Ferentz LaFargue
Field:  Literature
SR-EIP:  New York University (1997)
Undergrad:  Queens College (1998)
Graduate School:  Yale University (2005)
Current:  Assistant Professor, Eugene lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts
Email: lafarguf@newschool.edu

• Could you talk about any memorable experiences from your Leadership Alliance summer research at NYU?

We received a lot of guidance in our research and I learned about the discipline that was expected of us.  We did mock presentations before our presentations at the symposium. The paper I presented that summer became my writing sample for graduate school, and the ideas and themes from that paper continue to be things I’m interested in today.

 

I’ve remained good friends with three of the other students I met in the program.  I went to a commuter school, so for me, the Leadership Alliance was a great chance to meet people from other places and to make professional connections.

• Can you talk about how your Leadership Alliance summer experience prepared you for graduate school?

The Leadership Alliance summer experience was eye-opening in many ways.

 

We had weekly meeting with our cohort where we were able to see what other colleagues were working on.  This helped me see what graduate seminars would be like, and our research seminars in graduate school at Yale were very much like them.

 

I also audited a grad seminar during my summer in New York.  I was in class with graduate students and I was challenged to keep up with the workload and contribute to class discussions.

• Can you talk about your work as a mentor for the next generation?

One major undertaking is that I helped organized a national undergraduate conference on Ethnicity and Race.  I worked with a team of undergraduates from the New School.  Many of them were thinking about going to graduate school, and this was the first conference for many of them.  The conference helped them with professionalization and gave them exposure to what an academic conference would be like.

 

I also brought the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers to campus.

• Can you talk about the importance of the Leadership Alliance alumni network?

The Leadership Alliance alumni network has been an incredible benefit.

 

I see people at conferences and talk to people about career decisions and about publishing in anthologies and journals.

 

Also, having friends who followed other career paths is helpful.  It keeps me in touch with the world outside of the academy.  The friends are also resources for my students when they are looking for jobs.

• What advice would you give to this year’s Leadership Alliance participants?

Give it your all and ask a lot of questions.  The first few weeks are a feeling out process and people tend to be tentative.  The ones who fully embrace the process are the ones who get the most out of it.  This is a great opportunity to ask questions, especially of your advisor.

• Is there anything else that you would like to mention?

The Leadership Alliance has been a central piece of the foundation of my career thus far.  I’ve benefited immensely from the Leadership Alliance.  I’m surprised by how often someone will ask how I know someone, and I’ll say I met them back in 1997 through the Leadership Alliance.