Professional development prepares humanities majors for post-baccalaureate success and undermines myths about weak career outcomes, yet too often, it remains an afterthough rather than an integral component of undergraduate curricula. Furthermore, increasing professional development opportunities for undergraduates also has programmatic benefits for recruitment and retention, not least becuase such programs better equip faculty and students to more effectively articulate the value of the humanites to public life, and the applicability of humanities across public, private, and volunteer sectors. At a time of decreasing enrollments, shrinking budgets, and diminished belief in the value of the humanities, professional development programs offer one avenue for reframing conversations around the humanities while simultaneously better supporting our students for their lives beyond college. 

We invite 250-word abstracts that describe your contributions to a roundtable discussion on practical and theoretical approaches to undergraduate professional development in the humanities. We welcome submissions from faculty, administorators, and students. Please submit abstracts by March 15 to Ashley Bender at abender@twu.edu