Book & Video Return

Reminder to all Faculty and Students: Please return any books and videos you have checked out from the department library. Return items to the "task box" in the main department office by Wednesday, December 23rd

Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship (IDF) Internal Deadline: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 @ 4:30pm

The Graduate School will be again be awarding Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowships (IDF) for 2011-12. Please note: the application process has changed this year and a letter of support from the director of the research center/institute at which the student intends to study is required. Because of this, the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) set an earlier deadline, which has significantly impacted our internal deadline. Internal department deadline: Tuesday, January 11.

Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship

Please note: If you intend to apply and partner with a center/institute other than IAS, contact Melanie by December 8th, so she can review those center/institutes requirements.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The Graduate School, on behalf of the Provost's Interdisciplinary Team, is pleased to announce that it will award a limited number (approximately 10) of one- and two-year Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowships for 2011-12 to outstanding Graduate School students with interdisciplinary dissertation topics who would benefit from interaction with faculty at one of the University's 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.
TERMS OF THE AWARD
Recipients of the 2011-12 fellowship will receive a stipend of $22,500 for the academic year beginning September 2011, plus full tuition. Eligible recipients are also covered by comprehensive health insurance, including subsidized dependent and dental care.
A select number of students will receive a two-year award. Award of fellowship funds for the second year will be contingent upon satisfactory degree progress and active participation in the host center or institute, as documented by the student's adviser, DGS and center/institute mentor. The stipend in 2012-13 will be determined by spring 2012.
Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellows must register in the Graduate School as full-time students each semester. Fellows may hold supplemental support up to the value of a 25-percent graduate assistantship from any source in each semester. Awards may not be deferred beyond the original award period.
ELIGIBILITY
The competition is open to Ph.D. students by application, with endorsement by the student's graduate program and college dean/associate dean. Successful applicants are likely to be students who will be in the second, third, or fourth year of their program in the 2011-12 academic year and who are making timely degree progress. Students who have passed the preliminary oral examination are eligible, as well as those who have not yet passed this exam. Students who have received a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship are not eligible.
INTERNAL DEADLINE
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 4:30pm
Please note: the application process has changed this year and a letter of support from the director of the research center/institute at which the student intends to study is required. Because of this, the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) set an earlier deadline, which has significantly impacted our internal deadline. Internal department deadline: Tuesday, January 11.
Please submit the following information as an attachment via email to DGS Assistant, Melanie Steinman (stein196@umn.edu ):
1. The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship application form (available at http://www.grad.umn.edu/fellowships/Instructions/IDF.html).
2. A three-page statement (double-spaced, 12 point type, margins not less than one inch), written by the student, that:
• describes the proposed interdisciplinary research or scholarly project,
• explains how the student's scholarship will benefit from residence at the IAS,
• if the application is for a two-year award, provides justification for two years of support.
3. The student's c.v. that includes documentation of the student's involvement in, or contributions to, research, scholarly or creative activities (e.g., publications, abstracts, presentations at professional conferences or university seminars, exhibits).
4. Letter(s) of support from the faculty member(s) at the IAS with whom the student plans to study.
Faculty who are eligible to serve as IAS mentors include current or former IAS faculty fellows; participants in current or former IAS research/creative collaboratives; IAS advisory board members; participants in Quadrant groups; and other faculty members who have been active in the IAS, subject to the approval of IAS Director Ann Waltner. For complete lists of faculty fellows see http://www.ias.umn.edu/fellows.php; for collaboratives, see http://www.ias.umn.edu/collaboratives.php; for board members, see http://www.ias.umn.edu/advisoryboard.php; for Quadrant, see http://www.ias.umn.edu/quadrant.php#QuadrantGroups. To request approval for a faculty mentor who does not fit into one of these categories, please contact Susannah Smith ( slsmith@umn.edu ). Please note that faculty fellows for 2011-12 will not be selected until after the deadline for IDF applications.
5. A letter of support from the student's academic adviser/co-advisers.
6. Transcripts from each college or university attended (photocopies are acceptable, including the University of Minnesota transcript, available online at http://www.onestop.umn.edu/onestop/grades.html).
7. An up-to-date copy of the official degree program form, if the student has filed it.
Students will be notified of the outcome in March.
Please review the Graduate School call for proposals, found at: http://www.grad.umn.edu/fellowships/Instructions/IDF.html

"Black Is...Black Ain't": Reconceptualizing The African Diaspora - Call for Papers

The Graduate Society of the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University has announced a call for papers for the 8th Annual Herman C. Hudson Symposium, "Black Is...Black Ain't": Reconceptualizing The African Diaspora on March 25-26, 2011. They invite scholars, community activists, artists, and other professionals to interrogate definitions of, theorize about, and imagine new possibilities for the African Diaspora. Submission deadline: January 12, 2011.

"Black Is...Black Ain't": Reconceptualizing The African Diaspora - Call for Papers
An Interdisciplinary Symposium
Held At Indiana University-Bloomington
MARCH 25-26, 2011
Keynote Speaker: Professor Michele Wallace
The African Diaspora has been historically conceived as originating with the Transatlantic Slave trade. However, some would argue that to perceive the African Diaspora only in relation to slavery is to obscure alternative means of conceptualizing the movement of Black bodies.
As scholars committed to interdisciplinary research, the Graduate Society of the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University brings together scholars, community activists, artists, and other professionals to interrogate definitions of, theorize about, and imagine new possibilities for the African Diaspora.
For our eighth annual Herman C. Hudson Symposium, we invite abstracts for papers that will address the following topics:
• What are the practical applications of African American and African Diaspora Studies/Black Studies in the 21st century?
• How do migrations - local, national and international - affect diasporic identities?
• How does contemporary audio/visual media and popular culture help to re-imagine the borders of diasporic communities?
• How do outliers serve as change agents in these communities?
• What are the ways that the academy can engage in constructive dialogues with nonacademic communities?
We also encourage papers that engage these topics through the intersections of race with gender & sexuality; class; disabilities; color, ethnicity, and nationality; marginalization and resistance; rurality and urbanity; performativity; religion and spirituality; environmentalism and sustainability; and public policy and commerce.
We welcome submissions from graduate and undergraduate students, educators, creative artists, and community and cultural workers. Interested panelists should submit a one-page abstract of an unpublished paper, and a one-page CV or a 50-75-word bio. Presenters who are interested in displaying visual art should submit a digital CD of their work along with a one-page abstract discussing the details of their piece(s). Those interested in exhibiting their topic via poster board should follow the guidelines for submitting a paper abstract and visual art. Panel proposals should include a description of the panel's theme, a one-page abstract from each paper, the name of the panel chair, and a one-page CV or a 50-75-word bio for each participant. All abstracts should include the academic or organizational affiliation of each participant.
Submission Deadline: January 12, 2011
Please email abstracts and accompanying information to the attention of Abegunde, Abstract Committee Chair, at hchs@indiana.edu. If submitting a CD, please indicate this in your email. CDs should be mailed to the attention of Abegunde at the address below.
Herman C. Hudson Symposium 2011
Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies
Indiana University
Memorial Hall, M18
1021 E. Third St
Bloomington, IN 47403

Tenure-track Position: Cultural Studies and Gender Studies / McMaster University

The Department of English & Cultural Studies and the graduate program in Gender Studies and Feminist Research at McMaster University jointly invite applications for a tenure-track appointment in Cultural Studies and Gender Studies at the rank of Assistant Professor to commence July 1, 2011. Assistant Professor current minimum salary for an Assistant Professor is $60,997 per annum. Specific areas of expertise are open, but might include indigenous studies, sexuality studies, queer studies, visual culture, youth cultures, critical race studies, consumer culture, and popular culture. Application deadline: January 17, 2011.

Tenure-track Position: Cultural Studies and Gender Studies / McMaster University
The Department of English & Cultural Studies and the graduate program
in Gender Studies and Feminist Research at McMaster University jointly
invite applications for a tenure-track appointment in Cultural Studies
and Gender Studies at the rank of Assistant Professor to commence July
1, 2011. Specific areas of expertise are open, but might include
indigenous studies, sexuality studies, queer studies, visual culture,
youth cultures, critical race studies, consumer culture, and popular
culture.
The successful applicant's primary appointment will be housed in the
Department of English and Cultural Studies in which tenure, if
awarded, will be held, but her/his duties will include teaching
courses in the interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Gender Studies
and Feminist Research, and the undergraduate Women's Studies minor.
The current minimum salary for an Assistant Professor is $60,997 per
annum. McMaster is a research-intensive university. Its Department of
English and Cultural Studies has both an Honours BA and an MA program
in Cultural Studies and Critical Theory. Many of the Department's
doctoral candidates are pursuing dissertations in the areas of gender
studies and cultural studies. The new Graduate Program in Gender
Studies and Feminist Research offers an MA degree and a diploma
program for PhD students in a number of Humanities and Social Science
departments at McMaster. The successful candidate will have a PhD and
demonstrated excellence in teaching and research, with a clearly
defined research program and a promising record of publication. She
or he will be expected to supervise graduate students for both the
Department of English and Cultural Studies and the Gender Studies and
Feminist Research Program, and to contribute to the administration of
both.
Applicants should send a letter of application, a curriculum vitae, a
sample of writing (e.g., an article or chapter of a
book/dissertation--maximum 25 pages), and a statement of teaching
philosophy to:
Dr. Peter Walmsley and Dr. Susan Fast
Department of English & Cultural Studies
McMaster University
1280 Main Street West
Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L9
Applications received by January 17, 2011, will be assured of full
consideration. Applicants should arrange for three letters of
reference and graduate transcripts to reach the Department by the same
date. All documentation submitted in support of your application
becomes the property of the University and is not returnable.
For further information on the Department of English & Cultural Studies, see
http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~english/
For Gender Studies and Feminist Research, see
http://gsfr.mcmaster.ca/

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply. However, Canadians
and Permanent Residents will be given priority. McMaster University
is strongly committed to employment equity within its community, and
to recruiting a diverse faculty and staff. Accordingly, the
University especially encourages applications from women, members of
visible minorities, Aboriginal persons, members of sexual minorities,
and persons with disabilities.

"Continuously Rich: Dance Revolutions 2010"

"Continuously Rich: Dance Revolutions 2010" is an engaging presentation of three distinct dance pieces. It features the work of black women choreographers working from different contexts, aesthetics and thematic foci whose work comments on any stereotypical notions of what "black dance" might be. Performances will run December 10-12, 2010.

"Continuously Rich: Dance Revolutions 2010"
"Continuously Rich: Dance Revolutions 2010" is an engaging presentation
of three distinct dance pieces. It features the work of black women
choreographers working from different contexts, aesthetics and thematic
foci whose work comments on any stereotypical notions of what "black dance"
might be. University Dance students will perform a restaging of Jawole
Willa Jo Zollar's masterwork, "Walking with Pearl...Southern
Diaries," supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Students will also perform a re-envisioned version of Nora Chipaumire's
work, "Dark Swan," and a remounting of the piece, "A Sense of
Place," by choreographer, Makeda Thomas.
It will run December 10 - 12, 2010. For more information you can visit our
website http://www.theatre.umn.edu

POL 8260, "Topics in Political Theory: Violence and the State"

POL 8260, "Topics in Political Theory: Violence and the State" will be taught spring 2011 by Professor Yves Winter. The seminar will investigate some of the seminal theoretical arguments concerning the relation between violence and the state.

POL 8260, "Topics in Political Theory: Violence and the State"
Prof. Yves Winter
ywinter@umn.edu
Violence is at the heart of the modern state's capacity to guarantee order and maintain the rule of law. Indeed, Max Weber's assertion that the modern state is characterized by its successful claim to a monopoly of legitimate violence has become a commonplace definition and criterion for statehood in the social sciences.
But what exactly does it mean to speak of a "monopoly" of legitimate violence? It is clear that there have always been formations of violence (for example racial, sexual, and economic violence) that have operated in the shadow of the state's "monopoly" and that many of these forms of non-state violence have benefited if not from the explicit sanction by or complicity of state authorities then at least from a benign indifference. Instead of accepting the state monopoly of violence as a given, we must ask what economies of violence, to what modes of production, circulation, and consumption of violence the claim to such a monopoly gives rise. What forms of violence are rendered visible or masked? In sum, the state monopoly of violence is never an established fact: it relies on a recurrent inscription of a distinction between state and non-state violence, mediated by modes of representation.
In this seminar, we will investigate some of the seminal theoretical arguments concerning the relation between violence and the state by looking at the ways in which the monopoly of violence is established and undone in modern European political theory. The first half of the semester will be spent on the sovereign logic of violence. Our trajectory will start with the question, posed by early modern European political theory, concerning the origins and legitimacy of the state's monopolization of violence. We will discuss the postulate of a natural right to violence and how 17th century social contract theorists, such as Hobbes and Locke, explain the transmogrification of this natural right to violence into a dimension of sovereignty. We will pay special attention to the ways in which this conversion relies on a selective representation of violence, on the constitutive exclusion of certain types of violence, and on a normative hierarchy between different types of violence. Two alternative models of the state's monopoly of violence--the historicist (Foucault) and the ethical (Hegel)--will complete this part of the course. Building on the conceptual work in the first part of the semester, we will then turn to a closer examination of two aspects of the state's monopoly of violence and its limits: the monopoly of punishment and the monopoly of war. We will read a selection of texts on the historical and contemporary dimensions of these formations of violence.
Readings will include texts by the following authors: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, GWF Hegel, Max Weber, Michel Foucault, Carl Schmitt, Walter Benjamin, Catharine MacKinnon, Charles Mills, Carole Pateman, W.G. Sebald, Loic Wacquant, Talal Asad, Vanita Seth.

AMST 8289 Ethnographic Research Methods: Research Strategies in American Studies

AMST 8289, "Ethnographic Research Methods: Research Strategies in American Studies *Emphasis on Space, Place, and Region" will be taught spring 2011 by Professor Kale B. Fajardo on Thursdays 3:35-5:30 p.m. This graduate seminar will focus on ethnographic methods in the context of interdisciplinary, transnational, and postcolonial American Studies--especially in relation to space, place, and region.

AMST 8289 Ethnographic Research Methods: Research Strategies in American Studies

*Emphasis on Space, Place, and Region*
Spring 2011, Thursdays 3:35-5:30, with Professor Kale B. Fajardo -- kfajardo@umn.edu)
This graduate seminar will focus on ethnographic methods in the context of interdisciplinary, transnational, and postcolonial American Studies -- especially in relation to space, place, and region. Readings will stress contemporary ethnographies and cultural critique, including for example, Scott Herring's _Another Country: Queer Anti-Urbanism_; Anna L. Tsing's _Friction_; and Kathleen Stewart's _Ordinary Affects_. Students will also have the opportunity to read 3-5 ethnographies that are related to their specific project's field-location-or-region. A short-term participant-observation, oral history, or visual ethnographic project (based primarily in the Twin Cities) is also required. Graduate students from other inter/disciplines are welcome.