GEA Officers’ Meeting Minutes

6 pm, Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Attendants: Beth, Ted, Caitlin, Dan, Alyssa, Megan, Jackie

I. New Business:

A.Greetings all around!

II. Old Business:

B.Speaker Update.

  • Ted distributed a guideline [see handout A] for the rough budget for the Susan Stanford Friedman visit with various options on how to book speaker through the department and obtain funds. Funds would have to be at least $2000, and the department has only mentioned $1000. The group agrees that the option to request more money from the department would be ideal. We motion to submit this request before the GEC meeting so that budget decisions can be made.

C.Other Events.

  • Megan and Dan:Jackie mentions that Nicole is still interested in the abstracts workshop, though she could also talk about attending conferences in general. Goal for the GEA is to schedule this event for before spring break, end of February.
  • Beth and Ted: Since James Salazar is now the head of the graduate program, we should set up a meeting with him and discuss our list of concerns: 1) funding and clarity of funding packages; 2) manuscript requirement for MFA students; 3) access to 1006; 4) language exam. Ideally a dialogue should be open between Professor Salazar and the GEA so that there can be more a community atmosphere within the department, rather than uncertainty.
  • Alyssa: Josh filled Alyssa in on proposing workshops for MFA students; however, any change to credit policy seem stagnant. Discussion of proposing a guide for comprehensive exams for MFA students. Eli has also proposed a collaboration with the GEA and graduate department to see more volunteer work, such as tutoring, volunteering for NPOs around the neighborhood, etc. Possibly set up a reception at Tree House books for the whole English department on community literacy. This event could be a “think tank” that combines with networking on alternative academic careers. Possibly mid-late semester would be best for this type of event. Alyssa and others will coordinate with Eli.
  • Dan and Ted: Ted and Dan will set up an email to schedule the next reading groups.
  • Ted: Ted mentions that Tiffany has already drafted an email about Sugar Mom’s as the first happy hour. Friday Feb 10th from 4-6.

D.Other Goals.

  • Change in travel funding information needs to be more widely publicized. New requirement involves specific justification for travel/research in relation to “changes” in field, etc (see handout B). Could students be rejected for research not “relevant” enough? Who makes these determinations? Something to watch.

E.Miscellaneous

  • Caitlin: GEA budget is around 120 dollars. GEA fundraiser will be Feb. 26th. Caitlin will handle ballots, and organization of party location, etc.
  • Jackie: Dan has collected comp exam lists and wants to post on website. Jackie suggests we confirm that students feel comfortable posting information online before any changes are made.

F.Scheduling Next Meeting

  • Ideally, next GEA meeting with be Feb. 29th at 6pm at Barnes and Nobles.

Meeting handouts:

[A]

Ted Howell

GEA Meeting 2-1-12

Rough Budget for Susan Stanford Friedman visit

Travel/Hosting

$300 – flight from Madison, WI to PHL (round-trip)

$325 – 2 nights in hotel (Doubletree)
$75 – one lunch at Temple Diamond Club (SSF and approximately 5 others)
$300 – dinner for 6 at a restaurant
--
$1000

Honorarium: $1000

Total: $2000

Thus approximately twice our offer of a $1000 budget from the English department.

Options As I See Them:

  1. Submit budget as above to Graduate English, explaining that we have the ability to bring in a significant figure who has expressed an interest and who we believe will have a large draw not only among Temple students, but among neighboring schools. The money may be available.
  1. Consider co-sponsoring with New India Forum, which would bring more money but would downgrade our responsibility and create more bureaucratic hoops through which to jump.
  1. Find another potential speaker who will cost less to bring in (someone from a local school, eliminating airfare and reducing hotel stay to one night) and who will not scoff at a lower honorarium (something in the neighborhood of $300).

About Susan Stanford Friedman:

Research Interests

20th and 21st Centuries American, British, and Anglophone world literatures; modernism/modernity; women’s writing (fiction, poetry, essay); feminist theory; comparative postcolonial, diaspora, migration, transnational, and border theory and literature; narrative theory; psychoanalysis; multiculturalism and race studies; contemporary cultural theory, especially anthropology and geography; film.

Selected Publications

She is the author of Psyche Reborn: The Emergence of H.D. (Indiana UP, 1981, 1987), the recipient of a Choice Outstanding Academic Books Award; Penelope's Web: Gender, Modernity, H.D.'s Fiction (Cambridge UP, 1990); Mappings: Feminism and the Cultural Geographies of Encounter (Princeton UP, 1998; ebook, 2001), the recipient of the Perkins Prize for Best Book in Narrative Studies. Two influential recent essays on “Planetary Modernism” in Modernism/modernity. On Advisory Board of Modernism/modernity.

Current Projects

She is at work on two books, Planetary Modernism and the Modernities of Empire, Nation, and Diaspora and Beyond Melting Pots and Mosaics: Narratives of the “New Migration”.

[B]

TRAVEL APPLICATIONS must include:

  1. Copy of your letter of acceptance, invitation from conference organizers, and/or other evidence of your participation as the first author of the presentation
  2. Name of the conference and dates of travel
  3. A summary of your research (1-2 paragraphs) as though you were speaking to someone who is not in your discipline
  4. A description of the impact your research will have on the scholarly literature
  5. What contribution would you like to make in the field of study? What does your research do that hasn’t been done before?
  6. Provide a budget of all estimated expenses