Tag Archive for academic

Thriving in academia, “living in the middle”

01/02/2012 Read No comments

Another great blog post from the Tenured Radical (hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education since last year).

Living In The Middle; Or, What I Learned At My First Job
December 31, 2011, 1:51 pm
By Claire Potter

There are moments when you wres­tle with ter­ri­ble self doubt and real­ize that mis­takes have been made — and if you are for­tu­nate, they are bal­anced out by the moments in which you get to look around you and com­pli­ment your­self for a job well done. That sen­sa­tion also usu­ally does not last, in my expe­ri­ence, and a great deal of life is lived in the mid­dle. It is the busi­ness of mak­ing life in the mid­dle worth­while that mat­ters most, I think.

The five tips offered are:

  1. If it isn’t right for you, no mat­ter how good a job you have, you can always leave.
  2. If you leave your job, you don’t have to leave for a job that is “bet­ter” by all the con­ven­tional stan­dards of the academy.
  3. If you fig­ure out what work will make you happy and do it with integrity, you will prob­a­bly succeed.
  4. Commit to what­ever you are doing in such a way that you dis­cover, or redis­cover, your love for it.
  5. Plan.

USC Korean Studies postdoctoral fellowships, 2012 – 2013

01/01/2012 FYI No comments

The USC Korean Studies Institute post­doc­toral fel­low­ships, 2012 – 2013

Funded by an insti­tu­tional grant from the Academy of Korean Studies, the USC Korean Studies Institute is accept­ing appli­ca­tions for its 2012 – 2013 post­doc­toral fel­lows pro­gram. Up to two post­doc­toral fel­low­ships will be offered. The post­doc­toral pro­gram is open to schol­ars from all fields whose research per­tains to Korea or that involves Korea as part of a com­par­a­tive or inter­dis­ci­pli­nary research. We par­tic­u­larly encour­age pro­pos­als from the social sci­ences and non-traditional fields, such as Korean-American studies.

In addi­tion to a salary and ben­e­fits, the KSI will pro­vide each fel­low with office space at the KSI and a small research bud­get. The fel­lows are expected to par­tic­i­pate in Institute pro­grams and sup­port the activ­i­ties of the KSI. The Fellow must have a Ph.D. in hand, and should be within 5 years of receiv­ing the Ph.D., by the begin­ning of the appointment.

To apply, please send a let­ter of appli­ca­tion, c.v., the­sis abstract, two let­ters of rec­om­men­da­tion (to be sent directly by the ref­er­ees), and a writ­ing sam­ple to Elaine Kim, Associate Director, USC-Korean Studies Institute, (elaineek@​dornsife.​usc.​edu). The dead­line for the receipt of all mate­ri­als is February 1, 2012. It is strongly encour­aged that appli­cants apply by email, although we will accept hard­copy appli­ca­tions, as well.

Information about USC Korean Studies Institute pro­grams can be found at our web­site, http://​dorn​sife​.usc​.edu/​k​s​i​/​h​o​me/.

USC strongly val­ues diver­sity and is com­mit­ted to equal oppor­tu­nity in employ­ment. Women and men, and mem­bers of all racial and eth­nic groups, are encour­aged to apply.

Mellon Postdoc in Geography, Vassar College

12/24/2011 FYI No comments

ANDREW W. MELLON POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN GEOGRAPHY

Vassar College invites appli­ca­tions for a two-year Mellon post­doc­toral Fellowship in Geography, to begin Fall 2012. Vassar College is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and is strongly com­mit­ted to diver­sity within its com­mu­nity; appli­ca­tions from his­tor­i­cally under­rep­re­sented groups are espe­cially encouraged.

Candidates should be recent PhDs (prefer­ably hav­ing received the doc­tor­ate within the last four years) with exper­tise in polit­i­cal econ­omy or polit­i­cal ecol­ogy. We seek schol­ars and dynamic teach­ers who can work in a highly selec­tive under­grad­u­ate lib­eral arts set­ting and who would wel­come the oppor­tu­nity to par­tic­i­pate in the devel­op­ment of the Geography program’s cur­ricu­lum. There is also the oppor­tu­nity to col­lab­o­rate with a wide vari­ety of mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary pro­grams at Vassar.

The Fellow will teach the equiv­a­lent of three courses each aca­d­e­mic year, ide­ally includ­ing one intermediate-level course on pop­u­la­tion, resources, and sus­tain­able devel­op­ment, and one intermediate-level course that would focus on a par­tic­u­lar region of the world. In addi­tion, the Fellow will be able to pur­sue her or his own schol­arly projects in a sup­port­ive and intel­lec­tu­ally stim­u­lat­ing envi­ron­ment where exchange among fac­ulty from dif­fer­ent dis­ci­plines is encour­aged. The fel­low­ship includes salary in the low $50,000’s, ben­e­fits, and sup­port for research, pro­fes­sional travel, and relocation.

To apply, please visit http://​employ​ment​.vas​sar​.edu/​a​p​p​l​i​c​a​n​t​s​/​C​e​n​t​r​a​l​?​q​u​i​c​k​F​i​n​d​=​5​1​267. Candidates are asked to sub­mit a let­ter of appli­ca­tion, C.V., writ­ing sam­ple, at least three let­ters of rec­om­men­da­tion, a list of pro­posed course titles with short descrip­tions, and if pos­si­ble, selected syl­labi from courses taught. Review of appli­ca­tions will begin on February 5, 2012, and will con­tinue until the posi­tion is filled. Any ques­tions can be directed to Professor Joseph Nevins (jonevins@​vassar.​edu) in the Dept. of Earth Science and Geography.

Vassar is a highly selec­tive, coed­u­ca­tional lib­eral arts col­lege of about 2450 under­grad­u­ates (no grad­u­ate stu­dents) located in the beau­ti­ful and his­toric Hudson Valley seventy-five miles north of New York City. The city of Poughkeepsie ben­e­fits from rich cul­tural diver­sity and from con­ve­nient com­muter rail access to New York City.

SSRC Postdoctoral Fellowship for Transregional Research: Inter-Asian Contexts and Connections

12/17/2011 FYI No comments

Call for Applications
SSRC Postdoctoral Fellowship for Transregional Research: Inter-Asian Contexts and Connections

Deadline is February 13th 2012.

The SSRC is pleased to announce a pilot post­doc­toral fel­low­ship pro­gram that will sup­port tran­sre­gional research under the rubric Inter-Asian Contexts and Connections. Its pur­pose is to strengthen the under­stand­ing of issues and geo­gra­phies that don’t fit neatly into exist­ing divi­sions of acad­e­mia or the world and to develop new approaches, prac­tices, and oppor­tu­ni­ties in inter­na­tional, regional, and area stud­ies in the United States. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, these fel­low­ships will help junior schol­ars (those at the post­doc­toral stage, one to seven years out of the PhD) com­plete first books and/or under­take sec­ond projects. In addi­tion to fund­ing research, the pro­gram will cre­ate net­works and shared resources that will sup­port Fellows well beyond the grant period.

The Postdoctoral Fellowship for Transregional Research will thus pro­vide promis­ing schol­ars impor­tant sup­port at crit­i­cal junc­tures in their careers. As stressed by SSRC pres­i­dent Craig Calhoun, “Recent PhDs have writ­ten bril­liant dis­ser­ta­tions bring­ing new excite­ment to the social sci­ences and human­i­ties by tak­ing on the intel­lec­tual chal­lenges of inno­v­a­tive tran­sre­gional work. We want to help them com­plete, con­sol­i­date, and expand the work they’ve undertaken.

The intel­lec­tual thrust of the pilot project will be the re-conceptualization of Asia as an inter­linked his­tor­i­cal and geo­graphic for­ma­tion stretch­ing from the Middle East through Eurasia, Central Asia, and South Asia to Southeast Asia and East Asia. Proposals sub­mit­ted for the fel­low­ship com­pe­ti­tion should bear upon processes that con­nect places and peo­ples (such as migra­tion, media, and resource flows) as well as those that recon­fig­ure local and trans-local con­texts (such as shift­ing bor­ders, urban­iza­tion, and social move­ments). The broad focus of the pro­gram is intended to advance tran­sre­gional research as well as to estab­lish struc­tures for link­ing schol­ars across dis­ci­plines in the arts, the human­i­ties, and the social sci­ences. Fifteen fel­low­ships will be awarded over the two-year course of the pilot program.

Also see Postdoctoral Fellowship for Transregional Research — Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Holly Danzeisen
Social Science Research Council
One Pierrepont Plaza, 15th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: 212.377.2700
Fax: 212.377.2727
Email: transregional@​ssrc.​org
Visit the web­site at http://​www​.ssrc​.org/​f​e​l​l​o​w​s​h​i​p​s​/​t​r​a​n​s​r​e​g​i​o​n​a​l​-​r​e​s​e​a​r​c​h​-​f​e​l​l​o​w​s​h​ip/

CFP: Religion and Civilization in International History, Harvard

12/06/2011 FYI No comments

Call for Papers
ConIH 12: The Twelfth Annual Harvard Graduate Student Conference on International History
“Religion and Civilization in International History“
March 8 – 9, 2012

Proposal dead­line extended to December 30, 2011

The ConIH Committee invites grad­u­ate stu­dents to sub­mit pro­pos­als for the Twelfth Annual Graduate Student Conference on International History to take place at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 8 – 9, 2012.

Historical actors have used reli­gion and civ­i­liza­tion as potent tools for the cre­ation and recre­ation of cul­tural and polit­i­cal iden­ti­ties, as well as other types of social cohe­sive­ness. Studying reli­gion and civ­i­liza­tion, as dis­tinct but often closely related con­cepts, raises ques­tions about the the­o­log­i­cal under­pin­nings of the inter­na­tional order and inter­na­tional law, as well as the civ­i­liza­tional ref­er­ences that reli­gious move­ments use to define their transna­tional mis­sions within national, impe­r­ial, and other supra­na­tional frame­works. ConIH con­se­quently invites grad­u­ate stu­dents from all con­ti­nents and dis­ci­plines to sub­mit stud­ies that explore the inter­na­tional dimen­sions of reli­gion and civilization.

We wel­come sub­mis­sions that exam­ine reli­gion and civ­i­liza­tion in inter­na­tional con­texts. Possible paper top­ics include, but are not lim­ited to, the role of reli­gion and civ­i­liza­tion in shap­ing the rela­tions between states, transna­tional elites, dias­po­ras, and polit­i­cal and reli­gious minori­ties; the cre­ation of new ortho­dox­ies and het­ero­dox­ies; sec­u­lar­ism; impe­r­ial frame­works; polit­i­cal resis­tance; nar­ra­tives on the ascen­dancy and decline of civ­i­liza­tions; eco­nomic struc­tures; transna­tional net­works; and inter­na­tional devel­op­ment.
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