Graduate Student Resources and Organizations
Graduate Student Senate
The graduate student senate addresses larger institutional questions regarding graduate students and their quality of life (for example, health care, housing, parking; it also maintains a career advising panel). The department’s senator is elected annually and represents student concerns to the larger university community. The senator is also a member, alongside the director of graduate studies, of the Graduate Council, the most important legislative body of the graduate school.
Graduate Advisory Panel
The Graduate Advisory Panel (also known as GAP) consists of all graduate students in the English department. Its purpose is to provide an open forum to discuss all matters pertaining to graduate student life, to advise the faculty on graduate student interests, and to publicize, organize, and report on graduate student activity groups and graduate student committees. Meetings are once a month during the semester.
Peer Mentoring Program
The Peer Mentoring Committee consists of current graduate students and helps new graduate students with the transition into graduate school. It offers a visible, safe channel of communication and advice for those who are new to the community. It combines the approachability inherent in talking with a fellow student with the understanding that any chat occurs with the highest degree of confidentiality possible. The program serves as resource that is available before new friendships and networks have had time to develop. Peer Mentors share mentoring strategies with and receive training from the larger Peer Mentoring program, which is facilitated by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Spread out over the academic year, several social events organized by peer mentors help break the ice and introduce new students to those who already know the department.
Dissertation Workshop
The Dissertation Workshop is a twice-monthly forum in which graduate students who are researching and writing their dissertations meet to discuss their projects. Students who have not yet embarked on the dissertation process but anticipate doing so in the current academic year are invited to join us. The usual format of each session is for one participant to submit a piece of writing (usually a draft of a chapter or a prospective article) which the other participants discuss. Conversations are collegial but vigorous and the aim of the workshop is to give all participants a better sense of how to meet successfully the unique challenges of writing the dissertation. At the same time, we hope that the workshop fosters a sense of community that dissertators sometimes lack given the solitary nature of the thesis-writing process.
Major Field Workshop
The Major Field Workshop meets about once a month and submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. The workshop is geared towards those going through the major field process, but those just starting to think about field selection and the major field papers are welcome to attend. In addition to a discussion about the paper, there is a larger conversation regarding the nature of the new major field process and what these papers should look like. Written comments are encouraged, particularly if you are unable to attend the discussion.
Arch Journal
Arch Journal is an online journal sponsored by the English department. Committees solicit material that is published online (approximately one publication per year).
Contact: Lawrence Revard
Graduate Student Colloquium Series
The Graduate Colloquium Series is a twice-yearly event that gives graduate students the opportunity to present their work in an open forum with peers and faculty. There are two presentations per event. Students at all levels of the graduate process are invited and encouraged to apply.