Each year--once in the fall and once in the spring--the English department administers the comprehensive exam which all M.A. candidates must pass in order to graduate. The department announces the reading list six weeks prior to the date of the exam. In order to best prepare for this exam, study groups are recommended. Contact your current EGSA officers to find out about joining or helping to form study groups.
Each year a group of students meets, with the leadership of Professors in the Departments of Women's Studies and English, on a monthly basis to discuss feminist scholarship as it relates to our lives and to works of literature. Specific works, topics, and meeting times are decided by the current group at the beginning of the academic year. Watch for announcements or talk with Professor Amy Levin or Professor Diana Swanson for more information.
Are you pursuing a focus in film and literature or do you love talking about recent movies? Join the film discussion group. This e-mail-based discussion group keeps an ongoing conversation on film and film scholarship and periodically plans outings to view a movie and discuss it over dinner and drinks. Dr. Bob Self, who has published heavily in the area of film and literature and directs the Film Studies in Dublin, Ireland summer program, often joins the group and heads their informal discussions. For more information or to have your name added to the list, e-mail Bob Self: rself@niu.edu.
In the Fall 1999 semester a group of TAs and Instructors met to discuss lesson plans, computer assisted-assignments, and other pedagogical issues. While the group decided to discontinue the meetings due to time constraints in the Spring semester, you might want to consider starting up a group of your own. You could do this informally, with the leadership of a professor, or with the support of EGSA officers.
Students interested in directing or participating in the Linguistics and Philology Colloquium, please contact Dr. Doris Macdonald (dmvm@niu.edu).
If you have a background in Latin and would like to improve, or if you already feel strong in your Latin skills and want to keep up on them, contact Professor Nicole Clifton. Professor Clifton enjoys leading a small group of students according to current interest among graduate students, so even if this is not advertised contact her to let her know of your interest.