Congratulations to the seventeen MLA members who were awarded National Endowment for the Humanities grants in January 2025! Their projects include new humanities courses that engage critically with AI, educational resources about Quechua and Zapotec languages and cultures, a collection of oral histories from residents of Jersey City, a book analyzing how Jack Kerouac’s bilingualism… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Feature
2026 Presidential Theme: Family Resemblances
Tina Lu, the 2025–26 president of the MLA, has chosen Family Resemblances as the presidential theme for the 2026 MLA Annual Convention in Toronto. Wittgenstein writes about how difficult it is to come up with categorical definitions of what constitutes a game. Even a quick glance reveals so much diversity: “we see a complicated network… Read more »
MLA Announces 2024 Edward Guiliano Fellows
The MLA today announced it is awarding the association’s Edward Guiliano Global Fellowships to seventeen PhD students and candidates in MLA-related disciplines. The fellowships provide up to $2,000 to support travel and research related to the completion of a dissertation, generation of a publishable peer-edited journal essay, or production of other publishable outcomes. The awards… Read more »
2024 ALD and ADE Award Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Association of Language Departments and Association of Departments of English service awards, Amy S. Thompson and Douglas Hesse. Amy S. Thompson, recipient of the ALD Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession, is an experienced language educator, accomplished researcher, and inspiring humanities leader. Thompson came into the national… Read more »
Sandra Gilbert, Former President of the MLA, 1936–2024
The MLA celebrates the life of Sandra Gilbert, an internationally renowned critic, poet, and educator, who died on 10 November 2024 in Berkeley, California. A giant of feminist literary theory and a beloved professor, Gilbert shaped the minds of countless students and scholars for more than five decades. Gilbert was born in New York City… Read more »
MLA Members Awarded August 2024 NEH Grants
Congratulations to the eight MLA members who were awarded National Endowment for the Humanities grants in August 2024! Their projects include a database of Catherine the Great’s correspondence, a biography of the Romantic-era poet Jane Taylor, an in-person AI literacy institute, a conference on the aesthetics of solidarity in art by Arab Americans, and more…. Read more »
Report on the 2022–23 MLA Job List
A new report on the jobs advertised on the MLA Job List in the 2022–23 academic year is now available. Following a significant decline in the number of jobs advertised in 2020–21 and a strong recovery in 2021–22 to prepandemic levels, jobs held relatively steady in 2022–23. After several years of pandemic-related turbulence and upheaval,… Read more »
Results of 2024 Ratification Vote
Voting on the 2024 ratification ballot concluded at 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on 3 May. Resolution 2024-1, which encouraged MLA members to call on the firms holding their retirement investments to divest in fossil fuels, was not ratified by the membership. Resolutions forwarded to the membership must be ratified by a majority vote in which the… Read more »
MLA Members Awarded April 2024 NEH Grants
Congratulations to the twenty-seven MLA members who were awarded National Endowment for the Humanities grants in April 2024! Their projects include a book on the rise of public libraries during the US Reconstruction, the development of an undergraduate major in climate communication, a traveling exhibition about the maritime practices of the African diaspora in the… Read more »
Joel Conarroe, Former MLA Executive Director, 1934–2024
The MLA celebrates the life of the author, teacher, and arts administrator Joel Conarroe, who died on 28 April 2024 in the Bronx, New York. A critical figure in the American literary sphere, Conarroe led the MLA, the PEN American Center, and the Guggenheim Foundation at various points throughout his life and championed the work… Read more »