Welcome, all you graduate literature students, to the 2015-16 school year here at Mercy College. This is your program director, Christopher Loots, writing to wish you all well here as we embark on another year of adventuring in the fields/folds of literature and critical inquiry. At the start of this school year I’d like to continue a theme from my letter last year by encouraging you all to dwell upon, and if inspired act upon, ways in which you might reach out to one another beyond the classroom so to build up the student community, your personal/professional connections, and even peer mentor-mentee relationships. Let me talk a bit more about that last one there, and what I mean by peer mentor-mentee relationships.

Some of you have been in the program for a few years and are nearing completion of your degree. For those that are, you likely by this point know better than you did at the start how to navigate the different professors’ classrooms, know what this or that professor expects or doesn’t expect, etc. You’ve hopefully developed some tactics and techniques for (re)focusing your energies when working on readings and papers, as much as for de-stressing when you feel caught up and overwhelmed by the balance of graduate study and life. You’ve probably got some sort of routine or ritual figured out to keep yourself on track (more or less) throughout the semesters, to keep you in the groove of each class’s expectations and requirements. You’re hopefully well comfortable now in basic technical things like where you go to do online research, which academic database is the best, etc.

Well these are all things which you may not have been as sure about or familiar with when you began here. And so I encourage those of you who’ve been in the program a semester or two to keep an eye out in your classrooms for people new to the program. This is often something that comes out clearly in introductions each semester. Whether there in the introduction thread, or in an email through Blackboard, just say hello and let the person know you’re available to help as necessary. Or perhaps exchange information and get in touch outside of the Blackboard portal. Be friendly and helpful.

Now, true, not everyone needs that, or wants that. But to a new student coming into the program, a simple “hello” and “let me know if you’d like to chat, or need help figuring out the class/program” can mean a lot, both in terms of the kindness and community it shows and because he or she might really be sitting there wishing there were someone to talk to about this. Of course I am here for all of you to contact with any issues or questions (cloots@mercy.edu), but this is where the “peer” part comes into play. Developing a rapport with a fellow graduate student or students can often feel a lot more casual, friendly, and fun than developing a rapport with a professor (though that, too, is a healthy thing to be doing during your time in the program, particularly as you get closer to your 599 Thesis Tutorial).

Keep in mind too that you don’t have to think of this as simply “mentor-mentee” and it doesn’t just have to be between longer-standing and new students. It’s a great idea for ALL of you to reach out here and there and develop a web of communication and community with one or some of your graduate student peers. Even people who are in their last semester can use help and encouragement from time to time. Connect beyond the classroom, is what I’m encouraging you all to do this year, and in the years to come. You all have the common bond of being explorers in the world of words, language, literature; of being adventurers of the mind and the heart and the psyche. Really, MA students are a select group, and are often misunderstood by those in the world around them. Look to your metaphoric left and right: you are among the like-minded, in the best and healthiest sense of the term. Make the most of this time in each others’ company.

As we move off now into our semester studies, let me reiterate though that you should all be well aware that as the program director I’m here to help you. So in addition to seeking out and developing some connections between your program-mates, again don’t hesitate to contact me (cloots@mercy.edu) if you’re in need of some assistance or advice. Make sure too to check out the post below this one detailing the support structure here at Mercy College. I wish you all the best as you venture forward into the school year, and as always I applaud you for keeping strong your love of literature in a world that too often marginalizes the power and significance of such. Bravo, all you graduate literature students. -CL

Welcome, everyone, to the 2014-15 school year of the Mercy College Master of Arts in English Literature program. I hope all of you have had a fine summer and are returning (or coming for the first time) to our virtual campus full of curiosity and energy.

For some of you this online learning environment might be a new thing. Even for some of you who have been with us for a time, the online learning environment presents its own set of challenges. I hope you’ll keep an eye out for one another in your virtual classrooms, for anyone who seems to be struggling with the technical (or other) aspects of virtual learning, and that you won’t hesitate to reach out to one another to say hello and see if you might be of some help. Of course there are a number of technical support features available (look in the left-hand menu of your Blackboard sections for helpful links). And you should feel free to contact your professors with specific issues and questions. But even just a note to another student through the Blackboard email feature can sometimes make the difference between a student feeling like they’re on a virtual island, and feeling like they’re connecting to the course and to the student community.

One thing I’d like us to work on increasing this year is the feeling of an online student community. And toward that end the faculty are working on some initiatives behind the scenes (still trying get approval for an informal, non-Blackboard real-time chat room for all MA students). In the meantime I encourage each of you to try and build your own student-to-student connections in the class and outside of it. Trade email addresses, trade phone numbers if you’re comfortable doing that; create informal study groups on your own, through your own email or skype exchanges.

Of course all of you should know that as the Program Head I am here for you. And each of you can write to me at any time if you have any questions, issues, worries, or comments concerning your experience or progress in the program. Additionally, although each of you has an academic advisor, I can also assist each of you in understanding program requirements and course selection. I’m happy to hear from you, and happy to talk or (much more easily) trade emails. I work with the advising department to try and make sure each one of you is taken care of and is on track for the degree. Just think of me as your personal faculty advisor.

Let’s talk about some program news:

As those who read this blog know, we’ve been working behind the scenes here on a slightly evolved program structure that will give you more freedom and choice when it comes to determining how you will earn your degree. That was approved by the College this past spring and I’ve received word that the Registrar is updating our program information in her system right now, and that the new structure will take effect in Spring 2015. How will that effect you and your progress toward the degree? Either not at all, or only positively. The changes only expand the options students have for meeting degree requirements.

So for example all students in the current/old structure are required to complete ENGL 510, Theory and Practice of Expository Writing. That’s a fine class, and we’ll still continue to offer it. But it’s always bothered some of us here that there are no alternatives to it. It can provide invaluable preparation for students who aspire to teach composition and expository writing, but that doesn’t describe the ambitions of every student in our program. Some of you are creative writers and are here primarily to hone and inspire your craft. Some of you are really here just for literary study, and might not want to devote one of your ten required courses to a class more associated with a Composition and Rhetoric pursuit. We know for a fact that many of you agree, based on the surveys and polls I sent around last year (I sent survey links to all of the student email addresses on file with Mercy). And so in Spring 2015, rather than being required to take 510, you will have a choice of courses to take to complete what we’re calling your “Writing and Literary Forms” requirement. You may take 510 to meet that requirement, or you may elect to take Advanced Creative Writing instead; or to take any one of the literary forms courses we offer (on the epic, poetic, essay, narrative, and dramatic forms). All of the upcoming changes will be just like this: expansion of choices. No one will lose anything. All completed or in-progress work will count toward your degree as it has.

Throughout this school year I will post updates and other information about these changes on this blog, as they are implemented. Once we have the final word from the Registrar I will finalize the draft of the Student Handbook currently available on the left-hand side of this blog, and will replace that draft with an official Student Handbook that will detail every little thing you might want to know about all of this. And as we roll out the new structure, you can and should of course contact me personally at any time with any questions you have about any of it. I will make sure you’re taken care of, and that your progress to your degree will be clear.

Upcoming course offerings:

Within the next week I will be posting here the Spring 2015 course offerings. There will be seven courses total. In addition to some program standards, we’ll be running a selection of eclectic courses which I hope you’ll find interesting. As a quick preview: Professor Sax will be running a Magic in Literature course. Professors Sax is one of the world’s foremost scholars on animals in literature, and on esoteric, hermetic, and mythological literatures. Dr. Kilpatrick, who over the past year has presented and attended conferences from Istanbul to England on topics involving the philosophy of sport, will be leading a special running of the course Sport Literature. Professor Dugan will be running a new course focusing just on the writings of Henry James and D. H. Lawrence. And Professor Emeritus Donald Morales will do our program a great boon when he returns to teach a course on the subject and literature of Afropolitanism, on which he has been presenting this year at conferences in Ghana, England, and Finland. Check here soon for a complete list of Spring 2015 courses, and for more details about what each one of these courses will cover. I’ll also share with you the day and time that spring registration opens.

As you proceed into your classes this school year, I want each of you to recognize and be proud of the fact that you are an adventurer, are an explorer. It takes a certain courage and an adventurous spirit to pursue a graduate degree in the arts. As with adventurers from ages past, it’s likely that some of you have people in your life who don’t quite understand or appreciate your pursuit. It’s often difficult to explain to someone else just why literature and the study of it is so important to you; why your pursuit does matter, deeply. There are some practical ends that the M.A. can lead to: with it you can apply to full-time professorships at junior colleges and other teaching opportunities; it can look good on a resume when applying to traditional English-based careers like editing, publishing, and various writing positions. But aside from all of that, and very often before all of that, I think the first burst which propels someone into graduate literary study is a pure love of literature, of words, of writing, and of thinking. You don’t have to explain your love of these things here among the virtual halls and your fellow students and faculty. You are among friends. You have only to get into the joyous work of reading, thinking, discussing, and exploring these things together with one another. Have a great year everyone,

Christopher Loots
Program Head, Master of Arts in English Literature
cloots@mercy.edu