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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

David Noble Retirement Celebration Slides and Press Coverage

For those of you who couldn't attend the David Noble Retirement Celebration, please check out these slides and some related press coverage.

David Noble Retirement Celebration Slides and Press Coverage
http://www.americanstudies.umn.edu/news/noble.html

American Studies Senior Seminar and Graduation Celebration

The fourth annual American Studies Senior Seminar and Graduation Celebration to honor graduates, scholarship and other award recipients will be Thursday, May 14, 5:00 p.m.-¬ 7:00 p.m., main floor Scott Hall. RSVP Deadline: Friday, May 8, 2009.

American Studies Senior Seminar and Graduation Celebration
The fourth annual American Studies Senior Seminar and Graduation Celebration to honor graduates, scholarship and other award recipients will be Thursday, May 14, 5:00 p.m.-¬ 7:00 p.m., Main Floor Scott Hall.. We would also like to invite the faculty, graduate instructors and TAs that have been part of these seniors American Studies experience to join this celebration.
The seniors who have told us they will be attending are: Tom Atchison, Ashley Bergman, Jacob Fischler, Michael Gertjejansen, Nick Herschlip, Kimberly Loper, Rebecca Macdonald, Jeff Miller, Addie Mrosla, Casey Rusco, Sean Stewart and Pa Vang.
Please RSVP to Marie m-fied@umn.edu by Friday, May 9, 2009

Spring 2009 Evaluations

Faculty, Graduate Student Instructors, and TAs with sections: Spring 2009 evaluations have been distributed, please make sure to check your mailbox to pick them up.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

“Race, Citizenship, and the End(s) of Black Politics: The Case of Kanye West’s Diamonds (Are from Sierra Leone)”

“Race, Citizenship, and the End(s) of Black Politics: The Case of Kanye West’s Diamonds (Are from Sierra Leone)”, presented by Roopali Mukherjee, Associate Professor of media studies at CUNY-Queens College, will take place at the Communication Studies Department’s Wednesday Noon Research meeting on May 6, 2009 at 12:15 p.m. in Ford Hall B15.

“Race, Citizenship, and the End(s) of Black Politics: The Case of Kanye West’s Diamonds (Are from Sierra Leone)”
Roopali Mukherjee will be giving a talk entitled "Race, Citizenship, and the End(s) of Black Politics: The Case of Kanye West's Diamonds (Are from Sierra Leone)" at the Communication Studies Department's Wednesday Noon Research meeting on Wednesday, May 6 at 12.15 in Ford Hall B15.
Dr. Mukherjee is associate professor of media studies at CUNY-Queens College. She writes on race and racial discourse in US public and political culture and is the author of The Racial Order of Things: Cultural Imaginaries of the Post-Soul Era (UMN Press 2006). She is currently working on her next book, Mov On Up: Affluence and Enterprise at the "End of Black Politics" and two co-edited anthologies, Commodity Activism: Cultural Resistance in Neoliberal Times and Undoing Leviathan: Multidisciplinary Readings of the State.

Congratulations Joseph Bauerkemper

Congratulations to Joseph Bauerkemper, PhD '08 , who has accepted a renewable appointment as an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Scholar at UCLA in the Department of English.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Teaching and Teaching Assistant Application Deadline

Last Friday Laura sent an email to each person who submitted an application for the Teaching and Teaching Assistant pools for next year. Please remember you must submit application (s) to be eligible for an assignment. We were surprised by the low number of applications so we have extended the deadline to Friday, May 1, 2009.

Chicano Studies Search

Chicano Studies has announced two campus visits for their department search.

Chicano Studies Search
"The Tejana Experience: South Texas Literary and Popular Cultural Production as the Praxis of Third Space Feminism."
Guest lecture by Professor Lori Rodriguez
3:30-5:00pm
Thursday, April 30, 2009
105 Scott Hall Commons
Reception to follow
Professor Rodriguez is a candidate in Chicano Studies search.
Feedback on candidates by faculty and students is welcome!
For more information, please contact the Department of Chicano Studies: 612-624-6309
Graudate Students will meet with Professor Rodriguez on Friday, May 1st, 10:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m., 105 Scott Hall
Please RSVP by 4:00 p.m. on April 29 to chicstud@umn.edu
"US Imperialism and Military Might: Articulations of /Mexicana/ Cultural Citizenship in World War II San Antonio."
Guest lecture by Professor Marianne Bueno
2:30-4:00pm
Monday, May 4, 2009
105 Scott Hall Commons
Reception to follow
Professor Bueno is a candidate in Chicano Studies search.
Feedback on candidates by faculty and students is welcome!
For more information, please contact the Department of Chicano Studies: 612-624-6309
Graduate Students will meet with Professor Bueno on Monday, May 4th, 11:00 a.m. -11:50 a.m., 105 Scott Hall
Please RSVP by 4:00 p.m. on April 29 to chicstud@umn.edu

2009 Diaspora Studies Conference

The University of Minnesota Department of English is pleased to announce the 2009 Diaspora Studies Conference entitled “Diasporic Hegemonies IV: Artists, Activists and Academics on the Uses of Diaspora” on June 26-28, 2009.

2009 Diaspora Studies Conference
On June 26-28, the Department of English will be holding a conference here on campus on Diaspora Studies entitled Diasporic Hegemonies IV: Artists, Activists and Academics on the Uses of Diaspora.
The keynote speaker is M. Jacqui Alexander, author of Pedagogies of Crossing, and the department will be bringing in a number of scholars and artists who work on Diaspora, such as Carole Boyce Davies (Cornell), Agustin Lao-Montes(U Mass Amherst); Rinaldo Walcott(U Toronto); Fatima El-Tayeb(UCSD); Abdi Roble (artist/photographer); Kao Kalia-Yang (writer, poet, performance artist); Esi Edugyan (novelist); Lise Erdrich (poet, essayist, activist); Suki Ali (London School of Economics); Michelle Stephens (Colgate); Katherine McKittrick (U Toronto); Jafari Sinclaire Allen (Yale); Natasha Barnes (Univ of Illinois at Chicago) –and many more.
The focus of the conference is not panels-and-papers, but conversation, conviviality, and inspiration. It's important to learn from one another the ways in which the concept of diaspora changes across histories, ethnicities, genders, sexualities and politics.
There will be a number of prominent scholars from the U.S. and Europe in attendance, and on the final morning, Sunday, from 11-1, there will be four workshops which grad students should not just to attend but use for their own careers and education.
In addition to questions, it's encouraged to bring answers, ideas, and to feel quite welcome in joining in these conversations for the duration of the conference.
The schedule is posted below. While you cannot attend the dinners, you are invited to all other events, including the Saturday lunch at Coffman.
Please send an e-mail to Michelle Wright, mimawright@yahoo.com to let her know if you would like to attend the lunch, one of the Sunday workshops… and if you want to attend Richard Iton's workshop, please let her know so that she can order a copy of his book for you asap!
Friday
7:00- Arrive at Loft Literary Center/Open Book (1011 Washington Avenue South)
http://www.loft.org>http://www.loft.org
7-7:15 Introduction of writers by Maria Damon, Professor of English, UMN
7:15- 8:15 Readings with Esi Edugyan (award-winning African Canadian novelist, author of The Second Life of Samuel Tyne) and Kao Kalia Yang (The Latehomecomer) CoffeeeHouse Press; Lise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Chippewa poet, children’s author, essayist, indigenous communities and women’s activist)
8:15-9:00 Audience Q&A
http://www.d.umn.edu/unirel/homepage/07/amindmn.html>http://www.d.umn.edu/unirel/homepage/07/amindmn.html
Saturday
All events in Mississippi Room, 3rd Floor of Coffman Union
10:00-10:10 – Welcome – TBA
10:10-10:20 Keyneynote Introduction: TBA
10:20- 11:15 Opening Keynote: M. Jacqui Alexander; (title TBA)
11:15- 11:45 Q& A
12:00-1:30 – Buffet Lunch on Campus Club Summer Terrace
2pm-3:30 – Roundtable: What Can Diaspora Do?
Moderator: Rinaldo Walcott (U Toronto)
Participants: Maisha Eggers (Stendal University/ZtG Associate, Humboldt U, Berlin), Jigna Desai (UMN), Agustin Lao-Montes (U Mass Amherst), Michaela Mudure (Babes-Boylai University, Cluj, Romania) Tina Campt (Duke U)
3:30- 4:15pm Q & A
4:30-5:15pm: In and out of diaspora, in and out of Africa, Abdi Osman, Toronto,
5:30-6:30- Reception at Weisman with photo exhibition: Stories from the Somali Diaspora: The Photographs of Abdi Roble
http://www.weisman.umn.edu>http://www.weisman.umn.edu
http://www.abdiroble.com/
Presentation by Abdi Roble and Doug Rutledge
7:30-9pm- Dinner at Spill the Wine- 1101 Washington Avenue S. Tel: 612-339-3388
Sunday DHP
Third Floor Conference Rooms, Coffman Union
9 -11:30 – Asssemble into the workshop of your choice, one may also move in between workshops as they go. Workshops are the place to ask for information (books titles, articles, etc) to ask questions, to offer answers, and to participate in the conversation.
Diasporas and Visuality
Diasporas and Social Justice
American Diasporas
In Search of the Black Fantastic: A Conversation with Author, Professor Richard Iton
9:15 -11:00 Workshops

COMM 8611

COMM 8611, “Habermas and the Public Sphere” will be taught by Alan Gross, Communications Studies Professor.

COMM 8611
Alan Gross
238 Ford Hall
agross@umn.edu
651.638.2640
Wednesday 2:30-5:30
Ford B29
This seminar investigates the origin and development of the concept of the public sphere. It begins with a study of John Dewey’s seminal The Public and its Problems, the philosophical precursor of Habermas’s central work, also the central work of the course, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. It is a book that has generated a plethora of comment and criticism. Craig Calhoun’s collection, Habermas and the Public Sphere, our next reading, samples this at its best. Up to this point in the seminar, we will have dealt with the public sphere only as a social and political phenomenon, subject to philosophical analysis. But any social and political phenomenon can also—and I would argue must also—be subjected to rhetorical analysis. This is the goal of political scientist Bryan Garsten’s Saving Persuasion: A Defense of Rhetoric and Judgment. We close the seminar with a discussion of two topics: 1) the role of the public sphere in the theory of deliberative democracy, as embodied in Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson’s Why Deliberative Democracy? and 2) the application of the concept of the public sphere in scholarship in Communication Studies and Journalism. The seminar should be of interest to students of communication, in journalism, in political science, in social science, in political philosophy, and in rhetoric.
Books
John Dewey, The Public and its Problems. Swallow Press, 1954. 0804002541
Jürgen Habermas, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Thomas Burger, trans. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991. 0-262-58108-6
Craig Calhoun, ed., Habermas and the Public Sphere. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992. 0-262-03183-3
Bryan Garsten, Saving Persuasion: A Defense of Rhetoric and Judgment. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006. 0-674-02168-1
Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson, Why Deliberative Democracy? Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. 0-691-1209-6
Course packet.
Week 1. Dewey, The Public and its Problems, 1-3
Week 2. Dewey, The Public and its Problems, 4-6
Week 3. Habermas, The Public Sphere, I-III
Week 4. Habermas, The Public Sphere, IV-V
Week 5. Habermas, The Public Sphere, VI-VII
Week 6. Calhoun, 1, 8, 9
Week 7. Calhoun, 10-12
Week 8, Calhoun, 13-15
Week 9. Calhoun, 16-18
Week 10. Garsten, 1-3
Week 11. Garsten, 4-6. Final paper due.
Week 12. Gutmann, 1-3
Week 13. Gutmann. 4-6
Week 14. Piscena, Simone, Rasmussen, Al Saggaf
Week 15. Wodak, DeLuca, McGee, Habermas
Grades: There will be a set of weekly writing assignments and a final paper. The weekly assignments will be 50% of your grade; the final paper, 50%.
Attendance will be taken. More than 2 unexcused absences will lead to a reduction in grade.

CLA Graduate Student OLLI Course Leaders

CLA and the University of Minnesota’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) are offering a $1000 honorarium to CLA graduate students selected as OLLI course leaders. Deadline for Fall 2009 course suggestions is June 24, 2009.

CLA Graduate Student OLLI Course Leaders
http://cla.umn.edu/intranet/grad/osher.php

Wheaton College Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology Open Rank Position

Wheaton College, Department of Sociology and Anthropology have an open rank position for the areas of social change, gender, family, sociology of sexuality, and environmental sociology. Application deadline: immediately until filled.

Wheaton College Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology Open Rank Position

Wheaton College invites applications for a position in the
department of sociology beginning in the fall of 2009 or spring or
fall of 2010. Rank is open and depends on applicant's experience.
Desirable areas include social change, gender, family, sociology of
sexuality, and environmental sociology. Send letter of interest, CV,
and names of references to: Dr. Alvaro Nieves, Search Committee
Chair; Department of Sociology & Anthropology; Wheaton College;
Wheaton, IL 60187; or by email to Alvaro.L.Nieves@wheaton.edu.
Application forms will be sent to promising applicants.
Deadline: Immediate. Open until position is filled.

Northeastern University Postdoctoral Research Associate

Northeastern University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position, especially those with research interests in gender and science, work, organization, and institutional policy. Application deadline: immediate until filled.

Northeastern University Postdoctoral Research Associate
The Northeastern University ADVANCE Program invites applications for a postdoctoral research associate. We are seeking a highly-motivated up-and-coming researcher to help with the ADVANCE research project. Candidates will be expected to devote their time between several
projects which range from social science research and data collection, organization of database programs, and event planning. Research will include the organization, compilation, and analysis of information on legal, policy and hiring practices at the university via interview and survey practices. We anticipate that selected results from our research will be published in well established national journals. Applicants with a PhD, preferably in Sociology, Psychology, Gender Studies, Ethnic Studies, Education, or related fields, especially those with research interests in gender and science, work, organization, and institutional policy. The starting
date is flexible, but should fall between May 1 and September 1, 2009. This project is supported by grant #0811170 through the National Science Foundation's ADVANCE-IT Cooperative Agreement. Applicants should submit a cover letter, statement of research and goals, CV, a writing sample, and names, email addresses and phone numbers of three references to: Dr. Kathryn Schulte, k.schulte@neu.edu. Subject Line: NU ADVANCE PostDoc position.
For further details, visit: http://www.northeastern.edu/advance

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

PCard Receipt Reminder

PCard receipts for all purchases made through 4/24/09 are due to Melanie by April 30, 2009.

PCard Receipt Reminder
See attachment below for the 'Generic Justification Worksheet'
Download file

David Noble in Minnesota Daily

The Minnesota Daily did an article on David Noble's 56 years at the University - it includes a wonderful picture of David! We have a few hard copies of the article available in the main office if you'd like to pick one up. http://www.mndaily.com/2009/04/19/living-and-teaching-history

AMST Summer Teaching Courses

If you are interested in teaching a course this summer, please email Colleen by this Friday, April 24th, to let her know what course(s) you would be interested in teaching. Instructors are needed for AmSt 3113W, AmSt 3252W and AmSt 3253W. Colleen's email address is: henne020@umn.edu

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Macalester College Faculty Search

Macalester College and the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is seeking a faculty member for the 2009-2010 school year. Ph.D. is required. Application review begins immediately.

Macalester College Faculty Search
The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at Macalester College is seeking a faculty member to teach 3 courses in the fields of transnational, postcolonial, and postmodern feminist studies. The 3 courses will be taught in the Fall semester of 2009 (September—December) and are as follows: Transnational Perspectives on Gender, Race, Class, and Sexuality (introductory); 20th century Anglophone Women Writers (intermediate); and Topics in Feminist Postcolonial or Postmodern Literature (intermediate). There may also be an opportunity to teach 2
courses in the Spring semester of 2010.
Strong preference will be given to a candidate who is ABD or has received their Ph.D. with interdisciplinary work based in feminist literary/humanistic studies. The successful candidate will have teaching and research expertise in studies of contemporary feminist theories and practices of gender, race, nation, and diaspora as these
are contextualized in any Anglophone regions. An ability to create comparative studies across such regions is desirable. The candidate will be expected to teach the courses listed above with a distinct basis
in the history of postcolonial and postmodern feminist/queer theories. More information about the department is available on our website http://www.macalester.edu/wgs.
Screening of applications will begin *IMMEDIATELY* and may be sent to the Chair of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department, either to wgs@macalester.edu or to
Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, St Paul, MN 55105. To apply, please send a letter of application that includes a statement of teaching and research experience in the fields described above, a CV with names of 3 references, and teaching evaluations (if available).
*Macalester College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college in the vibrant Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area, with a population of approximately three million people and home to numerous colleges and universities, including the University of Minnesota. Macalester’s diverse student body comprises over 1800 undergraduates from 48 states and the District of Columbia and over 75 countries. The College is proud of its long-standing, mission-driven commitment to outstanding academic excellence with a special emphasis on internationalism, multiculturalism, and service to society. We are especially interested in applicants dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in both teaching and research/creative activity within a liberal arts college community. As an Equal Opportunity employer supportive of affirmative efforts to achieve diversity among its faculty, Macalester College strongly encourages applications from women and members of underrepresented minority groups.*
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TH 8120

TH 8120, “Arts-Based Action Research: Performing Civic Engagement”, taught by Professor Sonja Kuftinec will meet Mondays 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

TH 8120
*TH 8120 Arts-Based Action Research: Performing Civic Engagement*
*Mondays 3:30-6:30 Rarig 75/90***
How might graduate students with interests in public arts and civic engagement effectively and ethically develop dialogic relationships with communities of shared interest, location, and/or values? How might we contextualize arts-based civic engagement within a history of critical pedagogy (Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Miles Horton), decolonizing philosophies (Frantz Fanon, Aime Césaire, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Chela Sandoval), and contemporary civic arts practices (Augusto Boal, Suzanne Lacy, Zakes Mda, Judy Baca)? How do we connect this published critical history to practice-based theories generated within, around, and beyond the Twin Cities? This course invites an interdisciplinary cohort of students to build individual and communal praxis through participatory workshops, critical readings, reflections, and discussions. Together we will work out and critique reflexive methodologies in conversation with each other, with various critical theorists, and with local practitioners such as Marlina Gonzalez (curator of civically engaged digital storytelling/independent programs consultant for Intermedia Arts), Mona Smith (multimedia Dakota artist), and Sandy Agustín (artistic director with Neighborhood House St. Paul). We will focus on building practical facilitation and documentary skills, critical analyses and assessments, and dialogic relationships with community partners. Students will have the opportunity to work on their own ongoing practice-based research projects, to generate, and/or to support projects in collaboration with other students and local communities. Performance and/or visual arts experience is welcome but not necessary.
Prof. Sonja Kuftinec has worked with performance as a medium for community engagement, intercultural communication, and conflict transformation since 1989. Selected publications include /Staging America: Cornerstone and Community-Based Theatre/ (SIU Press 2003), numerous articles on ethics, activism, and the arts, and the forthcoming /Theatre, Facilitation and Nation Formation in the Balkans and Middle East/ (Palgrave Macmillan 2009).

Institute for Global Studies Assistantship Positions

The Institute for Global Studies has up to three openings for 50% time assistantship positions in the 2009-10 academic year. You may send your materials to the Institute or apply online at http://tinyurl.com/dmpgb6. Application deadline is 4:30 p.m. on April 24, 2009.

Institute for Global Studies Assistantship Positions
The Institute for Global Studies has up to three openings for 50% time assistantship positions; appointment is for the 2009-10 academic year.
To be eligible you must be a graduate student in a field related to global studies, with good academic record and making satisfactory progress toward degree completion and registered for coursework for duration of appointment; interdisciplinary background desirable; general knowledge of the University and library; ability to relate well to students, staff, and faculty; ability to work independently; previous teaching assistant experience preferred. Normally assistants will be chosen from the departments with which IGS shares faculty (American Studies, Anthropology, Geography, History, Sociology, and GWSS.)
The student will be expected to teach two discussion sections of Glos 3144, Knowledge, Power, and the Politics of Representation in Global Studies, in the Fall semester, and two discussion sections of Glos 3145, Theoretical Approaches to Global Studies, in the Spring semester. Responsibilities include: regular consultation with the instructor, preparing and conducting weekly discussion sections with students, assisting students during regularly scheduled office hours, maintaining class records, grading exams and papers, assisting students in developing library research skills, and general assistance with running the course.
Please submit: A letter of application together with a transcript and c.v., plus the names of two references should be forwarded to the Evelyn Davidheiser, Director, Institute for Global Studies, 214 Social Sciences Building, 267 19th Avenue South, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 online at: Employment.umn.edu
Application Deadline:
Received by 4:30 p.m., April 24, 2009

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Save the Date

David Noble is retiring after 56 years of teaching. There will be an event honoring him in April.

David Noble Retirement Events
Saturday April 18, 2009 @ 1 pm
Panel Discussion and Celebration
McNamara Alumni Center, University of Minnesota
If you wish to Honor David Noble at any time with a gift you can give to the David Noble Graduate Research Fellowship Fund. Make a secure gift online.

"Byron's Ghosts"

“Byron’s Ghosts” will be presented by Professor Susan Wolfson of Princeton University and sponsored by the English Department Graduate Student Organization and the Nineteenth-Century British Subfield on April 16, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. in 207A Lind.

"Byron's Ghosts"
The English Department Graduate Student Organization and the Nineteenth-Century British Subfield present a lecture by Professor Susan Wolfson of Princeton University: "Byron's Ghosts." The lecture will be held on Thursday, April 16, at 4 pm in 207A Lind.
Professor Wolfson is the author of Borderlines: The Shiftings of Gender in British Romanticism (2006); Formal Charges: The Shaping of Poetry in British Romanticism (1997); and The Questioning Presence: Wordsworth, Keats, and the Interrogative Mode in Romantic Poetry (1986).

"Honoring Carol Miller"

“Honoring Carol Miller” with poet Heid Erdrich is a VG/Voices from the Gap Event on April 30, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in 125 Nolte Hall. The event is to celebrate Dr. Carol Miller who is retiring May 2009.

"Honoring Carol Miller"
A VG/Voices from the Gaps Event with poet Heid Erdrich in honor of Dr. Carol Miller (UMN, Departments of American Indian Studies and American Studies; Co-founder of VG) who is retiring in May 2009. DATE & TIME: April 30, 2009, 7:00 p.m. LOCATION: Institute for Advanced Study, 125 Nolte Hall, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Please join VG/Voices from the Gaps: Women Artists and Writers of Color for a poetry reading and celebration honoring the scholarship, teaching, and expansive vision of our co-founder, Dr. CAROL MILLER, on the occasion of her retirement. An eminent scholar of Native American and women’s literature and Morse Alumni Distinguished Professor of Teaching in American Studies and American Indian Studies, Dr. Miller has been a member of the University of Minnesota faculty since 1981, where colleagues and generations of students feel enormously fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with her.
The celebration will include readings by Ardie Medina; Annette Joy Whitener and Ellie; Gwen Griffin; Pauline Danforth and Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright; Carolyn Holbrook and Genesia Williams; Lisa Zhang Wharton; and featured artist HEID ERDRICH. Erdrich, a renowned poet, activist, and mentor, is the author of poetry collections National Monuments, The Mother’s Tongue, and Fishing for Myth, winner of awards from Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers, Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Archibald Bush Foundation, and co-founder of Birchbark Books Press. The event will also mark the unveiling of VG’s newly re-designed website featuring the work of women artists and writers of color from around the world.
Refreshments will be served. Community members, family, and friends are invited, and we look forward to celebrating with you!
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley, tinsl013@umn.edu
Program Director, VG/Voices from the Gaps Department of English

ARTH 5575

ARTH 5575, " Boom/Bust: American Art from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression", taught by Jennifer Marshall, American Studies Associate Professor.

ARTH 5575
Click below for course syllabus:
Download file
Click below for course flyer:
Download file

Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars Prize

ASLH Kathryn Preyer Award: On behalf of our Program in Law and History and the American Society for Legal History, please note the attached call for papers/award information for junior scholars.

Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars Prize
Named after the late Kathryn T. Preyer, a distinguished historian of the law of early America known for her generosity to young legal historians, the program of Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars is designed to help legal historians at the beginning of their careers. At the annual meeting of the Society two younger legal historians designated Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars will present what would normally be their first papers to the Society. (Whether there is a Kathryn T. Preyer Memorial Panel at the meeting, as there was this year, or whether the Preyer Scholars present their papers as part of other panel depends on the subject-matter of the winning papers and on what is on the rest of the program.) The generosity of Professor Preyer's friends and family has enabled the Society to offer a small honorarium to the Preyer Scholars and to reimburse, in some measure or entirely, their costs of attending the meeting. The competition for Preyer Scholars is organized by the Society's Kathryn T. Preyer Memorial Committee.
In 2008, the Preyer Memorial Committee chose two Preyer Scholars: Cynthia Nicoletti (University of Virginia), for her paper “The American Civil War as a Trial by Battle,” and Joshua Stein (UCLA), for his paper “A Right to Violence: The Meaning of ‘Public’ in Nineteenth-Century American Law Treatises and the Jurisprudence of Violence.” The Preyer Scholars presented their papers at a special panel at the annual meeting, chaired by Laura Kalman, with Michael Grossberg (University of Indiana) and Ariela Gross (University of Southern California) serving as commentators.
Application Process for 2009
David T. Konig of Washington University in St. Louis dtkonig@artsci.wustl.edu chairs the Preyer Committee for 2009. Information about this year's competition may be found with the call for papers for the Dallas meeting.

Jean O'Brien PBS Series Advisor

Jean O'Brien, Associate faculty in American Studies, is series advisor for the PBS Series, "We Shall Remain, " which began Monday, April 13th.

Jean O'Brien PBS Series Advisor
To view video: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/the_films/episode_1_trailer
For more information: http ://tinyurl.com/2fa4ml

Congratulations Emily Smith

Congratulations to Emily Smith who has won the prestigious national Philanthropic Educational Organization Fellowship for the 2009-2010 school year.

Scholarship to Build Leadership in the Field of African American Women's Health

The Master of Arts in Women's Health program at Suffolk University in Boston is pleased to offer an annual, full tuition scholarship for students interested in African American women's health.

Scholarship to Build Leadership in the Field of African American Women's Health

The Master of Arts in Women’s Health (MAWH) program at Suffolk University (Boston) is pleased to offer a competitive, annual, full tuition scholarship to a student committed to working in the field of Black women’s health. Funded by the Suffolk University College of Arts and Sciences, this scholarship is designed to develop leadership in an area that will contribute to the health and well-being of African American women and girls.
By virtually every marker of health and health care status, African American women suffer unjustly. African American women are less likely than white women to have health insurance and are more likely to be dependent upon the political vagaries of Medicaid policies. African American women confront particularly high rates of cervical cancer, diabetes, hypertension, breast cancer, HIV/AIDS infection, and maternal mortality. For these patterns to change:
*Government policies need to redress longstanding racial disparities in health care access.
*Medical institutions need to develop programs that improve patient care for Black women.
*Health care providers need to cultivate communication skills that show respect for the strengths and diversity of Black women and that acknowledge financial limitations that may interfere with health maintenance.
*Community leaders need to work towards building environments that are safe and healthy for Black women and their families.
*Educators need to address how African American women can make the healthy choices that facilitate healthy minds and bodies.
*African American women need training in self-care and self-advocacy.
The MAWH Scholarship to Build Leadership in the Field of African American Women’s Health aims to train gifted and dedicated students to work effectively in all of these arenas.
To apply for the Scholarship please submit:
(1)The standard application materials required for the MAWH; to view,
click here.
(2) A substantive essay addressing: (a) What are the core health
issues facing Black women? (b) How did you come to develop an interest
in Black women’s health? (c) What do you hope to learn in the MAWH
program that will help you develop as a leader in the field of Black
women’s health? (d) What does being a leader in the field of Black
women’s health mean to you? (e) Describe your ideal job in this field!
Questions? Please see http://www.suffolk.edu/college/13527.html or contact mawh@suffolk.edu

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

"Spirituality of Dorothy Day's Pacifism"

The History Department at the University of Saint Thomas is pleased to announce an upcoming presentation by Dr. Anne Klejment about the “Spirituality of Dorothy Day’s Pacifism” on April 20, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in the OEC Auditorium.

"Spirituality of Dorothy Day's Pacifism"
Presented by Dr. Anne Klejment
Cosponsored by the Department of History; the Program in Justice and Peace Studies; and the Women’s Studies Program.
NOTE: Parking services will suspend ticketing in lot H (the big lot on Cretin and Summit) for the evening of the talk.
Dr. Klejment is the author of works on Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement and co editor of American Catholic Pacifism: Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker, recipient of the 1997 Pax Christi USA Book Award
For more information contact Dr. Anne Klejment amklejment@stthomas.edu at .
Date: Monday, April 20, 2009
Time: 7:00pm
Location: University of St. Thomas, OEC Auditorium
Cost: FREE and open to the public

Anthropology Graduate Student Workshop on Publishing

The Anthropology Department’s Graduate Student Workshop on Publishing will be presented by editors from “Cultural Anthropology” Kim and Mike Fortun on April 16, 2009 from 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. in 389 Hubert H. Humphrey.

Anthropology Graduate Student Workshop on Publishing
Date: Thursday, April 16
Time: 12-1:30
Location: 389 Hubert H. Humphrey (anthropology dept.'s seminar room)
* You must RSVP by Friday April 10! *
To RSVP, please email Professor Karen-Sue Taussig: taussig@umn.edu
(Lunch and packets will be provided, so anthropology wants an accurate count.)

Emory University in Atlanta Call for Papers

Emory University in Atlanta is pleased to announce a call for papers for an interdisciplinary conference, “Thinking the Enemy”, September 25-26, 2009. Abstracts due: April 20, 2009.

Emory University in Atlanta Call for Papers
Colonial /Postcolonial Seminar Series, Emory University
Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference
"Thinking the Enemy"
September 25-26, 2009
Emory University
The subject of our conference is nowhere and everywhere: amidst global networks of human movement, inhabiting landscapes to be bombed back to the ‘stone age,’ and heard in the concrete breathing of our next door neighbour. It is a figure that is simultaneously adversarial and intimate—the figure of the Enemy.
Beginning with recent debates about the role played by the friend-enemy opposition in the nature of the ‘political’ in the colonial and postcolonial world, this conference explores the concept of the enemy as it disrupts and constitutes discourses of the state, religion, violence, and identity. Who, where, or what is the ‘Enemy’? Whether we speak of the torture cells of Guantánamo Bay today, trials of witchcraft in colonial Kenya, the terror of the state under Pinochet, or the deafening silence on the streets of Gujarat in 2002, there is a serious need for us to reflect on the status of the figure of the Enemy. What is that precise space in the discourse of the community, the state, and the law, which allows, even necessitates, politics to reach its end, to claim impunity for acts that are fundamentally against the ‘political’ itself?
This conference is an attempt to find ways of thinking about the enemy’s formative role in the discourses of the political, in the making of a collectivity, in the formations of intimate violence, in the margins of the law, and the limits of our friendship.
Possible areas of exploration could include (although not restricted to) the following:
- How is history used to produce the enemy and what role does it play in the formation of the state, society, and the self?
- What are the everyday practices that constitute difference as animosity? What is the nature of alterity that comes to define the enemy?
- What are the spaces where the distinction between the political and the feared Other become indeterminate?
- Where does the politics of friendship figure in the constitution of the enemy?
This graduate conference will be held during the September 25th and 26th, 2009, as part of the Colonial/Postcolonial Workshop at Emory University. Graduate students from all social science and humanities disciplines and areas are encouraged to apply. Travel and lodging for selected participants will be covered by Emory University. Keynote speaker will be William E. Connolly, Krieger-Eisenhower Professor, Department of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University. To apply please send a 300-word abstract along with your name, institutional affiliation, address and contact number to enemy.emory@gmail.com by April 20, 2009. Notifications will be sent out by May 2009 and final papers will be due by August 31, 2009.

Hip Hop on the U of M Campus

“Women and Hip Hop” open discussion will take place April 8, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in Coffman Union 324.

Hip Hop on the U of M Campus
Come Talk Women In Hip Hop Wednesday 7pm in Coffman Union 324
Presented by the Cypher Coalition and the Womens Student Activist Collective --
What: Women & Hip Hop; an Open Discussion
Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Time:7-9pm
Location: Coffman Union 324
FREE
Food from Cane's Chicken, Red Bull, (along with Vegetarian Options) will be Provided!
Meet author and U of M alum, Murali Balaji on Thursday, April 9 at 4:00 p.m.
Author and U of M alum, Murali Balaji will discuss his book, Desi Rap: Hip Hop and South Asian America, on Thursday, April 9 at 4:00 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Bookstore in Coffman Memorial Union
About the book: Desi Rap is a collection of essays from South Asian American activists, academics, and hip-hop artists that explores the genre as an expression of racial identity, class, status, gender, sexuality, racism and culture. Desi Rap speaks to full complexity of immigrant and Asian American lives through the youth who are creating American culture through hip-hop solidarity through their discourse on race and ethnic identity.
Equilibrium presents
Vietnamese Women's Spoken Word and Hip Hop show at the Weisman featuring Sahra Nguyen, Jennii Le, and Magnetic North
Friday, April 10, 8pm
At the Weisman Art Museum, 333 East River Road, Minneapolis
$5/$3 students, Loft and Weisman members
Born out of the business of dirty laundry and hard knocks of floorsanding, Sahra Nguyen is running the legacy of a refugee family. She grew up chasing nickels to the local bodega, dancing with the cockroaches and dodging mouse traps in her proud hometown, Boston, Massachusetts. By 15, she was a city-wide exhibiting artist with Artists for Humanity and youth organizer with the Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth. Eager to expand her consciousness and knowledge about social movements and grassroots organizing, she moved to California to study Ethnic Studies and Art at UCLA and UC Berkeley. Through life's journey, she hopes to relate her pains, joys, epiphanies and revelations through art, writing and performance with all those around her.
Born in San Diego, CA and raised in the Bay Area, CA. Jennii Le never found herself existing without a pen, paper, and music to help compose her thoughts. Inspired by notions, emotions and feelings of love, Jennii Le discovered her passion and talent for writing poetry in high school. Yet, it wasn't until college did she discover the art of performance poetry or "Spoken Word" and since then she has performed in Texas to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and across the San Francisco, Bay Area.
Magnetic North (Direct and T-Minus) is the hip hop duo known for moving your body as well as your synapses. Respected nation-wide for their soul scorching lyrics and innovative melodies, Direct & Theresa Vu have turned heads from rap superstar Nelly to renowned activist Yuri Kochiyama. They released their first album in March of 2006, and continue to rock mics and stages across the country.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Fall 2009 Book Orders

Book orders for Fall semester faculty and grad instructors are DUE Monday, April 20, 2009.

Fall 2009 Book Orders
Please complete the attached blank order form, one for each of your fall semester classes, and email your order as an attachment to amstdy@umn.edu by April 20, 2009.
Please note the following:
*Indicate if you DO NOT need a personal desk copy for any of your ordered books. For courses with TA's, desk copies will be ordered for them.
*For seminars or other low enrolling courses, desk copies may not be available.
*If a book you are using is out of print, we are unable to obtain desk copies.
*If ordering from any publisher and/or edition is okay, please specifically indicate that.
*Order early. Delayed book orders mean delayed desk copies and increased costs to students due to the bookstore not being able anticipate accurate buy-back quantities.
*Avoid using abbreviations and initials to ensure accuracy and minimize unnecessary delays.
*If you intend to use the same book in a future semester, please indicate when that is. This allows the bookstore to plan to purchase used copies, saving students money.
See attachment below for a blank book order form:
Download file

The American Indian Studies Department Call for Volunteers

The American Indian Studies Department is seeking volunteers to provide support during the 2009 meeting of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association on May 20-23, 2009.

The American Indian Studies Department Call for Volunteers
Call for Volunteers:
The American Indian Studies Department is seeking volunteers to provide support during the 2009 meeting of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, May 20-23, 2009. Volunteers are asked to work between 4 and 8 hours over the course of the conference. Volunteers will receive free registration and an American Indian Studies t-shirt. Volunteering is an easy and fun way to participate in this exciting, international association’s conference, meet new people, and engage in the Twin Cities’ intellectual community.
Graduate students are encouraged to volunteer!
For more information, please contact Boyd Cothran at (cothr002@umn.edu) and visit our website at http://amin.umn.edu/NAISA2009/

"Work of Translation: Theory, Function, and Practice"

ALL 5261, “Work of Translation: Theory, Function, and Practice” is being offered fall 2009.

"Work of Translation: Theory, Function, and Practice"
Fall 2009
Tuesday & Thursday
2:30 ‚Äê 3:45
This course is a review of the issues surrounding translation, including theories of representation, ideological work, as well as actual practice. Our work will be structured around a series of readings and discussion of both historical and contemporary writing on translation; these readings and discussions will be intercut with actual translation tasks. While most of the readings center on the theory and particulars of literary translation, students
will be encouraged to explore other manifestations of translation as a historical, cultural or aesthetic issue. Along with those interested in languages and literature, students in disciplines such as creative writing, performance,
and the plastic arts are also welcomed. You should be native or near‚Äênative speaker of English, as well as an advanced speaker/reader of at least one other language, either classical or vernacular. Evaluation will be
based on weekly assignments, presentations to the class, written essays, and a final project; the last of which will be designed to integrate the work of the class with your own particular interests and talents.
See attachment below for course flyer:
Download file

“Individual Conscience in European Legal History, 1200-1650”

“Individual Conscience in European Legal History, 1200-1650” will be presented by University of Chicago Professor Richard Helmholz and sponsored by the University of Minnesota Law School on April 20, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. in Mondale Hall Room 50.

“Individual Conscience in European Legal History, 1200-1650”
by University of Chicago Professor Richard Helmholz,
in this year’s Ronald A. and Kristine S. Erickson Legal History Distinguished Lecture Series.
Monday, April 20, 4 p.m.
Law School, Mondale Hall Room 50
Reception to follow in the Law School Lindquist & Vennum Conference Room, 3rd floor
Please post and distribute the attached postcard.
Note: An RSVP is requested for the reception, the lecture is open to the public.
Download file

University of Minnesota Payroll Income Tax Withholding

University of Minnesota Payroll has asked that we share this information regarding changes in income tax withholding. The attachment includes information on how to locate and use the government withholding calculator, to see if these changes will affect you.

University of Minnesota Payroll Income Tax Withholding
See attachment below:
Download file

"Conversations on Music and Sound Studies"

“Conversations on Music and Sound Studies” will be presented by George Lewis on April 10, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. in 280 Ferguson Hall.

"Conversations on Music and Sound Studies"
George Lewis
Friday, April 10, 2009
Discussion:
"Conversations on Music and Sound Studies"
11:00am
280 Ferguson Hall
Part of an ongoing, informal conversation series on the future of music
studies and sound studies within the academy.
George Lewis is Edwin H. Case Professor of American Music
Director, The Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University
The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship in 2002, an Alpert Award in the
Arts in 1999, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts,
George Lewis studied composition with Muhal Richard Abrams at the AACM
School of Music, and trombone with Dean Hey. A member of the Association
for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) since 1971, Lewis's work
as composer, improvisor, performer and interpreter explores electronic and
computer music, computer-based multimedia installations, text-sound works,
and notated and improvisative forms, and is documented on more than 120
recordings. His published articles on music, experimental video, visual
art, and cultural studies have appeared in numerous scholarly journals and
edited volumes. He is the author of the remarkable, long-anticipated, and
highly praised A Power Stronger than Itself: The AACM and American
Experimental Music (2008).
Professor Lewis came to Columbia in 2004, having previously taught at the
University of California, San Diego, Mills College, the School of the Art
Institute of Chicago, and Simon Fraser University's Contemporary Arts
Summer Institute. He has served as music curator for the Kitchen in New
York, and has collaborated in the "Interarts Inquiry" and "Integrative
Studies Roundtable" at the Center for Black Music Research (Chicago).His
oral history is archived in Yale University's collection of "Major Figures
in American Music."
Lewis has worked closely with film/video artists Stan Douglas and Don
Ritter, as well as with contemporary musicians such as Anthony Braxton,
Anthony Davis, Bertram Turetzky, Count Basie, David Behrman, David Murray,
Derek Bailey, Douglas Ewart, Evan Parker, Fred Anderson, Frederic Rzewski,
Gil Evans, Han Bennink, Irene Schweizer, J.D. Parran, James Newton, Joel
Ryan, Joelle Leandre, John Zorn, Leroy Jenkins, Michel Portal, Misha
Mengelberg, Miya Masaoka, Muhal Richard Abrams, Richard Teitelbaum, Roscoe
Mitchell, Sam Rivers, Steve Lacy and Wadada Leo Smith.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

2009-2010 TA-Ships

To apply for a TA-ship next year, please complete the attached application (s). One is for assisting in the classroom, the other for teaching. To be eligible for the teaching positions you must have passed your preliminary examinations. Please feel free to contact Colleen (612-624-1871) with any questions. The deadline for the application is Friday, April 17, 2009.

2009-2010 TA-Ships
See attachments below for application (s).
Download file
Download file