MALS Alumni Present at the AGLSP Conference

I have attended two AGLSP conferences, and presented at them in 2022 and 2023. Here are a few of my takeaways:

1. Networking opportunities. The conference provides an excellent opportunity for meeting interdisciplinary students, scholars, program administrators, and faculty from member institutions.   
2. Learning about the research, thesis and other creative and scholarly works from workshop presenters, and other cohorts. It exposes attendees to what others are doing within the topic(s) of discussion/conference theme, and interdisciplinary academics. 
3. Submitting a proposal to present is an excellent way to develop/improve writing skills on how to write abstracts, create presentations, and to present scholarly research to others in the field of Liberal Arts Studies.
4. Connecting and making new friends from your own institution who are interested and supportive of your research; and making new friends as well.

My first presentation focused on the Biden Infrastructure and Jobs Act that included among other important policy initiatives, $65 billion dollars to expand broadband and internet connectivity to rural and urban communities, making access to digital communications more accessible and affordable. I focused on arguing the social implications and importance of providing access to all Americans – leaving no one behind in the digital age. I exemplified the digital divide, and showed how COVID unveiled those disparities in education, health care, and access to basic information. I also shared that there are ten (10) states that are leading the charge, among the North Carolina. These states prior to this historic legislation were already establishing their own Broadband agencies to address the issue of the “digital divide.”

My second presentation (last year) focused on a lighter topic based on the conference theme that allowed me to be more organic, and share more about my work in the community. This presentation was an extension of a workshop that my husband and I facilitated at State’s first Black Researchers Symposium. The topic that I presented on focused on imaging a world where we practiced the ancient African Principles of Ubuntu, Sankofa, and the Nguzo Saba. I argued that embracing the idea of Black futurism and sustaining Black can be advanced through the incorporation of teaching these principles in order to build stronger Black communities.  

I am extremely proud of being a MALS alumni. I am proud of being an alumni from NCSU. I graduated in 1979. I was in the MPA program until I decided that it was not what I was seeking academically, plus I wanted to pursue my career in television broadcasting. After learning about the MALS program, and meeting Dr. Garval, I knew that it was the perfect fit for me because I wanted to complete a journey that I started in 1979/80. When I got accepted into the MALS program, it was one of the best days of my life! I believe that State’s MALS program is one of the best interdisciplinary programs around. There are not words adequate to express my professional growth, the identification and evolution of my research interests and scholarship, and my academic writing. As a journalist, I had to retrain my writing skills to satisfy my academic pursuits. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and the practice as I thrive to get better with each abstract, paper, and presentation.  

Attending the AGLSP conference was a priority for me because I realized it was an opportunity to meet other students in the interdisciplinary field. I also have a desire to develop my resume as a conference speaker/presenter, and the conference was/is is an excellent training avenue for honing one’s skills in scholarly research. The honest critique prepares students on how to improve and get better at their research (and presentations). The academic setting is the optimal environment for learning and networking. The Q&A sessions allows individuals like myself to respond extemporaneously to questions about the research paper, thesis, etc. I definitely see growth and confidence in what I want to pursue in my research in the area of Communications and Social Change.

I HIGHLY recommended that current MALS students plan to attend this year’s conference which is virtual. Next year’s conference is in Memphis, TN. I think it is the 50th year. As stated in my previous responses, above, I think that I have presented several reasons why MALS students should invest in attending the conference. It is part of their professional and academic growth.

No, other than I would like to see more students from NCSU submit proposals, and make an effort to attend. Perhaps, the graduate school could consider a small scholarship to support one student or two to attend in 2025. 

The 2023 AGLSP National Conference was the highlight of my final year of graduate coursework. It was also my fourth time attending. I first attended the conference in 2016, alongside another MALS alum, María Tudela (‘18), under the tutelage of former MALS Director, Dr. Mike Garval. That year I presented an early iteration of what became my Final Project. Basically, I presented research. Through that process I began to locate and articulate my scholarly voice. Fast forward to AGLSP 2023, I gave my first public presentation focused, not on research, but on something that has been taking up much more of my time now that I am an instructor in IDS and STS. This year I presented on pedagogy. Basically, I presented on being and becoming a teacher. Accordingly, my presentation was entitled “Awe, Connection, and Stewardship: Radical Pedagogies at the Nexus of STEM and the Liberal Arts.” 

Those three concepts: awe, connection, and stewardship– they are all concepts that I became more intimately acquainted with during my time in the MALS program. One benefit of this year’s AGLSP conference is that it provided me the opportunity to translate those concepts into a new framework, a new orientation, but to do so within the overall discourses of liberal arts and interdisciplinarity. So, one substantive takeaway I would like to emphasize with current MALS students who are considering submitting a proposal to AGLSP is to give yourself a chance to reorient some well-known, long-held concepts into a different framework. The AGLSP is a welcoming conference space and encourages trying out new modes of thought. 

The first highlight of my presentation actually occurred before the conference. It is worth mentioning explicitly because it speaks to the material support, as well as the culture of camaraderie that has grown over the past decade of my time in the MALS community. This highlight was during our ‘mock’ presentations. During this trial-run I got supportive feedback on the discursive component, as well as careful critique on the visual component of my presentation. Going through that process allowed me the opportunity to make a few crucial improvements that resulted in a much more legible and confident style of delivery for my entire presentation. 

Another highlight of the presentation was being able to present alongside another MALS alum (and former classmate from 2015!), Stephanie Jares. Though I have given multiple presentations at AGLSP with members of the Wolfpack in either the audience, or presenting during a different session, this was my first time being on the same panel with someone who I’d known for so long. That was special to me 🙂. (And having Karyn Thomas–who also presented– and Lester Thomas in the audience for the second year in a row was awesome too!)

I chose to participate in this year’s conference because I felt like my academic career came full circle (for now). I wouldn’t be on the cusp of beginning my dissertation, I wouldn’t be an instructor, I wouldn’t be who I am today without the time I spent enmeshed in the MALS community, growing my intellectual roots. Being an alum, it means keeping the connection to those roots intact. 

The AGLSP conference has played a number of roles in my scholarly development. As mentioned, back in 2016 it helped me initially locate my critical, scholarly voice, and articulate my ideas in a public-type forum. In 2021, during the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, AGLSP hosted a virtual conference and there, I stayed connected to academia by presenting a paper I had written during the interim of my MALS and now-CRDM (Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media) PhD work. Now, as I embark on the next phase of my academic career I believe that through AGLSP I have begun to locate and critically reflect on my pedagogical voice. I intend to continue to attend AGLSP conferences throughout the years and presenting alongside more and more members of the NC State MALS community would be a special honor. 

Go to conferences! Interdisciplinary work can have a tendency to be isolating due to how specific and niche some of the subjects we research are. You may not find someone else presenting on anything remotely related to your specific topic, but you are likely to find *modes of thinking* that can greatly amplify the range of imaginative possibilities for your own work, classroom, and or life more generally. 

The AGLSP Conference was an incredible experience for me to present to colleagues from Universities throughout the country regarding my Department of Sociology and Anthropology Student Ambassador Program.  My proposal: “ The Wonder of Teaching: Those Aha! Moments: Presentation for AGLSP Department of Sociology and Anthropology Student Ambassadors”.  The opportunity to go to San Diego, California to share the work that I am doing with a Team of 20 Student Ambassadors at NC State which was made possible by my MALS degree which made it possible for me to become the Director of Academic Advising for the Department of Sociology and Anthropology was the culmination of my hard work and effort to achieve my MALS degree. The Conference was incredible because with MALS everyone has different perspectives and different ideas and no two proposals are the same.  After my presentation I had people who listened to me from Harvard and Yale tell me that they were interested in having similar Ambassador programs at their Universities which made me feel that my work means something to academia.   There are opportunities to learn new things at conferences but also to believe in your own work and also network!  Takeaways are, attend conferences and do not give up!

My proposal is below: The Wonder of Teaching: Those AHA! Moments:

In the post pandemic era college students are needing a sense of normalcy, community, mentorship, mental health support, self confidence, leadership building and direction. Students need mentorship and guidance from academic advisors and administrators for students who are in a mental health crisis and there is also a need for a sense of connection due to the pandemic. Through the wonder of teaching students how they can believe in themselves, through those AHA moments of a student-led leadership program called the Student Ambassadors at NC State University students have taught themselves how to be mentors. Those AHA moments have become ones of connections where students learned that they could learn how to lead and show students that through an effort to connect with others in a time when no one could connect, students could come out of the pandemic stronger and as leaders and have those AHA moments. Through the wonder of teaching students how to lead, those AHA Moments led the Department of Sociology and Anthropology Student Ambassadors to be nominated for the Chancellors Creating Community Award and those AHA moments have led students to wonder how they can lead current and future students. The Student Ambassador Program has led more students to join the mentorship program to have more AHA moments since the program began in February 2020, one month before the COVID-19 pandemic closed our University. The AHA moments led to a program that has and will achieve more AHA moments for years to come!

I chose to participate in this Conference because I wanted to celebrate the work that my Student Ambassadors are doing. 

It was a priority because not only for my own professional development but I truly believe that the Student Ambassadors are doing amazing work and benefiting the students who are both participating and the students in our Department.

MALS truly made me who I am today.  The degree is invaluable and as someone who has worked in higher education for 25 years and was told I could never achieve my full potential or be in my current position MALS made that possible-see my speech.