CEA News and Announcements Archive, Part 2
Former
Presidents Discuss Direction of CEA
Resolutions
from the Committee on Committees
1997
Robert A. Miller Memorial Prize Winners
Encyclopedia
of American Literature of the Sea and the Great Lakes Forthcoming
Former Presidents Discuss Direction of CEA
At the conference in Baltimore, former presidents discussed the past and future of CEA. Elizabeth Huberman and Jack Joyce co-chaired the session, with the participation of a distinguished panel: Paul T. Bryant, Betsy Hilbert, Earle Labor, Doris Meriwether, Keith C. Odom, James H. Pickering, John Shawcross, Fred Standley, and Earl J. Wilcox.
The panel agreed that the originators of CEA wanted an organization that was more “human” than the MLA had become. It has succeeded at that goal. Keith Odom remarked that he has been connected to CEA and its affiliates for most of his career and that its members are “almost family.” From the beginning, CEA aimed at fostering criticism and analysis that could be translated directly into the classroom.
The presidents noted that CEA has changed to accommodate changes in the profession and must aggressively pursue new members, particularly minority colleagues. It has incorporated some job-search sessions, invited more participation of affiliate organizations, and encouraged feminist and multicultural sessions.
CEA needs new and more members, the participants argued, in order to be a strong influence into the next century. John Shawcross suggested better connections with Hispanic American and African American professional organizations. Betsy Hilbert discussed the importance of community colleges to students across the country. She recommended that CEA members “tell more jokes. Take ourselves less seriously. Enjoy our squabbles; enjoy one another.”
The Committee on Committees recommended these actions to the CEA Board at its mid-year meeting at the Modern Language Association Convention in Toronto. The Board passed the resolutions on December 29, 1997.
1) ONGOING CONCERNS COMMITTEE: Membership on this committee will include the CEA Membership Director, the Director of Affiliates, and the Second Vice President, who acts as chair and who is in charge of making the additional appointments to this committee. In addition to the members designated in the previous sentence, four or more members are to be appointed or consulted to accomplish the business of the committee (“appointment” or “consultation” to be at the discretion of the Second Vice President) on the basis of the various rich representations of diversity among the CEA membership (e.g., geography, gender, experience, special interest, and the nature and size of institutions).
2) WOMEN’S CONNECTION: We applaud the effectiveness of this assembly and endorse its remaining an autonomous organization apart from any formalized CEA designation. At which time this group should decide that it is appropriate or advisable to pursue formal integration into the CEA committee structure as set forth in the Constitution, they are free to seek such integration, and they will initiate it themselves.
3) WOMEN’S STUDIES COMMITTEE: Because of the effectiveness of the Women’s Connection, we recommend deletion of any provision for appointment to and existence of the Women’s Studies Committee by CEA administration.
4) ARCHIVES COMMITTEE: We recommend that this committee be disbanded.
Respectfully submitted, Jill B. Gidmark, Committee Chair, John T. Shawcross, Elsie Mayer, Norman Stafford
| The CEA Publications Committee announced the recipients of the 1997 Robert A. Miller Memorial Prize for an outstanding article in a CEA publication during 1996: Jill B. Gidmark and Anthony Hunt, whose article titled “Catherine Weldon: Derek Walcott’s Visionary Telling of History” appeared in CEA Critic 59.1 (Fall 1996). | 
Jill B. Gidmark accepts the Robert A. Miller Memorial Prize. |
Greenwood
Press will publish the Encyclopedia of American Literature of the Sea
and the Great Lakes. An alphabetical reference work covering the most
significant prose, poetry, and drama of the sea, this single-volume source
is now in preparation. The editorial board seeks writers on authors, titles,
places, ships, and themes in sea literature. Entries range from 50 to 1,500
words and emphasize the significance of the sea or the Great Lakes in an
author’s life, in the literary work, in a particular geographical area
or port, or as developed by a unified theme. The work is directed to a
general audience—to lay readers as well as scholars. The editors will offer
contributors a prominently displayed byline and, to writers of multiple
entries, a copy of the published encyclopedia.
If you have questions or would like a list of entries, contributor guidelines, or sample submissions, contact:
Other members of the editorial board can answer most questions: Mary K. Bercaw Edwards, Williams College–Mystic Seaport Program; Attilio Favorini, University of Pittsburgh; Joseph Flibbert, Salem State College; Robert Madison, U.S. Naval Academy; Mary Malloy, SEA Education Association; and Haskell Springer, University of Kansas.Jill B. Gidmark
University of Minnesota
140 Appleby Hall
128 Pleasant St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: (612) 625-0855 Fax: (612) 625-0709
E-mail: gidma001@maroon.tc.umn.edu