The MLA today announced it is awarding the association’s Pathways Step Grants to twenty-one 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.
“Students who are drawn to the humanities often don’t come into them with a clear sense of the skills, values, and perspectives they will develop in their courses and majors,” said Paula M. Krebs, the executive director of the MLA. “We are so glad that, with the support of the Mellon Foundation, Pathways can continue to bolster faculty members who are working to name, measure, and document the value of study in our fields and are increasing opportunities for their students every day, across the country.”
The selected projects, which come from all over the United States, introduce humanities students to an array of professions.
- At the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, faculty members are developing three digital humanities courses to enhance students’ career readiness though digital tools and multimodal communication, all while bringing attention to Black narratives and cultural histories.
- To boost student’s awareness of humanities careers in the region, faculty members from Appalachian State University, in North Carolina, are deploying a new academic success course paired with a speaker series dedicated to demystifying humanities career pathways.
- At Western Illinois University, faculty members are using a three-pronged approach focused around career literacy to support internships, recruit new students, and build campus and regional partnerships.
The twenty-one 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 2026 MLA Annual Convention, taking place in Toronto from 8 to 11 January. The twenty-one project directors are
- Todd Barnes (Ramapo Coll of New Jersey) – “English Career Ramapo Alumni Mentoring Program”
- Johana Barrero (Univ. of North Florida) – “Empowering First-Generation Success: Bridging Language Studies with Professional Opportunities at UNF”
- Joanne Britland (Univ. of Florida) – “Comics and Community: A Transfer Student Pathway”
- Mary Clinkenbeard (Southern Univ. and A&M Coll.) – “Creating a Career Readiness Program for English Majors and Minors at Southern University and A&M College”
- Megan Cole (Victor Valley Coll.) – “Humanities Career Exploration Academy”
- Cynthia Cravens (Univ. of Maryland, Eastern Shore) – “Inclusive Digital Humanities at an HBCU”
- Darci Gardner (Appalachian State Univ.) – “Job-Hunting from Appalachia: A New Academic Success Course and Speaker Series on Career Paths in the Humanities”
- Marcela Lemos (Utah State Univ.) – “Bridging Language Education and Career Opportunities in Utah: Consolidating the Translation and Interpretation Program through Multilingual Course Development”
- Brian Lockey (St. John’s Univ., Queens) – “The Interdisciplinary Humanities and PreProfessional Studies”
- Christine Marks (LaGuardia Community Coll., City Univ. of New York) – “Building Career-Informed Learning Opportunities for LaGuardia’s Health Humanities Students”
- Martha Nadell (Brooklyn Coll., City Univ. of New York) – “Promoting Career Readiness across the English Department”
- Amy Patrick-Mossman (Western Illinois Univ.) – “Serving Our Students, Serving the Region: Cultivating Career Pathways While Building Transfer and Internship Partnerships for English Majors and Minors”
- Jenna Reynolds (Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham) – “Building Global Connections: Leveraging the Language Lab for the Professions”
- Michele Ricci Bell (Union Coll., NY) – “Language in the Present Tense: Modeling, Mentoring and Mapping Language Proficiency for Career Readiness”
- LeeAnne Richardson (Georgia State Univ.) – “English Major Internships for Recruitment and Retention”
- Jonathan Shelley (St. John Fisher Univ.) – “Developing Learning Communities with the Fisher Urban Scholars”
- LeAnne Spino (Univ. of Rhode Island) – “Forging Pathways for Academic and Professional Success for International Studies and Diplomacy Students”
- Amanda Van Lanen (Lewis-Clark State Coll.) – “Be a Creative Writing Student for a Day”
- Miaowei Weng (Southern Connecticut State Univ.) – “Enhancing Career Readiness in World Languages: A Comprehensive Intervention at Southern Connecticut State University”
- Anne Wheeler (Springfield Coll.) – “Pathways to Writing”
- Claudia Yaghoobi (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) – “Middle East and Islamic Studies Career Pathways Initiative
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.