The MLA, or Modern Language Association, is most known for its bibliographical guidelines, which is probably not the worst reputation to have, even if it perhaps overshadows other key features of the association (and if you prefer the APA). But the MLA will get the chance to showcase another side of its operation when their annual convention begins tomorrow, Jan. 9, in Chicago, Campus Reform reported. For grad students, the cost of admission is relatively cheap (around $20) and still open.

Friday's gathering won't address the minutiae of language and properly citing sources, but instead will take on more provocative literary topics relating to race, sex, and modern political issues -- all presented by college professors and academics. Northwestern University writing Professor Phyllis Lasner, for example, will speak on "Erotic Terror in Auschwitz: An American Tale." Much of her presentation is based on the 1994 novel, The Kommandment's Mistress.

"The battle for the woman's body becomes the logical site representing and indicting Nazi and other racialist ideologies as desperate struggles for masculine power," read the preview of her topic.

Other titles include "Beyond Huck and Pudd'nhead: Mark Twain and Race"; "The Literary Histories of Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father"; "Lesbian Cowboys: Queering the Wild West through Blood Memory and Literary Activism"; and "Is everything queer?," "Between 'Gay' and 'Queer'," and "Wild, Queer, Vulnerable."

Pop culture will also be fairly represented during the four-day convention with three sessions based on the HBO show "Girls" and separate discussions for racial themes in "Tropic Thunder" and "Grey's Anatomy."

Based on MLA's website, registration is still open. If you're a graduate student, you're in luck and might want to consider becoming a member of the MLA. Under those terms, the convention would cost just $22 (though I'm not sure how much, if any, it costs to become a member). As a nonmember hoping to attend the event, the cost goes up to $280 for those not looking to join and $220 for those signing up as new members.

From Campus Reform's description and the engaging titles, the presentations should contain an appropriate mix of entertainment and academia. Neither website states how many people are expected to attend, but the discussion-based nature of each topic presumes that the audience will at least be somewhat intimate. Make some new friends!

Register the MLA website.