Celia Klin who are now Fellows of the Society for Text and Discourse.

Lastly, we would like to thank everyone who worked on this conference.  It takes a village, and thankfully, we have hard-working and thoughtful individuals in ours.  A big thank you goes out to each member of the Program Review Committee, members of the Conference Organizing Committee, the Emily Smith (Treasurer) and especially, Mike Mensink (Secretary/Webmaster). 

Here is to an awesome conference!

Keith Millis, Chair of the 2021 Virtual ConferenceJoe Magliano, Chair of the Governing Board, and Co-chair of the 2021 Virtual Conference

Society for Text & Discourse Leadership

Chair

Governing Board

Officers

Editors-in-Chief of Discourse Processes