*G.A.M.S*
The Graduate Association of Multicultural Studies
 
Minutes for Monday, 6 October, 2003
 
The second organizational meeting for G.A.M.S. was called to
order by Ms. Tiffany Adams.  The following members were
present:
        Ms. Marlene Allen
        Mrs. Tiffany Boyd-Adams
        Mrs. Keely Byars-Nichols
        Ms. Ondra Thomas-Krouse
        Ms. Anastasia Wright
 
The following business items were discussed:
 
Organizational Ideas
The following format was adopted for establishing officers
for the current year:
        President – Mrs. Tiffany Boyd-Adams
        Vice President of Conferencing – Ms. Anastasia Wright
        Vice President of Pedagogy – Mrs. Keely Byars-Nichols
        Vice President of Public Relations – Mrs. Fara
             Sneddon
        Vice President of Administration – Ms. Ondra Thomas-
             Krouse
 
Conference Ideas
•     President Adams shared a copy of the program from
the last G.A.M.S. conference, which was held on March 30,
2001.  The theme for that conference was “The Multicultural
South:  A Graduate Student Conference.”
 
•     In keeping with this interdisciplinary theme,
members present discussed possible topics for panel
discussions.  The following ideas were suggested:
-“Intersectionality of Location:  Authors of mixed heritage”
(Wright)
-“Ethnicity Meets Economics” (Adams)
-“New American Immigrant Identity” (Adams)
-“Interdisciplinary Literature” (Krouse)
-“Power within the Margins (Krouse)
-“Alternative Genres” (Allen)
-Native American and African American Literature (Nichols)
 
•     Ms. Krouse suggested having a separate panel
discussion for Linguistics.
 
•     Mrs. Nichols suggested inviting faculty and students
from the Creative Writing Department to present readings at
the end of the conference.
 
•     After a discussion of possible speakers for the
conference, the following “priority list” was established:
#1 - Ronald Takaki
#2 - Leslie Marmon Silko    OR    Maxine Hong
Kingston
#3 – Ishmael Reed
#4 – Kimberle’ Crenshaw
#5 – Michael Awkward
#6 – Jace Weaver
 
•     The group unanimously decided to invite Dr. Eve
Trout Powell, scholar of Middle Eastern Research, to lead
the culminating Round Table Discussion, entitled “The Future
of Intersectional Literature.
 
G.A.M.S. on the Web
Ms. Sneddon, (absent) is creating the new G.A.M.S. website.
As of 17 October, the address at which she will be building
the site is http://cantor.english.uga.edu/~fsneddon/gams
Main page links will include the following:
        -Purpose        (links to “Statement of Purpose”)
        -Conference     (links to Registration, Program,
                        Calls for Papers, etc.)
        -Events (links to events at UGA, in Athens,
                 elsewhere, and maps)
        -Resources      (syllabus links to samples from ENGL
                         1102 and ENGL 2400)
                        (Resources links to commonly used
                        films/media and texts)
        -Courses offered at UGA (links to multicultural
                                 requirements)
        -People (links to professors and graduate students)
        -Careers        (links to ALA, MLA, CLA, SAMLA,
                         ASAIL, MELUS, and ASA)
        -Contact Information
 
G.A.M.S. Pedagogical Pursuits
•     President Adams reiterated the need for a
standardized textbook, or perhaps three main texts from
which to teach ENGL 1102M
 
•     Mrs. Nichols suggested the following:
-Specializing the Statement of Purpose for ENGL 1102M
-Creating a standardized syllabus for ENGL 1102M
-Having a link that UGA’s catalog of library movies and
special collections
-Link to UGA’s complete list of all classes that fulfill
Multicultural requirements
-Connecting the G.A.M.S. web page with those of the English
Department, Freshman Orientation pages and UGA’s Grad
School
-A tentative date of November 14 or 17 has been set for a
Textbook Sub-committee meeting
 
Resolutions/Action Items
•     Re-write G.A.M.S. Statement of Purpose (Adams)
•     Draft new ENGL 1102M Statement of Purpose (Nichols)
 
Next Meeting Date/Time/Location
Monday, 20 October, 2003/4:00pm/Park Hall Ground Floor (Room
#, TBA)
 
The meeting was adjourned at 5:30pm.