PURPOSE:

SIGs are not intended to replace or direct already established formal or informal networking groups within MSA. Rather, SIGs were introduced in order to foster new forms of collaboration, networking, and community; develop structures for horizontal and vertical mentorship; extend discussion and engagement throughout and between conferences; and shape conversations and programming within MSA. SIGs may be formed around areas of scholarly research or identity groups.

GOALS:

  • Generate discussions on topics important to the membership
  • Foster community, sociability, and networking opportunities
  • Prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion, broadly conceived
  • Provide a welcoming space for new members and first-time conference attendees
  • Foreground the scholarship, teaching, and voices of marginalized scholars
  • Attract new members to MSA and give them reasons to continue participating in the organization

2024 SIGS

MODERNISM AND ENVIRONMENT

Anne Raine, University of Ottawa (araine@ottawa.edu) Molly Volanth Hall, Rhode Island School of Design (mhall04@risd.edu).

The Modernism & Environment Special Interest Group (SIG) is a community of scholars from diverse places and positionalities coming together to foster conversation between the environmental humanities and the study of modernism and modernity, broadly defined. We organize online events throughout the year where emerging and established scholars can share ideas and inspiration on environmental modernist scholarship, pedagogy, or praxis. These include twice-weekly writing-in-community sessions, a monthly works-in-progress workshop, an online reading group that meets four times per year, and in-person conference programming such as this year’s Climate Crisis and Modernist Praxis Workshop and New Voices Roundtable. Our SIG also houses a sustainability committee that works on ways to help make MSA’s operations more sustainable and environmentally just. To learn more or sign up for our listserv, visit our website.

FILM STUDIES

Alix Beeston, Cardiff University (beestona@cardiff.ac.uk) John Hoffmann, Chapman University (johoffmann@chapman.edu) Hayley O’Malley, Rice University (homalley@rice.edu)

The advent of cinema coincided with the rise of modernism in the arts; yet the fields of film studies and modernist studies have generated their own genealogies of the modern grounded in different, sometimes conflicting theoretical and historical traditions. Building on this interdisciplinary foundation, the Film Studies Special Interest Group explores the history and theory of cinema through its interconnections with other media while remaining anchored in the aesthetics of moving images and the generic specificity of film art. To learn more about the group, please visit the website or contact msafilmstudiessig@gmail.com.

INTERSECTIONAL FEMINIST AND QUEER PRAXIS

Jennifer Mitchell, mitchelj@union.edu

The history of feminist studies in the academy parallels its evolution in modernist studies: the early feminist challenges to the male-dominated canon, the labors of recovery and recuperation, the revision of common narratives through postcolonial approaches, and, the rise of intersectional frameworks for understanding modernism in its most rich complexities. MSA’s new Feminist Special Interest Group (SIG) is dedicated to illuminating the feminist projects within new modernist studies, supporting feminist networks, and advocating for a more feminist MSA.

This special interest group has, at its core, an intersectional approach to feminism, one that considers feminism relative to race, sexuality, citizenship, disability, religion, etc. Bridging the academic interests of feminist scholars at all levels, ranks, and affiliations with the social benefits of coalition-building and camaraderie, the MSA Feminist SIG will consider the types of contributions that we can make to future MSA conferences and digital programming, facilitating space for conversations about pedagogy, research, mentorship, and other subjects relevant to its members.

MODERNISM AND PEDAGOGY

Laura Hartmann-Villalta, Johns Hopkins University (lhartm13@jhu.edu) Benjamin Hagen, University of South Dakota (benjamin.hagen@usd.edu)

The Mod & Ped SIG of MSA focuses on all aspects of pedagogy-related conversations that overlap with modernist concerns. Generally, these can be categorized as two-fold: teaching-related questions and job application questions that ask about one’s pedagogical practice (teaching statements, etc.). This SIG has attracted a wide array of MSA members and non-members, including full-time and part-time adjuncts and graduate students. We currently have 60+ members on our mailing list. The SIG maintains a Google Folder where we are collating a bibliography of published modernism & pedagogy materials, a folder of past presentations, and sample job materials, along with a letter establishing the expected acknowledgements and community standards when using other’s materials.

Retired SIGS

CRITICAL RACE STUDIES

Guidelines for MSA SIGs

(Approved by the MSA Board on November 7, 2024)

SIG Expectations

• SIGs are guaranteed one panel, workshop, seminar, or roundtable (and possibly more) at the annual MSA conference.

• SIG panels/ streams at the conference will be made up of individual paper submissions, and the SIGs will select papers and form panels/ workshops/ roundtables/ seminars. SIGs will be asked to review submissions for other SIGs by the program committee, to keep the workload as even as possible. SIG leaders might consider forming a SIG sub-committee for the conference to review paper proposals.

• Additional SIG programming is at the discretion of the SIG leader(s) and group. (SIGs have organized reading groups, mentoring sessions, summer conference sessions, among other activities.)

• SIGs should make an effort to include graduate students and contingent faculty members in SIG programming and leadership.

SIG Leadership Guidelines

• SIG leaders/ co-leaders will serve a 2-year term, which is renewable for one term.

• Co-leadership is encouraged but not required.

• SIG leaders will be elected by the members of the SIG. Elections can be held in a virtual meeting or through a poll/ ballot at the discretion of SIG members. Elections should be called and organized by the SIG leadership or by a SIG member if the SIG leadership is interested in running for another term.

• The MSA Membership & Elections Chair will keep track of any open SIG leadership positions and announce elections with the assistance of current SIG leaderships. Elections will be held in the fall, shortly after the MSA conference.

• Every fall, SIG leaders should inform the MSA Membership & Elections Chair whether the SIG leaders are continuing in their positions, whether there is new leadership, or whether the SIG is retiring (regardless of whether an election was held).

• Current SIG leaders are responsible for recruiting new leadership for their SIGs.

• If a SIG leader steps down and is not replaced, the SIG is considered retired until there is renewed interest. Retired SIGs will be listed on the MSA website as such.

Establishment of New SIGs

• The MSA Membership & Elections Chair will send an email every fall shortly after the MSA conference with a list of active SIGs, their leadership (and contact info), and a call for new SIG proposals. (This will also include any open leadership positions; see above.)

• A proposal for a new SIG must include the SIG name, at least 5 members, a short justification for the SIG (500-750 words), and a programming plan for the next two years, including the names of 2 to 4 people (not including the listed 5 members) who are interested in taking future leadership positions.

• The creation of a new SIG is at the discretion of the MSA Board (by majority vote).

• All current and retired SIGs will be listed on the MSA website.

• The MSA will support six active SIGs.