[KS] forming a Korean forum within the MLA (your participation is needed)

Sun Jun 1 03:07:07 EDT 2014

Dear colleagues,

I would like to bring to your attention the (possible) creation of a Korean
(Language, Literature, and Culture) forum within the MLA (Modern Language
Association).

As you may know, for the first time in decades the MLA is restructuring its
division and discussion groups. It will be a significant change, making the
MLA significantly less Euro-centric, and more reflective of what and how
languages and literatures are taught today.

In order for the Korean LLC forum to be established, at least 35 members
must sign the petition, and at least 5 must volunteer for leadership
positions.

At present, however, the MLA website shows only 12 signatures. That means *23
more signatures are needed*, and *the deadline is June 15*.

At present the MLA has only 2 East Asia Divisions / Discussion Groups: East
Asian before 1900 and East Asian after 1900. With the restructuring, and *if
enough MLA members sign the petitions, seven East Asian groups will be
created*:

*NEW*

* CHINESE (under Languages, Literatures, and Cultures):

1) Pre-14th Century Chinese Language and Literature

2) Ming-Qing Language and Literature

3) Modern / Contemporary Chinese Language and Literature

* JAPANESE (under Languages, Literatures, and Cultures):

1) Japanese Language and Literature before 1900

2) Japanese Language and Literature after 1900

* KOREAN (under Languages, Literatures, and Cultures):

1) Korean

*Reconfigured*

* East Asian, under the rubric "Asian"

I am finishing my term on the Executive Committee of East Asian Languages
and Literatures after 1900 -- don't ask how a historian like me wound up on
this Committee -- and it's time for the real scholars of Korean literature
to step forward and create the Korean LLC forum. I think this might mean
you?

You may have noticed that Chinese has 3 groups, Japanese has 2, and Korean
has only 1. The MLA Executive Council will be re-evaluating the structure
every 5 years, and at some point (if the Korean forum is vibrant, etc.) the
Korean forum should become two groups (before and after 1900).

But none of that will happen unless the MLA gets 35 signatures. If you are
a member of the MLA, please see instructions below. Or go directly to:
http://commons.mla.org/groups/prospective-forum-llc-korean/

If you are not a member, please consider becoming a member -- to make
Korean literature a vital component within this influential organization.
It is a pivotal moment.

Thank you in advance.

Henry Em

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: MLA Commons <commons at mla.org>
Date: Sun, May 18, 2014 at 3:25 PM
Subject: Melek Ortabasi posted an update in the group East Asian Languages
and Literatures after 1900 [MLA Commons]
To: henryem at gmail.com

Melek Ortabasi posted an update in the group East Asian Languages and
Literatures after 1900

"Hi everyone,

It's time to participate! As you know, the the restructuring of the
association’s divisions and discussion groups has been approved. And thank
you to Henry Em and the rest of the executive committee, our voice has been
heard. East Asianists now have a variety of forums in which to participate
-- POTENTIALLY.

Here are the new forums approved:

LLC Pre-14th-Century Chinese
LLC Ming and Qing Chinese
LLC Modern and Contemporary Chinese
LLC Japanese to 1900
LLC Japanese since 1900
LLC Korean

BUT: there is a caveat. Please see the instructions below.

"The new forums that have been preauthorized by the Executive Council (in
orange in the full list of forums) do not yet exist. For these new forums
to come into being, interested members must begin by organizing on MLA
Commons. New Commons groups corresponding to each of these prospective
forums have been created. Each group contains a discussion area (identified
as a “forum”), which has been prepopulated with a petition thread. Members
are invited to join the groups that correspond to their intellectual
interests, to sign the petition by adding their names as comments in that
thread, to volunteer for a leadership role in the new forum, and to
participate in the discussion about the forum.

Please note: members may sign no more than five new forum petitions during
the 2014 membership year. Signing more than five petitions may result in
the disqualification of all your signatures.

Beginning 15 June 2014, we will select those groups that show evidence of
sufficient participation, including at least thirty-five signatures and at
least five leadership volunteers. We will appoint a four-member founding
executive committee, whose terms will have staggered end dates. That
founding executive committee will be invited to prepare and submit a formal
proposal for consideration by the Program Committee.

The proposal will consist of a letter of application of at least two but no
more than five pages, including a justification of the need for the forum
and a history of the development of the forum, such as any relevant past
convention sessions and other meetings that show evidence of interest. The
first round of proposals will be due 1 September 2014 and will be reviewed
by the Program Committee at its fall 2014 meeting. Those forums that are
approved will be invited to participate in the 2016 convention.

Since new forums are proposed for coverage of individual East Asian
languages and literatures, the two current East Asian divisions (this is
one of them) are being merged into a single forum, East Asian, in the
Languages, Literatures, and Cultures category. So we'll still exist over
here.

Please join me in signing the appropriate petitions for each forum, and
nominating yourself for a leadership role!

Best,
Melek"

To view or reply, log in and go to:
http://commons.mla.org/groups/east-asian-languages-and-literatures-after-1900/

---------------------
Your email setting for this group is: All Email
To change your email setting for this group, please log in and go to:
http://commons.mla.org/wp-login.php?redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fcommons.mla.org%2Fgroups%2Feast-asian-languages-and-literatures-after-1900%2Fnotifications%2F&action=bpnoaccess&auth=1

To disable all notifications for this group, click:
http://commons.mla.org/members/henryem/?bpass-action=unsubscribe&group=174&access_key=42650cd8750d803ddf9b1fbbf287d270

Or to disable notifications for *all* your groups, click:
http://commons.mla.org/members/henryem/?bpass-action=unsubscribe&access_key=fdce0ab064ab84a4b6010536edb29407

-- 
Henry Em
Associate Professor, Korean History
Yonsei University Underwood International College
Veritas Hall B, Room 425
Gwahakno 85, Songdo-Dong, Yeonsu-Gu
Incheon 406-840, Korea

Mobile: 82(country code)-*(0)10-7232-2626*

Office: 82(country code)-(0)32-363-4153
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://koreanstudies.com/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreanstudies.com/attachments/20140601/c665844f/attachment.html>