[Vwoolf] Graduate students and Woolf conference

[Susan E Wegener]

Hi Julie,

I have attended Woolf conferences since 2001, and have usually found that the quality of papers depends upon good ideas and preparation, rather than status.

Sincerely,

Susan Wegener


--
Susan Wegener
English Department
Purdue University
Heavilon Hall 207
swegener at purdue.edu

----- Original Message -----
From: kllevenback at att.net
To: "Andrea" <andrea.adolph at gmail.com>
Cc: vwoolf at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 7:55:12 AM
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Graduate students and Woolf conference




Dear Julie-- 

An undergraduate student of mine (who, to her delight was mistaken for a graduate student) was on my panel at the UMBC conference. It was a wonderful experience for us both--and both of our papers were chosent for Selected Papers. It was a teaching panel and the response from those who attended (and it was a crowded room) was most positive. 

Cheers-- 
Karen Levenback 






On Thursday, October 23, 2014 7:15 AM, Andrea <andrea.adolph at gmail.com> wrote: 









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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