The views and opinions expressed on this site and blog posts (excluding comments on blog posts left by others) are entirely my own and do not represent those of any employer or organization with whom I am currently or previously have been associated.
Academic Version: Applying my personal experiences and academic research as a professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies to provide a more complete understanding of political, economic, and cultural issues and current events related to American race relations, and Asia/Asian America in particular.
Plain English: Trying to put my Ph.D. to good use.
Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other related opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.
The APIA Spoken Word & Poetry Summit is a biennial gathering of Asian Pacific Islander American community artists and activists. It’s happening August 4-7 in beautiful Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. We come together to:
provide space for artists and activists to learn from each other and build community
recognize spoken word performance as a source of new language, new ideas, new dialogues and understandings, and creative fodder for activism and organizing
acknowledge the arts as a critical, elemental component in building, empowering, and transforming our communities and ourselves
The theme for this year’s Summit is “Moving It Forward, Bringing It Back.” We envision the 2011 Summit as a space to foster intergenerational dialogue with an explicit elder presence, a youth component, and activities for all those in between. We will also explore the various ways spoken word has pushed into other genres (theater, music, film) while bringing it back to our poetic roots. Similarly, we will foster a dialogue on past APIA social movements and present possibilities, encouraging participants to bring the conversation back to their own organizations and localities.
The Overseas Young Chinese Forum (“OYCF”), a non-profit organization based in the United States, is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for its Teaching Fellowships, which sponsor short term teaching trips by overseas scholars or professionals (Chinese or non-Chinese) to universities or other comparable advanced educational institutions in China. The subjects of teaching include all fields of humanities and social sciences, such as anthropology, art, communication, economics, education, geography, law, literatures, philosophy, political science, sociology, etc.
OYCF will grant 15 fellowship awards to support short term teaching trips during the Academic Year of 2011-12, including six (6) OYCF-Ford fellowships in the amount of $2,500 each and nine (9) OYCF-Gregory C. and Paula K. Chow fellowships in the amount of $2,000 each. The application deadline is August 15, 2011. Awards will be announced on September 15, 2011.
If you have a Ph.D., J.D., J.S.D. or a comparable graduate degree from, or is currently an advanced doctoral candidate (having passed the Ph.D. qualification examination and finished at least three years of graduate studies) in a university in North America or other areas outside China, and are interested in teaching a covered subject in a college or graduate school in Mainland China, please find on line the Information and Application Procedures for the OYCF Teaching Fellowships at http://www.oycf.org/Teach/application.DOC.
Ph.D. students are highly encouraged to apply because an independent teaching experience will add significant weight in the resumes and help build strong connection with China’s academia. We also give preference to advanced Ph.D. student applicants who would combine this teaching opportunity with their dissertational research in China.
As noted therein, preference will be given to teaching proposals that include comparative or interdisciplinary perspectives; are about subjects that China is in relative shortage of teachers; or will be conducted at universities in inland provinces and regions. This year, we dedicate at least 3-4 fellowships as the Central or Western Region Teaching Fellowships to teaching fellows who plan to teach in an inland province or autonomous region. Accordingly, teaching proposals specifically designed for teaching in these regions are especially welcome.
To submit your application, you will need an application form, a brief letter of interest, curriculum vitae or resume, a detailed course syllabus, an invitation letter from your host institution in China. For more information about OYCF or its teaching program, please visit http://www.oycf.org. For questions concerning OYCF Teaching Fellowships or their application process, please contact Qiang Fu at qf6@soc.duke.edu.
OCA-Greater Chicago, one of the fifty chapters of Organization of Chinese Americans, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), is proud to offer six different types of scholarships for APA high school seniors.
Each scholarship is valued at $2,500 and a total of ten scholarships will be awarded. In order to be eligible, applicants must be a permanent resident of the Chicagoland metropolitan area, a current high school senior who identifies as Asian Pacific American entering college or university in Fall 2011, demonstrate financial need, be a permanent resident or US citizen, have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or above (on a 4.0 scale), and have a strong history and intent of community service.
“OCA-Greater Chicago wishes to thank all of the donors who established these scholarships. Their generosity will help APA high school students overcome financial barriers and attain higher education,” said George Mui, OCA-Greater Chicago chapter president. The six types of scholarships are:
ADI Medical Scholarship (1)
Donated by ADI Medical
Preference for applicants interested in pursuing a pre-med major, with a particular interest in Neurology and focus on moving into medical research, especially as it relates to the development of new treatments for cognitive brain disorders such as Dementia or Alzheimer’s
Alex and Kitty Pon Scholarship (1)
Donated by Alex and Kitty Pon
Preference for applicants who study supply chains, logistics or transportation
Chung Yan Mui Scholarship (4)
Donated by the Mui Family
CPI Solutions Scholarship (2)
Donated by Patrick Chew and Peggy Sim
Grace Lai Memorial Scholarship (1)
Donated by OCA-Greater Chicago
Preference for applicants who are passionate about visual or performing arts
Sue An Yoon Memorial Scholarship (1)
Donated by OCA-Greater Chicago
To learn more and apply for these scholarships, please visit the OCA National website. All applications are due Monday, August 15, 2011 at 11:59 PM CST.
Amerasia Journal invites faculty to nominate exceptional graduate student essays (masters and doctoral level) in the interdisciplinary field of Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies for the Lucie Cheng Prize. The winning article will be published in Amerasia Journal, and $1000 will be awarded.
The Lucie Cheng Prize honors the late Professor Lucie Cheng (1939-2010), a longtime faculty member of UCLA and the first permanent director of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center (1972-1987). Professor Cheng was a pioneering scholar who brought an early and enduring transnational focus to the study of Asian Americans and issues such as labor and immigration.
Submission: Nomination must be submitted via email by the graduate advisor no later than October 1, 2011 and include:
Graduate Advisor Name, Title, Institution, and Contact Information
Graduate Advisor Recommendation (500 word limit)
Graduate Student Brief CV (2 page)
Essay (5000-7000 words) in WORD file according to the Amerasia
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) is thrilled to announce our Call for Entries for the 30th Annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF)! SFIAAFF accepts films and videos made by or about Asian Americans and Asians of any nationality. All lengths and genres will be considered.
SFIAAFF takes place every March in California’s Bay Area and is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films. Since 1982, SFIAAFF has been an important launching point and advocate for Asian American independent filmmakers and a vital source for new Asian cinema.
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Center for Asian American Media presents
30th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
March 8-18, 2012
San Francisco | Berkeley | San Jose
Call for Entries
Deadlines 2011: Early: September 2 / Late: September 30 / Withoutabox Extended: October 7 Entry Information
The largest showcase of Asian and Asian American cinema in North America. All genres and lengths accepted. Submit online or with a printed entry form.
Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other related opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.
The Asian American Justice Center Youth Advisory Council is launching a campaign to highlight the rich, unique family histories within the Asian American Pacific Islander community through the What’s Your Story Campaign. This campaign is a response to this nation’s ongoing debate on immigrant rights and immigration.
Despite this collective recognition that our immigration system is broken, too little attention has been paid to protect and improve the cornerstone of American immigration policy – family reunification. Your stories will help show members of Congress the importance of the family immigration system to Asian Americans community. Please take a a few minutes to fill out this survey and let your story be heard.
Behind every person, there is a story. Together our stories will depict America’s rich diversity but we cannot paint this picture without your story. Take a few minutes to fill out our survey and join our movement to celebrate where we come from and where we are going. You can also send your story and content (ie stories, videos, pictures, etc) to Huyen Cao at huyen.cao1@gmail.com.
The deadline for submissions is July 1. Thank you very much.
The Korematsu Institute advances pan-ethnic civil and human rights through education, activism and leadership development. The Institute is founded in the name of American civil rights hero Fred T. Korematsu. In 1942, at the age of 23, he refused to go to the government’s incarceration camps for Japanese Americans. After he was arrested and convicted of defying the government’s order, he appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1944, the Supreme Court ruled against him, arguing that incarceration was justified due to military necessity.
In 1983, a group of young lawyers re-opened Korematsu’s case on the basis of government misconduct, leading his conviction to be overturned. Until his death in 2005, Fred Korematsu remained a tireless advocate for civil rights, including the rights of Arab and Muslim Americans after 9/11. In 2011, California commemorated its first Fred Korematsu Day, the first day in US history named after an Asian American.
Korematsu Institute internships offer unique opportunities for students interested in civil rights, education & exhibits, design and technology, documentary film and media, event planning and fundraising, and archival research. The program will also help students develop leadership skills in order to foster understanding among different minority communities whose rights have been threatened by racial and religious profiling. There are many internship projects to work on during this early, exciting period of the Institute. Some project areas include:
Education: help design school curriculum about Fred Korematsu’s story and the current relevance of his case. Work with the Institute’s director on introducing curriculum to schools and preparing exhibits for museums
Design and Technology: design fliers and marketing materials for events, enhance web site design, work on technology-related curriculum, such as interactive games
Documentary Film and Media: help produce short films projects, archive historical footage, work with filmmakers to set up film screenings. Track and analyze media coverage
Events and Fundraising: coordinate events, including fundraising and outreach events, museum exhibitions, and collaborations with other civil rights groups across the country. Assist in fundraising research and outreach
Research: research historical archives to supplement/organize our Fred Korematsu library
Depending on your background and interest, we may be able to dedicate most of your internship to one or two of these project areas, however interns are expected to be flexible and willing to take on additional tasks, including some administrative work. Compensation: Our internships are unpaid, but very often, undergraduates can receive college credit for fulfilling their intern assignments.
Requirements:
Fall/Winter internships: Because of Fred Korematsu Day every January 30, the fall/winter internships are longer, running from Sept/Oct to mid-February (we understand that students may be out of town during winter holidays). Please note that start/end dates are relatively flexible to accommodate class schedules. You must be available during regular office hours from 9am-5pm.
We need individuals who are passionate about our cause and committed to following through on every task to contribute to our Institute’s mission. We are looking for extremely organized team members who are skilled at multitasking. Multimedia, web or layout design, and leadership skills are a plus.
Application: Please email the following materials to info@korematsuinstitute.org:
Completed internship application form (available at korematsuinstitute.org )
1-page resume
Name, title, phone number and email address for two school or work references
Deadlines: Fall/Winter 2011-2012 internship application deadline: Friday, July 8, 2011. You will be contacted for an interview within one month if we have decided to advance your candidacy.
Post Doc: Social Justice, Saint Louis University
Social Justice Post-Doctoral Fellow Position
Saint Louis University, a Catholic Jesuit Institution dedicated to student learning, research, health care, and service seeks a full-time postdoctoral research fellowship position in Social Justice Studies which will begin in August of 2011. This is a two-year position with the second year renewal contingent on a satisfactory annual review. Applicants must be a recent doctoral graduate (degree obtained in 2008 or later) who is highly motivated in developing a research portfolio in immigration, aging, and health care, is able to work effectively with ethnically diverse populations, and possesses strong methodological (quantitative and/or qualitative) and communication skills. Individuals who have completed a doctoral degree in psychology, sociology, anthropology, counseling, health care ethics, social work, or other area in the social sciences are welcome to apply.
The postdoctoral fellow will work with an interdisciplinary team on a series of projects designed to investigate immigrants’ experiences with the health care system. The fellow will receive intensive research training under a faculty mentorship model to develop as an independent investigator. Fellowship training opportunities include, but are not limited to, leading project activities, enhancing research and analytic skills, achieving independent research goals, co-authoring peer-reviewed journals, presenting findings at professional conferences, and writing grants.
The position will include a competitive salary for 12-month contract plus health care benefits. Applications will be accepted beginning immediately and reviewed until the position is filled. Applications should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, one writing sample, and three references. Letters are not required. The application must be made online at http://jobs.slu.edu.
For more information, contact:
Hisako Matsuo, Ph.D., Professor, Sociology and Criminal Justice, matsuoh@slu.edu, 314-977-2536
Lisa Willoughby, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Psychology, willoulm@slu.edu, 314-977-2531
Fellowship Cultivates New Generation of Asian Pacific American Filmmakers
Applications Due July 29th
Visual Communications is now accepting applications for its10th annual Armed With a Camera Fellowship. The fellowship fosters the education, training and professional development of up-and-coming Asian Pacific American filmmakers. In doing so, it seeks to shed light on the experiences of communities traditionally underrepresented by visual media.
The fellowship is open to filmmakers under 30-years-old of Asian Pacific descent. South Asian, Southeast Asian and women filmmakers are strongly encouraged to apply. From November 2011 to March 2012 Visual Communications will provide the support and resources for ten fellows to each to create a five-minute digital video. These resources will include:
$500 cash grant
Training, workshops and mentoring from industry professionals
Opportunity for collaborative work with other fellows
Access to equipment and editing facilities
World premiere of completed film in the “VC Digital Posse†showcase of the 2012 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
All-access pass to films, panels and events of the 2012 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
Opportunity to network with professional filmmakers and Visual Communications staff and supporters
In the past decade, Visual Communications has supported 70 filmmakers through the fellowship. Last year’s portfolio represents a characteristic diversity of topics. One documentary traces the disappearance of a Filipino-American R&B star. Another tells the emigration story of a filmmaker’s Vietnamese father. Several narrative works explore family relationships. In one, a South Asian lesbian woman spends the Hindu New Year with her partner. In another, a Japanese woman questions her marriage to an American. Settings range from a World War II battlefield in France to a sci-fi future.
Applications are available at www.vconline.org. The Armed with a Camera Fellowship is partially funded by the James Irvine Foundation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and the Morgan Stanley Foundation. Please contact Daina Solomon (daina@vconline.org or 213 680-4462 ext. 30) for more information.
The 2011 Advancing Justice Conference will be held in beautiful San Francisco on October 27-28, 2011. This year’s conference will pay tribute to the rich history of activism that makes the Bay Area such a special place for all communities, but especially Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. This year, the Asian Law Caucus, a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, will be the local host for the conference, with APALC co-hosting.
Registration is now open!
This year’s conference will include exciting and diverse workshops on:
Civil & Human Rights
Capacity Building
Youth Leadership & Community Organizing
Immigrant Integration & Civic Participation
There will also be five engaging plenary sessions focusing on veteran Asian American activists, emerging Asian American geographic communities, social entrepreneurship, Pacific Islanders, and cross-racial alliance building. The Advancing Justice Conference will be an exciting opportunity to discuss the pressing immigrant and civil rights issues of today and to network with peers. We hope that you will join us in October in San Francisco.
A limited number of scholarships & travel stipends are available to conference participants. Factors taken into consideration include: financial need, geography, ethnic diversity, and area of expertise. Apply today! Deadline to apply is 5 pm PST on Friday, August 21, 2011. Applicants will be notified by Monday, August 31, 2011.
Here are some more announcements and links out that have come my way relating to Asians or Asian Americans. As always, links to other sites are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of their contents.
The Social Justice Fund currently makes 8 to 10 grants annually of up to $2,000 for grassroots activist projects in the US and around the world, giving priority to those with small budgets and little access to more mainstream funding sources. Please read these guidelines carefully and review our rosters of past grants on our website before applying to the Muste Institute for funding.
Next deadline: April 19, 2010 (for grants decided in mid-June). Subsequent deadlines to be posted after May 1, 2010. The Muste Institute’s Social Justice Fund considers proposals:
For new projects or campaigns, or efforts to expand existing work
For projects with expense budgets under $50,000
For projects which are local, regional, national or global in scope
From groups located anywhere in the world
From grassroots organizations with annual expenses of less than $500,000
From groups with limited or no access to more mainstream funding sources
From groups that may be unincorporated or incorporated*
From groups with or without 501(c)3 status or a fiscal sponsor*
From groups which have not received Social Justice Grants from us in at least two years
The Social Justice Fund’s priority is to support:
Direct grassroots activism and organizing
Groups with diverse, representative and democratic internal leadership structures
Groups which have or can obtain sufficient economic and in-kind support from a diversity of sources to carry out their regular work, but need additional support for a particular project
You can visit the A.J. Muste Institute website for more information on eligibility and how to apply.
Vietnamese Oral History Project
I’m emailing today because we all have one common interest — preserving Vietnamese history and culture. My friend Linh Tran and I are starting a new project and hope that with your help, we can turn our ambitions into a reality.
Our mission is to record, document and preserve the stories of every single Vietnamese refugee who fled the country after the Fall of Saigon. We as Vietnamese people have a very unique, important story and unless we make efforts to preserve those histories in some way, it’ll be lost in text books, in our children and our children’s children. Although there have been some attempts to document our story, not one project has done it on the global scale that we want to reach.
This is why Linh and I want to start to collect individual stories of this journey — modeled after the nationally recognized StoryCorps and Steven Spielberg’s Jewish Film Archive. We are compiling a video documentary, archive and multimedia-driven project that will serve the Vietnamese people, let them tell their stories and also be a platform to educate others from different origins and backgrounds about our story. It’ll temporarily be called “From Vietnam to Freedom” and will be housed online.
We’re emailing you because we’d like for you to either contribute your story, someone else’s story or help us connect more with the Vietnamese community to spread the word. We know with your help, we can truly make a difference in our global community. We hope that you’ll contribute in some way.
Thanks very much.
Best,
Kim Thai, kthai6@gmail.com
Linh Tran, tranl847@gmail.com
Mavericks of Asian Pacific Islander Descent announces the 1st Asian Pacific Islander TV Pilot Shootout sponsored by Fox Diversity. The winner will receive the opportunity to pitch a TV executive at Fox.
Writers will submit a synopsis, logline, and sample pages from a completed original television pilot script as well as submit a video of a two minute television pilot pitch. The top five pitch ideas chosen by judges will be matched with directors who will also be selected by submission process. The directors will be given seed money partially derived from the entry fees and work with the writer to develop a 1 minute teaser of the pilot. Actors and production crew are also encouraged to apply to be considered for the chosen projects. Submission deadline for writers is June 9.
The five completed teasers will premiere at the Japanese American National Museum’s ID Film Fest October 10, 2010. The ID Film Fest will include screenings and workshops. The co-presenters of the ID Film Fest will include JANM, director Justin Lin and You Offend Me, You Offend My Family, director Quentin Lee, producer and writer Koji Steven Sakai, director Jessica Sanders, and Phil Yu of AngryAsianMan.com.
MAPID’s focus is to assist, develop, and promote Asian Pacific Islanders in entertainment. Producer of Breaking the Bow which involved over 70 API artists, MAPID conducts an API writing group, presents Battle of the Pitches, and co-presents the successful short screenplay competition with the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Complete instructions can be found at mapid.us/tvpilotshootout. For more information, contact Ken Choy at ken@mapid.us.
The 2010 Census deadline is approaching, and as you know, it is critical to have the entire Asian American community participate. An accurate count can help us receive our share of over $400 billion in annual federal funds for services our community needs. Unfortunately, past decades have shown that Asian Americans are among the groups most likely to discard their Census forms.
Fill In Our Future is a campaign created by AAPI Action to promote and encourage the participation of the Asian American community in the 2010 Census. Our website, fillinourfuture.org, features frequently asked Census questions, in-language resources (in over 24 Asian languages), informational brochures, sample Census forms, in-language assistance guides, celebrity and community leader PSA’s (Public Service Announcements) and monthly contests and giveaways. The larger campaign also includes media and community outreach, workshops, a speaker’s bureau and training seminars.
As the Asian American and Pacific Islander population continues to grow and change, the data from the Census will help leaders obtain the best services, resources, and programs to meet our community needs. Please utilize and share the following resource links with your readers: Website, Facebook Fan Page, and Twitter.
