Summary and Conclusions: Transparency, Practicality, and Professional Resources for Spanish Graduate Education

Panelists presented their views on the need for a shared foundational graduate canon (Brown); the importance of literary history on multiple levels (Pope); the need for training the areas of scholarly publication, teaching, and service (Johnson); and the possible solutions to educational gaps that can be supplied by professional organizations (Spaine Long). The ensuing discussion was lively and provocative. Major topics included the need for transparency among institutions in our curricular practices, the importance of preparing graduate students for their future roles inside and outside the classroom, and the need for mentoring from sources other than graduate school professors.

The issue of identifying and teaching a core canon was debated. All agreed on the need for accessibility through online sharing of reading lists and pedagogical practices. Some MA curriculum, with specialization later on at the doctoral level. One audience member noted that when her doctoral department abolished their MA, students protested and it was restored. Several professors made the point that literature is not the sole component of the graduate canon, which must become interdisciplinary. One respondent went so far as to link the survival of the discipline to moving beyond literature. The need for an increased emphasis on literary history in graduate education was widely endorsed. One discussant observed that colorfully titled thematic courses—which attract students—could be compatible with a panoramic literary-historical emphasis. The proposal to train graduate students as humanities professors as well as language teachers met with unanimous approval, with graduate students especially emphatic about their desire for formal instruction in the art of teaching literature and culture.

There was great enthusiasm for practical preparation through mentoring, apprenticeships, and training programs. Graduate professors told of bringing on teaching assistants as apprentices for developing and teaching undergraduate literature courses. They also described how they build scholarly publication into their graduate seminars, an effort that graduate students applauded. Another widely recognized need was mentoring in the area of service contributions after graduate school. At the same time, speakers noted the hazard of performing service to the detriment of scholarship, especially for women. This "ivory ceiling of service work" traps female associate professors who perform more service than their male counterparts (Misra et al.). The imperative of time management emerged as a major concern. Panelists agreed that students will never have as much disposable time as they do in graduate school. They need to be taught how to balance competing demands.

The proposal that professional organizations provide training sessions and other practical mentoring to graduate students met with unanimous enthusiasm. Many voices argued for grant-funded programs, websites, and other vehicles for moving a number of training items out of individual graduate programs and into the professional arena. This effort could be led by diminished resources among individual departments, professional organizations are in a good position to provide graduate students in Spanish with some of the crucial tools and skills that they need to master.