UT Shield

Reading & Working Groups

Quick links

 

Alternative Grading Practices Group

To join our Discord concerning alternative grading practices (e.g. labor-based contract grading), follow this link or email Cindy-Lou Holland at cindylou.holland@utexas.edu for more information.

 

Club de Phim

Club de Phim, which takes its name from a combination of Spanish and Vietnamese, screens new and historic works by great film directors working in the areas of animation, documentary, experimental, fiction, and silent film. Every semester, we hope to offer opportunities to discover and explore cinema from every film-producing country in the world. Throughout our curated series, we hope to explore a primary question of interest: What does a Third World or intercultural cinephilia look like? At the same time, we will ask the old but relevant question, What can cinema look like? Our first series focused on the new cinemas from Taiwan, our second on the Mexican avant-garde, and our upcoming will look at contemporary Senegalese film. The films are screened on campus, and the screening is followed by lively discussion–often accompanied by food and drink. On lucky occasions, we have guest speakers who share their expertise on the films.

For more information, contact An Ho at anho@utexas.edu.

 

Contempo Readers

The Contempo Readers Reading Group comes together a few times a semester to discuss works of contemporary literature and get to know other students in the department with similar interests. We decide as a group what to read, and any member who will be participating in the discussion will receive a free copy of the book we decide on. We’ve recently read books like Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, Zadie Smith’s Swing Time, as well as short stories from Viet Thanh Nguyen and Helen Oyeyemi. Graduate students and faculty interested in reading and discussing the texts are welcome to join, even if contemporary literature is not their main field of focus. It’s a great opportunity to read current works and discuss them in a social environment with food and friends!

For more information, contact Michelle Rabe at mrabe@utexas.edu.

 

Creative Non-Fiction Interest Group

We’re a reading and writing group for anyone interested in conversations around creative-academic hybrid projects, personal essays, life writing and memoir, lyric essays, new trends in journalism and satire, and other forms that traverse the boundary between the expository and the creative. Readers, writers, and scholars of creative non-fiction all welcome!

For more information, contact Brie Winnega at briewin@utexas.edu and/or Samantha Allan at samallan@utexas.edu, or check out our website: https://utcreativenonfiction.wordpress.com/.

 

DH Working Group

Whether you’re knee-deep in digital humanities (DH) research or are just curious to learn more about what DH is, you’re invited to join the newly formed DH Working Group! This group will informally meet about once a month to chat about articles, books, current projects, and to foster community amongst those working in different disciplines who are interested in DH. All undergraduate and graduate students are welcome!

For more information, contact Emma Hetrick at ehetrick@utexas.edu.

 

Early Modern Reading Group

The Early Modern Reading Group welcomes those interested in the drama, poetry, prose, etc. of the early modern period. We discuss texts, workshop drafts, explore the collections of early printed books and manuscripts in the Harry Ransom Center, go to shows, and chat about the field or any other topics of interest. Our meetings are informal, usually involving coffee, food, or drinks, and we’re excited to include people from any field who want to learn more about early modern literature.

For more information, contact Meg Mendenhall at memendenhall@utexas.edu.

 

Indigenous Reading Group

We are a new reading group that focuses on both fiction and non-fiction works by Indigenous authors. We foster conversation around Indigenous sovereignty, decolonization, survivance, and more.

If interested, please contact Emily Harring at eaharring@utexas.edu.

 

Poetry & Poetics

The Poetry and Poetics Reading Group aims to foster community among UT graduate students, faculty, and staff through shared readings and informal discussion of poetry as well as criticism and theory in the field of poetics.

For more information, and to be added to our email list, contact Chad Bennett (chad.bennett@utexas.edu) or Emma Train (ejtrain@utexas.edu).

 

Twentieth-Century Group (formerly Mods)

Do you think April is the cruelest month? Do you like novels that seem kind of sad that they aren’t movies? Do you either really love or really hate jazz?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then the twentieth-century group might just be the group for you. Formerly known as the modernism interest group, we convene those interested in twentieth-century cultural products that can fall under the banner of ‘modernism’ (broadly defined). The group often workshops abstracts, drafts, oral exams, etc. and discussions cover a wide range of topics in the field, as do the interests of each of our members. All are welcome to join.

For more information, contact Cody Jarman (c.jarman@utexas.edu) or Erin Yanota (eyanota@utexas.edu).