One of the most energizing moments of my sabbatical year was attending the 2025 Modern Language Association (MLA) Convention in New Orleans—a gathering whose themes felt urgent, timely and deeply sustaining. Against the backdrop of systemic challenges facing higher education and the humanities, this conference reminded me of the essential power of working together: our collective ability to inspire change, to advocate for inclusion, and to envision and implement new futures across institutions and disciplines.
At the heart of my MLA experience was completing the MLA Humanities Leadership Certificate, an initiative designed to train faculty in the tools of advocacy, curricular innovation, and capacity-building across a wide range of educational contexts. This program offers a robust framework for thinking about how humanities educators and scholars can lead with vision at a time when programs in literature, languages, and cultural studies are facing existential threats.
I also participated in a timely and vital accreditation workshop to become an external reviewer for language departments, that focused on how we can protect and better support language programs while responding to shifting institutional expectations.
Through workshops, intensive sessions, and cross-institutional dialogues, I connected with educators from community colleges, liberal arts institutions, HBCUs, and R1 universities. What united us was not only our concern for the future, but most importantly the shared belief that transformative leadership begins in our classrooms, extends into curriculum, and finds strength in networks of care, solidarity, and shared standards.
The MLA, under the visionary leadership of Paula Krebs and her team—with Lydia Tang as the stellar Head of World Language Programs—continues to rise to the moment. It is not just an organization for conference-going and publishing; it has become a hub for public-facing humanities work, strategic academic leadership, and cross-border professional development. Whether through its efforts to support contingent faculty, lead data-informed advocacy, or reimagine doctoral education, the MLA is helping shape a humanities future that is more inclusive, resilient, and imaginative.
As someone who moves between scholarly research, teaching, and institutional service, I find deep meaning in being part of a community that affirms the public and political value of our work. Supporting MLA initiatives that strengthen the humanities is not just professional—it is personal. It reflects my belief that language, literature, and culture matter now more than ever, and that we as scholars have a role to play in defending and transforming the institutions we care about.
To my colleagues in the U.S., in Mexico, and beyond: thank you for continuing to believe in the shared work of building academic cultures that are rigorous, welcoming, and responsive. The MLA Convention in New Orleans offered not just a space for reflection, but a roadmap for action—and I’m honored to be walking that road with a community of many inspiring peers.
Read more about this event here.
