Dear MA Students,

We’re about a month away from the end of classes. Although these next weeks are a little chaotic as classes hurdle to a close, we wanted to make you aware of some workshops, teaching and award opportunities, and opportunities to participate in the life of the college and MA program.

791 (Thesis) Information Workshop

From 6 to 7 pm on Monday, November 20, we will be holding a virtual 791 Information Workshop for those who are planning to complete English 791 (the thesis class) in Spring 2024. We’ll discuss some tips for managing the thesis, the procedure for registering, and go over the timeline for the whole thesis process. Please email MAEnglish@qc.cuny.edu to RSVP and to receive the Zoom link for the meeting.

MFA Open House

Queens College’s Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing will be holding an Open House on Wednesday, November 15 from 5 to 6:30 pm.  Many of our past MA graduates have continued to complete the MFA, which focuses on the writing of creative work in poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. The MFA qualifies one for teaching positions at universities and is the degree for those aspiring to be professional writers.  Click this link to register and receive the Zoom link for the meeting.

Teaching Opportunities

As we did last year, we are trying to compile a list of students who are interested in teaching opportunities when they arise. The strongest candidates for these positions will have completed a few classes but still have about a year to go in the program. In the Spring 2024, there are opportunities to tutor in the Queens College Writing Center in Spring 2024, for about 9 hours per week, and to teach in the English Department in the academic year 2024-5. If you are interested in these opportunities, please complete the following form. 

Registration

Please remember that registration for Spring and Summer are open. I have attached the course descriptions again to this message. If the class that you are trying to register for is closed, email maenglish@qc.cuny.edu to be placed on the wait list for the class.  We should be able to move many off of the wait list and into closed classes in January. 

Conference

Scheduling conflicts made it impossible to hold an MA conference last year, but we’ll be moving forward with the conference this year, with the plan of holding it in March 2024.  We’ll keep the great theme that last year’s committee came up with, “In Other Worlds.”  If you are interested in participating in this year’s planning committee, which involves evaluating the submissions, coming up with the day’s schedule, and inviting faculty and a keynote speaker, please let us know by completing the following form. 

Graduate Student Position on the Graduate Curriculum Committee

There is a graduate student position open on the College’s Graduate Curriculum Committee. The Graduate Curriculum Committee evaluates and approves changes to graduate programs. (This is a good year for an English person to be on the committee because we will be introducing several course changes, a new dual degree MA/ MLS program with Library Science, and an online degree program.). There’s no pay for the position, but it is a good way of becoming more knowledgeable about the workings of the college and the kind of service that you could put on a CV or resume.  The committee meets once month on a Wednesday from 12:15 to 1:30 pm.  The dates for this year’s meetings are:  12/6, 2/7, 3/13, 4/3, 5/1.  If you are interested in this position, please email Bill at William.Orchard@qc.cuny.edu. 

CLAGS Prize for Best Graduate Student Essay in Queer Studies

Each year, the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) at the CUNY Graduate Center sponsors a student paper competition open to all graduate students enrolled in the CUNY system.  A cash prize of $250 is awarded to the best paper written in a CUNY graduate class on any topic related to gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, or transgender experiences. Papers should be between 15 and 50 pages and of publishable quality. Information on applying is available here.  The deadline is December 1. (They receive a surprisingly small number of submissions for this prize. In addition to the money, the prize is prestigious and something that you could list on your CV.).

We hope that your classes and work are going well. As always, please feel free to reach out to Hillary or me if you have any questions or concerns.

Best,

Bill

________________________________________

William Orchard

Associate Professor                  

Director, MA Program              

Department of English             

Queens College, CUNY