Carrol
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [radcaucus] RC at 2007 MLA and looking forward to 2008 Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 04:32:29 -0500 From: Michael Bennett <Michael.Bennett at liu.edu> Reply-To: radcaucus at googlegroups.com To: radcaucus at googlegroups.com, jpthomps at montana.edu
Fellow RCers,
The 2007 MLA convention was fairly successful for the RC.
Our two sessions-"Teaching the Literature of Social Protest" and "Teaching the Practice of Social Protest"-were informative, well-attended, and generated great discussions. Thanks to all involved and let's try to continue the conversation about issues raised at these sessions on our email list.
In the Delegate Assembly, RCers had a lot to say during the open discussion on academic freedom and we generated the only three resolutions presented under new business.
The resolution on supporting the AFT's campaign for Faculty and College Excellence (FACE) and similar efforts to ensure fair pay "and job security with full due process protections" for contingent faculty (the part in quotations added by amendment) was passed by an overwhelming margin. Credit to Betsy Hanzimanolis for crafting the resolution and gathering the supporting material.
The resolution on defending the academic freedom and freedom of speech of faculty and invited speakers to criticize Zionism and Israel led to an interesting, if truncated, discussion and the passage of a very watered down substitute resolution affirming the rights of all parties to speak freely about the Middle East. Thanks to Grover Furr for putting up a good fight on behalf of the resolution he submitted.
A slightly amended version of Kamala Platt's well-researched resolution condemning the University of Colorado for its politically motivated attack on Ward Churchill was passed by a large margin after much discussion.
At our fruitful business meeting, we had an interesting political discussion about the contemporary political scene, strategized for the Delegate Assembly, and came up with ideas for our two official sessions at next year's convention (in San Francisco-the last MLA convention to meet in December before they are moved to January) as well as several possible special sessions. The CFP for our two RC-sponsored sessions appears below and will also appear in the MLA Newsletter. Those who wish to propose special sessions (Barbara Foley on Jack London's The Iron Heel, Rich Hancuff and Joseph Ramsey on the San Francisco General Strike, Ben Olguin on prisons and incarceration, Cassie Falke' on class in the classroom, and John Thompson on organizing students, others?) should get your own 35-word statements to the MLA by the January 4 deadline for the CFP to appear in the spring MLA Newsletter. Got to MLA.org, click on "convention" and then "submit calls for papers." And also send a copy to
Thanks again to all who participated in our activities at the 2007 convention (and to those who were there in spirit),
Mike Bennett
THE RADICAL CAUCUS IN ENGLISH AND THE MODERN LANGUAGES Criminality of the University Violations of academic freedom, supporting American imperialism, campus militarization, increasing inequality, unfair labor practices, student debt, . . . . Resistance to these practices. Literature of Criminality Teaching literary and cultural texts that respond to the topics listed above and similar concerns: structural violence, exploitation, spectres of fascism, . . . . Resistance to these practices. 1-2 page abstracts by 15 Mar; Michael Bennett (bennett at liu.edu <mailto:bennett at liu.edu> ). --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Radical Caucus of the MLA" group. To post to this group, send email to radcaucus at googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to radcaucus-unsubscribe at googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/radcaucus?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---