I hope you are enjoying the spring weather! There are two things I would like to mention this month.
First, an event worth noting: the 2009 Graduate Mentoring Awards, Wednesday, April 22 from 2:30-4 p.m. at 775 Tan Hall. The ceremony features presentation of the 2009 Sarlo Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards. Established in 2007, these awards recognize UC Berkeley faculty for their vital role in mentoring graduate students and training future faculty. The awards are sponsored by a grant from the Sarlo Foundation. What constitutes excellence in mentoring? I’m glad you asked; have a look here.
Second, I wanted to bring up the subject of Designated Emphases. A designated emphasis is a specialization, such as a new method of inquiry or an important field of application, which is relevant to two or more existing doctoral degree programs. You can add a DE to your program of study before advancing to candidacy for the Ph.D. We currently have DEs in these areas:
Each DE name above is a link you can click on so you can easily find out more. This is a nice way to supplement your current degree program with a structured, recognized minor.
Andrew J. Szeri
Dean of the Graduate Division
All-departmental survey of some graduate students
- A way for a slice of you to help improve graduate education at Berkeley
Recognition
- Mentorship awards kick off the semester’s-end season of celebration
- California Alumni Association honors grad alumnus Douglass North
Graduate Funding
- A wide menu of possibilities to help fund your graduate education
University Health Services
- Workshops: Insurance after graduation, Tuesday Wellness Workshops
UCTV
- David M. Kennedy: Jefferson Memorial Lecture
Texture
- History’s Larissa Kelly is game to the end
Your email may contain an invitation from Graduate Dean Andrew J. Szeri to participate in a survey about your graduate program this year. Or it might not; all academic departments are being covered, by sending to a representative sample of grad students in each department. If you receive the survey, it’s important that you respond. The data in the survey will be used to help each department in its efforts to improve graduate programs. Thanks for your cooperation!
TopFor the third time in a row, the Graduate Division and the Graduate Assembly have teamed up for a joint ceremony to honor the recipients of the Graduate Division’s Sarlo Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards and the Graduate Assembly's Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Awards.
Time and place: Wednesday, April 22, 2:30 to 4:00 p.m., in 775 Tan Hall (the McCullum Room).
And the winners are:
2009 Sarlo Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards
Sarlo Senior Faculty Award
Marianne Constable, Professor, Department of RhetoricSarlo Junior Faculty Award
Amani Nuru-Jeter, Assistant Professor, Public Health
2009 Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Awards
Inez Fung, Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science
Carla Hesse, Professor, Department of History
Loren Partridge, Chair and Professor, Department of History of Art
Graduate Dean Andrew J. Szeri and Graduate Assembly President Miguel Daal said in a joint statement, “Nominated by inspired colleagues, current and former graduate students, the award recipients have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to helping UC Berkeley graduate students succeed academically and professionally and creatively pursue new ideas. These distinguished individuals were selected from a pool of exceptional faculty members on the Berkeley campus. We are proud to honor them for their important contributions to the University community.”
Cal’s umbrella organization for all alumni handed out honors at its annual black-tie-optional Charter Gala on April 4 in San Francisco, and one of them, an exceptional achievement award, went to economist Douglass North Ph.D. ’42, Ph. ’52. A brief video of the trio of exceptional achievement presentation (below) gives additional details on those winners. North graduated from Cal in 1942 with a B.A. (general curriculum/humanities) and a GPA he has called “mediocre to say the best. I had only slightly better than a ‘C’ average, although I did have a triple major in political science, philosophy, and economics.” He came back to Cal for his Ph.D. in economics, and taught at the University of Washington, Washington University in St. Louis, and Cambridge University during his long career. He won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1993. Now 88, he is currently a fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution.
The Gala honors and the people on hand at the event are covered thoroughly, in more videos and a slideshow, online.
Nominations for the Association’s 2010 awards will be accepted through May 31, 2009. Further information is available online or by contacting Mindy Maschmeyer by email or phone (642-5780).
TopListed chronologically by deadline date.
Resources provided by the Graduate Services: Fellowships office
This is the first year for new joint scholarship funded by the Siemens Corporation and the Meat Industry Suppliers Association (MISA). A $10,000 scholarship will be awarded to an outstanding graduate student or undergraduate (junior or senior) pursuing a degree in the engineering or meat sciences fields. The recipient will be selected on the basis of academic performance, potential for success, and commitment to a career in the engineering or meat sciences fields. Further information and the application are available online (PDF). The application deadline is June 1, 2009.
The American Institute of Indian Studies Fellowships is a cooperative, non-profit organization of sixty American colleges and universities that supports the advancement of knowledge and understanding of India, its people, and culture. Non-U.S. citizens are welcome to apply for AIIS fellowships as long as they are either graduate students or full-time faculty at a college or university in the U.S. Citizens of the U.S., however, may apply even if they are not affiliated with an institution in the U.S. Applications from those who are not affiliated with AIIS member institutions are welcome.
Applications to conduct research in India may be made in the following categories:
Junior Research Fellowships. Available to doctoral candidates at U.S. universities in all fields of study. Junior Research Fellowships are specifically designed to enable doctoral candidates to pursue their dissertation research in India. Junior Research Fellows establish formal affiliation with Indian universities and Indian research supervisors. Awards are available for up to eleven months.
Senior Research Fellowships. Available to scholars who hold a Ph.D. or its equivalent. Senior Fellowships are designed to enable scholars in all disciplines who specialize in South Asia to pursue further research in India. Senior Fellows establish formal affiliation with an Indian institution. Short-term awards are available for up to four months. Long-term awards are available for six to nine months.
Senior Scholarly/Professional Development Fellowships. Available to established scholars who have not previously specialized in Indian studies and to established professionals who have not previously worked or studied in India. Senior Scholarly/Professional Development Fellows are formally affiliated with an Indian institution. Awards may be granted for periods of six to nine months.
Senior Performing and Creative Arts Fellowships. Available to accomplished practitioners of the performing arts of India and creative artists who demonstrate that study in India would enhance their skills, develop their capabilities to teach or perform in the U.S., enhance American involvement with India’s artistic traditions, and strengthen their links with peers in India. Awards will normally be for periods of up to four months, although proposals for periods of up to nine months can be considered.
Fellowships for U.S. citizens are funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (also available to permanent residents); the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department and the Council of American Overseas Research Centers under the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, as amended; and the Smithsonian Institution. Some fellowships for non-U.S. citizens and artists can be funded from the AIIS Rupee Endowment in India. Fellowships for six months or more may include limited coverage for dependents.
The application deadline is July 1, 2009.
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Back in busy-ness: Sather Gate looks like itself again after long months as four pillars without their connecting metalwork, which underwent badly-needed repair off campus. (Photo: Dick Cortén)
Graduate Division Calendar
Campus Events Calendar
Denotes Graduate Division sponsored event
APRIL 25 (Saturday)
Bay Cruise for Grad Students
The Graduate Social Club is once again taking Cal graduate students on a scenic cruise in San Francisco Bay Boarding begins at 6:15 p.m. at Pier 43-1/2. Join your fellow grad students on a sunset cruise beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.Tickets, which include open bar, are available online. You must be 21 to come on board. Guests of UC Berkeley grad students are always welcome. Tickets sold out quickly last year. This year’s boat is bigger, and will accommodate at least 250 people.
APRIL 27 and 29 (Monday 7 p.m., and Wednesday 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.)
Performance: A Fist of Roses
Durham Studio Theater, west side of Dwinelle Hall
An exploration of how male violence interacts with different racial, cultural, and sexual histories. Playwright and filmmaker Philip Kan Gotanda first created A Fist of Roses with Campo Santo at San Francisco's Intersection for the Arts. This workshop showing of a revised version of the play is the result of his semester-long collaboration with UC Berkeley students.
APRIL 28 (Tuesday)
Panel Discussion: "The Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH) of Bhutan"
Featuring Darren Zook. 4 p.m., 223 Moses Hall, IIS Conference Room
Sponsored by the Religion, Politics and Globalization Program.
RSVPs are appreciated but not required: email or call (510-642-2474).
MAY 7 and 8 (Thursday and Friday)
Breslauer Graduate Student Conference (theme: “The Public Interest”)
Thursday: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., 310 Wheeler Hall — Keynote address
Friday, 10 to 5 p.m., 223 Moses Hall — Graduate student panels
Designed to support graduate student research that addresses international issues related to the pursuit of solutions to real-world problems, the conference was established in 2001. It provides a venue in which graduate students may exchange ideas across disciplines. Sponsors are the Division of International and Area Studies, the Department of Sociology, the Institute of International Studies, the Berkeley-Stanford City Group, the Institute of Governmental Studies, the Department of Geography, and the Department of City and Regional Planning. Free and open to the public, the conference is made possible by a campus donor. Its name honors George Breslauer, executive vice chancellor and provost of the Berkeley campus and a professor whose expertise is in politics and foreign relations.
MAY 13 (Wednesday)
2:30 to 4:30 p.m., Education Center, first floor of the Tang Center, 2222 Bancroft Way
August 6 (Wednesday)
2:30 to 4:30 p.m., Education Center, first floor of the Tang Center, 2222 Bancroft Way
August 10 (Wednesday)
2:30 to 4:30 p.m., Education Center, first floor of the Tang Center, 2222 Bancroft Way
If you are a SHIP member who will be graduating this semester, or if you are losing SHIP eligibility because you are no longer a registered student at UC Berkeley, it is important to plan ahead for continuing health coverage. A variety of plans are available to you once your SHIP coverage expires. Plan types include short-term coverage, individual plans with low deductibles or co-payments, a conversion plan for persons with ongoing medical conditions, and public health insurance programs. Please RSVP to ship@uhs.berkeley.edu. Contact the Student Health Insurance Office at (510) 642-5700 for additional information or workshop questions. For more resources, visit the UHS web page on this topic.
Counseling & Psychological Services (CPS) provides free drop-in
workshops at the new satellite counseling office on the second floor of 2311 Bowditch,
second floor (behind Le Petit Cheval). Workshops are held Tuesdays from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. and are open to all UC Berkeley students.
APRIL 28
“Managing Test Anxiety”
Develop test preparation and anxiety management skills.
MAY 5
“Five Steps to Choosing a Career”
Learn practical ways to explore a career that's good for you.
MAY 12
“Practicing Relaxation Skills”
Discover the health benefits of relaxation & learn some new skills.
ADA Notice: The offices at 2311 Bowditch St. are on the second floor and NOT ADA-accessible. If you need accommodations, please call Bowditch staff at (510)642-4645 to arrange for these services at another location.
TopThis year marks the UC Berkeley Library’s 125th anniversary of being a part of the Federal Depository Library Program, the program that allows it to receive U.S. government documents and make them available to the public. To commemorate this anniversary, the library has created an exhibit in Doe Library’s Brown Gallery, located just inside the north entrance. The exhibit celebrates the depository designation by highlighting some of the important, historic and strange documents UC Berkeley has received over the last 125 years. U.S. government documents are authoritative, primary-source historic materials that are perfect for academic research at all levels.
In addition to the physical display, the Library has created an online exhibit which contains more information on the FDLP and other tidbits related to the physical exhibit, such as full text scans of several documents in the exhibit and U.S. government videos, including one done by Walt Disney Productions.
Some of the items on exhibit for the Federal Depository Library Program’s 125th Anniversary
If you missed the live Jefferson Lecture by Pulitzer Prize-winning Stanford history professor David M. Kennedy, you can watch it right here.
In addition, you can see Kennedy and two other spring 2009 Graduate Council Lecturers with host Harry Kreisler in his Conversations with History programs:
UCTV’s full range of Graduate Council Lectures offerings
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Back playing Jeopardy! in its Tournament of Champions this March, history grad student Larissa Kelly advanced relentlessly, winning her quarterfinal and semifinal matches (reported here), and setting up a dramatic finish by leading her nearest rival in the first round of the two-game finals. She almost went all the way, but at the end of the second game on March 24, victory within reach, she missed the Final Jeopardy clue, (“last British ruler to be born outside the United Kingdom”), writing “Philip” instead of the correct “George II.” She took the second-place prize of $100,000, while Champion of Champions Dan Pawson, a legislative aide to Massachusetts state senator Bruce Tarr, won the grand prize of $250,000.
Going into the tournament, Kelly was already the “winningest woman” in Jeopardy! history from her consecutive triumphs in regular-season play in 2008, and one of the highest money-winners in the show’s existence.
The tournament experience went by in a flash and was “surreal,” according to Kelly. She notes that there were “a lot of grad students participating.” She’s not sure if that was because grad students are “more prone to remember trivia, more desperate for money, or both.”
Kelly, who spent months in Mexico doing research for her dissertation, is back in Berkeley for this academic year, hoping to finish her Ph.D. in 2010. Her husband, Jeff Hoppes, who competed on Jeopardy! in 2004, is also a history grad student here, aiming to complete his Ph.D. this semester. Kelly and Hoppes met as undergrads at Princeton. Where they settle will depend on the academic job market. But they have a good down payment for a house socked away.
The Wikipedia has had a “Larissa Kelly” entry since her big Jeopardy! win last year. Controversy flared for months over whether she was of sufficient significance to merit such placement, but her entry has since been expanded and updated, rather than deleted.
TopeGrad is produced by Graduate Communications & Events, distributed by email, and archived online. Graduate students, alumni, faculty, and staff are invited to send timely news and announcements of interest to or utility of graduate students and the graduate community. Please submit items to Dick Cortén, editor, at gradpub@berkeley.edu.