MLA Membership

[Timshel]

I'm just curious, how many of you were MLA members when you applied to PhD programs? I was a member when I was working on my Masters because it's cheap for grad students, but now that I'm adjunct, it's pretty expensive, and I'm not sure if it's worth it. Some of my professors say that it looks good on your CV to say that you are a member because it shows your commitment to the field, but will it really make enough of a difference when I apply this year to shell out the money to renew my membership? Thoughts?

[Medievalmaniac]

I'm just curious, how many of you were MLA members when you applied to PhD programs? I was a member when I was working on my Masters because it's cheap for grad students, but now that I'm adjunct, it's pretty expensive, and I'm not sure if it's worth it. Some of my professors say that it looks good on your CV to say that you are a member because it shows your commitment to the field, but will it really make enough of a difference when I apply this year to shell out the money to renew my membership? Thoughts?

I don't know if it matters or not, but I do think if you can keep your membership, you should. It does demonstrate commitment to the field. I am currently on hiatus for a year battling out cancer, but I have maintained my International Arthurian Society, Chaucer Society and MLA memberships, because they're the largest ones in my area/field of study.

[ThePoorHangedFool]

I joined for the first time earlier this summer, and I have every intention of setting aside the money it takes each year to renew my membership even when (or, equally likely, if I never) move up in the realm of academia. It's a great investment, and I have heard similar opinions about an MLA membership on a graduate program applicant's CV (particularly those without their M.A.s yet or who just received their B.A.s at the close of the most recent semester, like me). I was glad to see that others here are members; I receive most of the medieval "updates" (or "follow" those areas, however one puts it), and have a pretty avid interest in specific subsections of medieval literature, so if there's anything that comes up you think might help me, as an applicant for the Fall 2012 round, to pursue (CFPs, etc., that aren't more harmful to a resume or essay than helpful), do let me know (if you have time, of course!).

"Every little bit helps," I like to tell myself as false hopes swoop down around me and leave dirty withered feathers in my hair...

[lyonessrampant]

Check out regional Medieval memberships as well. I belong to RMMLA (Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association), MAP (Medieval Association of the Pacific), and Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association. Regional organizations can give you great opportunities for conferences and, in my case, publishing opportunities. Do both the large national and regional groups and you'll get a lot more exposure.

[Timshel]

I also belong to the College English Association--I presented at their conference last year, and I'm pretty sure I will be joining the Northeast MLA soon, too, as I may be presenting at their next conference as well.

[ThePoorHangedFool]

Thanks for all the suggestions; I've had far less experience with presenting my work at conferences, etc., than what it seems like many other Cafe users have had. Truly, my only real exposure to that area of academia was in April, when presented a condensed version of my thesis at our campus conference celebrating "student scholarship" and research. (the final product, incidentally, was also condensed, and is now being expanded into a paper that is two if not three times longer than any program wants its applicants' writing sample to be....le sigh). My presentation won first place for the humanities division, but that doesn't say very much since my university's undergrad student body was less than 1500 people.

Basically, I'm wondering if you guys know whether or not admissions committees and faculty at either all or any specific programs--both M.A. and Ph.D., as I'm applying to both tracks (though opting for the M.A. degree for the programs that award both, since I'm far more likely to get accepted with my current credentials)--consider a substantial list of conferences/conventions/the like at which an applicant has presented his or her papers a valuable (or even tie-breaking) variable. If so, I've got a number of papers, many of which I will likely end up editing at some point anyway for various purposes, that I could tweak and edit to make them conference-ready. However, I'm quite unfamiliar with details about how these things work and which ones are worth attending. My advisor warned me of the dangers in having an essay published in a sub-par journal that would end up being a negative element to one's CV/background/you know what I mean.

So, big questions are:

--Which programs, if any, consider conferences at which an applicant has presented his or her work to be an impressive (or expected) addition to the overall application? If essentially all programs like to see such experience, please indicate that as well, but if there are any in particular that you're aware of that really want to see it or favor people who have had it, include those too.

--If there are certain conferences that are renowned or ideal to attend/at which to present work, names for those would be great to know. (The same goes for any that should be avoided).

I really appreciate the help! This is something I honestly haven't thought about until now, so I apologize if I seem exceptionally uninformed..

[runonsentence]

PhD programs are probably where you could construe having presented at conferences as more of a "requirement," though I say this from the perspective of having completed an MA before applying for PhDs. (My department chair once told me roommate that if he didn't have any conference presentations after completing his master's, he might as well not apply to doctoral programs.)

I don't know that adcoms expect someone who hasn't completed any grad school work to have presented tons, but it would certainly be expected from an MA-holding applicant and would certainly be an asset to your CV no matter what your background.

As for conferences to look for, it's less a matter of the most prestigious venue and more a matter of the best fit, in my mind. Certainly the biggies like the MLA (for all subfields but most especially lit), ACLA (for comp lit), CCCC (for comp/rhet), and AWP (creative writing) would look impressive, but competition for these venues is keen and I don't think that an adcom would be expecting a grad applicant to have presented there.

That said, you may find it useful to at least attend a big conference in your area or subfield. I remember you mentioned Shakespeare studies in another thread, for example; I'm sure other Shakespeare buffs in this forum can point you to some must-see annual conferences run by biggie Shakespeare societies. If you don't get to it while applying, definitely make a point of trying to attend at least one big conference within your first year or two of grad school. It's good to shake some hands and get a feel for field conversations.

But IMO, the best thing to do as far as finding conferences is find ones that have calls that fit your projects. Most conferences develop a broad theme and encourage applicants to write to said theme (e.g., CCCC 2012 is "Writing Gateways"). Keep a lookout for CFPs that speak to your work: the website http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/ is a good start. If you use an RSS reader, you can link to certain keywords or areas of interest.

Don't write out small conferences; they're great for getting a start at your first professional presentation, and often more welcoming and less nerve-wracking than big national conferences. Also, unless you're currently a grad student with travel funding resources, conference travel can get expensive. If there's a regional or small conference within driving distance that speaks to your work, definitely try applying.

Edited July 28, 2011 by runonsentence

[ZeeMore21]

I actually am still not a member...I plan on applying for membership as soon as I start my doctoral program this fall. I really don't think being or not being an MLA member will make or break your application.

[Timshel]

Actually, you only have until the end of June to join MLA for the year. If you haven't done it for this year, you can't join again until January for the 2012 year.

[ThePoorHangedFool]

But IMO, the best thing to do as far as finding conferences is find ones that have calls that fit your projects. Most conferences develop a broad theme and encourage applicants to write to said theme (e.g., CCCC 2012 is "Writing Gateways"). Keep a lookout for CFPs that speak to your work: the website http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/ is a good start. If you use an RSS reader, you can link to certain keywords or areas of interest.

One of the benefits of being an MLA member is that there are numerous forums in which one can post or respond to discussions about various matters. Each forum is specifically geared to one period of literature (and in a few cases, as with Shakespeare, to one major literary contributor), so members can select up to what I want to say is around twenty-five different forums to follow based on their diverse sets of interests. The forums are pretty frequently updated with new CFPs, so I am at least familiar with that area of your advice. And you're also definitely right about the smaller conferences being a great place to start out, and I had been assuming that anyway since I'm inclined to believe that MLA and ACLA would be hesitant to admit someone with a mere B.A. dangling at the end of her name to present alongside the more impressively-lettered group of readers... : )

Thanks a lot for your help on this subject; I'm going to start looking up conferences near my area, which itself is literally "the" middle of nowhere, but is conveniently surrounded by Nashville, Atlanta, Memphis, Asheville, Louisville/Lexington, and a few other mid-sized cities that hopefully have something going on in terms of what I know I'd be capable of doing personally (more precisely, from what conferences I'd honestly have a chance at not being immediately rejected before even submitting my work).

[runonsentence]

You're going to have no problem finding conferences with those cities nearby. Off the top of my head, there's a very grad-student friendly conference held in Louisville every year on literature post-1900, though I realize this doesn't align with your own interests.

And on second thought, I should mention that the ACLA is actually quite grad-student friendly. I presented there my first year as an MA student, as did another colleague of mine, and at least half the participants on the program were grad students as well (though probably mostly PhDs).

Good luck!

[ThePoorHangedFool]

Off the top of my head, there's a very grad-student friendly conference held in Louisville every year on literature post-1900, though I realize this doesn't align with your own interests.

Although Shakespeare and, to some extent, medieval literature are undoubtedly my strengths (quite naturally, primarily concerning Shakespeare, due to his work being my long-standing favorite area of literature), I do have some other admittedly random, at least relatively speaking, interests, on which I have done some research already.

If that sentence itself doesn't rather make this unsurprising, Faulkner is another favorite of mine; Nabokov, Larkin, Poe (and many of his cohorts--Whitman, Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne) are all writers on whose work I either have done significant or want to pursue further studies. A number of those figures might also reveal that my overarching interest, encompassing much of my own studies and research, is the conception of tragedy throughout literature; additionally, how tragedy evolved from the way in which it is represented in classical poetry and drama, to Chaucer's and his contemporaries' envisioning, and predominantly, to how Shakespeare's method of defining tragedy is so successful (arguably the most successful).

So, if anyone stumbles upon a conference where tragedy/tragic thematic issues are part of its CFP, do let me know; I'm already in the process of doing that blind sprint through darkness, searching for vague terms and seeing what results I get that might be of use.... So if you guys have something in mind that you want others (including me) to keep eyes open for during similar searches, we could all help each other out. : )

[ThePoorHangedFool]

Bah I have too many thoughts for one crazy.

----I just wanted to clarify that I'm not seeking out conferences solely to put them on my CV if my papers get accepted. Truthfully, I don't enjoy speaking in public very much, as I tend to sweat a lot when I'm agitated or nervous or afraid or pretty much feeling any emotion that strays from neutral...

As I mentioned, I did my first paper presentation at a very small campus scholarship conference in April, and while I did sweat and probably stood in a weird position or something equally awkward, it felt great to read something on which I had spent so much time and energy and emotion to a group of people who actually appreciated it, and moreover were interested in what I was arguing. I would be ecstatic to feel that way again, although were I actually to be admitted into any conference, I doubt my paper would stand out like it did at my university's unless it was in some negative sense...

But that's okay : ). Anyway, I just didn't want to give you guys the wrong impression of me or my intentions/motivations/aspirations in regards to applying to grad programs. I have a lot of feelings. Here they go, spewing onto the keyboard....

Edited July 29, 2011 by ThePoorHangedFool

[Timshel]

I would highly recommend doing a conference presentation if for no other reason than a confidence boost. When I was working on my MA, I attended two graduate-only conferences, which was nice, but I knew was far different than a professional one. So, since I took this last year off to work adjunct, I decided that I should try to get my feet wet at a national conference. I presented at the College English Association's national conference in St. Petersburg, and it really solidified that I was not only going to survive this aspect of the job, but it boosted my confidence tremendously. It re-ignited my love of what I do, and I heard some really awesome papers in the mean time. I know that the College English Association encourages graduate students to participate as well, and it's a fairly well-known conference that also has a journal. Several of the professors where I got my MA present at their conferences and publish in their journal, so they are worth looking into, too. Also, their next conference is going to be in Richmond, which is a much easier location for a lot of people to attend. I plan on submitting a proposal for their conference again this upcoming year, so it'd be nice to see face from here while I'm there!

[Phil Sparrow]

Especially if you are applying without an MA in hand, most adcomms really won't care much if you have or do not have conference presentations on your CV. Besides the fact the it will behoove you to put off conference presentations until you are actually ready, academically and professionally,* to put your work before the public, you'd be better off application-wise polishing and re-polishing your writing sample and SOP, as well as researching and proving fit with the schools to which you're applying. Your CV is one of the least important parts of your application (at least if you apply BA-only; I don't know enough about applying with an MA to speak to that).

* Ask your mentors if they think you're ready to put your work out there at conferences. And by the way, starting with small, student-level conferences is a good thing.

[Two Espressos]

Besides the fact the it will behoove you to put off conference presentations until you are actually ready, academically and professionally,* to put your work before the public

A paper of mine was selected for an undergraduate conference this fall, and I'm having this concern. I think the paper is total shit (it got an A in the class, but that means nothing with grade inflation...), and I'm really worried that I'll look like an idiot presenting it. I don't feel like I'm ready academically/professionally for this conference, even though it's undergrads only.

I still have time to decline (I have to respond by September, I believe). Should I?

I'm going to revise the paper (obviously), but I really hate the whole argument lol. I don't know what to do!

Edited August 1, 2011 by Two Espressos

[dimanche0829]

You should talk to a professor and see if they'd be willing to provide you with some suggestions for improving. Keep in mind, though, that there is no such thing as a perfect paper. In fact, some of the best papers are those that can be argued against.

Personally, I never turned in a paper that I thought was shit. Surely, there must be something you like about your argument; otherwise, why did you write what you did to begin with?

[Two Espressos]

You should talk to a professor and see if they'd be willing to provide you with some suggestions for improving. Keep in mind, though, that there is no such thing as a perfect paper. In fact, some of the best papers are those that can be argued against.

Personally, I never turned in a paper that I thought was shit. Surely, there must be something you like about your argument; otherwise, why did you write what you did to begin with?

Well, I didn't think it was shit when I turned it in.

After reading it (and rereading it, again and again) and considering the argument, I find it tenuous at best. The paper makes a unique claim, but I don't think I have the proper support.

Basically, this paper is a close reading that links two authors, and two characters in two of those authors' works, who are rarely associated. I also contend that the earlier author's character/work largely inspired the character/work of the later author. I feel like I'd need strict historical evidence of the later author reading the earlier author to support this. I do have evidence that author B read author A, but I have no evidence that author B read the work of author A that I contend that he did.

I would be a lot more comfortable if I had that explicit proof. But, you know, I can only work with what is known. I can't make evidence appear.

That's really my biggest gripe. It's a small aspect but an aspect that I feel is tantamount to the argument being successful.

Really, I'm my own worst critic: I've yet to write a paper that I like; I think its all mostly rubbish.

[Timshel]

A paper of mine was selected for an undergraduate conference this fall, and I'm having this concern. I think the paper is total shit (it got an A in the class, but that means nothing with grade inflation...), and I'm really worried that I'll look like an idiot presenting it. I don't feel like I'm ready academically/professionally for this conference, even though it's undergrads only.

I still have time to decline (I have to respond by September, I believe). Should I?

I'm going to revise the paper (obviously), but I really hate the whole argument lol. I don't know what to do!

I say just go for it! You are only presented it in front of other undergrads who will think that it's genius regardless. I mean, honestly, at most student conferences, they're all "shit." I look back on papers I presented at student conferences and cringe, but at the time, either the listeners (which rarely exceed 5) either have no idea what you are talking about, or they think you are a genius. The point is to feel confident with your work and getting more comfortable sharing it with your peers. It shows initiative and dedication to the field, and it will make you feel more comfortable when the time comes to present at more prestigious conferences.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Timshel

[Two Espressos]

I say just go for it! You are only presented it in front of other undergrads who will think that it's genius regardless. I mean, honestly, at most student conferences, they're all "shit." I look back on papers I presented at student conferences and cringe, but at the time, either the listeners (which rarely exceed 5) either have no idea what you are talking about, or they think you are a genius. The point is to feel confident with your work and getting more comfortable sharing it with your peers. It shows initiative and dedication to the field, and it will make you feel more comfortable when the time comes to present at more prestigious conferences.

I suppose you're right. I think I'm overestimating the quality of my fellow presenters' papers, lol.

I'm not even in graduate school, but I suffer from "Imposter Syndrome": I do well at my school, but I feel like it's only the result of inflated grading/easy professors. I'm worried that this will become apparent at this conference (there are 30 presenters total, myself included).

I'm definitely going to follow dimanche0829's advice and ask some professors for feedback. I've had two look at it so far (and they both said it was good), but they are both very easy graders (in my opinion). I really want to ask the old, cranky tenured professor of the English department--widely known as one of my school's hardest graders-- for his opinion; I know he won't sugarcoat anything.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Two Espressos

[Timshel]

You are definitely over-estimating the other presenters. I've seen some terrible ones even at professional conferences. Trust me, you're over-thinking it.

[bdon19]

I've had similar questions regarding my preparations for grad school. I come from a small school, where the English department does not necessarily encourage students to attend grad school. Therefore, I'm doing a lot of this on my own. I just got accepted to present at an undergrad conference, and the way I feel, it's at least good to have the experience, right?

[Timshel]

I've had similar questions regarding my preparations for grad school. I come from a small school, where the English department does not necessarily encourage students to attend grad school. Therefore, I'm doing a lot of this on my own. I just got accepted to present at an undergrad conference, and the way I feel, it's at least good to have the experience, right?

Definitely! Go for it!

[bdon19]

Definitely! Go for it!

Yep, that's how I feel, too! I don't buy into the whole "name game." I think any experience is good experience! Maybe that's just my liberal arts background talking? I guess my only qualms about going to the conference are that I may have to go on my own expense, as our department doesn't typically fund students participating in things like that. But maybe it's just that nobody takes the initiative! I've already sent an e-mail to the department head--who's also the prof. I wrote the paper for (and who gave me an A+!). (Literally, she wrote an exclamation after the +. I hadn't known profs were allowed to give A+s in college. I'm not complaining, though!

[Timshel]

All the conferences I have gone to have been on my own dime, but I've always made a little mini vaca out of it, and I've never regretted it.