History

NeMLA was officially recognized after growing out of a New York-Pennsylvania association of faculty organized by William A. Wehmeyer (St. Bonaventure University) at the 1967 Modern Language Association (MLA). He and other MLA members were interested in continuing scholarly discourse at annual conventions smaller than those hosted by the MLA. With F. M. Burelbach as the editor of the NeMLA Newsletter (later Modern Language Studies ), Wehmeyer organized conferences in April 1968 and in April 1969 at St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan Catholic university in Allegany, Cattaraugus County, within the Diocese of Buffalo, New York. In 1969, the organization moved to wider regional membership, election of officers, formal affiliation with MLA, and adoption of its present name.

On April 3, 1970, the Inaugural NeMLA Annual Convention took place in Buffalo, NY.

In July 2024, NeMLA ‘s new administrative home became the College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania.

NeMLA is proud to be affiliated with Gannon University in a strong partnership that will see NeMLA continue to build on its strengths.

Every year, NeMLA and Gannon University collaborate with another institution of higher learning in the local city in which the Convention takes place to organize the annual convention.