How the Association Can Support Your Program
Membership in the AGLSP offers many benefits for both new and established programs:
A Community of Practice
To be an AGLSP member is to be part of a collaborative community engaged in an ongoing discussion about the latest issues in curriculum development, standards of assessment, faculty recruitment, marketing, institutional support and other issues both pedagogical and administrative. Membership not only gives you access to all of the resources of the AGLSP–including sample GLS course syllabi, AGLSP publications and web-based resources – it provides ample opportunities for networking with other GLS faculty and administrators through the AGLSP Annual Conference, website, blog and regional symposia. As an AGLSP member, you are connected to others familiar with the issues your program faces every day.
Annual Conference and Workshop
Each year, the AGLSP Annual Conference brings together representatives of the majority of the Association’s programs to share ideas and discuss the latest issues in Graduate Liberal Studies. Each conference features paper presentations and panel discussions, as well as invited speakers with scholarly or real-world expertise. Themes have included Imagination in an Age of Instant Information and The Transformation of the 21st Century City; recent venues have included Saratoga Springs (NY), Dallas, Orlando, and Vancouver.
Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of attending the Conference is the opportunity to participate in the pre-conference workshop. This day-long workshop focuses on the practical issues of administering GLS programs, including curriculum, marketing to potential students, recruiting faculty, relations with campus administrators, alumni relations, study abroad programs and issues of accreditation.
Publications
Membership in AGLSP provides you with AGLSP publications, including Graduate Liberal Studies–A Guide for Directors, Faculty, and Staff, a practical, hands-on guide to developing and administering GLS programs; compilations of syllabi; and reports of member surveys addressing such issues as student demographics, program structure, curricula and course offerings. We also post presentations from the annual pre-conference workshop noted above.
These publications are available to members at no charge, through the Resources for Members space on this website.
Confluence, The Journal of Graduate Liberal Studies
Membership includes a subscription to the AGLSP journal, Confluence: The Journal of Graduate Liberal Studies, which features essays, poetry and fiction from students, faculty and alumni of GLS programs. It also publishes reviews of books of special interest to the GLS community. Publication in Confluence can be a way of showcasing and honoring accomplished student essays – an opportunity that can offer extra motivation for your student writers.
The AGLSP board and the editors of Confluence sponsor the annual Confluence Award for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Writing along with the Confluence Award for Excellence in Creative Writing. The first award celebrates interdisciplinary inquiry as the central intellectual practice of GLS and critical writing as a foundational tool of graduate study. The second award celebrates creative writing as a form of inquiry, art, and expression. The two winning pieces are published in the fall issue of the journal. The authors each receive a prize of $500, presented at the AGLSP Annual Conference.
Eligibility: The Confluence Awards may be given to any current or recent student of a Full Member program of the AGLSP. Pieces are nominated in January, and nominations may include anything written as part of the authors’ graduate work during the previous calendar year. Nominations may be made by program directors only.
The Website
Look around: our recently redesigned website provides news of upcoming events, information and resources for program directors, and connections to AGLSP staff and services.
One of the benefits of AGLSP membership is promotion of your program in the AGLSP member directory, where potential students can link to each member program website. The AGLSP website is also your gateway to the blog, which offers GLS administrators, faculty, and students a space to share a wide variety of subjects of concern and interest to the GLS community.
Regional Student Symposia
Each year, many AGLSP member programs sponsor regional symposia (in the East, Midwest, West Coast, and North Carolina) at which students present their work and connect with the wider community of fellow GLS students. Expenses are kept low at these single-day symposia to allow maximum student participation. While not AGLSP events, it is through Association networking that the sponsoring programs collaborated to offer these symposia.
Faculty and Student Recognition
Each year, the AGLSP honors with its Annual Faculty Award a teacher who has an outstanding career of innovative, engaged GLS teaching and dedicated service. Faculty of Full Member programs are eligible for this prestigious award. As noted above, Full Member programs may recognize excellent student writers with nomination for the Confluence Awards for Excellence.
Program Review Services
The Association can link you with board members and program directors experienced in program review. For advice on starting a program, informal review of a program in need of invigoration, periodic formal review, or review in connection with an upcoming regional accreditation process or Full Member application, please contact info@aglsp.org for referrals.
Find out about AGLSP membership categories and how to join the Association.