Thursday, April 23, 2009

Ossip Writing Awards

If you wrote a 1903 paper this year or another substantial research paper, you should consider enteringt this contest!


THE 2009 OSSIP AWARDS
FOR EXCELLENCE IN UNDERGRADUATE WRITING

Sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences


The School of Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce our annual writing competition. Its purpose is to recognize and promote fine nonfiction prose writing in the Natural Sciences, the Social Sciences, and the Humanities. Cash prizes will be awarded for winning entries in the categories of Research Writing (projects involving substantial analysis of primary sources or data) and Critical Writing (projects involving critical analysis of a text, artifact, problem, issue, or experience—with or without the use of secondary sources).

The 2009 competition will consider pieces written for courses taken at the University of Pittsburgh during the 2007-2008 or 2008-2009 academic years (Fall, Spring, or Summer Terms). Submissions will be judged by the College Writing Board, and the awards will be acknowledged at the Honors Convocation.


Guidelines for Submission:
1. Papers must have been written by a matriculated undergraduate student in Arts and Sciences, to fulfill the requirements for a course at the University of Pittsburgh. Papers may be revised before being submitted to the contest.

2. For paper submission, please send or deliver eight clean copies to the Chair of the College Writing Board, Dept of English, 526 CL. The copies should be accompanied by one cover sheet listing the title of the piece; student’s name, address, e-mail address, and Social Security number; the name of the department, the class, and the professor for whom the paper was written; and the category in which the paper belongs (Research or Critical Writing). The title should appear on the first page of the paper; otherwise, the paper should have no identifying information.

3. For electronic submission, please follow the guidelines found on the Writing Across the Curriculum website (www.wac.pitt.edu). The title should appear on the first page of the paper; otherwise, the paper should have no identifying information.

4. All contestants must either include a copy of the assignment that prompted the paper, or attach a preface that explains the assignment in detail. (Please include eight copies for paper submissions.) Submissions without an assignment sheet or preface will not be considered.

5. The deadline for submission is May 15, 2009. Submissions will be accepted any time after February 1, 2009.

6. Fiction and poetry are not eligible for the Ossip Award.

Volunteer Nature and Social Projects in Israel

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Jonathan Gilben (Geography graduate from the University of Nottingham, U.K.) and I work with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and other leading NGO's in Israel.

Together we run non-profit volunteer projects for the protection of endangered species & social aid in Israel, some of which promote peace initiatives in the region.

...we hope that your students will enjoy a unique opportunity to volunteer while experiencing Israel’s diverse cultural and natural environment.

The volunteer projects are posted at: goeco.org/israel

Please feel free to contact me for any questions you may have.

Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely yours,
Jonathan Gilben

GoEco
13 Rozanis St.
Tel-Aviv 69018, Israel
Tel: 972-3-6474208
Fax: 972-3-6485655
Cell: 972-50-5762797
goeco@goeco.org / goeco@goeco.co.il
www.goeco.org / www.goeco.co.il
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Cultural Studies Presenations

Done with exams and interested in a little more intellectual stimulation before your summer job?

The Graduate Program for Cultural Studies presents:
Graduate Colloquium and Guest Lecture
Friday, April 24, 2009
2:30-6:30pm
1501 Posvar Hall

Please join us for three presentations by students from Joshua Lund’s Cultural Studies Common Seminar, “Race in the Americas: The Biopolitical Turn,” followed by a
guest lecture by renowned philosopher, Roberto Esposito.

Program:
2:30pm: Graduate Student Presentations:
Josh Beaty (Communications). “Border Patrols: The Creation and Maintenance of the Israeli People through Film and Television.”

Alessandra Chiriboga (Hispanic Languages and Literatures). “Security against Life: The Guatemalan ‘model village’.”

Sarah Ohmer (Hispanic Languages and Literatures). “Performative Responses to State Racism: 'KRUMPing' in the HollyWatts and the 'AfroReggae Cultural Movement' in Rio de Janeiro.”

3:30pm: Refreshments

Please join us in room 2201 Posvar for some coffee and sweets.
4:00pm: Guest Lecture: "Time For Biopolitics" by visiting philosopher, Roberto Esposito (Italian Institute for the Human Sciences, Naples)

A Q & A with Esposito will follow the lecture.
The event is free and open at all. All lectures will be delivered in English. Please come to listen and to help us celebrate the end of the semester!

Writing Fellowship: Judaism and Social Justice

American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is pleased to announce that we are accepting applications for the Dvar Tzedek Lisa Goldberg Memorial Writers' Fellowship for 5770 / 2009-2010. AJWS Dvar Tzedek Fellows receive a modest stipend and write weekly Torah commentaries relating to the Jewish imperative for social justice. The Dvar Tzedek currently reaches over 4,000 people a week over e-mail.

To download the application for the fellowship, see here: http://ajws.org/what_we_do/education/publications/dvar_tzedek/dt_fellowship_application.pdf.
To see examples of the work of this year's Dvar Tzedek fellows, visit www.ajws.org/parshah.

We invite you to apply for the fellowship and to circulate information about the fellowship to anyone you think would be interested. For more information, please contact Lisa Exler at lexler@ajws.org.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Summer Courses: Religions of the West and Religions of Asia

As many of you know, summer courses must gain a minimum enrollment in order to be offered. The time when the Dean makes the decision about whether to cancel a course is approaching quickly as we near the end of the spring term. If you have been planning to take Religions of the West or Religions of Asia during the summer term but have not yet registered for them, please do so now. The Dean's office will make decisions in the next two weeks based on enrollment numbers--for better or for worse, the Dean cannot read your mind.

E-mail me and I will register you.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

REMINDER: END OF SEMESTER EVENT FOR UNDERGRADUATES THIS FRIDAY

This is an excellent opportunity to eat free pizza and get a preview of what kinds of research you might do in the capstone course (Religious Studies 1903).


Friday April 17: End-of-the-Semester Event for Undergraduates

The Department of Religious Studies
University of Pittsburgh

Come celebrate the end of the semester with
FREE PIZZA
and three short talks by the spring-term
Religious Studies 1903 students on their research projects:


Kara Birchard
“Enculturation: The Church Fathers on Women’s Roles”

Timothy Jackson
“Catholicism as a Minority Religion in Mongolia and India”

Candice Roberson
“Blood-Red Africa: The Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke
and his Mission to Convert a Continent”


Friday April 17, 2009, 12 noon-1 pm
2628 Cathedral of Learning

Questions and RSVP: ashear@pitt.edu

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Pre-Law Advisor/Liberal Arts Career Consultant Leaving at End of Semester

After April 17th, Angela Illig will be transitioning into a new position at GSPIA, as Assistant Director of Career Services, and will no longer be acting as the Pre-Law Advisor and Career Consultant for Liberal Arts out of the Career Development Office.
She writes: "I have enjoyed working with all of you and our students at the University in my role, and wish all of you and the undergraduate student population continued success in the future."

If you have already worked with her and have follow-up questions feel free to contact her (illig@pitt.edu) during this transistion.

If you are now seeking career advice for law school or other professions for the first time, please consult with Career Services to get contact information for the new Pre-Law Advisor/Career Consultant.

April 16: Lecture: "Texts and Rites for the Pre-Baptismal Period"

Lecture--Texts and Rites for the Pre-baptismal Period: the Mother, Child, Midwife, and the Priest
Thursday April 16
3:00PM - 4:30PM
1401 Cathedral of Learning
Audience: General Public
Cost: Free
Sponsored by: Center for Russian and East European Studies, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Margaret Dimitrova, Sofia University, Bulgaria

Monday, April 06, 2009

Friday April 17: End-of-the-Semester Event for Undergraduates

The Department of Religious Studies
University of Pittsburgh

Come celebrate the end of the semester with
FREE PIZZA
and three short talks by the spring-term
Religious Studies 1903 students on their research projects:


Kara Birchard
“Enculturation: The Church Fathers on Women’s Roles”

Timothy Jackson
“Catholicism as a Minority Religion in Mongolia and India”

Candice Roberson
“Blood-Red Africa: The Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke
and his Mission to Convert a Continent”


Friday April 17, 2009, 12 noon-1 pm
2628 Cathedral of Learning

Questions and RSVP: ashear@pitt.edu

Wednesday April 8: DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM

Religion and Civil Society Actors in International Development: A Report on the Early Stages of a Project on Religion, Political Voice, and Accountability

Paul J. Nelson, Associate Professor of International Development, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh

Noon, 2628 Cathedral of Learning
Department of Religious Studies Brown Bag Lunch Colloquium

Paul Nelson's research interests include non-governmental organizations; transparency in international organizations; religion and civil society; and human rights and development. Coauthor of New Rights Advocacy: Changing Strategies of Development and Human Rights NGOs [with Ellen Dorsey] (Georgetown University Press, 2008), Dr. Nelson is currently working on "Religious Institutions and Voices in International Development," funded by the Henry Luce Foundation (2008-2011).

Friday April 10: Lecture "Resistance in the Minsk Ghetto"

Department of Sociology
Pittsburgh Social Movements Forum
Politics and Culture Concentration
present



Uncovering an Anti-Fascist Political Culture:
Resistance in the Minsk Ghetto

In the World War Two Minsk ghetto, a political culture of resistance was created under the noses of the German occupiers, on the basis of a Communist underground intertwined with networks of non-Communists, both involving links between the ghetto and the surrounding city. The inter-ethnic solidarity that flourished in Minsk during the war stood in contrast to the widespread abandonment of Jews elsewhere by local populations. In this talk Barbara Epstein will describe the networks of resistance that flourished in wartime Minsk and address the question of why solidarity was so much stronger in Minsk than elsewhere in German-occupied Eastern Europe. She will also describe what it was like to reconstruct an oppositional political culture, of which virtually no trace remained but the memories of survivors.

Friday, April 10, 2009
Noon – 1:30 p.m.
4606 Posvar Hall

Friday, April 03, 2009

An E-mail from "Nourish"

I'm working with Nourish International, winner of the 2008 North Carolina Peace Prize for excellence in cross-cultural solutions and sustainable development.

Nourish International is a student movement to eradicate global poverty. During the school year, Nourish Chapters run small businesses called "Ventures." The money they earn is invested in sustainable development projects that they choose. Over the summer, they travel abroad to work alongside their community partner in implementing the project.

To expand our impact, we're looking for students to found Nourish Chapters at their respective universities. Students who apply and are selected for our Chapter Founders Program will receive $500 in start-up capital, professional training and support in founding their own chapter and will gain valuable experience in the process.

Best,

Caroline Shedlock and the Nourish Team


=====================

In our world, as of 2009:

1.1 billion people lack access to clean water, 850 million people are malnourished, and 8 million people die each year because they are simply too poor to stay alive.

You can change this today.

Nourish International is a student movement to eradicate global poverty. During the school year, Nourish Chapters run small businesses called "Ventures." Using the money they earn, Chapters plan and invest in sustainable community development projects. Students then travel abroad to partner with local communities in implementing those solutions.

To expand our impact, we're looking for students on your campus who want to be a part of the solution to global poverty and challenge themselves in the process. These students will receive professional training and support as they start a Nourish Chapter at their school – building membership, running ventures and implementing sustainable development projects overseas.

There are several ways to get involved:


Apply to be a Chapter Founder – Between now and April 19th Nourish is accepting applications for its Chapter Founders Program. This spring, we'll be selecting student leaders from 10 campuses across the country to receive professional training, support and $500 start-up capital.
Tell a friend – If Nourish isn't the right opportunity for you, you can still help accomplish our mission of eradicating global poverty. Spreading the word to just three people drastically raises our chances of finding the right student on your campus.


About Nourish International

Nourish International was founded in 2003 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the student group Hunger Lunch. Since incorporating as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit in 2006, Nourish has begun chapters on 23 campuses nationwide. In 2008, Nourish was awarded the North Carolina Peace Prize for excellence in cross-cultural solutions and sustainable development.

Since inception, Nourish students have raised and invested more than $100,000 in sustainable development projects in 14 communities worldwide.

Act now - applications are being reviewed as they come in!

Sincerely,

The Nourish Team
chapter.founders@nourishinternational.org
www.nourishinternational.org/founders



--
Eight million people will die this year because they're too poor to stay alive - You can change this TODAY.

Apply to be a Nourish Chapter Founder: http://www.nourishinternational.org/students -- next deadline is April 19th.

Eradicating poverty by engaging students and empowering communities.

Nourish International Chapter Founders Team
office: 919.747.3642
chapter.founders@nourishinternational.org
http://www.nourishinternational.org

Monday April 6: Lecture: Competion over Religious Sites in Bulgaria

MONDAY, APRIL 6

Lecture--Nature Cannot Handle Empty Space: The Competition over the Identities of Religious Sites among Turkish Muslims in Bulgaria
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
4217 Posvar Hall
Audience: General Public
Cost: Free
Sponsored by: Center for Russian and East European Studies

Hande Sozer, Department of Anthropology
For more information, contact Anna Talone - 412-648-7407 crees@pitt.edu
 

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