Okay, so here I am jumping on the introductions bandwagon. I'm a 3rd year PhD
student in the English department, studying for my exams in February, working
on a dissertation about American Indian public intellectuals. I'm interested in
this collective because I find the idea of collective/collaborative work within
the academy to be a pretty radical notion these days with all the talk of jobs
and marketing our work. Also, I currently write within a collective of scholars
in my discipline -- a project that has had large intellectual benefits for all
members -- and I'm curious to see what a more cross-disciplinary group might
accomplish.
 
What else? Hmmm. I find Aled's idea about the Guillory essay to be a good one
-- something to read, something to eat and drink, a chance to see folks face to
face. Even though many of us are in the English department our lives are such
that we don't always see one another a lot.
 
Malea