Representing the Underrepresented: A Roundtable on Recruitment, Retention, and Community in the Field of English Studies

For many students from minority groups, negotiating the rigors and culture of a career in English includes navigating the complex status of representing the underrepresented.  Composed of two current graduate students, two recent Penn State graduates, Pia Deas and David Green, with positions at other academic institutions, and our own Dr. Tina Chen and Dr. Shirley Moody-Turner, this departmental roundtable looks to address the range of issues faced by such students.

Topics of discussion may include but are not limited to the following:

• Recruiting minority students—goals and practices
• Retaining students from underrepresented groups
• Decoding service expectations for graduate students and faculty members
• Encouraging first-generation college graduates and/or first family members to pursue doctoral degrees
• Accounting for socio-economic background
• Considering the opportunities and perils of public outreach
• Balancing home life and school/work life
• Searching for community—intellectual, cultural, &c.
• Developing structured resources—leadership and mentorship
  
  

Candid report and open discussion will shape this occasion, but the stakes of the event include the opportunity to generate recommendations for fostering a culture of higher education in English that supports all students, both here at Penn State and more widely.

Geffrey Davis, Roundtable Coordinator
PhD Candidate in English, MFA in Poetry, Graduate Lecturer
(20th- and 21st- Century American Literature and Poetics)
12 Burrowes Building
Department of English