Participating in a Scholarly Conference

Graduate students, particularly PhD students, are encouraged to give papers at scholarly conferences in order to gain feedback on their research, network with other scholars, and build their CVs. Your teachers will often tell you if they think a paper you wrote for their class (particularly the Proseminar/Seminar sequence) has the potential to be developed into a conference paper, or you can seek out their opinion. It is not wise, however, to apply for a conference without consulting your mentor (or the faculty member for whom you did the paper) and asking him/her to vet your conference abstract.

Conference Rules: Everything You Need to Know about Presenting a Scholarly Paper (AHA Perspectives, 2008)
Conference Rules 2. Introducing Speakers and Running a Panel Discussion (AHA Perspectives, 2008)
Conference Rules 3. Your Role as a Commentator or Member of the Audience (AHA Perspectives, 2008)