American Studies Area Group Activity Report and Budget—Spring 2021

The American Studies Area Group is an interdisciplinary student-run group that invites students from different programs to share scholarship, interests, and ideas about American Studies (transhistorically conceived). Our primary purpose is to foster an intellectual and social community of scholars that encourages interaction across disciplines and between students and faculty. This group is a student-directed forum for furthering cross-disciplinary conversations between students at different stages of their degree, including between fields that rarely get the chance to work collaboratively. We also see this group as a space where students can share and discuss resources, works-in-progress, and questions related to professional development, field-specific issues, or the “state of the profession” more widely. Additionally, we are especially interested in how issues in American Studies intersects or interacts with anti-racist and feminist approaches to pedagogy and literacy studies, as well as various kinds of work and scholarship in the digital humanities (including working with archives, among other approaches). The group differs from the American Studies certificate program in that, as a student-run organization, it will cater to the needs and desires of student members, at any stage of their academic career. Events: The group’s past meetings featured reading groups, speakers, co-sponsored conferences, and more related to various issues and concerns in American Studies. Future events might include: reading groups, writing workshops, talks by invited speakers (formal or informal), panels, conferences, professionalization related discussions (conferences, abstracts, journals), or field trips or archive visits. Events will also involve a social component since they offer an opportunity for those working in various disciplines to come together, network, and potentially collaborate. The American Studies Group, as a DSC chartered org, will also work closely at times with other student-led chartered orgs, students in other programs. We welcome further ways to work with or co-sponsor events with other chartered organizations. Funding: All of our events are free of charge. We will rely on DSC funds for chartered orgs. Membership is open to all matriculated and non-matriculated Graduate Center students. Non-voting membership is open to non-matriculated GC students and alumni, as well as to students (both matriculated and non-matriculated), staff, and faculty from other CUNY institutions. We invite the participation of all CUNY students, alumni, and faculty, and we will reach out to other programs and groups for our meetings, events, and ongoing group activity. Governance: Only students matriculated at the Graduate Center will hold voting membership. Quorum consists of a simple majority. The group currently has three co-chairs currently. The group has been revitalized. Fall 2018 was not not incredibly active -- but many events are already planned for Spring 2019 semester, including weekly writing meetings, a panel, and co-sponsorship of two student-run conferences featuring student work. Future co-chairs will be decided by an annual election consisting of anonymous nominations and voting. Co-chairs share responsibility of scheduling and running meetings, organizing possible events, applying for funding, and keep the group active.