This conference is organized by Baruch College and the College Board, and funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), a program of the Department of Education of the United States. We encourage the submission of abstracts on research and practice that effectively address the issue of Chinese character learning and teaching through the use of computer technology. Prospective presenters include professionals in Chinese language instruction at all educational levels and from around the globe. A number of distinguished scholars will also be invited to address the conference. Papers delivered at the conference will be included in a monograph to be published in both simplified and traditional Chinese characters by leading Chinese mainland and Taiwan publishing houses in
early 2004. The working languages of the conference will be Chinese and English.

Information:
All information related to the conference, including application form, conference program, selected abstracts, as well as logistical information, will be posted promptly on our website: http://www.penlesschinese.org/.

Procedure:
1) All applicants should submit a completed application form and a one-page abstract, written in Chinese or English, on or before February 1, 2003;
2) Applicants whose abstract has been accepted by the Steering Committee will be notified by March 1, 2003;
3) A confirmation of attending the conference, with a $50 registration fee, should be sent by the accepted applicants on or before April 1, 2003;
4) A conference program, which will include a preliminary schedule of presentations as well as logistic information, will be forwarded to all attendees by May 1, 2003;
5) All presenters at the conference should submit two hard copies of their papers and a disk containing two files of their paper when registering for the conference on October 3, 2003 (The paper should have between 3,000 to 5,000 Chinese characters. One of the hard copies should be in simplified Chinese characters and the other in traditional Chinese characters. The disk should contain two .doc files prepared in Microsoft Word, with one file in GB coding and the other in Big5 coding);
6) Each presenter will receive two copies of the monograph upon its publication by May 1, 2004.