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Hemley, Robin and Melissa Pritchard, Joe Mackall, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, and Christopher Merrill. The Writer in the World: A Look at Immersion Writing. AWP Conference. Chicago, 2012.

This panel was especially relevant to my project (and field study projects in general) because it discussed immersion writing in the context of journalism, travel writing, and memoir. Immersion is when a writer immerses him or herself into a different culture in order to understand and gain insight from another culture's perspective. Immersion writing combines the view of the writer, but focuses on accurate reporting and representation rather than relying mainly on the writer's imagination or memory. This description aptly defines the difference between the different genres: "In immersion journalism, the writer uses the self to write about the world. In immersion memoir, the writer uses the world to write about the self. And in travel writing, there's a bit of both." My project will probably align the closest to travel writing, because I want to use the context of London to write about myself, but also write about London and its diversity and wonder from my own perspective. This panel was excellent, interesting, and very relevant to my project.