About the Conference

The first Allerton Park Conference on Research in the Teaching of English brought together English faculty from across the U.S. on December 2-4, 1962, with the primary objective of articulating standards for the teaching of college English. Over the years since then, hundreds if not thousands of English faculty and graduate students, primarily from Illinois community colleges and universities, have come together each April at the Allerton Conference to present their research on teaching English and learn from others.

Many of the Allerton panel presentations have become parts of dissertations and/or publications, but one of the primary goals of the conference is to share good ideas for teaching, both in panel discussions and in the networking spaces between panels and events.

The conference's small size and intimate natural setting make it an ideal space for good ideas to germinate, spread, and grow into teaching strategies that have a lasting effect on faculty and students at Illinois higher educational institutions.