The 2015 Nominating Committee has nominated Michael F. Bernard-Donals, Anne Ruggles Gere, and Keith Gilyard for second vice president of the MLA and Lenora Hanson, Steffen Kaupp, Amanda Licastro, John B. Lyon, David Pan, Daniel Powell, and Rafael A. Ramirez Mendoza for the MLA Executive Council. The 2015 Elections Committee has arranged contests to fill… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Feature
Summer Newsletter Highlights
Members can now read the Summer issue of the MLA Newsletter online. In addition to a president’s column about the future of the association and an editor’s column featuring guest commentaries about the #Ferguson2MLA action in Vancouver, the issue includes the nominees for 2015 elections and an invitation to suggest PMLA editor candidates.
2015 Ratification Vote Now Under Way
The 2015 Delegate Assembly approved seven amendments to the MLA constitution. The assembly’s actions are not final, however, since they are subject to ratification by the MLA membership. Members are therefore encouraged to review this year’s ballot and to exercise their right to vote. All members in good standing as of 7 April are eligible… Read more »
Tool Kit on Academic Freedom
The Committee on Academic Freedom and Professional Rights and Responsibilities has just updated its Tool Kit on Academic Freedom. A resource for educators, the tool kit defines academic freedom, explores why it matters and what faculty members can do to protect it, and provides a reading list for those who want to learn more. The… Read more »
Executive Council Condemns Violence in Mexico
In response to recent murders and disappearances of students and teachers in Mexico, the MLA Executive Council has issued a statement condemning the violence. These actions, the statement declares, “have created an environment in which learning and critical thinking are deemed dangerous activities.” The MLA is committed to supporting academic freedom and denounces these threats… Read more »
Contribute to an MLA Approaches to Teaching Volume
The volume Approaches to Teaching the Works of Federico García Lorca, edited by José I. Badenes and Cecelia J. Cavanaugh, is now in development in the MLA Approaches to Teaching World Literature series. Instructors who have taught these works are encouraged to contribute to the volume by completing a survey about their experiences. Information about… Read more »
MLA Report Spurs Discussion about the Value of Studying a Foreign Language
Since its release in February, the MLA’s report Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2013 has received coverage in the Washington Post, Inside Higher Ed, and numerous university and regional outlets. While enrollments in language courses have increased 11.9% since 2002, the 2013 survey showed a decline… Read more »
MLA Statement on Electronic Publication
The MLA has just released an updated statement on electronic publication. Revised by the Committee on Information Technology, the statement affirms that “[e]lectronically published journal articles, monographs, and long-form scholarship are viable and credible modes of scholarly publication” and that publishing electronically offers advantages to the author and the user, including ease of access and… Read more »
Submitting Convention Program Forms for MLA Austin
If you’re planning a session for the 2016 MLA Annual Convention in Austin, to be held 7–10 January, please visit the MLA Web site to access forms for submitting program copy and for proposing sessions. The deadline for all forms is 1 April. Special-session proposals and nonguaranteed-session proposals will be reviewed by the Program Committee at… Read more »
Competitions Still Open for 2015 Publication Prizes
The MLA Committee on Honors and Awards invites authors and editors to compete for the association’s publication awards. In addition to the MLA Prize for a First Book and the Lois Roth Award for a translation of a literary work, which have a 1 April deadline, there are seven annual and fifteen biennial MLA prizes… Read more »