Charter of the Northeastern Union of Graduate Slavists
The Northeastern Union of Graduate Slavists originated in a conference organized by students in the Yale Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures in February of 2000. Conceived of as a response to the need for an intellectual forum among area graduate students with an interest in Slavic literatures and cultures, that event provided a unique opportunity for graduate students to meet their colleagues from all the universities in the region and to participate with them in an exchange of ideas and observations. The success of this conference amply demonstrated not only the value for graduate students of communication on our own terms, but also the potential for larger-scale activity which such collaboration engenders; the conference was thus reconceived as an annual event under the auspices of the newly-formed Northeastern Union of Graduate Slavists.
Although the Union's horizons are broader and its activities more varied, its goals remain those of the original conference. It seeks to open avenues of communication of all sorts among graduate students interested in Slavic cultural production, to allow graduate students in Slavic to voice their concerns and ideas to a general audience, and to create fora and media independent of any specific institution - which belong, rather, to the graduate community at large which maintains and is served by them.
Annual Conference of Northeastern Graduate Slavists
The conference of the Northeastern Union of Graduate Slavists takes place in the late winter or early spring of every year and rotates among the area's universities. Following an open call for papers to all graduate students interested in Slavic cultural production, selections are made on the basis of blind submission of abstracts to a committee composed of no more than one person from as many area universities as nominate a representative. Once the papers have been chosen, they are organized thematically into panels by the selection committee. Each panel is composed of three 20-30 minute papers followed by open discussion and has as chair and discussant a pair of graduate students involved in the given topic.
The conference lasts at least one day (three panels); depending upon funding and the sufficiency of high-quality papers, another panel can be hosted the following day. If funding allows, the conference may also arrange for a roundtable discussion of graduate concerns and ideas about the field, a keynote speaker from one of the area's universities, and the disbursement of travel grants to graduate students from other regions (also chosen by the selection committee on the basis of the blind submissions).
For questions or information about the Northeast Union of Graduate Slavists or its upcoming 2001 conference, email us at info@slavicgrad.freeservers.com.
