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Students Committee
Report of the Students Committee 2003
Students Committee Annual Report
Over the last year the Students Committee has continued to find new ways to advocate for and support the needs of graduate student members of the ASA. The committee thanks its outgoing members - former co-chair Colin Johnson, Barbara Perry, Jessica Nathanson, and Themis Chronopolous - for their tireless work over the last two years. We also welcome our three new members, Tamiko Nimura, Andrew Johnston, and Patricia Roylance. Amy Nathan and Laura Barraclough will continue their term as co-chairs, and will be joined by Patricia Roylance as a chairperson in training.
Ongoing Projects
Student Access to the Annual Meeting
We are pleased that the ASA staff and Conferon have again secured affordable hotel rates for student attendees this year, and applaud the continued discounted registration fee for student members. We plan to conduct student surveys at this year’s Hospitality Lounge regarding, among other issues, conference accessibility, and will report our findings accordingly. We also thank the ASA membership at large for their continued support of the Baxter Travel Grant program.
For the sixth consecutive year, the Students Committee will also offer its popular Roommate Connection Service. The service matches conference attendees who would like to share hotel rooms based on similar interests and living habits, in order to cut costs. The service is open to all conference participants, and has been used in the past by faculty as well as students. Last year, nearly 70 attendees were matched through this service, and we expect a similar response rate this year.
Fundraising
The Students Committee will once again solicit contributions from American Studies and Ethnic Studies programs and departments to support our programs and panels. In recognition of the growing connections between the fields of American Studies and Ethnic Studies, we have broadened our fundraising efforts in the past few years to include not only traditional American Studies departments, but also Chicano Studies, Asian American Studies, Native American Studies, and African American Studies. In addition to asking for financial support, we use our fundraising letters to publicize our programs and panels to constituent departments, and ask them to share the information with their students.
Statement on Standards
The Students Committee submitted a Statement on Standards to the Executive Committee along with its spring report in May 2003. The statement is an outgrowth of the Students Committee’s efforts to assist the ASA in taking a leading role in defining a coherent set of standards and “best practices” regarding professional conduct and institutional support in graduate programs in American Studies and related fields. The Statement not only draws upon standards advocated by such professional organizations as the American Association of University Professors and the Modern Language Association. It was also shaped by the Students Committee’s ongoing efforts to survey and assess the practical, pedagogical, and professional needs of graduate students in American Studies and related interdisciplinary fields of study. The Students Committee has respectfully requested that the Executive Committee adopt these standards as those of the American Studies Association. The Executive Committee has passed the Statement of Standards on to the newly formed Task Force on Graduate Education for research and possible resolution after one year of gathering feedback and institutional support from individual programs and departments.
Task Force on Graduate Education
The Students Committee previously appointed former member Barbara Shaw Perry as its representative to the Task Force on Graduate Education. Because Barbara’s term expired in July 2003, we have since appointed Andrew Johnston as our new representative to the Task Force. It is our strong desire to work closely with the Task Force in gathering feedback about the Statement of Standards in a timely manner, and to incorporate any suggestions that would strengthen the document and retain its potential power and efficacy should the ASA choose to adopt it. In an effort to continue collaborations with the Task Force, we have invited one of its representatives, Catherine Choy, to our business meeting in Hartford.
Annual Meeting in Hartford, Connecticut
Scheduled Panels
This year the Students Committee will sponsor three panels intended to address the needs and concerns of the association’s student members.
a. “Going Public: American Studies Outside the Academy” (Roundtable)
This roundtable is proposed to explore possibilities for promoting “public practices” among American Studies PhDs. Roundtable members will speak about the need to conceive of intellectual work and commitments more broadly; make connections between academic and public, non-profit, and other vital non-profit organizations; and how graduate education might change to meet the changing job market. Panelists include representatives from art museums and councils for the arts and humanities as well as public historians.
b. “Academic Job Interviews in American Studies: A Demonstration Workshop”
Year after year, this panel continues to be one of our most well-attended and requested events. During the panel, a mock job search committee interviews a potential candidate for a typical American Studies position, and asks common questions for an interdisciplinary position. This year, the mock interview will be for a hypothetical, tenure-track, interdisciplinary appointment in American Studies and English with concentrations in both Women’s Studies and Ethnic Studies and a specialization in Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies.
c. “Opportunities in Publishing: A Guide to the Publishing Process for Graduate Students”
This panel has also been extraordinarily popular with student attendees, as well as junior faculty. Last year, our publishing session focused on the process of writing journal articles and book reviews. This year, “Opportunities in Publishing” will concentrate on two critical publishing processes for students: publishing in academic journals, and the process of turning a dissertation into a book. Panelists include representatives from American Studies International, Latino Studies, Duke University Press, and the Smithsonian Institute Press, as well as a junior faculty member with extensive publishing experience as a graduate student. The panel will share tips and strategies on such issues as choosing an appropriate journal or publisher and the revision process.
Hospitality Lounge
For the seventh consecutive year, the Students Committee will again sponsor its Hospitality Lounge. The Hospitality Lounge, offered on Friday and Saturday mornings of the conference, serves as a networking space for graduate students. The Lounge was initially organized in response to student feelings of isolation at the meeting and their requests for informal meeting space. In addition to an informal, students-only networking opportunity, the Hospitality Lounge also features free breakfast, for which the Students Committee fundraises for several months prior to the conference.
Breakfast with Champions
This year, the Students Committee is initiating a new program to be held within the Hospitality Lounge. The “Breakfast with Champions” will feature top scholars from four popular fields of study, who will share their research and talk with students doing similar kinds of research in an informal setting, over breakfast. The four fields of study will be Critical Race Theory and Whiteness (featuring Cheryl Harris and David Roediger), Transnational/Border Studies (with Lisa Lowe and Shelley Streeby), Gender Studies (with Ann Cvetkovich and Avery Gordon), and Popular and Visual Culture (featuring Donna Cassidy and Erika Doss). The Students Committee plans to publicize this event extensively, as it represents a rare opportunity to interact with very highly regarded scholars in an informal, small-group setting.
Graduate Student Offerings At-A-Glance Website
In response to John Stephens’ offer at the 2002 annual meeting, the Students Committee worked with ASA staff members to create a “Graduate Student Offerings at a Glance” site linked to the main online conference program. The page features all of the Students Committee’s sessions as well as the Hospitality Lounge and Breakfast with Champions. We expect that this new service will be an outstanding form of publicity for all of our events, and we would like to thank all of the ASA staff for helping to make this a reality. We plan to continue this service in future years.
Respectfully submitted by the Students Committee, 2003-2004
Laura Barraclough, University of Southern California (Co-Chair)
Andrew Johnston, University of Maryland
Anne Martinez, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
Amy Nathan, University of Texas, Austin (Co-Chair)
Rob Nelson, Rutgers University
Tamiko Nimura, University of Washington
Patricia Roylance, Stanford University
James Salazar, University of California, Berkeley
Elizabeth Wiley, George Washington University
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