Christopher Varlack's Statement

Christopher Varlack, Morgan State University:

For the past two academic years, I, Christopher Allen Varlack, have served as a lecturer in the Department of English and Language Arts at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD, where I have taught courses in Freshman Composition and Humanities. While pursuing my doctoral degree in American Literature at Morgan State University, I have been an avid scholar in the areas of African-American literature and culture (with an emphasis on works of the early Harlem Renaissance) while focusing more recently on professional development and trends in both pedagogical and institutional change. For instance, I presented alongside two colleagues at the 17^th annual regional HBCU Summit on Retention in March 2014 on the increased role of composition instructors in addressing student retention issues. I have also organized a panel for the October 2014 Two-Year College English Association Conference on establishing ongoing collaborative partnerships between two-year and four-year institutions as a means of facilitating student success. In addition to forthcoming chapters in several collections such as Baby Boomers and Popular Culture: An Inquiry into America’s Most Powerful Generation (2014), I have an article under consideration with the Journal of Pan African Studies on reimagining pedagogical and institutional practices for humanities education in urban learning environments. This focus on pedagogy and professional life are part of the reason I am eager to serve as Member-At-Large for Professional Development with NeMLA.

In large part, the core focus of the Northeast Modern Language Association remains the promotion of innovation in teaching and scholarship across the areas of language and literature. Through both its cultural conversation and intense pedagogical exchange (in a tradition spanning forty-five past conventions), NeMLA strives to remain at the precipice of new research that will increase our understanding of the texts, languages, and cultures we engage. In the 45th annual convention located in Harrisburg, PA, for instance, I participated in a panel on literary tales of identity (re)construction, presenting a paper on racial indeterminacy and the politics of passing in James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. The panel, filled with four dynamic speakers and stimulating papers, embodied that mission to the core, bringing increased attention to under-represented texts while offering new perspectives for further research. I also had the opportunity to present on a roundtable on ethnic relations, identities, and social equality in diasporic Afro-literature, presenting on the rise of the New Negro artist and themes of social equality in the works of Jessie Redmon Fauset and Langston Hughes. Though relatively new to NeMLA, I am eager to continue surrounding myself with the types of engaged critical discussion that each NeMLA panel, roundtable, and creative session evokes. I am also eager to participate in the strengthening of NeMLA’s professional development programs as Member-at-Large.

In that regard, the areas of pedagogy and professional life are topics of increased debate and necessity at conventions such as NeMLA given the mounting issues of higher education in the twenty-first century. Perusing the list of planned panels for the 46^th annual convention, we are set to engage in critical conversation regarding key topics from writing across the disciplines to current issues in grammar instruction to engaging the online sector and digital Humanities. Still, the area of professional development could be much stronger. Increased attention should be given to bridging the gap between two-year and four-year institutions given the presidential push for eight million new college graduates by the year 2020. Similarly, more conversation should surround the growing role of adjunct faculty in higher education, methods toward approaching a more interdisciplinary pedagogy, and facilitating the professional growth of graduate students pursuing a Humanities PhD. As Member-at-Large, I intend to advocate for expansion in these areas and more in order to continue the tradition of promoting sessions and initiatives that will address the very real issues of a changing academic world. After all, the continued growth of the higher education system nationwide and the challenges this will bring on NeMLA as a center for facilitating such vital discussions demand a vocal and dedicated Member-at-Large. I strive to be that voice of sustained progress and change.