EGSA Becomes Official!

The English Graduate Student Association (EGSA) is quickly getting the attention of many graduate students and soon will be officially recognized by the University as a student organization!

As an organization recognized by the University, EGSA is entitled these great perks:

-use of supplies in Student Life Office (paper, markers, balloons,
computers, office supplies, etc...)
-Access to photocopier (but we will be billed for copies)
-Free room reservations through the Student Centers Admin. Office
-Flyer posting
-Promo. tables
-Promo. walls
-Mailboxes in LPC and LOOP offices
-Voicemail
-Bank Account

In case you missed out...Minutes from the last EGSA meeting

EGSA Minutes February 10, 2005, 4:45 – 5:45
Number attended: 14

Brainstorm of ideas to address:

• night class schedule
• social functions
• class size
• orientation process – currently too general, students feel “thrown in” with little direction or sense of campus/where to go for xyz
• UPass
• copy fees
• alumni relations – need to connect with alumni to learn about career options, etc.
• course descriptions aren’t all online
• degree requirements and course offerings
• concentration on teaching
• keeping students up-to-date on deadlines, functions (EGSA)

Group discussed and agreed that the following four issues are priorities for EGSA to address:

1. Develop a teaching concentration for MA degree

a. Community college certification

b. Teaching assistantships for MAs

i. Little support from department for teaching experiences
ii. Most students plan to be teachers, but the MA program offers few opportunities to practice
c. More publication of teaching opportunities is necessary

2. Degree requirements and course offerings

a. Required courses are not offered every quarter

b. Course offerings are need to be published farther in advance – as it is now, students have difficult times planning their course future and frequently feel like this limits their options

c. Each quarter doesn’t always offers courses to fulfill each part of degree requirements – many students aim to graduate within two years, but have to extend their time here to fulfill the requirements that weren’t offered in a particular quarter

d. Course descriptions need to be posted online, for all classes, enough time in advance

e. Better communication/advising of course requirements, which classes fill which requirement

f. Better advising of what classes fit students’ needs, interests, future plans

g. Registration – how, where is there a comprehensive information center, who do students call when there’s a problem

h. Thesis vs. exam – students should be given the option. The exam is not testing comprehensive knowledge of subject area; it’s testing skills in reading, research, analysis, and writing, all of which would be exercised in thesis-writing.

3. Class size

a. Currently they’re too large

b. Students believe that a main cause of this problem is the lack of foreknowledge of what classes will be offered the rest of the year.

i. If students could plan for the year (i.e., be aware of courses offered in fall, winter, AND spring quarters) they would reduce the potential for class sizes reaching such large numbers
ii. If ample courses were offered each quarter, class size would be reduced (see 2B & 2C above)

4. Careers

a. What am I qualified to do? – students want to know ALL their options for putting their degree to good use

i. Bring in speakers (graduates or others) to discuss what career path they chose, how the degree has helped, etc.

b. Alumni relations – set up network for MAs to contact/communicate with alumni

i. Listserv
ii. Published information of careers

 

Sigma Tau Delta Electing New Members! Gamma Psi, DePaul's chapter the Sigma Tau Delta, the national English Honor Society, will be electing new members this Spring. English Majors and Minors, graduate and undergraduate, are eligible to apply providing they have completed one course beyond English 120 (or equivalent) and have a G.P.A. of. 3.4 or better. Applications can be picked up in the Department from James Phelps and must be returned by March 7th.

Taking the M.A. in English exam? Here is some information that explains the exam's format and guidelines.

Are You Interested in Performing Shakespeare? Join the Shakespeare Reading Series. The series takes place on the fourth Thursday of every month.

Bring a copy of the script and create a little theatre.
This month: Richard III
Thursday, Feb. 24th at 7:00
Study Room 306, Richardson Library
Students, Staff, and Faculty are all welcome
Contact Andie Authur at swirlingpoetry@aol.com or Francesca Royster at froyster@depaul.edu for more details.

Conference Opportunities!

The Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies Graduate Student Conference. This conference is interdisciplinary in scope, and papers are invited in any area of medieval or Renaissance studies.

Conference date: 10-11 June 2005
C.V. and two page abstract due: 1 March 2005. more info

Art for Art’s Sake!?: The Political Currency of Literature, Criticism, and Media Culture
The Second Annual Graduate Student Conference hosted by the students of the graduate English program at the University of Cincinnati
Date: Nov 4 & 5 2005 more info

Call for submissions and members! The Ninth Annual Conference of the Illinois Philological Association will be held April 1-2, 2005 at Richmond Community College in Decatur, IL. For more information, check out their website

The Midwest Conference on British Studies is proud to announce that its fifty-first annual meeting will be held at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, Spetember 22-25, 2005. Proposals due April 15, 2005. More info including contact information

From the Nicholson Center...
Principles of Association in British History
This conference will be held Friday, April 8, 2005 at the University of Chicago Campus.
Deadline for abstracts: January 31, 2005
Please indicate tentative interest by January 17, 2005. more info

Also From the Nicholson Center...
The 20th Century Irish World: Internationalism and Irish Studies
This conference will be held Saturday, March 5, 2005 at the University of Chicago Campus.
This the Center's firts graduate organized conference
more info

The 11th Annual Southwest Graduate English Symposium: "Isms, Irritants and Ideologies: (In)Visible Violations of Power" will be held March 25-27 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. more info

Western States Rhetoric and Literacy Conference 2005
October 20-22, 2005
San Francisco, CA
University of San Francisco
First Call for Proposals. info

What is the New Rhetoric?
University of Sydney, Australia: September 2, 2005 to September 4, 2005.
Contact: Susan Thomas at susan.thomas@arts.usyd.edu.au . more info

Originality, Imitation, and Plagiarism: A Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Writing
September 23-25, 2005 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. info

Job Opening: ITT Technical Institute is currently looking for English Composition Teachers for Online Programs. more info

Reading Tutors Needed! CS&C-Julex Learning is seeking experienced candidates for their Reading Tutor Position. more info

Ph.D. Programs!

English Graduate Program Michigan State University PhD Program
The PhD program is flexible and responsive to students’ research interests. Students have the freedom to organize a course of study oriented toward completing the degree requirements efficiently and maximizing their professional training. To assist students, the department of English has established several doctoral emphasis areas: Literatures of the Americas, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Narrative Theory, Postcolonial and Diaspora Studies, and Transatlantic Modernities. More info – http://english.msu.edu

Graduate Study at the University of Tennessee – "We believe that the Ph.D. in English and the Ph.D. with Creative Dissertation offer outstanding training in the many facets of our discipline. In addition to breadth of faculty expertise, we have been cultivating particular areas of strength in Medieval and Renaissance studies, Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture, and Rhetoric and Composition, as well as other nexus points of research. Our nationally recognized faculty work closely with graduate students, providing excellent instruction, mentoring relationships, and research opportunities that develop the intellectual and professional potential of our students.

"Our Website explains more about who we are and how we support our students, financially and intellectually, in all of our M.A. and Ph.D. programs."

Looking for a PhD program in Rhetoric and Writing? The Bowling Green State University Rhetoric & Writing PhD Program seeks to prepare women and men to be scholar-teachers who understand the professional synergy of mastering knowledge, advancing it through their own inquiry, and sharing knowledge and habits of inquiry with students in the writing courses they teach and administer.

In pursuing this broad goal, students and faculty in the program utilize a range of the
intellectual approaches (rhetorical, cultural, empirical, political) that characterize the field of rhetoric and composition. For more information, check out the program's website

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