About Membership
"MLA means conversation with members of one's field, outside of the silos of speciality within an academic department." —MLA member
Why Join the MLA?
Joining the MLA connects you to a community of teachers, scholars, and administrators working together to advance the study and teaching of languages, literatures, writing, and cultures. Whatever your career stage, institution type, or research field, you'll find programming, resources, and a network to sustain what you do.
One of the largest scholarly organizations in the humanities, the MLA advocates for support for research in our fields, for fair working conditions for faculty members, and for the core principles of academic freedom and shared governance. By becoming an MLA member, you're adding your voice to our efforts and helping us make the case to institutions and legislatures.
And as a member you'll receive five issues of PMLA, discounted registration for the MLA Annual Convention, eligibility for grants and prizes, and more. View a full list of membership benefits.
Membership Categories
Graduate Student Membership
Graduate students engaged in courses of study leading to degrees in the fields of modern languages and literatures may for a maximum of seven years become student members at a $32 annual dues rate. Graduate students are eligible for MLA travel grants, Edward Guiliano Global Fellowships, and other grants and awards.
Group Memberships
Departments can purchase memberships for their graduate students or part-time faculty members and save up to 20% off the regular rates.
Joint Membership
Joint membership is open to two individuals sharing the same household. Joint members receive two subscriptions to the Newsletter and the Program issue of PMLA and one subscription to all other issues of PMLA. To determine the joint-membership dues payment, add $59 to the dues category of the member with the higher income. This category is not open to student members.
Life Membership
Life membership is available to retired members of more than thirty years’ standing and to all members who have paid membership dues for fifty years. Members may also become life members by making a single payment of $5,000 less $1,000 for each decade of membership. Life members pay no further dues to the association.
Regular Membership
Regular members, including new and reinstating members, should establish their dues category according to the graduated schedule.
Membership Dues Schedule
Code | Income | Dues |
B | Employed Less Than Full-Time | $32 |
E | Graduate Student | $32 |
L | Joint Secondary | $59 |
1 | up to $30,000 | $59 |
2 | $30,000–$50,000 | $95 |
3 | $50,000–$70,000 | $142 |
4 | $70,000–$100,000 | $191 |
5 | $100,000–$140,000 | $238 |
6 | $140,000–$180,000 | $298 |
7 | $180,000–$220,000 | $358 |
8 | over $220,000 | $416 |
Member Benefits
- Reduced registration fees for the annual convention
- Access to members-only professional development webinars and Sit and Write Sessions
- Eligibility for MLA prizes, grants, and awards
- Five issues of PMLA: four containing essays on literature and the September issue, which presents the program of the annual convention
- Electronic access to the full archive of PMLA going back to 1884
- Four issues of the MLA Newsletter (available online and in print)
- Access to members-only features on MLA Commons , the association's scholarly communication network
- Web access to a regularly updated list of members, as well as to a searchable list of convention sessions
- Complimentary MLA Handbook (upon request)
- Membership in forums concerned with scholarly and teaching interests
- Significant discounts on more than 300 books published by the MLA
- 30% discount on books published by Cambridge University Press
- 35% discount on higher education books published by Johns Hopkins University Press
- Eligibility to vote for officers, members of the Executive Council, and members of the Delegate Assembly
- Ability to read the ADE Bulletin or ALD Bulletin online and search bulletin archives if your department is a member of the Association of Departments of English (ADE) or the Association of Language Departments (ALD)
- The MLA Directory of Periodicals , a searchable database that provides submission requirements, editorial addresses, and subscription information for over 4,000 journals in the humanities
- Discounts on insurance, hotel stays, rental cars, and more
- Reduced annual subscription rate to JPASS, the JSTOR access plan for individuals.
Email Policy
In May 2000 the Executive Council approved the limited use of electronic lists of members' email addresses by forums, allied organizations, and MLA committees if members authorize the release of their email addresses.
Once a year, forum group executive committees, officers of allied organizations, and chairs of MLA committees can request an electronic list of the email addresses of an appropriate group of MLA members. The electronic lists may be used several times during the year, as long as the messages sent are in keeping with the MLA's status as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization and, for MLA forums and committees, as long as the messages sent are in keeping with the MLA's purposes.
If you would like to opt out of MLA mailings or change your privacy settings, please visit My MLA. Read the privacy policy for MLA websites.
Tax Deductibility
To comply with the United States Internal Revenue Code, the amount of dues paid in excess of $31 is tax-deductible as a charitable contribution.
To comply with postal regulations governing periodicals-class mail, the MLA calculates the cost of a Newsletter subscription at $8.00, which is included in membership dues.
Refund Policy
Membership cancellation requests must be made within thirty days of receipt of payment. Please contact the membership office (646 576-5154; membership@mla.org).