32, no. 1 (Fall 2000): 4
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ADFL Update Fall 2000
Summer Seminars in 2001
Planning has begun for ADFL Summer Seminars East and West. Seminars provide a relaxed forum for department chairs to discuss life and work in departments of foreign languages and literatures. The ADFL Executive Committee establishes the seminar program each year at its fall meeting on the basis of issues raised at the past summer's seminars. The 2001 seminars will again feature preseminar workshops for new and recently appointed chairs. Seminar East, 7-9 June 2001, will be hosted by Michael Katz and Middlebury College. Seminar West, 21-23 June 2001, will be hosted by Janet Swaffar and the College of Arts and Science at the University of Texas, Austin.
The June 2000 ADFL Seminars in Tempe, Arizona, and Newark and Wilmington, Delaware, brought together more than a hundred department leaders to share ideas and concerns and to establish networks of supportive contacts. Evaluations of the seminars were as enthusiastic as ever. One chair at the seminar sponsored by Arizona State University wrote, "The various discussions will better position me to serve as an advocate for language and culture instruction and the liberal arts, generally." Another wrote, "I am so glad I attended. It was such a pleasure to meet great, energetic, and generous colleagues." A participant at the seminar sponsored by the University of Delaware wrote, "These three days constituted a very sharp learning curve. It would take me a good year or more on the job to achieve the same level of awareness of the issues involved in chairing." Another participant in Delaware said, "Everything was of value: networking, information, and the unusually healthy, warm, welcoming atmosphere." Seminars combine plenary sessions with smaller discussion groups and provide opportunities for enjoying the cultural and natural resources of the community.
Details about speakers and topics in Vermont and Texas will be announced in the coming issues of the Bulletin and on the ADFL Web site, and a brochure containing details about housing, meals, and excursions will be mailed to ADFL members in early spring. Chairs are urged to encumber funds now for June. ADFL comprehensive membership allows departments to establish early funding for the seminars. The $250 registration fee ($300 for nonmembers) includes most meals but not housing. For further information, please write or call Elizabeth B. Welles, Director, or David Goldberg, Associate Director, ADFL, 26 Broadway, New York, NY 10004-1789 (646 576-5132; adfl@mla.org).
Job Search Workshops and Mock Interview Session for Candidates and Interviewers at the MLA Convention
ADFL will sponsor three special sessions on the job search in foreign language departments at the MLA convention in Washington. Job candidates are invited to attend "A Preconvention Workshop for Job Seekers: The Job Search in Foreign Languages," at 3:30-4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, 27 December, where department chairs will discuss hiring practices and working conditions at their institutions. Members of department search committees are invited to attend "A Preconvention Workshop for Members of Search Committees: The Job Search in English and Foreign Languages," cosponsored by ADFL and ADE, also to be held at 3:30-4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, 27 December. The mock interview session will offer candidates the opportunity to view and critique staged job interviews. The session will be held at 9:00-10:15 p.m. on Wednesday, 27 December. Additional ADFL-sponsored and related foreign language sessions at the convention are listed on pages 56-57 of this issue of the Bulletin.
MLA Assistance to Advanced Graduate Students
The Executive Council of the MLA has again allotted funds to provide partial travel reimbursement in the amount of $100 to advanced graduate students who are members of the association and will travel to the convention to attend preconvention workshops, sessions in their areas of scholarly interest, meetings with job counselors, or interviews. The council is particularly concerned with helping students who have no support for convention attendance from their institutions. Funds are available to cover awards to up to 150 students.
Letters of application must reach the MLA by 1 November 2000, by mail to Alicia Walker, Programs Office, MLA, 26 Broadway, New York, NY 10004-1789, or by fax (646 835-4067). Fax transmissions may be used to meet the deadline, but they must be followed by signed letters. Applications by e-mail will not be accepted. Each letter should include a brief statement by the student stipulating that he or she has no external support for travel to the convention, together with a statement on university letterhead signed by the student's dissertation director or department chair confirming that the student is enrolled in a doctoral program and has met all requirements for the PhD except the dissertation.
© 2000 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.
ADFL Bulletin 32, no. 1 (Fall 2000): 4 |
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