Mentorship Program

Mentorship Program

The Graduate Student and Contingent Faculty Caucus and the committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of the ISSN run a mentorship program that connects graduate students, early-career researchers and scholars who hold short-term appointments with senior researchers.

The program seeks to encourage forms of community, support, and professional opportunity and to promote the sharing and building of knowledge and skills, both for the mentee and the mentor. For more information about the program, see these guidelines for mentors and mentees.

The registration for 2024 is open until Friday, March 22. Please fill out the form below to signal your interest in becoming a mentor or a mentee

FAQs

Am I experienced enough to be a mentor? You don’t need to be a senior scholar to be a good mentor. Without being too precise, we recommend that mentors have completed a PhD and a fair amount of research and/or teaching experience (what might be called “mid-career”).

Do I need to be an ISSN member or attend the ISSN conference to participate? We ask that all participants be members of ISSN, but participation in the conference is not required. For mentors, we would suggest that some previous experience with ISSN conferences would be desirable.

How much commitment does the program involve? We recommend that mentors meet with their mentees at least twice in 2024. Anything more is entirely up to you. We encourage mentors and mentees to discuss expectations at their first meeting.

Do mentors and mentees need to work in the same research areas? No. Narrative is a broad subject, and while we try to match mentors with mentees working in the same broad areas, mentees can benefit a lot from exposure to a mentor’s expertise in areas other than their primary interest. Also, mentors can provide valuable support in other ways, including guidance on professional development and brokering networking opportunities with others in the ISSN. 

Feedback from past participants:

“Being able to have a conversation with a scholar outside your program is incredibly valuable.”

“Being able to connect with a senior member of the narratological community in a low-pressure environment was fantastic.”

“I think that the program helped me on my way to becoming a better supervisor – it is great to have the opportunity to talk to junior scholars without having the pressure of a formal supervision relationship.”

“A lovely experience for an early-career scholar to connect with someone more experienced and gain perspective.”