Undergraduate Research Symposium(Hosted Annually at the MMLA Convention)
“After the Archive”12-14 November 2026  Copyright Anthony Tahlier Design by Gensler The Undergraduate Research Symposium is an integral component of the MMLA's annual Convention, which is a gathering of faculty members and graduate students from across the Midwest who present papers on their latest research. The Undergraduate Research Symposium's goal is to showcase and celebrate promising research by undergraduate students as well as offer a professional development opportunity that is especially useful to those who are interested in attending graduate school. MMLA membership and Symposium registration are both free for undergraduate students. Please Note: The 2026 Symposium will be fully in-person.No virtual or hybrid panels will be scheduled.
*Note: AV Not Supported
*Since installing and maintaining projectors and screens in the convention venue’s presentation rooms is cost-prohibitive, the MMLA will not be supplying the AV equipment needed to support PowerPoint, Keynote, etc., slide projection at its 2026 convention. Presenters interested in supplementing their spoken remarks with visual aids are encouraged to bring printed handouts to distribute to audience members attending their sessions. Alternatively, presenters may wish to distribute QR codes enabling audience members to view a remote slide presentation on their mobile devices, as described in the YouTube video linked here. Please direct all technical questions about such alternatives to the information technology support staff at your institution.
Individual-Paper ProposalsThe MMLA invites proposals for a 15-20-minute, oral presentation of a 7-10-page, double-spaced paper at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. While proposals may be for papers on any literary topic and time period, we particularly welcome those that engage with the convention's theme. Accepted proposals will be grouped into panels that are unified by a theme and chaired by a member of the MMLA staff or Program Committee. All presentations must be delivered in person at the annual convention. To submit an individual-paper proposal, please provide the following by May 01:
For a helpful resource that breaks down the primary components of a strong abstract, visit Karen Kelsky's "How to Write a Paper or Conference Proposal Abstract" page on her website, The Professor is In.
Pre-Organized-Panel ProposalsThe MMLA also encourages faculty members to pre-organize a panel of undergraduate papers based on a special topic (which may, but is not required to, overlap with the annual Convention's theme) from a recently concluded course. Regardless of whether the proposed panel has three or four paper presentations, each presenter will be allotted 15 minutes to deliver a 7-8-page, double-spaced paper. To submit a pre-organized panel proposal, please provide the following by May 01:
Undergraduate Student Paper PrizeThe MMLA's Undergraduate Student Paper Prize is open to all undergraduates who have been selected to present at the Undergraduate Research Symposium for the annual convention. The $100 prize will be awarded to the strongest paper. Submissions are gathered after the convention so that undergraduates who wish to revise their papers minimally based on the feedback that they received may do so. Those interested in being considered for the Undergraduate Student Paper Prize must submit the following materials to the MMLA at [email protected] by November 24:
Submissions are reviewed by member's of the MMLA's Executive Committee, and the winning paper will be announced during the forthcoming newsletter. Previous winners of the Undergraduate Student Paper Prize can be found here. Please Note: The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association (JMMLA) does not consider for publication essays submitted by undergraduates. At this time, contributing authors to the JMMLA must be pursuing or hold a graduate degree. MMLA's Undergraduate Symposium Coordinator
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