|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
A Message from Robert ScholesThe MLA is an organization of nearly 30,000 people, most of whom are teachers of English and the other modern languages. The annual MLA convention continues to be the most visible of the MLA's activities, attracting about 10,000 people a year to meetings in various cities across the continent. For most of us, it is a way of keeping up with both our fields and our friends, as we attend formal sessions, check the new books being issued by publishers, and get together for conversations that remind us that we are members of a community of scholars. All this is part of a pattern of professional development that enables us to return to our classrooms and our studies renewed and refreshed. The MLA appoints committees to consider issues of importance to the profession, from scholarly editing to the working conditions of graduate student teachers and adjunct faculty members. MLA-sponsored surveys provide crucial data to enable us to know more about current practices and trends. The MLA International Bibliography is the most important tool for literary research in language and literature. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers serves hundreds of thousands of students each year, and the MLA Style Manual is a basic resource for academic writers. The MLA publishes the prestigious journal PMLA, four other periodicals, and a variety of books on the teaching of language and literature. The MLA's popular radio program, What's the Word?, soon to enter its eighth season, reaches listeners across the country and around the world. Through consortia like the National Humanities Alliance and the Joint National Committee on Languages, the MLA engages in public advocacy and affects legislative initiatives. I have been a member since 1959, when I attended my first convention in search of my first job after graduate school. (Later conventions have been more pleasurable and more intellectually rewarding.) As it happens, then, I have watched this organization for forty-five years and participated in its operations at various levels. I have learned that the MLA staff and the elected representatives of the organization are truly dedicated to helping teachers and scholars of the modern languages do the best work possible under the most suitable conditions. It is an honor to share in those efforts as president for the year 2004. As president I urge all teachers and scholars in the modern languages to become members of the MLA, as I have been urging my own graduate students for years. And those who are members I urge to participate as fully as they can in our activities. As your president, I will be glad to hear from any of you about any issue that concerns the organization. For the year 2004, you can reach me at rscholes@mla.org or by mail c/o Modern Language Association, 26 Broadway, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10004-1789. --Robert Scholes
|
|
|
