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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Access the department grad calendar via the UMCal electronic calendar

You are encouraged to access the department grad calendar to view dates, such as internal fellowship deadlines and department events, via the UMCal electronic calendar.

Access the department grad calendar via the UMCal electronic calendar
You are encouraged to access the department grad calendar to view dates, such as internal fellowship deadlines and department events, via the UMCal electronic calendar. This resource, viewable online or via a downloadable desktop version, is available to all students. If you choose to use UMCal, you will be "invited" to American Studies events and deadlines pertaining to grad students. You may also schedule your own meetings and events, set personal deadline reminders, and have your class schedule automatically uploaded.
A hard-copy of the grad calendar will also be posted monthly outside the department office and in the computer lab, though you are encouraged to refer to the UMCal electronic version for the most current information.
To initiate your calendar, please go to http://www.umn.edu/myaccount and follow the instructions found under the "Calendar Account Options" link.
For interactive access to your calendar online, go to http://umcal.umn.edu .
FAQ and general UMCal assistance can be found at http://www1.umn.edu/umcal/index.html .
If you have questions, please contact Melanie for assistance.

State Historical Society of Iowa 2010/2011 Grant Program

The State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) has announced a grant program for the 2010/2011 academic year. SHSI will award up to ten stipends of $1,000 each to support original research and interpretive writing related to the history of Iowa or Iowa and the Midwest. Applications must be postmarked by April 15, 2010.

State Historical Society of Iowa 2010/2011 Grant Program
The State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) announces a grant pro¬gram for the 2010/2011 academic year. SHSI will award up to ten stipends of $1,000 each to support original research and interpre¬tive writing related to the history of Iowa or Iowa and the Midwest. Preference will be given to applicants proposing to pursue previ¬ously ne¬glected topics or new approaches to or inter-pretations of pre¬viously treated topics. SHSI invites applicants from a variety of backgrounds, including aca¬demic and public historians, graduate students, and indepen¬dent researchers and writers. Applications will be judged on the basis of their potential for producing work appropriate for publi¬cation in The Annals of Iowa. Grant recipients will be expected to produce an annotated manuscript targeted for The Annals of Iowa, SHSI's schol¬arly journal.
Applications for the 2010/2011 awards must be postmarked by April 15, 2010. Download application guidelines from our Web site (http://www.iowahistory.org/publications/the-annals-of-iowa/research-grants-for-authors.html) or request guidelines or further informa¬tion from:
Research Grants
State Historical Society of Iowa
402 Iowa Avenue
Iowa City IA 52240-1806
Phone: 319-335-3931
e-mail: marvin-bergman@uiowa.edu
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
1. Type a title page containing the following information:
• Your first name, middle initial (if used), and last name
• Address where you wish to receive mail (please inform us of any anticipated address changes)
• Phone number and e-mail address
• Brief descriptive title of project
2. Attach a narrative description of the project. This proposal of 1,000 to 1,500 words (3 to 5 pages) should address these points:
• The subject to be investigated
• Aspects of the subject that will be most closely examined, and questions you are especially interested in exploring
• The thesis or argument you expect to propose
• The sources you plan to examine, and their availability and applicability to questions you are exploring
• What contribution this project will make to the existing historical literature
3. On a separate page, address the following issues:
• How well will the result of your project be suited for publication in the Annals of Iowa? [Caution: Do not underestimate the importance of this part of the application. Too often otherwise good proposals have failed because they described dissertation or book-length projects without clarifying how they would be adapted for publication in the Annals of Iowa.]
• If this is part of a larger project, how much work have you completed up to this point? What additional research will the stipend support?
4. Include a resumé or vita.
(OVER)
Proposals must be postmarked by April 15, 2010. Notification of awards will be made by June 1, 2010.
Send 5 copies of the application and supplementary materials to:
Research Grants
State Historical Society of Iowa
402 Iowa Avenue
Iowa City, IA 52240-1806
For further information, call 319-335-3931 or send e-mail to marvin-bergman@uiowa.edu. Please do not send applications via e-mail.
EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS
Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
• Significance and originality (or fresh treatment) of the topic and argument
• Awareness of appropriate range of primary and secondary sources and their applicability to the proposed argument
• Quality of writing and organization
• Applicant's potential for producing work appropriate for publication in the Annals of Iowa
PAYMENT
In July 2010, each awardee will receive an initial payment of $500. A second payment of $200 will be made upon receipt of an interim progress report in April 2011. The final payment of $300 will be made upon receipt of a manuscript submission in September 2011.
SUBMISSION OF FINAL MANUSCRIPT
The editor of the Annals of Iowa will evaluate the final manuscript for publication in the same manner as any other submission, which includes double blind external reviews. The Annals of Iowa retains the first option to publish but does not guarantee publication. Copyright of published manuscripts will belong to SHSI.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The awardee will acknowledge the State Historical Society of Iowa in any publication resulting in whole or in part from the supported research.

"The Spirit of the Law: Religion and the Constiution in Modern America"

Sarah (Sally) Barringer Gordon, Arlin M. Adams Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of History, will be giving this year's Erickson Legal History Distinguished Lecture, "The Spirit of the Law: Religion and the Constitution in Modern America", on March 10, 2010 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 50 of the Law School. Reception to follow.

"The Spirit of the Law: Religion and the Constiution in Modern America"
Sarah (Sally) Barringer Gordon, Arlin M.
Adams Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of History, will be
giving this year's Erickson Legal History Distinguished Lecture, on
Wednesday, March 10, 3:30 p.m. (Room 50 Law School), with a reception
following in the Lindquist & Vennum Conference Room. Her lecture, drawn
from her forthcoming book, is titled "The Spirit of the Law: Religion
and the Constitution in Modern America."
Abstract: "A new constitutional world burst into American life in the
mid-twentieth century. For the first time, the national constitution's
religion clauses were extended by the United States Supreme Court to all
state and local governments. As energized religious individuals and
groups probed the new boundaries between religion and government and
claimed their sacred rights in court, a complex and evolving landscape
of religion and law emerged. Passionate believers turned to the law and
the courts to facilitate a dazzling diversity of spiritual practice.
Legal decisions revealed the exquisite difficulty of gauging where
religion ends and government begins. Controversies over school prayer,
public funding, religion in prison, and same-sex marriage roiled
long-standing assumptions about religion in public life."
See attachment below for flyer.
Erickson Lecture (Spring 2010).pdf

Recruitment weekend planning meeting Monday, March 1 at 3:30pm

Graduate Students: Please join the DGS and staff to discuss the upcoming recruitment weekend. We would like your ideas on caterers for the Saturday evening meal and on how you might want to be included in recruitment events on Friday afternoon and Saturday during the day. Please join us for a brief planning meeting at 3:30 pm this upcoming Monday, March 1, in the Scott Hall Commons (right before the Prelim Workshop). If you are interested in being involved but cannot attend the meeting please contact Melanie at stein196@umn.edu.


Graduate Advisers Workshop "Preparing for a Difficult Conversation: Techniques and Approaches for Tough Talks" on Monday, March 22

The Graduate School cordially invites graduate advisers to attend an interactive workshop on "Preparing for a Difficult Conversation: Techniques and Approaches for Tough Talks" on Monday, March 22 at the Campus Club. Space is limited and early registration is encouraged.

Graduate Advisers Workshop "Preparing for a Difficult Conversation: Techniques and Approaches for Tough Talks" on Monday, March 22
The Graduate School cordially invites graduate advisers to attend an interactive workshop on "Preparing for a Difficult Conversation: Techniques and Approaches for Tough Talks". Co-sponsored by the Student Conflict Resolution Center and the Office of Conflict Resolution, the workshop is intended to provide graduate advisers with tools, techniques and approaches for effectively communicating a difficult message to their advisees.
Space is limited and early registration is encouraged. To register, go to http://www.grad.umn.edu/dgs/workshops/ .
Preparing for a Difficult Conversation: Techniques and Approaches for Tough Talks
A Workshop for Graduate Advisers
Monday, March 22
3:00 - 5:00 p.m., Campus Club, Rooms A,B&C (Coffman Memorial Union)
How do you communicate a difficult message to your graduate advisee without damaging the adviser/advisee relationship? How can you discuss a sticky issue with your advisee without letting emotions rule the conversation? In this interactive workshop, participants will learn about common issues and effective approaches in preparing for a difficult conversation between faculty advisers and their graduate student advisees. Roleplay scenarios will provide an opportunity for discussion and critique, and key principles and strategies will be presented for effectively communicating about a range of difficult topics. This workshop is experiential; participants will be asked to engage in facilitated small group roleplays of successful conversations, and those that go wrong.
This workshop builds on a workshop offered this past December on faculty mentoring of graduate students. Attendance at the December workshop is not required to attend this workshop.

"Friday Grad Commons" initiative: a quiet space in which to write/read and consult with staff and faculty

The Graduate School is pleased to announce a new initiative: Friday Graduate Student Commons. The "Friday Grad Commons" is a collaboration between the Graduate School and multiple units to provide students with a quiet space in which to write/read and to also consult with staff and faculty on a wide range of topics related to the graduate student experience.

"Friday Grad Commons" Initiative: a Quiet Space in Which to Write/Read and Consult with Staff and Faculty
The Graduate School is pleased to announce a new initiative: Friday Graduate Student Commons. The "Friday Grad Commons" is a collaboration between the Graduate School and multiple units across the Twin Cities campus to provide students with a quiet space in which to write/read and to also consult with staff and faculty on a wide range of topics related to the graduate student experience. Each Friday will feature a specific topic and University staff/faculty with expertise on that topic will be available for individual consultations.
View the flyer: http://www.grad.umn.edu/gradcommons/flyer.html
Friday Grad Commons website:http://www.grad.umn.edu/GradCommons

Critical Dialogues: Crossings in American Studies March 2, 2010

Please join CROSSINGS on Tuesday, MARCH 2, during the first event of the semester, featuring research presentations from Prof. BIANET CASTELLANOS and Prof. KALE FAJARDO. This event will take place in Scott Hall Commons 105, 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

Critical Dialogues: Crossings in American Studies March 2, 2010
Please join "Critical Dialogues: Crossings in American Studies" for our first meeting of the spring semester:
Department Faculty Present Forthcoming Research
Tuesday, March 2
3:30-5:00pm
Scott Hall Commons, Room 105
Refreshments will be provided
Featuring:
Dr. Bianet Castellanos:
"A Return to Servitude: Maya Migration and Tourism in Cancun"
Dr. Kale Fajardo:
"Bayou Meditations: 'Manila-men' Non-Normativities and U.S. American Orientalism at St. Malo, Louisiana"
Sponsored by the Department of American Studies.
----
Bianet Castellanos is an anthropologist and a core faculty member in American Studies. Her research interests focus on indigenous communities in the Americas and their relationship to the modern nation-state and global capitalism. Her book, A Return to Servitude: Maya Migration and the Tourist Trade in Canc√∫n (forthcoming with University of Minnesota Press), examines the foundational role indigenous people play in the development of tourism and transnational spaces in modern Mexico. In addition, she is working on a new project that examines indigenous lives across national boundaries, between Mexico's Yucat√°n Peninsula and Los Angeles, California. This project explores the way gender, class, and racial ideologies intersect to shape how "indigeneity" and "community" are imagined within immigrant communities and migration studies. Castellanos teaches courses on politics and popular culture, immigration, global cities, the U.S.-Mexico border, and transnationalism. In her freshman seminar last spring, her class created a wiki page about life on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Kale Bantigue Fajardo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of American Studies and the Asian American Studies Program at UMN, TC.Professor Fajardo is currently wrapping up his first book, Filipino Crosscurrents: Oceanographies of Seafaring, Masculinities, and Globalization, forthcoming from University of Minnesota Press. He's also working on several essays that further engage with his notion of crosscurrents. In these essays-in-progress, Professor Fajardo is doing close readings of Philippine and Filipino/a American literary texts that engage with Filipino/a watery spaces and masculinities, using postcolonial, feminist, queer, Asian American, and Filipino/a American Studies reading strategies. In order to re-read and re-write Filipino/a water locations, histories, and masculinities that are central to the texts he's working with, he's also traveling to actual waters, beaches, lakes, bayous, rivers, and bays, doing mini-fieldwork projects there, to better understand Filipino/a literary imaginaries and histories. The texts he's currently working with include Carlos Cortes's Longitude; Dr. Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere; Marina Espina's Filipinos in Louisiana; Lafcadio Hearn's "St. Malo;" Carlos Bulosan's America is in the Heart; and Nice Rodriguez's Throw it to the River.

Classroom Assignmnets for Finals Week

Faculty and instructors who will NOT use their classroom during finals week should notify the department by writing Laura at domin047@umn.edu no later than Monday, March 8th. If you are unsure of when your final is to be held, check the schedule at http://onestop.umn.edu/calendars/final_exams/index.html

Classroom Assignmnets for Finals Week
It is important to notify the department if you will NOT be using your classroom during finals week to help central scheduling meet the space demand. If you are unsure of when your final is to be held, see link below to see the Spring Final Exam Schedule. Please respond to Laura by Monday, March 8th.
http://onestop.umn.edu/calendars/final_exams/index.html

PCard Receipt Reminder

Please submit receipts for all February PCard purchases to date to Laura by Monday, March 1, 2010.

PCard Receipt Reminder
Please submit receipts for all February PCard purchases to date to Laura by Monday, March 1, 2010. See attachment below for generic coversheet.
COVERSHEET generic-1.xlsx

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Macalester College 11th Annual American Studies Conference

Macalester College is pleased to announce their 11th Annual American Studies Conference, "Freedom to Learn: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline," February 25-26, 2010.

Macalester College 11th Annual American Studies Conference
Freedom to Learn: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline
Featuring
Keynot Speaker
Pedro Noguera
Steinhardt School of Education at New York University
Thursday, February 255
6-7:30 p.m.
Alexander G. Hill Ballroom
Kagin Commons
Macalester College
Keynote Speaker: Professor Pedro Noguera
New York University
"Challenging Racial Inequality in Our Schools"
As a leading urban sociologist, Noguera examines how schools are influenced by social and economic conditions in the urban environment. What are the challenges they face in providing safe, academically rewarding environments? What is the state of race relations, racial inequality? What is the role of diversity? What is the impact of violence, parents, and school vouchers? What factors promote student achievement?
Which detract from it? What is the impact of immigration and migration? A realistic, hopeful speaker, Noguera shows you the hurdles we face in providing equal education to all -- and then unveils the solutions that are already working to overcome them.
Pedro Noguera is one of America's most important voices for healthy public education. An expert on school reform, diversity, and the achievement gap, he is a currently a professor at the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University and Director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education. He is also a part-time high school teacher, the author of several groundbreaking texts, a regular guest on CNN, and a dynamic speaker who translates social theory into concise, hip language with emotional impact and intellectual rigor. Pedro Noguera has been a professor at the graduate schools of both Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author or editor of several books, including the seminal City Schools and the American Dream: Reclaiming The Promise of Public Education and Unfinished Business: Closing the Racial Achievement Gap in Our Schools and The Trouble with Black Boys And Other Reflections on Race, Equity and the Future of Public Education. He has also engaged in collaborative research with large urban school districts. Recently, he helped launch A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education, a group of public policy experts in various fields (housing, education, civil rights), and from across the political spectrum, working to break a decades-long cycle of reform efforts that promised much and have achieved far too little. The group works in areas that research shows must be addressed if we are to keep our promises to all of America's children.
2010 Conference Schedule:
Thursday, February 25th
4:30-5:30 p.m.
Keynote Reception
Kagin Ballroom,
Macalester College
6-7:30 p.m.
Keynote Address
Book signing to follow
Kagin Ballroom,
Macalester College
Friday, February 26th
Noon-1:30 p.m.
Lunch and Panel Discussion on Dismantling the Schools to Prison Pipeline
Weyerhaeuser Boardroom and Lounge
Macalester College
The American Studies Department at Macalester College is fortunate to host our eleventh annual American Studies Conference, "title". The conference is held every February during Black History Month, and each year a different theme is selected. The conference brings internationally renowned scholars to campus to present their work and engage with faculty, staff, students and Twin Cities residents. The conference seeks to highlight the links between scholarship, activism and civic engagement.
Macalester College
American Studies Department
http://www.macalester.edu/americanstudies
See attachment below for flyer:
Conference Poster 2010 final.pdf

Gender, Place, and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography Call for Papers

Gender and Sexual Geographies of Blackness is pleased to announce a themed issue of Gender, Place, and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography. The central aim of this proposed themed issue is to examine the spatial relationships between gender, sexuality and blackness. Abstract deadline: March 1, 2010.

Gender, Place, and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography Call for Papers
Co-editors: Rashad Shabazz (University of Vermont) &
Marlon M. Bailey (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Broadly, race, gender and sexuality are categories of social life and power that are inextricably linked to space. Like Black feminists and queer theorists, who have forever changed how we examine race, gender and sexuality, human geographers theorize space in ways that illuminate the geographies of race, gender and sexuality. Hence, human geographers have taken up and expanded spatial analyses to examine not only how space is imbued with power, but also the ways in which various forms of social stratification and marginalization are structured and experienced in spatial terms. And although space plays a profound role in constituting the conditions of social stratification and marginalization, it also provides possibilities for resistance and social and cultural transformation. This is most evident for Black communities, especially those who live at the intersections of and are marginalized by gender, sexuality, class, disease and location. Therefore, they propose a themed issue to mark a critical and interventive turn in human geography, one that conceives and treats space as a social agent and not merely as a physical location and/or concrete spatiality.
The central aim of this proposed themed issue is to examine the spatial relationships between gender, sexuality and blackness. In an effort to explore these intersecting categories and the conditions of violence and social deprivation to which Black people from many walks of life are subjected, they seek, through interdisciplinary knowledges and methodologies, to elaborate these intersections of gender, sexuality, blackness and space. In addition, they are interested in highlighting the ways in which Black communities and social spheres of Black alterity draw upon space and spatial practices to negotiate or transform the conditions under which they are situated. They understand that blackness, sexuality, gender and space are not fixed categories. Conversely, they are fluid; they overlap and function in many different forms and expressions. Therefore, in addition to the aforementioned, they will invite essay submissions that engage the following themes:
*Black queer spatialities
*Blackness space and class
*Carceral spaces
*Blackness, space and disease
*Performance and theatrical spatialities
*Blackness, sexuality and location
*Blackness, gender and space
*Black urban youth cultural practices
*Black culture and space
This proposal for this themed issue is the brainchild of the late Dr. Glen S. Elder, former Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of geography at The University of Vermont. A month before his passing last spring, he suggested they think of doing this special issue. Thus, the themed issue of Gender and Sexual Geographies of Blackness is in memory of our dear colleague and friend, Dr. Glen S. Elder.
Please send abstracts to baileymm@indiana.edu or Rashad.shabazz@uvm.edu by March 1st.

"Open Tuning: Blind Tom, Back (Metaphysical) Noise & New Theatricality"

"Open Tuning: Blind Tom, Back (Metaphysical) Noise & New Theatricality" a lecture by Daphne Brooks from Princeton University on Friday, February 19, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. in Blegen 225.

"Open Tuning: Blind Tom, Back (Metaphysical) Noise & New Theatricality"
Lecture by Daphne Brooks
Princeton University
Feb 19 Friday 4pm
Blegen 225
This paper examines the intersecting racial, corporeal and sonic politics of Thomas Greene Wiggins--better known as the entertainer Blind Tom--and his performative repertoire in the years immediately following the Civil War, and it focuses on his cultural iconicity in the period of Reconstruction. Blind Tom's peculiar status as a disabled performer with extraordinary theatrical gifts earned him unusual "privileges" both in slavery (access to the master's parlor) and later in the Jim Crow era (access to segregated hotels), and yet these same gifts resulted in the extended duration of his lengthy theatrical servitude such that he was called by some the "last American slave." A radical, performative listener poised on the edges of slavery and freedom, he thus translated liminal 19th century America into embodied, phonographic spectacle. This paper examines the aesthetics of Blind Tom's sonic mimicry, his ability to absorb and reproduce the reverberations of the world around him, and his role as a (ghostly) medium whose performative repertoire invoked the cultural aesthetics of spiritualism and magic. Moreover, it aims to situate Blind Tom's performances within a genealogy of (black) modernity and black avant-garde praxis that would emerge more fully in the Gilded Age. In an era characterized by multiple forms of border crossings, Blind Tom's fugitive sonic selfhood underscores the extent to which we might better understand the politics of Reconstruction by listening to how it (re)sounded in the cultural work of black performers from that era.
Sponsored by: MA/PhD Program in Theatre, Institute for Advanced Study, English, African-American Studies, American Studies.

Graduate Student Center for Writing Job Opportunities for Fall 2010

The Center for Writing's Student Writing Support program is now accepting applications for graduate writing consultants to begin work Fall 2010. Grad students from all disciplines are eligible to apply. Graduate writing consultants typically work for 10-20 hours per week (25-50% appointment.) Applications will be accepted through March 22, 2010.

Graduate Student Center for Writing Job Opportunities for Fall 2010
The Center for Writing's Student Writing Support program is now searching for graduate writing consultants to begin work in Fall 2010. They hire from across the disciplines to build their diverse multidisciplinary staff.
Graduate Writing Consultants typically work for 10-20 hours per week (25-50% appointment). See below for job duties and required qualifications.
Interested graduate students who meet the required qualifications (below) should apply online by visiting https://employment.umn.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1266439605491 and searching for requisition number 164947. Applications will be accepted through March 22, 2010.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Preliminary Portfolio Exam workshop will be held on Monday, March 1, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.

A workshop regarding the Preliminary Portfolio Examination requirement will be held on Monday, March 1, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. in Scott Hall room 2.

Preliminary Portfolio Exam workshop will be held on Monday, March 1, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
The American Studies Department will hold a graduate student workshop on fulfilling the Preliminary Portfolio Examination requirement on Monday, March 1, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. in Scott Hall room 2. The workshop will provide guidance on how best to prepare for the examination and on how to compile portfolio components. Panelist will include Rod Ferguson, Liz Ault, Melanie Steinman, and Kevin Murphy. Please take a look at the relevant sections of the handbook and come with questions.

If you plan to apply for the FLAS, notify Melanie by Friday, February 12

If you plan to apply for the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, please notify Melanie (stein196@umn.edu) by this Friday, February 12. Melanie will then be in contact with you directly regarding internal application deadlines. Click here for information about the FLAS: http://igs.cla.umn.edu/grad/fundflas.html

"A Halted Quest for Understanding: The Indonesian Films of de Rijke & de Rooij"

CSCL Assistant Professor Search Finalist Erika Balsom is presenting a lecture titled "A Halted Quest for Understanding: The Indonesian Films of de Rijke & de Rooij" on February 12, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. in 135 Nicholson Hall. Reception to follow.

International Summer School: "The Americas: When One is Not Enough"

The Center for the Study of the Americas at the University of Graz is pleased to announce a call for this year's Utrecht Network/C.SAS Summer School, "The Americas: When One is Not Enough". The summer school is offering five different seminars and takes place from July 18 - August 1, 2010 at Seggau Castle, Austria. Applications due: March 26, 2010.

International Summer School: "The Americas: When One is Not Enough"
The Center for the Study of the Americas at the University of Graz is
pleased to announce that the call for this year's Utrecht Network/C.SAS
Summer School "The Americas: When One Is Not Enough" has been launched.
The summer school is offering five different seminars and takes place from
July 18th to August 1st, 2010 at Seggau Castle, Austria. This year we have
the pleasure to host excellent international faculty, among them Dr. Josef
Raab, Dr. Gary D. Keller and Rolando Hinojosa.
Dr. Roberta Maierhofer, who by the way first established contact with other
Inter-American scholars such as Dr. Emron Esplin or Jean Francois Cote at
the IASA in Lisbon, is responsible for the academic program of the summer
school.
We also continuously update the website
http://www.uni-graz.at/zas1www/zas1www_summer_school1.htm
with important details regarding the program and participating teaching
staff. The application form can be downloaded from the above cited website.
NOTE:
Students can apply for scholarships with their home institutions and via the
University of Graz!
Applications must reach the Office for International Relations at the
University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 3, 8010 Graz by 26th of March, 2010
via snail mail at the latest.
Contact for students: csassummerschool@uni-graz. at (phone: +43 316 380 1242,
Mateja Haberler)

"A Million Living Ghosts: Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea"

Author and activist Jane Jeong Trenka is presenting a lecture titled "A Million Living Ghosts: Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea" tomorrow, Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 1pm in 100 Smith Hall. The lecture is sponsored by the Asian American Studies Program, Zabel Lecture Series in the English Department, and the Consortium for the Study of the Asia.

"A Million Living Ghosts: Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea"
Jane Jeong Trenka: A Million Living Ghosts
Date: 02/11/2010
Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: 100 Smith Hall East Bank,Smith Hall
Cost: Free
Description:
Public lecture by Jane Jeong Trenka
Title: A Million Living Ghosts: Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea
Description: Since the end of the Korean War, South Korea has sent away more of its citizens to be adopted than any other country in the world. If we count not just the 200,000 children who been sent to foreign countries, but also their parents, grandparents, and siblings, we can roughly estimate that 1 million South Koreans are directly affected by the international adoption program. Yet these people are rarely acknowledged in Korean society, as they have been rendered socially dead. Meanwhile, the Korean government has yet to fully address the factors that have caused this program to flourish even in a time of economic prosperity, 57 years after the end of the Korean War.
Author Jane Jeong Trenka will talk about her writing as a path to activism and the work of her activist group TRACK (Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea), a group based in Seoul that advocates for full knowledge of past and present Korean adoption practices to protect the human rights of adult adoptees, children, and families.
Contact:
* Name: Hilal Isler
* E-mail: isler010@umn.edu
* Sponsored by: Asian American Studies, Zabel Lecture Series in the English Department, Consortium for the Study of the Asias
More information: http://aas.umn.edu/
Disability Options:
To request disability accommodations, please contact Asian American Studies Program.

SAVE THE DATES: Grad Recruitment Weekend will be held April 2 and 3.

SAVE THE DATES. American Studies Graduate Student Recruitment Weekend will take place April 2 and 3. Please continue to watch the Digest for more information about the weekend's events.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship (IDF) Internal Deadline: Wednesday, March 3, 2010.

The Graduate School will be awarding up to 15 year-long Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowships (IDF) for 2010-11. American Studies may nominate up to three PhD graduate students. The fellowship award includes a $22,500 stipend. Internal Deadline: Wednesday, March 3, 2010.

Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship (IDF) Internal Deadline: Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
The Graduate School, on behalf of the Provost's Interdisciplinary Team, is pleased to announce that it will award up to 15 year-long Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowships for 2010-11 to outstanding Graduate School students with interdisciplinary dissertation topics who would benefit from interaction with faculty at one of several designated University interdisciplinary research centers or institutes. The fellowship provides a unique study opportunity for our very best students with research and scholarly interests that complement those of the host center or institute and its faculty. Prospective fellows are asked to designate the host center or institute they believe is the best match with their dissertation topic, contingent upon a faculty member's willingness to work with the student during the fellowship year. Recent University commitments to increase the pool of Graduate School fellowships, and matching funds provided by several University-wide host centers and institutes, make it possible to support this number of fellows next year.
ELIGIBILITY American Studies may nominate up to three Ph.D students for the IDF. The most likely nominees are those who will be in the second, third, or fourth year of their program in the 2009 -10 academic year and are making timely degree progress. Students who have passed the preliminary oral examination are eligible.
INTERNAL DEADLINE: Because the Graduate School limits the number of candidates from each graduate program, American Studies has an internal deadline of 4:30pm on Wednesday, March 3, 2010. Please submit the following information as an attachment via email to DGS Assistant, Melanie Steinman (stein196@umn.edu):
1. a three-page statement, written by the student, which describes
the proposed research or scholarly project

2. a letter of support from the faculty member at the selected
research center or institute with whom the student plans to study

3. The name of the institute or center where you would like to study

NOTE: Additional materials will be required of the three nominees the Department forwards to the graduate school. Those materials include a letter of support from the faculty member you will be working with and a letter of support from your adviser. Please inform these faculty members that if you are chosen as a nominee they will be asked to provide a letter of support.
We anticipate notifying students of nominations by March 12, 2010.
Please review the Graduate School call for proposals, found at: http://www.grad.umn.edu/oii/Funding/fellowships.html

"Puzzles of Antiquity: The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Bible, Judaism, and Christianity"

"Puzzles of Antiquity: The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Bible, Judaism, and Christianity" an exhibit sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts will take place April 11, 2010 from 1:00-5:00 p.m. in the Science Museum of Minnesota Discovery Hall. The Dead Sea Scrolls have been hailed as the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century. The fee is $21. Please register for the exhibition by April 2, 2010.

"Puzzles of Antiquity: The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Bible, Judaism, and Christianity"
April 11, 2010 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Science Museum of Minnesota Discovery Hall
The Dead Sea Scrolls have been hailed as the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century. What makes these 2,000 year-old documents so remarkable and critically important?
Join world-renowned experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls for an afternoon of learning and conversation about their history and signifi cance. Leading scholars will explore how the Dead Sea Scrolls have revolutionized our understanding of the Bible, Judaism and Christianity, and how more than 60 years after their discovery in caves near the Dead Sea they continue to stir debate about their origins.
Registration (by April 2, 2010) and more information: www.deadseascrolls.umn.edu
Fee ($21) includes entry into The Dead Sea Scrolls: Words that Changed the World exhibition.
Presenters:
Andrea Berlin, Professor of Archaeology, University of Minnesota | Michael O. Wise, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Languages, Northwestern College | Calvin J. Roetzel, Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Studies, University of Minnesota | Lawrence H. Schiffman, Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University (keynote speaker)
Exhibition information: www.smm.org/scrolls/
The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition was created by the Israel Antiquities Authority from the collections of the National Treasures in collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Public Historian Position - In Pursuit of Freedom Project

The Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC), and Irondale Ensemble Project (IEP) invite applications for a two year, grant funded position as a public historian to curate and scholar for, In Pursuit of Freedom, which focuses on the history of abolitionism and the Underground Railroad in Brooklyn. Interviews will begin immediately and continue until position is filled.

Public Historian Position - In Pursuit of Freedom Project
The Historian will serve as curator and scholar for, In Pursuit of Freedom, which focuses on the history of abolitionism and the Underground Railroad in Brooklyn, providing new resources for preserving, interpreting, and advancing public understanding of this chapter in American history. The In Pursuit of Freedom collaboration links three complementary cultural entities: the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC), and Irondale Ensemble Project (IEP). Implemented over a two to three year period, In Pursuit of Freedom will create five mutually-reinforcing components designed to help the public explore Brooklyn's historic role in the fight against slavery and the effort to fulfill America's promise of liberty and freedom: 1) Interpretive exhibitions at the Brooklyn Historical Society, Weeksville Heritage Center, and the Irondale Center at Lafayette Avenue Church. 2) Historic Site markers. 3) The development and presentation of an original theater piece. 4) An Educational Curriculum and 5) a web site that will connect all of the components. To this end, the historian will synthesize information for all aspects of the project, and coordinate the content, taking responsibility as follows: Conduct original research in archives around the city, Work in close coordination with the project team, Communicate about research regularly through oral presentations and written reports, organize meetings with Scholarly advisory board, provide a curatorial voice in the development of interpretive plan for exhibitions, working with project team and designers, write and review exhibition text and texts for website and historical markers We seek a candidate with Ph.D. in history (or public history) with a focus on NYC history, abolitionism and the Underground Railroad, knowledge of and experience in creating public history projects in a timely fashion, excellent interpersonal, written, organizational and oral skills and the ability to carry out multiple and diverse tasks concurrently. Interviews will begin immediately and continue until position is filled. For more information, please visit www.brooklynhistory.org Please send curriculum vitae, a cover letter and writing sample to kfermoile@brooklynhistory.org No phone calls.

The Society of Scholars in the Humanities 2010 Research Scholarships- University of Hong Kong

The Society of Scholars in the Humanities at the University of Hong Kong invites applications for the four 2010 research scholarships, one in each of the following fields: Comparative Literature (including Film Studies), Linguistics, Music (including Composition and Ethnomusicology) and Philosophy. Each scholarship is for two years and non-renewable. Scholarships begin September 1, 2010. Application deadline: March 31, 2010.

The Society of Scholars in the Humanities 2010 Research Scholarships- University of Hong Kong
The Society of Scholars in the Humanities at the University of Hong Kong is a society of young scholars involved in cutting-edge research. It is designed to encourage critical and creative thought both within and between the disciplines in the Arts and Humanities. There are four research Scholarships for 2010, one in each of the following fields: Comparative Literature (including Film Studies), Linguistics, Music (including Composition and Ethnomusicology) and Philosophy.
Each Scholarship is for two years and is non-renewable. Applicants are invited from all educational institutions across the world. The Scholarships are intended for researchers early in their careers to carry out innovative research. Candidates are expected to be either graduate students in the final stages of their Ph.D. studies, or researchers who have been awarded their Ph.D. degree for not more than two years from the date of application. Details about the Society are available at http://www.soh.hku.hk/ssh/2010/index.html .
Scholars will be provided with free accommodation, office space, airfares for overseas candidates, a research grant of up to HK$14,000 a year, and a stipend of HK$23,000 per month. (Scholars who have not yet been awarded a Ph.D. degree will receive a salary of HK$19,000 per month.) Successful candidates will be appointed as Research Scholar.
Although the Scholarship is primarily designed to encourage original research, Scholars will be expected to teach one course per year, interact with staff and students, present their research in colloquia and conferences, and organize a lecture series. All Scholars are expected to be resident in Hong Kong during the teaching semesters and may carry out research abroad for up to 100 days a year.
The application form along with CV, research proposal (max. 1500 words) and two referees' reports must be received by the School of Humanities by March 31, 2010. All Scholarships begin on September 1, 2010. Further particulars and application forms can be obtained at http://www.soh.hku.hk/ssh/2010/applications.html . Enquiries about the Scholarship can be directed to Ms. Vivian Chu, Secretary of the Society of Scholars (e-mail: scholars@hku.hk). There are no interviews. Successful applicants will be notified no later than June 30, 2010.
Contact Info:
Ms. Vivian Chu, Secretary of the Society of Scholars
e-mail: scholars@hku.hk

American West Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Environmental Humanities Project, in collaboration with the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University, seeks applicants for a postdoctoral fellowship focusing on cultures of nature in the American West. The appointment is for one year but may be renewed for an additional year. Application deadline: April 1, 2010.

American West Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Environmental Humanities Project, in collaboration with the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University, seeks applicants for a postdoctoral fellowship focusing on cultures of nature in the American West. Applicants' research should focus on how cultures shape conceptions of nature, the natural, species boundaries, uses of plants and animals and natural resources, the human body in its environmental dimensions, or environmental health and illness; how cultures of nature form and dissolve; how cultures map nature, literally and metaphorically; how cultures of nature rooted in particular places develop dimensions beyond that place (e.g. in the virtual realm); and what practical differences such cultures make for human uses of the environment and in shaping nature. The postdoctoral fellow will be a leader in the Environmental Humanities Project, a new initiative at Stanford designed to develop an interdisciplinary community across departments, programs and research areas in the Humanities involving environmental issues. This community will also seek to build bridges to the social and natural sciences. Fellows should be committed to this goal and will be expected to participate actively in building such a community. In addition, they will teach one class and participate in workshops and seminars. The appointment is for one year but may be renewed for an additional year. Applicants must have their doctoral degree in hand 30 days prior to the appointment start date. The concept of "cultures of nature" is conceived broadly to include indigenous, ethnic, class-based, local, professional formations and subcultures. The American West is understood as the United States west of the Mississippi, western Canada, Mexico, and their interfaces with the Pacific region. We welcome applicants from anthropology, history, literary and cultural studies, political science, sociology and urban studies, as well as candidates from the natural sciences with a strong interest in multidisciplinary methods and the humanities. We particularly encourage applicants who are interested in working with a variety of sources, including data, maps, images, and multimedia visualization techniques. Applicants should be comfortable working in a collaborative research setting. The fellowship research project will be developed by the candidate in collaboration with scholars from a variety of related disciplines, and will have an associated public outreach dimension. For further information please contact Ursula K. Heise, uheise@stanford.edu, Professor of English, Director of the Program in Modern Thought and Literature and faculty coordinator of the Environmental Humanities Project, or Jon Christensen, jonchristensen@stanford.edu, Executive Director, Bill Lane Center for the American West, Stanford University. Applicants should submit the following materials by April 1, 2010: Cover letter, CV, 1000-word project proposal, dissertation abstract, 25-page writing sample, three letters of recommendation.