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The David L. Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar
Nathern Okilwa
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meeting was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 8–12, 2011. UCEA collaborated with AERA’s Divisions A & L and Sage Publications to sponsor this year’s David L. Clark National Graduate Student Scholars Seminar at the convention. This was a 2-day event held on Thursday, April 7, and Friday, April 8, at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel.
Thursday events started at 7:45 a.m. with registration and continental breakfast. Other activities during the day included small-group work sessions (student scholars shared their dissertation work and received feedback from faculty and students in the group), poster sessions (student scholars presented their work), and a vita workshop. During lunch, participants were engaged with a panel, From Dissertation to Tenure and Beyond. The panelists were Eric Camburn, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kathryn McKenzie, Texas A&M University; Matt Militello, North Carolina State University; and Susan Printy, Michigan State University. The panelists talked about the publishing process, publishing the dissertation, balancing professional and family life, and navigating the tenure process. Thursday events concluded with a reception, dinner, and scholarly conversation titled Economics, Ideology, and Implications for the Future of Public Education. The speakers were Mike Knapp from the University of Washington and V. Darleen Opfer from Cambridge University, who both highlighted the future of public education in the United States in light of the current economic situation and the growing forces of globalization.
Friday kicked off with breakfast followed by small-group work sessions and then a panel discussion: Building a Research Career. The panelists were Larry Parker, University of Utah; Karen Seashore, University of Minnesota; John Sipple, Cornell University; and Linda Skrla, Texas A&M University. The panelists focused on several essential topics related to careers in the academy, including job searching, general rules of survival, mentoring, publishing, and grant writing. The Clark Seminar concluded at noon with remarks from Michelle D. Young, UCEA executive director.
The Clark Seminar participants included 42 students and 14 professors from institutions across the country. The general attitude of both student scholars and distinguished faculty toward the 2011 Clark Seminar was very positive. For example, one student scholar commented, “This opportunity will always stand out as one of the best parts of my doctoral program. It affirmed for me my passion for research. I also very much enjoyed the interactions with the other students and learned from those conversations too.” A seminar faculty posited, “Very talented, well-prepared scholars who asked really good questions and had solid grasp of the literature.” Another faculty commented, “Wonderful opportunity to meet the next generation of scholars.” These comments reflect the significance of the Clark Seminar from both student and faculty perspectives.
Student participants included Sally Bonet, Michele Bowers, Patrick Carr, Joyce Cook, Christopher Cox, Lina Dostilio, Sarah Eckert, James Fabionar, Caitlin Farrell, Peter Goff, Tyra Good, Kevin Gwaltney, John Hall, Robert Izzo, Ranjini Johnbull, Kristina Lavenia, Mark Lavenia, Stephanie Levin, Dildra Martin-Ogburn, Allison Mattheis, Julie McCleery, Michael Miles, Cheri Mincklers, David Perez II, Jeffrey Poirier, Meredith Richards, Lisa Riegel, Sarah Ryan, Nick Sauers, Patricia Schroeder, Virginia Rangel, Paul Soska, Ann Stalnaker, Don Stryker, Amanda Taggart, Ginger Teague, Matthew Welch, Amanda Werts, Paul Wilner II, Sarah Winchell, Dara Zeehandelaar, and Cara Zurzolo. The distinguished Clark Seminar faculty included Eric Camburn, Bruce Cooper, Kim Dickerson, Bill Firestone, Mike Knapp, Kathryn McKenzie, Matthew Militello, V. Darlene Opfer, Larry Parker, Susan Printy, Karen Seashore, John Sipple, Linda Skrla, and Michelle Young.
Many thanks to UCEA Executive Director Michelle Young, AERA Division A Vice President Linda Skrla, and UCEA Director of Events Avi Ghosh for organizing a very successful 2011 Clark Seminar.
