Events of Interest to Graduate Students at the 2015 MLA Annual Convention

Graduate Student Lounge. A lounge where graduate students can meet for discussion and relaxation—located in the Vancouver Convention Centre (201, level 2, West Building)—will be open at the following times:

Thursday, 8 January: 12:00 noon–7:00 p.m.
Friday, 9 January: 8:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m.
Saturday, 10 January: 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Sunday, 11 January: 8:00 a.m.–12:00 noon

Members of the Committee on the Status of Graduate Students in the Profession (CSGSP) will hold two events—Candid Questions and Speed Networking—in the lounge on Friday, 9 January, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. There will be an opportunity afterward to attend the presidential address and reception (session 406) or to go to dinner together.

Social networking. The CSGSP encourages attendees to tweet sessions using the convention hashtag (#mla15), session hashtags (e.g., #s161), and graduate student hashtag (#mlagrads).

Blog. The CSGSP has a blog, MLAgrads, covering the annual convention, the job market, and other issues relevant to graduate student members of the MLA.

Job Information Service. The Job Information Service will operate a center at the Fairmont Waterfront (Imperial Ballroom, level B2). The Association of Departments of English and the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages will arrange times when experienced faculty members will offer one-on-one counseling to job seekers in the center on 9 and 10 January.

Council of Editors of Learned Journals. Experienced editors who are members of the Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ) will be available to provide informal information and private consultations on 9 and 10 January from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Vancouver Convention Centre (101, level 1, West Building). Please visit http://celj.org for more information. Those interested in meeting with a CELJ editor at the MLA convention should contact Graham MacPhee at gmacphee@wcupa.edu.

Sessions. Sessions of particular interest to graduate students include the following:

Thursday, 8 January

2. Careers for Humanists: A Job Search Workshop (preregistration required; workshop is full)
8:30–11:30 a.m., 222, VCC West
4. Preconvention Workshop for Job Seekers in English
11:45 a.m.–1:15 p.m., 11, VCC East
5. Preconvention Workshop for Job Seekers in Foreign Languages
11:45 a.m.–1:15 p.m., 1, VCC East
72. Using Your Language Proficiency and Cultural Expertise in a Federal Government Career
1:45–3:45 p.m., 1, VCC East
**74. Pursuing Two Passions: On Being a Graduate Student and Something Else
3:30–4:45 p.m., 114, VCC West
161. Demonstration Interviews for Job Seekers in Foreign Languages
7:00–8:15 p.m., 1, VCC East
176. What Does It Mean to Publish? New Forms of Scholarly Communication
7:00–8:15 p.m., 17, VCC East

Friday, 9 January

179. Reorganizing the MLA: Making More Room for Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing Studies
8:30–9:45 a.m., 204, VCC West
252. Open Hearing of the MLA Delegate Assembly
10:15–11:30 a.m., 122, VCC West
267. Contingent Academic Labor and Unionization
12:00 noon–1:15 p.m., 216, VCC West
269. Open Hearing on Resolutions
12:00 noon–1:15 p.m., 122, VCC West
307. Careers for Humanists: A Spectrum of Possibilities
1:45–3:00 p.m., 1, VCC East
341. National Security Education Program (NSEP)
3:30–4:45 p.m., 121, VCC West
378. Publishing in Scholarly Journals: Advice from Editors
5:15–6:30 p.m., 224, VCC West
380. Translation and Interpreting: Flexible Career Paths in Vulnerable Times
5:15–6:30 p.m., 13, VCC East
406. The Presidential Address
6:45 p.m., 301, VCC West

Saturday, 10 January

472. The First Year of College and Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Members: Paradoxes, Problems, Possibilities
10:15–11:30 a.m., 214, VCC West
515. Careers for Humanists: What Can Graduate Programs Do?
12:00 noon–1:15 p.m., 214, VCC West
523. Practical Strategies for Improving Job Security for Faculty Members in Contingent Appointments
12:00 noon–1:15 p.m., 119, VCC West
553. Career Opportunities in Community Colleges
1:45–3:00 p.m., 122, VCC West
*593. I Know What You Didn't Do Last Summer
3:30–4:45 p.m., 113, VCC West
600. The Professionalization of Teaching
3:30–4:45 p.m., 224, VCC West
630. MFA versus PhD? Rethinking Creative Writing in the Academy
5:15–6:30 p.m., 109, VCC West
641. MLA Awards Ceremony
6:45 p.m., 301, VCC West

Sunday, 11 January

725. Journeys beyond the Professoriat
12:00 noon–1:15 p.m., 113, VCC West
*743. Open Access . . . Closing Doors?
12:00 noon–1:15 p.m., 117, VCC West