association of departments and programs of comparative literature (Adpcl)

meeting for comp lit administrators and program representatives

ACLa 2004 Minutes

Date:             6/17/04

To:                  CAREY ECKHARDT, PRESIDENT, ADPCL

From:            CORINNE SCHEINER, SECRETARY-TREASURER, adPCL

RE:                  minutes of adpcl meeting at the 2004 ACla, ann arbor, mi.

Attendees: Sandra Bermann (Princeton), David Damrosch (Columbia), Carey Eckhardt (Penn State), Oscar Kenshur (Indiana), Kathleen Komar (UCLA), Elaine Martin (Alabama), Elizabeth Richmond-Garza (Texas), and Corinne Scheiner (Colorado College)

 

1.       Introductions

 

2.       Review of and discussion of minutes from meeting at 2003 MLA

 

3.       Review of budget

 

a.       $3000 from ACLA; matching funds from Penn State.  Membership fees will gradually replace the subsidy from ACLA.

 

b.       Primary expense this year (June 03-June 04): ADPCL website and preparation of Comparative Literature inventory to be published in the Directory issue of PMLA, see below

 

4.       Review of and discussion of new ADPCL brochure and the website (http://www.adpcl.org)

 

5.       ADPCL conference sessions at ACLA and MLA

 

a.       ACLA 2004: Session on the job market: “Strategies for Finding (and Keeping) a Tenure-Track Job: A Workshop Co-Sponsored by the Graduate Caucus and the Association of Departments and Programs of Comparative Literature (ADPCL)”

 

                                                               i.      Panelists: Caroline D. Eckhardt, Pennsylvania State University, Sabine Theuerwaechter, University of California –Riverside, Julie Stone Peters, Columbia University, and Corinne Scheiner, Colorado College

 

                                                              ii.      Session was very well attended

 

b.       MLA 2004: Session proposal submitted [and subsequently approved]

 

                                                               i.      Title: “New Institutional Forms of Comparison”

 

                                                              ii.      Panelists: Gayatri Spivak, Katie Trumpener, Bill Moebius

 

c.        Plans for ACLA 2005: Session on the job market

 

                                                               i.      Report based on department/program survey

 

                                                              ii.      What are departments/programs doing to prepare students for the process of job seeking?

 

1.       Mock interviews, review of c.v., etc.

 

                                                            iii.      What jobs have students found?

 

1.       Multiple appointments? joint appointments? academic title?

 

2.       Interested not only in first placements, but also in jobs held during first five years after graduation

 

6.       Application for Affiliated Status with the MLA: DUE 1 SEPTEMBER

 

a.       We now have 31 institutional members

 

b.       To show the impact of the ADPCL, the application to the MLA should include not only departments, but each faculty member at those institutions

 

c.        Questions to ask:

 

                                                               i.      How many faculty? full-time? part-time?

 

                                                              ii.      How many graduate students?

 

                                                            iii.      How many undergraduate students?

 

d.       Elizabeth has some of this information

 

7.       PMLA Directory of Comparative Literature Programs

 

a.       Major achievement:  after many years of discussing this possibility, starting with September 2004, the PMLA Directory issue will have a listing of programs and departments of Comparative Literature, as it now lists programs in Women’s Studies, Ethnic Studies, etc.   ADPCL will be responsible for annually updating this information for MLA. 

 

b.       Aside from the printed PMLA Directory listing of all Comp Lit academic units, graduate programs in Comp Lit will be included in a new MLA project, an online guide to graduate programs. 

 

8.       ADPCL membership reminders

 

a.       The ACLA office will send an on-paper reminder along with a letter about the Bernheimer Prize.  In the Fall we should send an email prompt reminding departments of institutional memberships

 

                                                               i.      N.B. These are not individual department chair memberships, but memberships for the program, department, curriculum, etc.

 

                                                              ii.      Dates to send: 1 October and 1 November

 

b.       Also send form letter and ADPCL brochure

 

9.       Upcoming election of executive committee

 

a.       Five members, three-year staggered terms

 

b.       Vote for up to five

 

c.        Candidates: Nancy Blake, Illinois; David Damrosch, Columbia; Neil Donahue, Hofstra; Heather Hayton, Cal State San Marcos; Don Kennedy, North Carolina Chapel Hill; William Moebius, UMass, Ross Shideler (UCLA); Steve Ungar, Iowa

 

d.       We will invite suggestions of further candidates and confirm that the above candidates are still willing to serve

 

10.    Working Conference on the Undergraduate Literature Curriculum

 

a.       Conference, which had been planned for June 1004, has been cancelled because of difficulty in finding dates when enough participants could firmly commit to attending

 

b.       Conference not rescheduled due to difficulty in finding appropriate dates

 

11.    In lieu of a conference, ADPCL plans to undertake the “Project on the Undergraduate Curriculum,” which will include:

 

a.       Report on the Undergraduate Curriculum

 

                                                               i.      Similar to the report on the state of discipline

 

                                                              ii.      Sandi Berman has put together a related report; Elizabeth can circulate a copy

 

b.       Plenary Session and/or stream at ACLA 2005

 

                                                               i.      Possible contact: Iliana Orlich at ASU

 

c.        Session(s) or forum at MLA 2005

 

                                                               i.      Present draft of report

 

                                                              ii.      Organizers: Corinne Scheiner and Kathy Komar

 

d.       Session and/or stream at ACLA 2006