Welcome to the Fall 2003 edition of NewsNotes

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Updated December 17, 2003
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Announcements & Awards

New York, NY - 16 November 2003 - The Modern Language Association of America today announced it is awarding its twenty-third annual Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize to Ruth Spack, professor of English at Bentley College, for her book America's Second Tongue: American Indian Education and the Ownership of English, 1860-1900, published by the University of Nebraska Press. The prize is awarded for an outstanding research publication in the field of teaching English language and literature. Spack will receive a $1,000 check, a certificate, and a year's membership in the association.

The prize is one of seventeen awards that will be presented on 28 December during the association's annual convention, held this year in San Diego. The members of the selection committee were Marilynn Desmond (State Univ. of New York, Binghamton), chair; Lawrence Stanley (Brown Univ.); and Frances Teague (Univ. of Georgia). The committee's citation for the winning book reads:

America's Second Tongue examines the English-only educational reform movement established by the United States government after the Civil War. This educational process was aimed more at the eradication of indigenous languages than at the incorporation of Native Americans into the dominant Anglo-European culture. Through analysis of archival records, educational materials, and English language literary texts written by Native Americans, Spack demonstrates the enormous effort made by the federal government in the late nineteenth century to establish English as the dominant language of the United States. Given this history, Spack suggests that ESL, which currently signifies English as a second language, should be taken to mean English is a second language. And as Spack herself puts it, "This is a history that no teacher of English can afford to ignore."

Ruth Spack, associate professor of English at Bentley College, received a BA from the University of Rochester, an MA from Simmons College, and a PhD from Lesley University. Her teaching and research interests include English for speakers of other languages, composition studies, literacy studies, Native American studies, and contemporary international literature. Spack's numerous publications include articles in American Indian Culture and Research Journal, College English, Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers, MELUS, and TESOL Quarterly, as well as the coedited volumes Crossing the Curriculum: Multilingual Learners in College Classrooms; Enriching ESOL Pedagogy: Readings and Activities for Engagement, Reflection, and Inquiry; and Negotiating Academic Literacies: Teaching and Learning across Languages and Cultures. She currently serves on the editorial advisory boards of Journal of Basic Writing and Journal of Second Language Writing.

The MLA, the largest and one of the oldest American learned societies in the humanities (est. 1883), promotes the advancement of literary and linguistic studies. The 30,000 members of the association come from all fifty states and the District of Columbia, as well as from Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. PMLA, the association's journal of literary scholarship, has published distinguished scholarly articles for over one hundred years. Approximately 9,500 members of the MLA and its allied and affiliate organizations attend the association's annual convention each December. The MLA is a constituent of the American Council of Learned Societies and the International Federation for Modern Languages and Literatures.

The Mina P. Shaughnessy prize was established by action of the MLA Executive Council in 1979 as a memorial to one of the most widely respected scholars and teachers in the field of writing. First presented in 1980, it is awarded under the auspices of the MLA's Committee on Honors and Awards. In 1998, the cash award was increased to $1,000.

Recent winners of the Shaughnessy prize included John Hollander; Marie Ponsot and Rosemary Deen; Janet Emig; Robert J. Connors, Lisa Ede, and Andrea Lunsford; Carl Klaus and Nancy Jones; Robert Scholes; Judith Summerfield and Geoffrey Summerfield; Nancie Atwell; Denny Taylor and Catherine Dorsey-Gaines; Jasper P. Neel; Mike Rose; Susan Miller; Lester Faigley; Kathleen McCormick; Ross Talarico; James Crosswhite; Thomas P. Miller; Marilyn S. Sternglass; Sharon Crowley; A. Suresh Canagarajah; Jacqueline Jones Royster; and Deborah Brandt. Honorable mentions in Shaughnessy prize competitions have been awarded to T. D. Allen, James A. Berlin, Myron C. Tuman, Susan C. Jarratt, Edward M. White, and Linda Brodkey.

Other awards sponsored by the committee are the William Riley Parker Prize; the James Russell Lowell Prize; the MLA Prize for a First Book; the Howard R. Marraro Prize; the Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize; the MLA Prize for Independent Scholars; the MLA Prizes for a Distinguished Scholarly Edition and for a Distinguished Bibliography; the Morton N. Cohen Award; the Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize; the Lois Roth Award; the William Sanders Scarborough Prize; the Fenia and Yaakov Leviant Memorial Prize; the MLA Prize in United States Latina and Latino and Chicana and Chicano Literary and Cultural Studies; and the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prizes for Comparative Literary Studies, for French and Francophone Studies, for Italian Studies, for Studies in Germanic Languages and Literatures, for Studies in Slavic Languages and Literatures, for a Translation of a Literary Work, for a Translation of a Scholarly Study of Literature, and for a Manuscript in Italian Literary Studies.

From 1975 until her death in 1978, Mina P. Shaughnessy served as a dean and director of the Instructional Resource Center of the City University of New York. In addition to her work in humanistic research and in the advancement of the teaching of writing, she directed the basic writing program at City College, taught English composition and literature at Hunter College and Hofstra University, and supervised the editorial training program at McGraw-Hill. Her book Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of English, published in 1977, was hailed as a major work in the field. In 1978 the National Council of Teachers of English presented her with the David H. Russell award for her research.

Filthy Fictions: Asian American Literature by Women, AltaMira Press, available January 2004

Filthy Fictions addresses Asian American literature by women to explore and explode the sedimented and solidified meanings we have created about Asian Americans and dirt through dialogues that not only cross disciplinary and institutional formations and borders, but also question the very borders and territories upon which these arguments may be founded. Expertly questioning the construction of the ethnic body, the book discusses critical discourses in ethnic and feminist studies around the topic of identity (re)production and transnational representation.

Conference report - In the City: First International Conference of the John Edgar Wideman Society met at University of Pennsylvania October 10-11, 2003

On October 10, 2003 scholars and writers from Europe, Canada, and throughout the US convened at Houston Conference Center at Penn to discuss the works of John Edgar Wideman. About fifty people participated in the Conference composed of scholarly talks, public readings, interviews, and informal discussion. Co-chaired by Keith Byerman, Karen Jahn, and Philip Page, this conference helped the Society swell its ranks and develop its community. Among others were notable Wideman critics Heather Andrade, Jacqueline Berben, Keith Byerman, Claude Julien, Philip Page, Ashraf Rushdy, and Bonnie TuSmith.

Perhaps the most special feature was the Wideman writers--John Edgar, Daniel, and cousin, Albert French—who participated throughout the conference. John and Daniel conducted a writers’ workshop at West Philadelphia High School; all three were interviewed by Keith Byerman at the Writer’s House, with an audience of students, writers, conference participants, and local people. John, Daniel, and Albert read from their works at a public presentatation sponsored by the Humanities Council which drew an audience of over a hundred. At the banquet on Saturday evening, Michael Thelwell delivered the keynote address on the political dimensions of Wideman’s writing.

In addition to talks by critics, the conference sponsored a panel of writers—Jeffrey Allen, Michael Thelwell, and Reggie Young—who discussed Wideman’s influence on their work and explored his writing. A round-table of professors explored ways of teaching Wideman’s and French’s works in a variety of settings from community college to graduate courses.

The conference culminated in a bus tour of Wideman’s Philadelphia including the Palestra which sports an action shot of JEWideman suited up for Penn; the basketball court at Clark Park; 6200 block, Osage Avenue, MOVE headquarters’ the Spring Garden Street Bridge, and the Bethel A.M.E. Church.

This conference was a long time in the making. On a warm day in May. 1998, a group of fifteen Wideman scholars and readers gathered on a patio at the Bahia Resort in San Diego. From this convivial gathering the John Edgar Wideman Society emerged as an Author Society of the American Literature Association. Since then, the Wideman Society has presented panels at each conferences. However, as many ALA and MELUS members know, the published American scholarship on Wideman has not been commensurate with his critical success. Book length studies have been few. In 1989, James Coleman began with Blackness and Modernism: The Literary Career of . . . Wideman. In 1998, Keith Byerman published the Twayne John Edgar Wideman: A Study of the Short Fiction. In 1999, Callaloo published a special issue on "The European Response" from the Tours Conference on Wideman in 1999. And in 2000, Bonnie Tusmith edited Conversations with John Edgar Wideman. We know there are scholar/teachers engaged with Wideman’s work, so our goal has been to encourage and support on-going critical attention to his work. Meanwhile, he challenges our task by continuing to publish a volume at least every two years.

Next Spring the Society will launch a newsletter with book reviews of new works, brief accounts of selected talks, and commentary. We will also sponsor two panels at the ALA and work toward our next international meeting in 2005.

The Call for Papers for ALA is still relevant:

The John Edgar Wideman Society seeks 250-300 word abstracts on topics about the work of Wideman for two panels at the American Literature Association Conference in San Francisco. While we welcome any topics, we are especially interested in the following:

--Wideman and travel writing

--Wideman and other writers

--autobiography/memoir and Wideman

Send proposals to Keith Byerman at ejkeb@isugw.indstate.edu (no attachments please) or to the address or fax below. Deadline for proposals: January 15.

Presenters must be members of the Wideman Society by the time of the conference. For more information on the Society, see the website at

<http://www.ship.edu/%7Erejani/>.

Position Announcements

California State University, Los Angeles, ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPENING, LIBERAL STUDIES PROGRAM, COLLEGE OF ARTS AND LETTERS, POSITION: Assistant Professor, Tenure Track, STARTING DATE: September 2004 - MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Interdisciplinary Program in Liberal Studies seeks applicants in American Studies. Candidates should possess a Ph.D. in American Studies, Cultural Studies or a related field. Degree must be from an accredited institution of higher education. Candidates who are ABD may be considered for the position but the Ph.D. must be completed by the end of the first year of appointment. Doctorate is required for tenure. Candidates must have an interest in and potential for effective teaching using a variety of methods and a demonstrated record of or potential for research, scholarship and/or creative activity involving students whenever possible. Candidates should also have a demonstrated ability and/or interest in working in a multi-ethnic, multicultural environment. Ability to teach courses in interdisciplinary research, writing, and methods is required in addition to ability to teach in one’s area of expertise.

DESIRED/PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates with a secondary area of specialization and/or interest in ethnic studies, writing across the curriculum / interdisciplinary writing, or performance studies will be preferred. Additional preferred qualities include a strong interest and record of excellence in teaching, demonstrated commitment to interdisciplinary studies and diversity issues, and potential for an active research program. Preference will be given to those candidates who have knowledge of issues in elementary teacher preparation.

DUTIES: Teaching undergraduate courses including the direction of undergraduate thesis projects; conduct research, scholarly, or creative activity leading to publication; participate in College and University service; assist in the review and revision of program curriculum; regularly participate in recruitment, outreach activities, and advising.

THE UNIVERSITY: California State University, Los Angeles, a comprehensive urban university and one of 23 campuses that comprise The California State University system, offers programs in more than 50 academic and professional fields. The campus is located at the eastern edge of Los Angeles, adjacent to the western San Gabriel Valley, with more than 22,000 full and part-time students reflecting the rich ethnic diversity of the area. The University is committed to student-centered learning, free scholarly inquiry and academic excellence, hires on the basis of merit, and encourages qualified minorities, women and persons with disabilities to apply.

SALARY: Initial salary competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION: Please submit a letter of application indicating teaching experience and research/creative work, evidence of scholarly work and how your interests and expertise mesh with the department’s needs; a current curriculum vitae; three letters of recommendation; and official transcripts from institution awarding highest degree. Employment is contingent upon proof of eligibility to work in the United States and completion of the University’s Application for Academic Employment form.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Applications must be received/post-marked by January 1, 2004. Candidates should indicate the position(s) for which they wish to be considered. Address applications, required documentation and/or requests for information to:

In addition to meeting fully its obligations under federal and state law, Cal State LA is committed to creating a community in which a diverse population can live, work and learn in an atmosphere of tolerance, civility and respect for the rights and sensibilities of each individual. To that end, all qualified individuals will receive equal consideration without regard to economic status, race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin or cultural background, political views, sex or sexual orientation, or other personal characteristics or beliefs.

Upon request, reasonable accommodation will be provided to individuals with protected disabilities to (a) complete the employment process and (b) perform essential job functions when this does not cause an undue hardship.

LIBERAL STUDIES PROGRAM, COLLEGE OF ARTS AND LETTERS, POSITION: Assistant Professor, Tenure Track, STARTING DATE: September 2004 - MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Interdisciplinary Program in Liberal Studies seeks applicants in Cultural Studies or a related field. Ph.D. must be from an accredited institution of higher education. Candidates who are ABD may be considered for the position but the Ph.D. must be completed by the end of the first year of appointment. Doctorate is required for tenure. Candidates must have an interest in and potential for effective teaching using a variety of methods and a demonstrated record of or potential for research, scholarship and/or creative activity involving students whenever possible. Candidates should also have a demonstrated ability and/or interest in working in a multi-ethnic, multicultural environment. Ability to teach courses in interdisciplinary research, writing, and methods is required in addition to ability to teach in one’s area of expertise.

DESIRED/PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates with a secondary area of specialization and/or interest in critical pedagogy or community / urban studies will be preferred Additional preferred qualities include a strong interest and record of excellence in teaching, demonstrated commitment to interdisciplinary studies and diversity issues, and potential for an active research program. Preference will be given to those candidates who have knowledge of issues in elementary teacher preparation.

SALARY: Initial salary competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience.

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS, JOB VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT, DEPARTMENT: Alaska Native Studies; College of Liberal Arts, JOB TITLE: Assistant Professor, PCN NUMBER: 200005, SALARY: Commensurate with experience, EMPLOYMENT STATUS: Regular, Full time, Faculty (9 month, tenure-track, faculty appointment. The position commences in August 2004., OPENING DATE: July 1, 2003, CLOSING DATE: Open until filled

Area of specialization: open, but must be able to teach within the fields of Native Studies. Faculty in ANS may hold joint appointments with other schools and colleges such as the School of Education, School of Management, and the College of Liberal Arts. Course load may be shared between ANS and the appropriate department. Candidates with specialties complementing existing ANS faculty and/or with administrative experience would be desirable. Some possible areas of expertise include Alaska Native politics and government, Federal Indian Law, distance education, humanities and social sciences of Alaska Native and Native American peoples. Applicants with significant prior university teaching experience and evidence of recent research may be hired at a higher level.

QUALIFICATIONS: Masters degree required (Terminal degree preferred) in a content area relevant to Alaska Native Studies. Significant experience with Alaska Native cultures and peoples. Previous teaching experience or experience in an academic institution would be considered an asset.

APPLICATION: UA Application Form, Resume, letter of interest, writing sample, and three professional references to: James Ruppert, Chair, Alaska Native Studies, 317 Brooks, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 756300, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6300 A UA Applicant Form - http://www.alaska.edu/hr/forms/hr_employmentforms.xml mandatory when applying for any UAF position. A separate Applicant Form is required for each position for which you apply. Person(s) hired by the University of Alaska Fairbanks must comply with the provisions of the Federal Immigration Reporting and control Act of 1986 and must possess a valid social security card. All Nonresident Aliens must provide proof of eligibility to work. The University of Alaska Fairbanks is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer and educational institution. Your application for employment with the University of Alaska is subject to public disclosure under the Alaska Public Records Act. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Applicants needing reasonable accommodation to participate in the application and screening process should contact the Assistant Director at 474-6259.

Calls for Proposals & Papers

Contested Again: Cultural, Historical, and Pedagogical Implications of Race Call for Papers for a Critical Collection, by Valerie Kinloch and Jia-Yi Cheng-Levine

In this critical collection of essays, we seek submissions from passionately engaged individuals to provide the academic and the public with new ways of reading, understanding, teaching, or theorizing pedagogy on race. As Edward Said points out, any form of intellectual work is always situated in the world. Therefore, we are more interested in essays that aim at changing the world instead of merely interpreting it. We welcome articles that present unique and unconventional analytical parameters and critical angles, especially those that localize race issues, transgress the rigid boundaries
of academic disciplines, and approach race from interdisciplinary perspectives, as well as scholarship that pushes the focus of race issues beyond the U. S. geo-political boundaries.

Possible topics, with no special preference in the listed order, can include:

* A literary and political space in which national culture, identity, and hegemony are contested by the history and definition of race
* How the convergence of race with national culture and identity impacts the existence of and the challenge to the canon
* How racial memory and history function as narrative strategies
* How racial conflict, embedded in national history, is socialized in the context of the nation's cultural values
* How to engage race issues in the classroom that are not merely re-producing an intellectual class whose expertise, as Edward Said points out, "has usually been a service rendered, and sold, to the central authority of society"
* What makes a (racial) experience historical and how race has been essentialized and commodified in the academy, and what approaches can be employed to challenge such construction and build a new paradigm in addressing and teaching race
* Pedagogical approaches that help students position their subjectivities in relation to their racial and ethnic communities through racial memory and history, and in the context of U.S. cultural history
* Pedagogical approaches to addressing race issues with immigrant and other-national histories
* A historically and culturally informed reading and teaching of race or works that address race issues
* New Historical approaches in teaching race by discussing how social conditions impinge on the texts addressing race
* The danger of addressing race in the political realm and/or in the classroom and possible solutions
* Struggles with confronting the silences involved with teaching, living, and/or talking about racial diversity in academic and nonacademic spaces
* Ways of engaging in conversations with language as an agency of power through issues of race

Please submit, in electronic format in MS Word, a 500-word proposal/abstract and a two-page CV to both Dr. Valerie Kinloch of Teachers College, Columbia University at Kinloch@tc.edu and Dr. Jia-Yi Cheng-Levine of the University of Houston-Downtown at chenglevinej@uhd.edu. The deadline for proposals is December 20, 2003. The deadline for completed articles is July 2, 2004. All submissions will be acknowledged. The length for completed articles is between 4,000-6,000 words, including all notes and bibliographical information.

ATLANTIC LITERARY REVIEW (New Delhi) Vol. 4, No. 4 SPECIAL ISSUE: POSTCOLONIAL FEMINIST WRITING
DEADLINE: 15 January 2004 Website: <http://www.geocities.com/atlanticliteraryreview/>

The Atlantic Literary Review is published quarterly in New Delhi and sponsored by Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, B-2, Vishal Enclave, Opp. Rajouri Garden, New Delhi 110 027 India.

This journal is intended as an authoritative, peer-reviewed organ of opinion about a wide range of literary subjects. Although it has a special interest in Indian Writing in English, The Atlantic Literary Review also publishes articles on literatures written in English anywhere in the world. Papers may be on any well-known writer/s. The journal publishes critical articles rather than reviews or creative writing. All submissions must be of previously unpublished material.

The last issue of each calendar year is traditionally a special issue. For Vol. 4, No. 4, the topic is: POSTCOLONIAL FEMINIST WRITING.

We hereby invite submissions on this topic, in English. The literary works discussed should be works written in English by women writers from within the postcolonial world (defined as including the 'New Commonwealth' plus Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, but not the USA, Britain or Ireland). Articles may be submitted on works of fiction, poetry or drama (not on autobiography or other non-fiction).

The Atlantic Literary Review prefers to publish long articles (exceeding 5000 words) that treat literary topics elaborately and constitute complete studies in themselves. Submissions should be sent in electronic form only (MS Word 97 or later).

Works Cited and Notes and References should strictly conform to the specifications of the latest (5th) edition of the MLA Handbook. British spelling is preferred. Further submission guidelines may be found on the ALR website.

All contributions and enquiries should be emailed ONLY to: <rajeshwar9@yahoo.com> (Dr Rajeshwar Mittapalli, Editor of ALR)

The guest co-editors of this special issue are: Dr Dora Sales Salvador (also member of the ALR Editorial Advisory Board): <dsales@trad.uji.es> and Dr Chris Rollason (also ALR's Language Editor): <rollason@9online.fr>

The deadline for submissions is 15 January 2004.

Translation scholars are invited to submit proposals for papers to be read at the second conference of the American Translation Studies Association (ATSA), which was formally established at the first ATSA conference in 2002. Presentations on all aspects of translation and translation studies are welcome. Papers will be divided into sections on translation theory, research, pedagogy, and technology. Presentations will be 20 minutes in length, followed by discussion. The deadline for receipt of proposals is January 15, 2004.

The American Translation Studies Association provides a scholarly association and forum for researchers working in areas of translation and interpretation studies and is conceived as a complement to ATA and ALTA. Future plans include a scholarly journal and an annual meeting.

The conference will be held on Friday to Sunday, March 26-28, 2004 at the Campus Center of The University of Massachusetts Amherst. There will be sessions Friday morning, Friday afternoon, Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning. No concurrent sessions are planned. We expect to have ample time for discussion of issues affecting the profession. A planning session will be held on Friday afternoon to develop business plans for the future of the American Translation Studies Association.

CFP: Rage, Resistance, and Representation: Women in U. S. Race Riots

Atlanta, GA. Washington, DC. Wilmington, NC. Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Ocoee, New York, Tulsa: cities – among many others – that have been home to race riots in the United States over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This collection of essays will investigate the various active roles women, and particularly minority women, played in such riots, paying specific attention to exposing the cultural fallacy of women’s passivity in the public realm of violence, especially in relation to the construction of racial identity and cultural race relations.

This project proceeds from the assumption that our historical representations and interpretations of race riots have constructed active resistance to or participation in (usually white) mob violence as primarily masculine: whenever possible, men fought to defend (reputedly or actually) their cultures, communities, and families. Women’s roles, in comparison, are remembered as primarily passive on both sides of “the color line”: women’s bodies were protected, defended, raped, beaten, mutilated, or ignored. These dual constructions, while often accurate and productive for highlighting the gendered and sexualized violence of race riots, leave a yawning void in both our understanding of minority
communities’ resistance to national, racialized forms of terrorism, and our cultural memory of white women’s role in the public domain and their engagement in “the race question.” This project will begin to fill those voids by investigating how women participated more actively, through both rhetoric and action, in race riots. While the essays in this collection should not ignore the ways that women – or men – were victims to (usually white) mob violence in race riots, they should primarily highlight how women actively participated in those riots.

Essays may deal with the historical archive itself, or they may deal with fictional representations of riots in order to emphasize how women’s roles have been proscribed, lauded, condemned, etc. in the cultural imagination at different historical moments by different voices. Essays should explore the theoretical and ideological constructs (such as the lingering myth of separate spheres, perceived biological racial and/or gender difference, or the “cult of true womanhood”) that proscribe and silence our cultural memory of women’s participation in violent public acts in relation to race. While essays should note the precipitating causes of the respective riots, the essays should more importantly explore the underlying cultural issues such as the control of property, the attempt to exercise various rights (such as freedom of speech or the franchise), political power or definition of the nation, etc. that ultimately fuel race riots.

The collection aims to be interdisciplinary and will tentatively include 12-14 essays, organized both chronologically and thematically. Although the project will emphasize non-white women’s participation in race riots, some articles addressing white women's involvement will also be included. The collection also actively seeks to include various non-white groups such as Native, Asian, Latino, Jewish, and/or historically liminal European peoples (such as Italian, Irish, Spanish, etc.); thus, submissions of essays dealing with such groups are particularly encouraged. The essays should, however, focus on race riots rather than spectacle lynchings, as the socio-cultural dynamics of the two types of events are significantly different. Finished papers should be approximately 8,000 - 10,000 words and will be tentatively due in August 2004.

Please send 500 word abstracts or papers by December 22 to Dr. Julie Cary Nerad at juliecarynerad@racescholar.net
<mailto:juliecarynerad@racescholar.net> or Morgan State University Department of English and Language Arts, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, MD 21251

Encyclopedia of Native American Literature, Facts on File - Contributors are needed to write short essays on topics related to Native American Literature.

The essays are for a volume entitled The Encyclopedia of Native American Literature, to be published by Facts on File, Inc. Information about the submissions as well as the complete list of entries may be found at http://www.kings.edu/jamcclin/facts.htm If you are interested in writing for this book, then please send a message to jamcclin@kings.edu including which entries you are interested in writing and a brief c.v.

Thank you,
Jennifer McClinton-Temple
Assistant Professor of English
King's College
133 N. River St
Wilkes-Barre, PA, 18711

Ethnic Communities in Democratic Societies

Proposals for workshops and papers may engage the following topics, among others:

Negotiation of culture, language, religion within (non-)territorial communities / Parochialism and globalization / Community and fragmentation in global cities / Communitarianism vs. rights / Literary and artistic productions within transnational democracies / Aesthetic concerns of ethnic subjects in democratic societies / How literature reflects democratic concerns / Negotiating ethnic exceptionalism and participation in a larger collectivity / Nation states and imagined communities / Nationalism and transnational loyalties / Nativism and racism in democratic contexts / Ethnic Press and transnationalism / Ethnic community vs. local law / (Il)legal immigration / Transnational identities / Fragmented identities / Political agency, political choices / Balkanization of mentality / Bastions of ethnic tolerance / Citizenship and ethnopolitics / Civis and civility / Ethnic anxieties / Ethnic discrimination and affirmative actions / Ethnogenesis and ethnostasis / From Confrontation to cooperation / Internal colonialisms / Mythologized nationalisms / Xenophobia/xenophilia.

Meera Syal

- Deadline for proposals: December 20, 2003. Send a one-page proposal and a one-paragraph bio on the same page as e-mail submission to:

- Only members of MESEA or MELUS may present papers at this conference. For membership information please go to: www.mesea.org

The Fourth MESEA conference will highlight the launching of MESEA's new journal Atlantic Studies,

MELUS at MLA 2003

Take note of the MELUS events that will be held during this year's MLA convention in San Diego, California.

MONDAY, December 29, 12:00 noon–1:15 p.m.

Work and Play in the Multiethnic Literatures of the United States

Cunningham C, Manchester Grand Hyatt

Program arranged by MELUS: The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States.

Presiding: Fred L. Gardaphe, State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook

Monday, December 29
5:15 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Cash Bar
Ballroom H
Manchester Grand Hotel

At this event Professor Werner Sollors of Harvard University will be presented with the MELUS Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to Ethnic American Literary and Cultural Studies.

Please stop by to toast Professor Sollors and each other and help consume the complimentary appetizers.

Welcome to the Winter 2003 edition of NewsNotes

Dr. Katharine Rodier
Associate Professor of English & Director of Graduate Studies
Marshall University
1 John Marshall Drive
Huntington WV 25755-2646
rodier@marshall.edu

Announcements & Awards

Position Announcements

Calls for Proposals & Papers

MESEA 2004

Ethnic Communities in Democratic Societies

Meera Syal

MELUS at MLA 2003

Welcome to the Winter 2003 edition of NewsNotes

Dr. Katharine Rodier Associate Professor of English & Director of Graduate Studies Marshall University 1 John Marshall Drive Huntington WV 25755-2646 rodier@marshall.edu

Announcements & Awards

Position Announcements

Calls for Proposals & Papers

MESEA 2004

Ethnic Communities in Democratic Societies

Meera Syal

MELUS at MLA 2003

Dr. Katharine Rodier
Associate Professor of English & Director of Graduate Studies
Marshall University
1 John Marshall Drive
Huntington WV 25755-2646
rodier@marshall.edu