Conference on the legacy of the 2012 Olympics: Booking now open

You can now book your place at the first annual colloquium on the legacy of the 2012 games, being held at the University of Greenwich on 8th & 9th May 2008.

The conference is the first of its kind to bring together academics, policy makers, cultural practitioners, government agencies and business to discuss the legacy of 2012 from a multi-dimensional perspective.

The two day event will include presentations, workshops and interactive sessions on the themes of the conference: Learning from the experience of other cities; The Cultural Olympiad and regeneration; Olympic tourism; Regeneration and development.

You can visit the conference blog at http://olympiclegacy.wordpress.com/ for a full list of speakers and links to other information about the programme.

The main webpage for the conference with a booking link is at: http://www.gre.ac.uk/schools/business/conferences-events/olympic_legacy

Selected keynote speakers include:

Dr Kerry Brown, Associate Fellow in the Asia programme at Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs)

Professor Graeme Evans, Director of the Cities Institute, London Metropolitan University

Dr Beatriz Garcia, Liverpool University, advisor to LOCOG on education and culture

Alex Homfray, Consultant and Coordinator of the London Cultural Consortium

Kate Potter, Head of Unit, PODIUM – the Further and Higher Education Unit for the 2012 games

Councillor Chris Roberts, Leader of Greenwich Council

Janet Trench, the Housing Coroporation’s Investment Manager for East London

Mike Weed, Professor of Sport in Society, Canterbury Christchurch University

James Kennell
Senior Lecturer
Business School
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
Park Row
London
SE10 9LS
Email: j.s.kennell@gre.ac.uk
Visit the website at http://www.gre.ac.uk/schools/business/conferences-events/olympic_legacy

CFA: AIIS Fellowship Competition

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INDIAN STUDIES FELLOWSHIP COMPETITION

The American Institute of Indian Studies invites applications from scholars from all disciplines who wish to conduct their research in India. Junior fellowships are given to doctoral candidates to conduct research for their dissertations in India for up to eleven months. Senior long-term (six to nine months) and short-term (four months or less) fellowships are available for scholars who hold the Ph.D. degree. Some senior fellows in the humanities will receive fellowships funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Performing and Creative Arts fellowships are available for accomplished practitioners of the performing arts of India and creative artists. Professional development fellowships are available to scholars and professionals who have not previously worked in India. Eligible applicants include 1) U.S. citizens, and 2) citizens of other countries who are students or faculty members at U.S. colleges and universities. This requirement is not applicable to U.S. citizens.

For applications, please contact us at American Institute of Indian Studies, 1130 E. 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, (773) 702-8638. Email: aiis@uchicago.edu.  Applications can be downloaded from our web site: www.indiastudies.org. The application deadline is July 1, 2008.

Freeman Japan Studies Workshop – Honolulu

FREEMAN INSTITUTE FOR INFUSING JAPAN STUDIES INTO THE UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM, HONOLULU, HAWAII    MAY 18 – JUNE 6, 2008
Application deadline:  February 1

The Japan Studies Association, with a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation, will conduct a 3 week intensive workshop on Japan for faculty and administrators from two and four-year colleges and universities. The workshop is for individuals who have little or no prior academic background on Japan and who wish to begin incorporating Japan Studies into their courses. The program is open to faculty in the humanities, social sciences, business or education. Administrators and librarians are also eligible to apply.

The workshop will cover a wide variety of topics relating to Japan, including history, politics, literature, business, and the arts. Its primary purpose is to introduce faculty and administrators into all aspects of Japanese society so that they can return to their institutions and begin incorporating Japan Studies into their courses.  It will have multiple instructors, primarily drawn from the University of Hawaii, but also including noted scholars from other universities.

The workshop will be held at Tokai University in Honolulu, Hawaii. Tokai is located about a ten- minute walk from Waikiki. Participants will be expected to arrive at Tokai on Sunday, May 18th by 6:00 PM for opening ceremonies. The obligatory closing banquet is Friday evening, June 6th. Participants must check out of Tokai by Saturday, June 7th, unless other arrangements are made with the Tokai staff. Due to the intensive nature of the program, participants are not allowed to bring spouses or domestic partners.

There will be only 20 participants selected for the Freeman Fellowships. Each participant will receive up to $600 to cover roundtrip airfare to Hawaii. Single rooms, some meals and a stipend will be provided.  Each college or university is required to pay a $500 Program Fee for its participant. This fee must be paid by May 1st.  Completed applications are due electronically by February 1st. Successful candidates will be notified by February 15th.   Application forms and a sample schedule may be found at the JSA website: http://www.japanstudies.org/freemaninfo.htm

If you have any questions address them to Dr. Joseph L. Overton, President of the JSA at: overton@hawaii.edu

Transformations: Researching Asia

Call for Papers: TRANSFORMATIONS: RESEARCHING ASIA

York Centre for Asian Research Graduate Student Conference – York University, Toronto, Canada September 26 to 28, 2008

Call for Papers deadline: April 1, 2008

What does it mean to “research Asia”? Asian Studies is a growing field within and, we hope, beyond Area Studies.
Recent developments in Asian research reflect modern and contemporary events across a wide range of disciplines. As the body of research on Asia grows, questions concerning the production and mediation of ?Asia? become more pressing. The critical and fundamental questions ?What is Asia?? and “How to study Asia“? remain unresolved and contested. As a field, moreover, Asian Studies remains driven by disciplinary divides; interdisciplinary intersections remain disappointingly rare. With this conference we seek to address the epistemology and methodology of
researching Asia within and beyond the geographical and disciplinary constraints traditionally associated with Area Studies. We invite papers from graduate students engaged in interdisciplinary research in Asian Studies focusing on the modern and contemporary periods.

Possible paper topics could address (but are not limited to) these sub-themes:
Epistemology of Asian Studies
Methodology and Practices in Asian Studies
Orientalism & Re-Orientalism Knowledge/Power
Time and Temporality Modernity
North/South Divide Globalization
Race and Ethnicity Migration and Diaspora Race,
Gender, and Class Positioning and Subjectivity Body and Representation Sexuality
Media and Technology Environmental Challenges Art
Visual Culture Music and Performing Arts

Interested participants should submit a paper title, abstract (250 words maximum) and brief biographical information by April 1, 2008. Selected participants must submit completed papers by August 1, 2008. Inquiries and
email submissions can be sent to the conference organizers at: transformationsasiaconference@gmail.com. More information about the conference can be found on the conference website:
www.yorku.ca/ycar/Events/graduate_conference.html.

This Conference is hosted by the York Centre for Asian Research at York University. York University has a proud history as a leader in innovative and creative learning approaches with an emphasis on multidisciplinary research that covers wide geographical areas. This Conference reflects the strengths of York faculty and students in interdisciplinary approaches to research and learning. For more information about the Centre: please
visit: www.yorku.ca/ycar.

CFP: Human Rights, Individualism and Globalization

International and Interdisciplinary Conference
Human Rights, Individualism and Globalization
April 10-12, 2008
Sponsored by the Center for Spirituality, Ethics and Global Awareness and the Bethany College School of Arts and Sciences
Bethany College, Bethany, WV, USA

Call for Papers
Some Suggested Topics: Cultural Narcissism; The Lonely
Planet-Literature; Film and Art; Alienable Vs Inalienable Human Rights; Documenting Human Rights Abuse; Film; Art; Literature; Imagining a Human(e) Community; Common sense and Common Selves; Self Reflection and the Reflected Self; Global Orders Private Lives; The Law and Practice of Human Rights; Abolition of Slave Trade; Refugees and Forced Migration; Nationalism and Ethnicity; Diplomacy and Human Rights; Human Rights and Religious Expression ;Trafficking in Persons and Drugs; Human Rights and Globalization; Democracy; Political Rights and Human Rights; Democracy and Political Activism; NGOS and Human Rights; Rights of Women; Rights of Children; Human Rights and Diversity in the Workplace; Preventing Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace; Human Rights and Labor Exploitation; Human Rights and the Environment; War Crimes and Terror; Transnational Politics and Globalization; Gandhi’s view on Globalization; Poverty and Globalization; Globalization as a Sophisticated Form of Colonization; Outsourcing; Capitalism and Worker’s Union; Anti-terrorist Measures and International Human Rights; Gangs; Violent Crime and Security; Racism and the Multicultural Self; Social Responsibility and Labor Rights;
Objectivist Framework of Individualism; Privacy Rights and
Communications Technology; Genetic Engineering and Human Rights.

Selected papers from the conference will be published (subject to editorial review).

We will also have a session for undergraduate research paper
competition. Please encourage your students to join the competition. There will be an award for the best undergraduate paper.

Deadline for submission of 150 words abstract:   January 31, 2008, Email to: mailto: cchakrabarti@bethanywv.edu

Please contact: Dr.  Chandana Chakrabarti, Professor of
Philosophy, Director Center for Spirituality, Ethics and Global
Awareness, Phone: 304-829-7525

AAS Visiting Academic Fellowships

The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) invites applications for its 2008-2009 visiting academic fellowships. At least three AAS-National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships will be awarded for periods extending from four to twelve months.  Long-term fellowships are intended for scholars beyond the doctorate, for which senior and mid-career scholars are particularly encouraged to apply. Up to twenty short-term fellowships will be awarded for one to three months.  The
short-term grants are available for scholars holding the Ph.D. and for doctoral candidates engaged in dissertation research.  Special short-term fellowships support scholars working in the history of the book in American culture, in the American 18th century, and in American literary studies, as well as in studies that draw upon the Society’s preeminent collections of graphic arts, newspapers, and periodicals.

The deadline for applications is January 15, 2008. For further details about the fellowships, as well as application materials, please consult our website: http://www.americanantiquarian.org/fellowships.htm. 

The AAS is a research library whose collections focus on American history, literature, and culture from the colonial era through 1876. AAS, which was the first historical organization in the United States whose mission was national in scope, aims to collect, preserve, and make available as complete a record as possible of the printed materials documenting the early American experience.

The library’s holdings offer rich resources for historians of business in the 18th and 19th-century United States. In particular, our collection of materials related to printing and the book trade is one of the most extensive in the U.S., and our holdings in trade and business newspapers are also substantial.

For detailed descriptions of the collections, please consult our
guidebook, Under Its Generous Dome, available online at: http://www.americanantiquarian.org/collections.htm
Paul J. Erickson
Director of Academic Programs
American Antiquarian Society
508-471-2158

perickson@mwa.org

Ask Nanay

I was at the National Bookstore branch (near Gateway, Cubao) this afternoon and was really impressed with the array of books available. It was so heartwarming to see that we still have a sizable crowd of Filipino readers, judging from the number of people browsing the various floors of the bookstore and also purchasing books. The magazine area was also filled with people. We really have a wide range of magazine titles, for all types of people and for all kinds of industries, from A to Z.

At the baggage counter near the entrance, there is this poster of the bookstore founder, Socorro Ramos or Nanay Coring, mischievously looking at you and with that warm smile of hers. At her age, she really is the poster girl of the bookstore chain. I understand from one of the numerous stories I’ve read about her, that she still continues to oversee some parts of the business everyday. Not only that, she goes to the stores daily.

The caption of the poster invites you and it says, asknanay@nationalbookstore.com.ph. Why don’t you just do that now?