Friday, Nov. 30: End of term GEA meeting and holiday pub night!

by Daniel Bergman

Meeting at 2pm, pub night at 6

Folks, we’ve almost made it. November – the saddest of all months, with its shrinking days and grey unsnowing skies – is almost over. We’ve waded through the weeds of seminar presentations, conference abstracts and dissertation deadlines to make it HERE: the final GEA meeting and pub night of 2018! Come out and celebrate your own achievements and those of your colleagues as we share pints of wisdom and also actual, literal pints.  Check out the details below – we hope to see you all there!

Sincerely,
Your 2018-19 GEA Exec

MEETING: 2pm, JHB 719       
Among other things, we’ll be sharing updates about comps from this fall’s Graduate English Council while checking in with each year’s representative to see how things are going. Please talk to your rep if you have any concerns you feel we can help address! 

PUB NIGHT: 6:30pm, Pauper’s Pub (539 Bloor St W)
Pretty self-explanatory. Even if you have no interest in pints of any kind, come out and help with that building-community stuff because grad school is hard and solidarity is IMPORTANT.  

 

First GEA meeting & pub night!

by Joel Faber

It’s been weeks in the making, but the moment we’ve all been eagerly anticipating is almost here: the first GEA meeting of the 2018-19 academic year is nearly upon us! I don’t know about you, but I personally have been having trouble sleeping for the past few days out of sheer all-caps EXCITEMENT.

We hope to see you in Room 719 THIS FRIDAY, SEP. 21 from 5-6:30pm (following the GEA Fellowships Workshop in the same space) as we introduce ourselves (the new GEA exec), make plans for the year ahead and hold elections for several KEY positions (a full list of which can be found here). All of these positions are great ways to get involved with the GEA and meet fellow students both inside and outside the department without having to commit yourself to an onerous workload.

And if you thought things couldn’t get any better, you should probably take a deep breath before reading the next sentence: directly after the meeting, the GEA will be hosting a PUB NIGHT at East of Brunswick (just south of the intersection of Bloor and Spadina)! Bring your partners, friends and family members and come get to know your colleagues outside the classroom as we celebrate the beginning of another school year with an evening of WHOLESOME FUN. We hope to see you there!

Congratulations to our 2018-9 Executive Committee

by Meg Desmond

At last Friday’s GEA meeting, we held elections for the 2018-2019 positions of President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. After speeches and discussion, student voters were unanimous in their support of…

Zachary Jones as President

Stephanie Redekop as Vice-President

Apala Das as Treasurer

Daniel Bergman as Secretary.

In their speeches, our candidates expressed their aptitude, passion, and willingness for taking on the GEA duties of representing the graduate student body, facilitating academic and social events, and dealing with administrative tasks throughout the course of the year. We are delighted to have Zak, Stephanie, Apala, and Daniel on the team, and know they will skillfully lead students through everything next year has to offer.

Congratulations to our 2018-9 GEA Exec—we gladly pass you the torch.

 

GEA Meeting and Pub Night: Next Friday, April 13

by Meg Desmond

Hi everyone,

The last GEA meeting of the 2017/8 school year will be next Friday, April 13, from 4pm-6pm in JHB 719, followed by a pub night at The Madison starting at 6pm.

The highlight of the upcoming meeting will be the election of next year’s executive committee, a very important process! If you would like to run for an executive position (president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary) and have not yet spoken to Sean, Stephanie, or myself, please do so (contact info below). Please also feel free to contact us with any questions about the meeting or elections process.

For everyone else, we hope you will show up to cast your vote, and for what is sure to be a fun (and not at all unlucky) Friday the 13th pub extravaganza. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating this year’s accomplishments.

Best,

Meg Desmond

GEA Secretary

 

GEA Meeting Feb 2 4-6pm JHB 719

by Meg Desmond

Hello and happy winter term to you all!

The GEA will be hosting its first meeting of the new year next Friday, February 2nd, from 4-6pm in JHB 719.

We will be discussing many important topics, including two upcoming Brown Bag lunches, Visitor’s Day, Cook the Books/Trivia Night, a proposed constitutional amendment, and the election of a new GEA president. We encourage all to come–especially so that you can make your voices heard during the in-meeting votes.

Attached to this email you will find the meeting agenda for Feb 2nd, which will provide more information on the topics mentioned above. You will also find a copy of the meeting minutes from December 1st, 2017.

As always, if you have any questions, you can contact me at meg.desmond@mail.utoronto.ca.

Hope to see many of you at the meeting!

GEA Meeting: September 22, 4-6pm JHB 719

by Meg Desmond

Hi everyone, 

The first GEA meeting of the school year will take place this Friday, September 22, from 4-6pm in JHB 719. You will find the agenda for the upcoming meeting attached to this email. At the meeting, we will be holding “elections” for this year’s representatives. In particular, we are looking for a Vice President to carry out this year’s duties. 

 Last year’s representatives are not required to give a report; however, you are welcome to do so. 

 After the meeting, we will be hosting a welcome pub night at the Fox and Fiddle (280 Bloor St. W) at 6:30pm. Come join us for food, drinks, and a chance to meet GEA execs, committee members, and fellow grad students. 

All the best for the start of the school year, and hope to see many of you on Friday! 

-Meg Desmond, GEA Secretary

***

Here is the meeting agenda:

1) Call to Order

2) Approval of Agenda

3) General Announcements

4) Reports

  1. President’s Report
  2. Treasurer’s Report
  3. Secretary’s Report
  4. GSU Report
  5. CUPE Stewards’ Report(s)
  6. MA and MCR Reports
  7. PhD 1 Report
  8. PhD 2 Report
  9. PhD 3 Report
  10. ABD Report

5) New Business:

  1. Elections:
    • Vice President
    • GSU Representatives
    • CUPE Stewards
    • ACCUTE Representative
    • Year Representatives: MA, MCR, PhD 1-3, ABD
    • International Students’ Representative
    • Equity Representative(s)
    • Social Committee
    • Welcome Committee
    • Conference Committee
    • Delegates to Graduate English Counsel (6) & Department of English General Meeting (1)
  2. Open Forum: Discussion of the GEA 2016-17 Calendar
  • Fellowships Workshop: proposed date change to Sept 28

6) Adjournment

Echolocation: Volunteers Wanted!

by Meg Desmond
Echolocation, the Graduate English literary journal at the University of Toronto, is looking for volunteers, especially early-year PhD students looking to develop a connection with the local literary scene. The magazine aims to publish one issue this coming year and begin building a stronger connection with the creative community in the Toronto area. Prospective volunteers need no previous experience with creative journals, and will be working with current PhD students as well as the first and second year students from the MACRW program within the University of Toronto’s English Department. The first meeting is tentatively planned for September 21st at 5:00PM. 
 
If interested, come to the first meeting or (if you are unable to attend) feel free to email either dylan.boyko@mail.utoronto.ca or echolocationmag@gmail.com for further details on how you can help! 

Student Staff Softball Game — September 8, 4-6pm

by Meg Desmond

Softball Game

Dear colleagues and fierce competitors (and less fierce spectators),

Summer is almost over, which means it’s time to announce the date and location of our traditional pre-fall-term celebration: the Student-Faculty Softball Game and Potluck!  See the attached (and lovely!) poster by Nicole Birch-Bayley.

The event will be at Dovercourt Park, beginning at 4pm, with first pitch thrown probably around 4:15.  All equipment is already provided except gloves; if you want to play, bring your own glove.

But EVERYONE IS WELCOME!  Even if sports aren’t your thing (as I’m sure is true of most of us — otherwise we wouldn’t have done so much reading growing up), come to enjoy the sun, to share in the potluck, and (new this year) maybe to try your hand at a couple of lawn games we’ll get going on the side during the softball (bocce and/or badminton, depending on interest).

And new this year: a prize for the winning team!  Whichever team wins this year will have delicious pastries from Tung Hing Bakery delivered to the JHB lounge of their choice (i.e. grad lounge or faculty lounge) every other Monday in the winter semester.

Looking forward to seeing you —

RSVP here: http://www.english.utoronto.ca/newsevents/calendar/Faculty-Grad_Student_Softball_Game/SOFTBALL_RSVP.htm

Your Staff-Student Relations Committee

End of Year Thanks

by Olivia Pellegrino

Now that the 2016-17 year has come to and end, we would like to warmly thank all those who volunteered and participated in GEA events this past year. You were instrumental to our successes and we appreciated your dedication. 

We are excited to congratulate and welcome next year’s GEA Executive: 

Owen Kane (President)
Meg Desmond (Secretary)
Sean McPhail (Treasurer)

We would also like to thank the administrative staff for all their service this year. Their enthusiasm and support was very much appreciated.

Looking forward to an excellent 2017-18. Have a wonderful summer. 

Faculty Lending Library

by Olivia Pellegrino
The GEA is excited to announce the launch of our Faculty Lending Library. Thanks to generous donations from current and retired faculty, we have put together a collection of titles published by members of our Department and they are available for loan in the GEA office.

For an up-to-date list of available titles, or to borrow a book, please contact a member of the GEA Exec.