Happy Halloween!

Have a great Halloween weekend, everyone! Send us your costume pictures to post!

Draper Alumnus Scott Bankert on the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs Conference, October 2010

Scott Bankert graduated from Draper in May 2010. He presented a paper entitled "Impossible Cities: Personal Accounts of Wonder in the Global Everyday" at the annual conference of the Association for Graduate Liberal Studies Programs (AGLSP) in Dallas in early October. The theme of the conference was "The Transformation of the 21st Century City." Scott has shared some thoughts about his experience at the conference below.

Scott was also recently interviewed for in.ter.reg.num: check out his interview here.

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The AGLSP conference in Dallas this month was absolutely incredible. What a wonderful group of smart and kind people. There were chemists, novelists, anthropologists, economists, and migration scholars, as well as medieval scholars and classicists. The inclusion of novelists and poets seemed to me a big draw for Draper students, as so many of them are writers as well as scholars. Much advice about the writer's life- agents, balancing commitments, etc. -was discussed.

This year, they announced that there is a big push to create doctoral liberal studies programs - Georgetown now has one and UC Davis as well, with a few more schools planning to follow suit such as Stanford, OU and SMU. This is always something that has boggled me about the NYU program - that we have not expanded Draper it into a Ph.D. program.

The attendees graciously received my presentation - each presenter was given 30 minutes to present and up to 15 minutess of Q&A - now that's the way to treat a scholar! There was no rivalry or trying to shoot anyone down - it was all very open and down to earth. Several other students/recent grads presented alongside top experts in their field. I was invited back next year and intend to return. The topic will be about water.

In the future, I'd make sure to always send the AGLSP conference info to all Draper students and also call for entries for their journal, Confluence - it's a top notch journal that takes fiction as well as papers - reminded me a lot of Anamesa. This was my first conference and I cannot imagine being treated with more respect and admiration than by AGLSP.

-Scott

Call for Papers: The Conference on New York State History (Proposals Due 12/31)

The Conference on New York State History
COOPERSTOWN
June 2—4, 2011

Sponsored by New York State Historical Association in collaboration with New York State Archives Partnership Trust
Co-sponsored by NewYork Council for the Humanities

Call for Papers Deadline:
December 31, 2010

Submit proposals to:

Field Horne, Conference Chair
Conference on NYS History
Box 215, Saratoga Springs,
NY 12866-0215
(518) 587-4962
conferencechair@nysha.org

Individual paper abstracts, panel proposals,workshop plans, and other program suggestions are invited for the 2011 conference to be held in Cooperstown. Presentations may consider any aspect of the history of New York State over the past 400 years. Diverse theoretical perspectives and innovative methodological approaches are welcomed.

What is the Conference?

The Conference on New York State History is an annual meeting of academic and public historians, librarians and archivists, educators, publishers, and other interested individuals
who come together to discuss topics and issues related to the people of New York State in historical perspective and to share information and ideas regarding historical research, programming, and the networking of resources and services. Ten to fifteen presentation sessions,workshops, and a keynote address permit more than fifty individuals to take part
in the formal program.

Special consideration is accorded first-time presenters, graduate students, and local government historians. The conference is self-sustaining and is organized by a committee
of historians from a variety of institutions across the state. Interested parties are encouraged to discuss proposals and any conference-related ideas with Field Horne, conference chair (e-mail preferred). The Program Committee will meet to consider proposals in mid-January. Applicants will be notified immediately thereafter.

What to submit:

All proposals must be received by December 31, 2010 at 5:00 PM. If at all possible, submit a Word document by e-mail (conferencechair@nysha.org).A proposal should be a one-page description of each 25-minute presentation—not the full manuscript—and must include the following information at the top of the page: paper and/or session titles, names, postal addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of all participants, and all equipment needs and scheduling requests. It should also briefly discuss sources,methodology, and argument. All program participants are required to register for the conference.

How to submit:

Send proposals to Field Horne (address and e-mail at left).

Commentators sought:

Qualified commentators for sessions are needed. Please indicate your willingness, with your areas of expertise, in an e-mail to the conference chair.

The Conference on New York State History
COOPERSTOWN
June 2—4, 2011
New York State Education Department
Cultural Education Center, Suite 9C49
Albany NY 12230

Call for Papers • Deadline December 31, 2010

Chuck Wachtel Reads with Breyten Breytenbach, 11/4

Draper's own Chuck Wachtel (who teaches The Human Fact each fall) will be reading from his new novel 3/03 at the NYU Bookstore on Thursday, November 4th at 7:00 PM. He will be joined by South African poet and and activist Breyten Breytenbach, who will read from his recent poetry collection Voice Over: A Nomadic Conversation with Mahmoud Darwish.

More information about this event is available on the NYU Bookstore website, here: http://www.bookstores.nyu.edu/events/indexnov.html/#wachtel

Perspectives on Performance: Stony Brook Graduate Music Symposium

CFP: Perspectives on Performance: Stony Brook Graduate Music Symposium

The Stony Brook Music Department announces its inaugural Graduate Music Symposium, to be held February 11-12, 2011. We welcome graduate students from all disciplines to submit paper or lecture-recital proposals on various aspects of musical performance. The symposium will feature a keynote address by Ellen Rosand (Yale), as well as a performance of Handel’s Acis and Galatea by Stony Brook’s award-winning Baroque Ensemble. Suggested topics for our symposium include:

• Performers and their publics
• Pedagogy and performance practice
• Theorizing performance
• Ethnographies of performances and performers
• Performing as embodied knowledge
• Identity politics and performance
• Performers and composers
• Liveness and mediation

We invite submissions of 250-word abstracts for 20-minute papers or 40-minute lecture recitals. Please submit proposals to musicgradsymposium@stonybrook.edu by Friday, December 10. Stony Brook is accessible via MacArthur Airport, the Long Island Rail Road, and the Bridgeport/Port Jefferson ferry. Housing with Stony Brook graduate students will be available for presenters staying overnight. For more information, please visit sbugradsymposium.blogspot.com.

Spring Lab Intern Researcher Positions Available: American Museum of Natural History

North American Archaeology Lab

ANNOUNCEMENT

The North American Archaeology Department of the American Museum of Natural History is now accepting applications for our spring Lab Intern Researcher positions. Our spring Intern Researchers will staff the North American Archaeology (NAARCH) Lab. The NAARCH Lab handles, stores, and analyzes a wide variety of artifacts from an extensive temporal and spatial range. Past Lab Researchers have had the opportunity to work with lithics, Native American ceramics, historic European pottery, Spanish colonial material culture, and a large number of other material culture types. Analysis techniques include basic lab organization, cataloging, artifact analysis, and artifact labeling. In addition to lab work, interns will also be considered to take part in our ongoing fieldwork program on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, USA. Our fieldwork package supports room and board, transportation, and a stipend of $12.00 per hour for three weeks. 

Individuals interested in joining the NAARCH Lab internship should be highly motivated, patient, and detail-oriented. We will be accepting applications from both upper level undergraduates as well as graduate students. Individuals who have not yet completed their sophomore year need not apply unless they have extensive experience that off-sets their lack of academic training. Prior archaeological experience in either the field or in the lab is not necessary, but will be a factor in our selection.

Lab Researcher positions are unpaid volunteer positions with museum perks while working in the lab in New York.  However, if accepted to the fieldwork component, interns are compensated according to the above stated rates. Course credit will be offered to those individuals currently enrolled in an accredited school of higher learning. The term of the internship will be from mid January through the end of May. The museum asks 18 hours a week (3 days) from its Lab Staff.

Applications will be accepted until December 1, 2010 and few positions exist Interested applicants should submit a resume or CV, three references with contact information, and a 1-page statement of purpose. The statement of purpose should briefly outline the applicant’s prior experience in archaeology as well as their future plans within the discipline. Individuals with questions should feel free to email rcajigas@amnh.org at the NAARCH Lab. Additionally, applicants may also apply by filing out and submitting the Internship Application from the Anthropology Internship webpage and specifying their interest in North American Archaeology.

Applications may be sent to rcajigas@amnh.org or mailed to:

Rachel Cajigas
Anthropology Department
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West @ 79th Street
New York, New York 10024-5192

Call for Papers: Colloquium on Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Linguistics, U Texas, Austin (Submissions Due 11/19)

Dear Students:

Please see below for a Call for Papers that was sent to us by Draper alumna Daniela Sevilla, who is currently a doctoral student in Hispanic Literature at the University of Texas and part of the organizing committee for this colloquium. Thanks, Daniela!

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19th Colloquium on Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Linguistics
University of Texas at Austin

Feb 25^th – 26^th, 2011

Deadline for submission: November 19, 2010

Website: http://www.coloquiout.org/

Facebook group: UT Spanish and Portuguese 19th Colloquium

Our Graduate Student Organization proudly organizes and hosts this event providing graduate students working in the areas of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian literature and linguistics with an opportunity to share their current research and further their professional development. This year’s theme is “Reversing the Fall of Babel: Fragmented Unities”. The myth of the Tower of Babel reminds us of a time in which a common language peacefully united humanity. However, a desire to surpass human limitations brought about divine wrath leading to the destruction of the tower. Chaos, discord and confusion emerged from the rupture of humanity into disparate nations each with its own unique language. This myth has been perpetuated throughout history, from the projects of imperial and colonial expansion and their epic encounters with the Other, to the modern conception of the nation founded on unity, which ironically, continues to emphasize that nations are fundamentally fragmented.

We would like to offer literature students a space to think about the discourses, projects, theories and movements that have emerged, diverged or converged, as well as the processes of dispersion, deconstruction or construction inspired by the myth of the Tower of Babel. Likewise, we invite students of linguistics to explore present-day manifestations of this symbolic division as it relates to the outcomes of linguistic and cultural contact, variation and change.

Our keynotes speakers are:

Nicolau Sevcenko (Harvard)

Ana C. Zentella (UC San Diego)

José Quiroga (Emory).

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Linguistics:

Language Contact • Diachronic Variation & Change • Synchronic Variation & Change • Bilingualism • Language Policy • Language Typology • Language Attitudes & Ideology • Code-switching • Spanish- & Portuguese-based Creoles • Language Maintenance & Language Shift

Literature and Cultural Studies:

Myths of Primordial Unity and Ruptures • Foundational Literature and Forgotten Nations • Cultural Representations of Hybrid Identities • Diaspora, Migration and Exile • Utopias or Dystopias • Epic Encounters, Travel Narratives and Alternative Cartographies • Emergence of Scientific Discourse in the Humanities • Violence, Chaos and Fragmented Urban Spaces • Hygiene and Medical Discourse • Globalization, Displacement and Deterritorialization • Biopolitics, Gender and Race • Visual and Ethnomusicological Approaches • Discourse of New Media and Digital Technologies • Natural Disasters and Eco-Criticism • Postwar literature • Literature and Religion

Workshop

There will bee some workshops on linguistics and academic journal production.

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19th Colloquium Organizing Committee
Department of Spanish and Portuguese

University of Texas at Austin

http://www.coloquiout.org/