The Winter 2007 semester is off to a freezing start and SAGE (Students' Association for Graduates in English) has a variety of workshops, conferences and other events in the works.  But, before giving an overview of our plans for the coming year, we would like to officially welcome all of the new English grads and remind the rest of the graduate student community to participate in our student association (more details about SAGE are available here:
http://www.english.wayne.edu/sage/ ).  As always, we encourage all English grads to participate at the level you feel most comfortable and with the reminder that academic responsibilities should always come first.

The SAGE listserv is the best place to get involved, find out what's going on and have your say. To join follow the directions on the SAGE website or simply email our president, Renuka Gusain ( renuka@wayne.edu ) and request to be added to the listserv.  Also, SAGE periodically has meetings where we plan and discuss events in a round table forum; these meetings are always advertised on the SAGE listserv.

Upcoming SAGE events, Winter 2007

SAGE works to support a positive working environment for graduate students that provides opportunities for professionalization, peer networking, and access to visiting scholars and authors through SAGE organized events like our workshop series and the Elizabeth Grosz lecture in September 2006.

This Winter, we will be continuing the SAGE workshop series, supporting guest lectures, assisting WSU conferences, organizing reading groups, as well as launching some new programs.  There's a lot going on, so take a look…

1) Research Workshop:  Speakers will present information detailing both print and electronic resources available to us in the Wayne State library system, resources outside the WSU system, and offer tips for successfully finding what you need.  Date and Location TBD

2) Guest Lectures: (a) Nancy DeJoy, from the Michigan State University Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Culture, will present a workshop on pursuing a career in writing program administration as both a scholarly and practical endeavor on 3/2/07; (b) With Professor Watten and the English Department, SAGE will be helping to bring the poet and theorist Rachel Blau du Plessis to campus in April

3) Conferences: From volunteers to drumming up support, SAGE has been working to assist the following conferences--(a) The graduate forum organized by Jessica Rivait and Mike McGinnis for the Career Day Workshop on 3/23/07; (b) Y/X Conference 3/30/07; (c) Computers & Writing 5/17-19/07

4) Reading Groups: To join, contact the appropriate moderator, (a) The Film reading group listserv is moderated by Cindy Spires (aw6993@wayne.edu ); (b) The Writing and Poetry reading group listserv is moderated by Jill Darling (at5491@wayne.edu)

5) NEW – Graduate Peer Review Forum:  Sometimes we all need some advice on that seminar paper we are trying to get finished before the end of the semester.  SAGE is proposing a new program this semester that would offer all graduate students the opportunity to circulate seminar papers, conference papers or any other piece of writing among the graduate student community for feedback, commentary, suggestions, new directions, and so on.  We hope to have in place by the end of this semester a forum for circulating graduate student work that facilitates such exchanges.

6) NEW – The End of Summer Conference:  The English program is full of brilliant students, but when we are caught up in the whirlwind that is coursework and dissertation writing, it can be hard to get in touch with your peers.  This summer, SAGE will be launching the End of Summer Conference in order to give interested graduate students an opportunity to present ongoing research to the rest of the department.  We envision a relaxed atmosphere that is formal enough to present an article you finished over the summer and informal enough to give a five-minute talk on what you are interested in.  The conference will function as much like a roundtable with opportunities to open discussions on student research among fellow graduate students and
faculty as it will an opportunity to test drive the conference paper you plan to give in October.  This program is in the planning stages, and more information is sure to come soon.

To conclude, SAGE has a lot of gears in motion and if anything sounds interesting to you, please get involved.  Our aim is to build a supportive community and we cannot do that without your participation!  If you have questions, suggestions, ideas or just want to help out, let us know -- we would love to hear your thoughts even if you only come to one meeting a semester and post on the listserve twice a year!  

On Friday, March 2, we will be organizing an informal dinner outing after Nancy DeJoy's workshop and all Faculty, Students and Staff are welcome.  This will be a great chance to meet with other people from the department and have a great time, we encourage you to attend; details will be posted on the 10th floor SAGE bulletin board as well as the SAGE listserv.  We hope to see you there.  

All the best,

Clay Walker
&The folks at SAGE