[Vwoolf] Graduate students and Woolf conference

[Andrea]

Julie,

I attended my first Woolf conference--the third, in 1993--during the summer
after I completed my Master's degree, and it was an invaluable experience.
Was my paper the strongest?  Not at all!  But the welcome that I received
from faculty and others at the event was part of what allowed me to
continue on in my studies and to feel included in the academy.  I believe
that it has always been the spirit of this conference to include
all--students, common readers, faculty--as Woolf advocated for in her
writing.  It makes for a rich mix, and it's something that I have long
enjoyed about this conference.

Best,
Andrea Adolph

On Thu, Oct 23, 2014 at 6:54 AM, Vandivere, Julie <jvandive at bloomu.edu>
wrote:

>
> I would like the input of the Woolf community on a few things about the
> Woolf conference.  The website and structure of the conference is beginning
> to come together, and I've purposely left a few things blank because I
> don't know how to proceed.
>
> Take a look at
>
> woolf.bloomu.edu
>
> You'll notice I have a separate section for high school and
> undergraduates.  I took the organizational handbook at its word and used
> the conference as an opportunity to pull university and community together.
> The deans put in money for this because they (and I)  want to make a
> statement about the importance of the humanities at our institution and in
> the community.
>
> The high school students, community members, and undergraduates will
> attend events like the theater performance, art opening, and plenaries, but
> will have sessions and discussion groups in a separate building from the
> academic conference on Saturday afternoon.
>
> The piece I can't figure out is graduate students.  Do you feel the
> conference would be weakened or strengthened if I made a push for faculty
> to encourage and bring their graduate students?  As I see it, the only
> disadvantage would be that the papers might not be the quality we want
> (some conferences have been taken over by graduate students).
>
> However, there are tremendous advantages. As I talk to faculty about
> conferences, many of them are under pressure to professionalize their
> graduate students and would like to include them. From listening to people,
> I believe we wold attract more professors if we let people know they could
> also bring their graduate students and have them present. But I don't want
> to put them in a separate session or area (as the undergraduates are).
>
> How do you think I should handle this?
>
> Thanks (I have another question), but I'll save that one for next week).
>
> Julie
>
>
>
>
>
> Julie Vandivere, Ph.D.
> Professor of English
> 119 Bakeless
> Bloomsburg University
> Bloomsburg, PA 17815
>
> jvandive at bloomu.edu
>
>
>
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