2018 NeMLA GSC Election for Communications Director

The NeMLA Graduate Student Caucus is dedicated to all graduate student members of the Northeastern Modern Language Association. We aim to make your NeMLA convention experience the best possible by organizing graduate student-specific conference and networking sessions, administering travel and essay awards, coordinating with NeMLA and external groups to offer professionalization services, and providing resources to help you navigate graduate school.

The position of Communications Director is a two (2) year commitment involving both internal communications and external communications. The Communications Director manages the GSC web presence and facilitates collaboration with graduate students at host-city institutions. In addition, the Communication Director compiles a list of “Grad-Friendly Food” options near the convention and assists in GSC Award evaluations. The Communications Director might also propose and chair a GSC session at the yearly convention. The term of your newly-elected Communications Director will run from May 2018 to May 2020.

The 2019 NeMLA convention will be held in Washington, DC.

Question Title

* 1. Who would you like to represent you as NeMLA Communications Director?

Dana Gavin, PhD student in English, Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA, USA)

I am new to NeMLA--I submitted my first abstract to the 2018 conference, and I was thrilled to actually present that paper in Pittsburgh last month. I appreciated how efficiently the conference ran, as well as how welcoming and friendly everyone was; I ate at several of the recommended restaurants, and I took advantage of a few attractions that offered discounts--these benefits only added to my overall excellent impression of NeMLA and GSC. I left Pittsburgh wanting to find a way to contribute to GSC and future conferences.

Prior to beginning the PhD program at ODU, I worked at a non-profit as the PR/Media Relations and Development Director. I would love to bring my professional experience managing communications to bear for GSC, and as a fan of the D.C. area, I would consider it an honor to help fellow graduate students have a fantastic experience eating their way through the city (on a budget). I have managed several web sites (including the non-profit’s web site, as part of my director duties), and as the 2017-2018 president of ODU’s English Graduate Organization, I have processed conference travel award applications for my peers, so I would feel comfortable being a part of that process with GSC. As EGO president, I also helped organize the 2018 Humanities Unbound graduate conference, which gave me valuable lessons in organizing from a distance (the conference was in Norfolk, VA, and I live in Hyde Park, NY where I attend ODU at a distance). My candidacy for NeMLA GSC Communications Director is also endorsed by NeMLA members Dr. Marc A. Ouellette (English, ODU) and Dr. Emily Lauer (English, Suffolk Community College).

Meghan K. Riley, PhD candidate in English Language and Literature, University of Waterloo (Waterloo, ON, Canada)

I am a fourth year PhD candidate in the department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo, where I study speculative fiction through a postcolonial lens, with an aim to assist students in critically examining depictions of race and gender in popular culture science fiction.

While this past year was my first experience with NeMLA, I plan to attend again next year, and am looking forward to getting more involved as the Communications Officer. I have a strong record of involvement in student affairs generally, and graduate student representation more specifically: most recently, I was the counsellor for the English department with the University of Waterloo's GSA, and I also founded a teaching support network for English grad students at UW.

In the past, I was the graduate student representative for ACCUTE at UW, and have held various departmental and university-wide graduate student association roles. Through these positions—as well as through my experience as WordPress updater, WowtheWorld Waterloo and coordinating the English TA and GI Support Network—I have managed social media accounts, promoted events and scholarship opportunities, and directed grad students to little-known resources

As the Communications Officer for the NeMLA graduate student caucus, I would commit to making sure that graduate students attending NeMLA have timely access to the resources they need, and know who to ask when they have questions so that they have a positive, productive experience with the conference.