The MLA today announced it is awarding the association’s inaugural Pathways Step Grants to nineteen faculty teams in MLA-related disciplines. Each step grant provides up to $10,000 to support faculty members with the development of new structures, programs, and resources that bolster the recruitment, retention, and career readiness of undergraduate students, especially students of color, first-generation college students, and Pell Grant recipients.
“When we give students permission to focus on the humanities by showing them pathways to success during college and after graduation, they choose the humanities,” said Paula M. Krebs, the executive director of the MLA. “We are so glad that, with the support of the Mellon Foundation, we can bolster the work of faculty members whose initiatives make a significant difference to their students, departments, and institutions.”
The selected projects, which come from across the United States, introduce humanities students to an array of professions. At Montclair State University, in New Jersey, faculty members are developing a cocurricular career resources hub, which will offer tools for defining career pathways for students in modern languages. To boost student recruitment and professional development, faculty members from Lamar University, in Texas, will design a set of career readiness workshops tailored for current and prospective humanities students. At Mt. San Antonio College, a two-year institution in California, faculty members aim to strengthen pipelines for English majors to four-year institutions through a series of career exploration, enrichment, and transfer-focused events. The nineteen projects, selected through a rigorous peer review process, demonstrate an array of innovative approaches intended to engage and enrich humanities students in the classroom and beyond.
The recipients of Pathways Step Grants will present their projects at the 2025 MLA Annual Convention, to be held in New Orleans from 9 to 12 January 2025. The nineteen project directors are
- Janet Badia (Purdue Univ., Fort Wayne) – “Collaboratory: Exploring Place through the Liberal Arts”
- Sheila Bauer-Gatsos (Dominican Univ.) – “Creating a New Story for the English Major at an HSI”
- Heidi Bean (Bridgewater State Univ.) – “Career Readiness and Outreach”
- Kathi Inman Berens (Portland State Univ.) – “Pre-Internship Shadowing at Portland State University”
- Rebecca Davis (Univ. of California, Irvine) – “Internships for English Majors, UCI”
- Vanessa DeGifis (Wayne State Univ.) – “Transfer Pathways for Equitable Access to Global Learning”
- Elizabeth Emery (Montclair State Univ.) – “Montclair State University World Languages and Cultures Student Career Hub”
- Tara Green (Univ. of Houston) – “EMERGE Leadership Academy at the University of Houston”
- Janice Hawes (South Carolina State Univ.) – “Increasing Opportunities for E 499 English Internship Students”
- David Hobbs (Univ. of Lethbridge) – “Emerging Indigenous Writers Series”
- Bristin Jones (The Regents of the Univ. of California, Merced) – “Spanish and Environmental Humanities: Improving Recruitment and Retention at UC Merced”
- Jason Kordich (Mt. San Antonio Coll.) – “Transfer Initiative for Community College English Majors and Minors”
- David Magill (Longwood Univ.) – “Mapping Your Journey in Language: From Student to Professional and Citizen”
- David Sanchez Jimenez (Research Foundation of CUNY) – “Spanish Medical Interpretation and Healthcare Communication Curriculum Modifications for Future Language-Concordant Professionals”
- Amy Smith (Lamar Univ.) – “Educated, Empowered, Employed: Humanities Skills Training on the Gulf Coast”
- Allison Speicher (Eastern Connecticut State Univ.) – “New Pathways for Students of Color, First-Generation College Students, and Pell Grant Recipients to Enter Eastern Connecticut State University’s English Program”
- Katharine Trostel (Ursuline Coll.) – “Towards a Rust Belt Humanities Ecosystem”
- Sebastian Williams (Davis & Elkins Coll.) – “Davis & Elkins College Outdoor Woods Program”
- German Zarate-Sandez (Western Michigan Univ.) – “Making Spanish Relevant for Black Students”
The Pathways Step Grants are funded by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation. The MLA step grants are housed under a new initiative, MLA Pathways: Recruitment, Retention, and Career Readiness, which supports departments and programs in literature, language, writing, culture, area studies, and related disciplines to build tools, networks, and resources for the recruitment, retention, and career readiness of undergraduate students. Central to the Pathways program is the creation of new structures of support at the program, campus, and regional levels for students from groups underrepresented in the humanities, especially students of color, first-generation college students, and Pell Grant recipients.