Fun + Networking at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC

http://www.moa.ubc.ca/

Date: Sunday, April 15, 2012 from 12:30pm-3:30pm
Cost: $25 (includes museum admission, transportation, and refreshments)

The AERA Graduate Student Council has organized a guided tour to help us discover British Columbia’s indigenous heritage. We will be taking the public transit to get a sense of how it feels to live in beautiful Vancouver to The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia

The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is one of Vancouver’s cultural highlights, as well as one of Canada’s most significant buildings. Its architecture and collections are world-renowned, and it serves an important role as a research institution in the Lower Mainland.

Founded in 1949 in a library basement, the Museum is now located in a spectacular building overlooking mountains and sea. It houses over 38,000 ethnographic objects and 535,000 archaeological objects, many of which originate from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia.

Want to paint a community mural in Vancouver?

The AERA Graduate Student Council has a fantastic opportunity for you to work with Canadian youths in the Surrey School District. Read on!

Community Service Project: Working Alongside Surrey Youth Through the SAME Community Mural Project

Date/Time: Thursday, April 12, 2012 from 8am-4pm

In response to this year‘s conference theme, Non Satis Scire: To Know Is Not Enough, the AERA GSC is partnering with the SAME (Surrey Appreciates ME) Project to paint a community mural that is designed by Surrey School District 36 students and master muralist Michelle Loughery.

This project will encapsulate the mission of the SAME project "to engage youth as mentor-leaders in community contexts while emphasizing anti-racism, belonging, diversity, and inclusion." It will provide AERA participants a significant opportunity to have informal conversations with high school students from the Vancouver area‘s largest school district. Such conversations may provide AERA participants deeper insight into the Surrey and Vancouver contexts and allow students to contribute and take significant pride in their community while working alongside AERA participants to provide a lasting legacy to the City of Surrey.

Master muralist Michelle Loughery notes,

"Public Art enhances the quality of life of a community by helping to define and formulate responses to social, economic, cultural, and political issues faced by a community."

No prior experience with painting is required. However, AERA members registering for this GSC community service project should be willing to partner with one of the participating high school students and engage in email communication with the student prior to the mural painting community service day. Participants will meet and work alongside their student partners during the CSP day. Confirmation and more detailed information will be provided following registration.

Attendance is limited to 30 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the cap of 30 participants is reached, the GSC will keep a wait list in case of cancellations. The cost, including public transportation costs, lunch, and all materials and supplies, will be $25 per person.  You can register for this fantastic GSC event when you register for the Annual Meeting!

Master's Degree in Cognitive Visualization

Interested in a new field -- the intersection of psychology and graphic design? Check out the information by clicking on the digital graphic on the left.

Spring 2012 Division C Newsletter Feature

We will be submitting updates on the latest happenings among our Division C members in our coming newsletter/blog. One item we want to highlight is emerging scholars who are planning to defend their doctoral dissertation this spring or summer 2012. You must be a Division C student member.

If you are one of these lucky people, please email Yin at ywkreher@syr.edu. This will be reported on a first-come first-served basis for the first 5 emerging scholars who write to me by January 27. Please email me your Name (in full), University, Program, brief dissertation focus and a photo. I will also feature you here on the blog. :) Looking forward to hearing from you!

Don't Forget to Apply!

The application deadline for Grad. Student Leadership positions is now Feb.7th. If you are interested in serving Division C, please apply here:

2012 Division C GSC Application for Junior Positions

No prior experience is needed. You will receive a stipend to attend AERA the years you serve if you are selected.

Venting those PhD Emotions

You know, those frustrations that only those who are going through a PhD will get you? For students at the advanced stage of doctoral studies, the dissertation writing stage, emotions can run really high. It's no laughing matter to say that some students have suffered nervous breakdowns or depressive disorders because they don't know how to manage these emotions.

Sometimes, advanced PhD students are labeled as "negative", "crazy", "nutcase" people because they happen to talk to people who don't understand what they are going through. Well, here's a great suggestion by a guest blogger, Dr. Shari Walsh, careers counselor at Queensland University of Technology. Writing on the PhD thesis blog, The Thesis Whisperer, run by Dr. Inger Mewburn, from RMIT Melbourne, Dr. Walsh recommends holding "Whingeing Wednesdays" and having "b*^#@h buddies" to keep your sanity! Read more here...



The blog has really great tips to help you survive the lonely journey when you start to feel marginalized and alienated; you know, like you are one against the world writing about some esoteric topic? So check out the other advice too! Thank you, Dr. Mewburn and her other guest bloggers.

We want to do our part to support you too. If you would like to voice your struggles anonymously, please do so every Wednesday here at this blogpost -- just post your comments. If you have positives/successes to share, please feel free to comment here Fridays to Mondays! Or our Facebook page. Oh, by the way, please try to keep your comments reasonably short, PhD students don't want to do more reading than necessary, right?

Call for Applications: AERA 2012 Div C Graduate Student Seminar

Please note the deadline for the Division C graduate student seminar has been extended.

Gale M. Sinatra
Vice President, Division C, AERA

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November, 14, 2011

Plans are underway for the 2012 Division C Graduate Student Seminar, which will be held Thursday, April 12 and Friday, April 13 prior to the AERA Annual Meeting in Vancouver. This year Susan Yoon (University of Pennsylvania) is serving as chair and Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia (Duke University) is serving as vice-chair.

The objective of the seminar is to provide graduate students who are members of AERA Division C with an opportunity to receive mentoring and advice from current faculty members and to begin developing professional relationships with current and future leaders within the field. The seminar is intended for full-time, advanced level doctoral students who are approaching the dissertation phase of their programs. Students who will have finished their dissertation by the end of April 2012 should consider applying for the Division C New Faculty seminar instead.

In addition to presentations on topics such as job search, and grants and funding opportunities, the seminar will consist of panel discussions on teaching, research, and publishing. Students will also participate in a research directions review with mentors, as well discussions on how to revise your CV.

Students interested in participating in the Graduate Student Seminar should submit the following by 5:00pm on Sunday, January 15, 2012. All email attachments should be sent to the chair of the seminar (yoonsa@gse.upenn.edu) with the subject line [Div C GSS Application].

• A general statement of why you are interested in attending the Division C Graduate Student Seminar and what you hope to gain from this experience. Include in the statement:

1) Where you are in your timeline for completing your degree requirements, e.g., date of proposal defense;
2) Research interests;
3) Career goals and job search timeline and;
4) Preferences for mentors.

• A 2-page summary of your dissertation research.

• A vita that includes name, address, institution, telephone, fax , e-mail , educational background, awards, professional publications and presentations, teaching experience, and service activities.

• A letter of recommendation from your advisor, major professor, or dissertation chair sent directly to the Seminar chair (this must be sent to us by the due date in order for your application to be considered).

Upon acceptance, participants will also be required to submit a writing sample (e.g., a manuscript to be submitted for publication) to their assigned mentor(s) by March 15, 2012. A limited number of participants will be selected for the 2012 Graduate Student Seminar based on graduate status, clarity of research interests, and match with participating mentors.

Notifications will be sent out by January 31, 2012. Students who attend the seminar will receive a small stipend to support travel costs. To be eligible, students must be members of Division C and must register for the annual meeting. We look forward to seeing you with our Division C colleagues in Vancouver next April.