Graduate Student Caucus

Welcome! With the generous support of NeMLA, our caucus is able to provide the below privileges for graduate students. Please visit us at http://sites.google.com/site/nemlagradcaucus/Home for further information about events and opportunities!

GSC Business Meet-and-Greet / Welcome Reception

To be held at the 2012 Convention in Rochester. Please stay tuned for further details.

Travel Awards

The Annual Travel Award competition for the NeMLA 2012 Annual Conference in Rochester will open on December 2, 2011.

The NeMLA graduate student travel awards are open to M.A. and Ph.D. students who have been accepted to present at the 2012 Convention. For those applying, the online application will be available from Dec. 2, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2011; we will not accept applications by postal mail, fax, or email. Our evaluation will be based on a set of criteria, including the quality of the student’s abstract, the relevance of her/his topic in her/his respective fields, the funds available from the student’s University, and the travel distance to the Convention. Students can expect to hear from us by mid-February. Please stay tuned for application instructions.

Graduate Student Caucus Roundtables

For the 2012 convention, the Graduate Student Caucus will host the following roundtables:

Navigating Department Politics (Roundtable). This Graduate Student Caucus roundtable will examine the challenges of successfully negotiating departmental politics as one completes coursework, teaching, exams, and the writing of a dissertation. We will consider the most productive strategies for emerging with degree, academic credentials, and recommendations resoundingly in hand. Please send an abstract of between 150-250 words to Bryan Brazeau, New York University (bryan.brazeau@nyu.edu).

Graduate Student Caucus Business Meeting

To be held at the 2012 Convention in Rochester. Please stay tuned for further details.

Graduate Student Caucus Dinner

To be held at the 2012 Convention in Rochester. Please stay tuned for further details.

Graduate Student Caucus Socials

Subsidized by NeMLA, the Caucus will sponsor various socials, including breakfasts during the convention and the Graduate Student Forum. At this annual meeting and social hour, graduate students have a chance to share their experiences at NeMLA and their home institutions, as well as discuss how NeMLA can better serve them in the future.

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Graduate Student Caucus Paper Prize

NeMLA awards an annual prize to the best graduate student paper presented at any of the Convention’s sections.

The submission deadline for the 2012 Graduate Student Caucus Paper Prize is January 15, 2012. Only papers presented at the 2011 convention in New Brunswick by a graduate student (at the time of the convention) will be considered. A cash prize of $100 will be awarded at the 2012 convention. Send submissions (see below for submission criteria) to Graduate Caucus Secretary David Delamatta at DDelamatta@lfcc.edu.

Criteria for all Caucus Essay Awards:

Submitted essays should be between 7,000 and 9,000 words (MLS has a 10,000 word limit, notes and works cited included) and prepared anonymously. Unrevised paper presentations are not accepted and will be returned. The author’s name, address, and academic affiliation should appear only on a separate cover sheet. Submissions should use MLA citation style. Submissions not meeting these criteria may not be considered for an award.

Each caucus prize offers a $100 cash award. Prize-winning essays will automatically be considered for publication by Modern Language Studies; all essays are subject to MLS’s double-blind review.

Other Awards

Awards for which graduate students are eligible but that are also open to other NeMLA members include:

Women’s and Gender Studies Caucus Best Essay Award
See http://www.nemla.org/community/caucuses/womens.html#essay for more details.
LGBT Best Essay Contest
See http://www.nemla.org/community/caucuses/lgbtq.html for more details.
Summer Fellowship
See http://www.nemla.org/about/awards/fellowship.html for more details.
Newberry Library-NeMLA Fellowship
See http://www.newberry.org/research/felshp/short-term.html for more details.

Officers

Nominations for leadership positions within our Caucus are accepted at the annual Graduate Student Meeting/Reception. Elections are held shortly after the Convention through SurveyMonkey. Officers include the following:

President
Oversees the caucus and is elected triennially. The President serves on the NeMLA board, and attends both fall and spring board meeting (the fall board meeting is typically held at the upcoming convention site). Other responsibilities include Chairing the Travel Grant Committee, Organizing Convention Graduate Events, and assisting with the Graduate Student Paper Prize and Room/Ride Share Board.
Vice President
Assists the President with caucus business and is elected biennially. The Vice President organizes and chairs the convention Graduate Caucus Panel, manages caucus emails and surveys, and assists with Travel Grants, Facebook, and the Graduate Student Paper Prize.
Secretary
Oversees the Graduate Caucus Paper Prize, and assumes Secretary position upon completing the 1 year Communications Director position. The Secretary assists with Travel Grants, and heads the distribution of grant checks at the convention.
Communications Director
Oversees the Graduate Caucus Google Group, the Room/Ride Share board, and Facebook. The Communications Director also assists the President in planning Convention Graduate Events and acts as a liaison and source of support for graduate students. This 1 year position progresses to Secretary upon completion (totaling a 2-year commitment).