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Tuesday 31 January 2012

EAS Research Seminar dates 2012

All welcome - in the Poetry Centre (A4, Samuel Alexander Building), unless stated. 

8 Feb

Stachniewski Memorial Lecture

Brian Cummings (Sussex), 5pm, Arts LT

9 Feb

Phillip Morgan (JHU), 4pm (shared with history)

22 Feb

Abigail Williams (Oxford), 4pm

'Home improvements: eighteenth-century miscellanies and their users'

7 Mar

Joanna Pawlik, Manchester (AHVS), 1pm

14 Mar

Brook Lecture

Helen Fulton (York), 5pm

21 Mar

Sam Durrant (Leeds), 4pm

2 May

Holly Furneaux (Leicester), 4pm

Atelier - Culture and History' postgraduate workshop opportunity

We are looking for 7 PGR students from AHC to contribute to the pilot 'Atelier' workshop scheme, organised by Artsmethods in partnership with AHC and LLC (the scheme will be expanded in 2012-13 for the new School).

The pilot Atelier consists of two meetings of 2.5 hours each per semester, with clusters of students working together to establish and discuss common research interests around the theme of 'Culture and History'. If you would like to be involved please contact Jerome de Groot.

The sessions are projected to work in the following way:

A student or group presents and challenges a work by an invited speaker (one from Manchester, one from outside the University per semester), followed by Q&A. This has a methodological focus, and is followed by the speaker making a presentation of draft or unfinished work that has been circulated in advance. There is another discussion session, followed by a recapping and concluding remarks.

This structure is a rough idea - once the Atelier has been formed it is free to govern and constitute itself in terms of how it proceeds. There is a small budget associated with this initiative.

Thursday 26 January 2012

BBC careers talks - tomorrow

 This Friday 27 January – two lunchtime talks from the BBC at 12.00pm and 1.00pm (pick the time that suits you) in Room 5.7, Crawford House, Booth Street East, Manchester (above the Careers Service and across from the Aquatic Centre – the entrance is the one furthest away from Oxford Road)

This year the BBC launches the Production Talent Pool (PTP).  The PTP will be a first step on the ladder for nearly 100 ambitious talented people who want a career in broadcast media. Successful PTP candidates are offered short-term, paid work in runner or junior production management roles across the BBC for up to 12 months. 

The brightest and the best of those will be offered one of 12 places on the BBC’s prestigious Production training scheme which fast tracks individuals across 18 months to become Assistant Producer.

This session is aimed at final year students to give details of the scheme and information about how to apply.

To register (free) for the talk at 12 noon- 1pm, this Fri 27 Jan, go to: https://www.myinterfase.com/manchester/event_view.aspx?token=1dX6l5nro9lDNZ3DRWkoMw%3d%3d  
Or
To register (free) for the talk at 1pm – 2pm, this Fri 27 Jan, go to: https://www.myinterfase.com/manchester/event_view.aspx?token=OW6UZyjy+nSAFx1R2ZFgUw%3d%3d

The talk will be given by Kate Hoyland, the BBC’s Manager, Trainee and Development Schemes for the BBC Academy.

Places are limited so please sign-up asap.  Registration closes midnight tomorrow, Thurs 26 Jan.

Please note, information about careers in the media is regularly posted on the University of Manchester Media Club blog http://manchestercareersmediaclub.wordpress.com/

Equality & Diversity – Diversity in the Workplace Training – Guided session

Equality & Diversity – Diversity in the Workplace Training – Guided session

Over 3000 staff are already registered on the module, so, if you’ve not had chance to complete the training,  why not join them!?

This short session will equip you with essential equality and diversity knowledge and help you to understand your role and responsibility as far as Equality & Diversity is concerned.  There will also be the opportunity to work through the online training session and answer and questions you may have about Equality & Diversity.  At the end of the session you will have a certificate to indicate you have completed this important module.

This takes place on Tuesday 31st January 2pm – 3pm in 4.20 Roscoe Building (53 on the campus map).

As spaces are limited you must pre-register for this by sending a mail to paul.marks-jones@manchester.ac.uk

Monday 23 January 2012

TV workshops/ events

Fuse Tv Industry Night - Gill Isles

Come hear Gill Isles, lead producer at Baby Cow Manchester, share her thoughts and experiences on creating some of televisions most loved comedies. Gill has a wealth of experience having originally been a talent co-ordinator for BBC Comedy North before producing Gavin & Stacey and Johnny Vegas' Ideal.

The event is free to attend but you must register a place at drama@fusetv.co.uk

Wednesday 25th January, 5:30-7pm.
Room 6, Student Union

Fuse Tv Industry Night - Tony Ageh & Bill Thompson

Tony Ageh, Controller of BBC Content Archives, and Bill Thompson, a prominent journalist at BBC Online, will be discussing the future of digital media. Having been involved in creating the BBC Iplayer, they are now working on their most ambitious project to date the Digit al Public Space project that looks set to revolutionise the internet. With digital media playing an ever more important role in the broadcasting industry this is an event not to be missed by any aspiring media entrants.

The event is free to attend but you must register a place at drama@fusetv.co.uk

Wednesday 1st February, 5:30-7pm.
Room 6, Student Union

Archaeology Research Seminars

The next semester's programme of Archaeology Research Seminars is as follows:

07/02/2012 Chris Evans, Cambridge Archaeological Unit, University of Cambridge, "Historiography & Fieldwork: Fengate and Mucking"
14/02/2012 Eddie Peltenburg, University of Edinburgh, "Fashioning identity: workshops and cemeteries at prehistoric Souskiou, Cyprus"
21/02/2012 Ana Jorge, University of Aberdeen, "Making communities in the late third millennium BC: social relations, technology and the production of pottery"
06/03/2012 Sturt Manning, Cornell University, "Early Human Presence on Cyprus: climate, context and interpretative framework"
20/03/2012 Mike Rowlands, University College London, Title TBC
17/04/2012 Jeff Oliver, University of Aberdeen, "Community archaeology at Bennachie, Scotland"
01/05/2012 Sarah Viner, University of Sheffield,  "Feeding Stonehenge: Isotopes in prehistory"
15/05/2012 Becky Farbstein, McDonald Institute of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, "The Pleistocene Origins of Ceramic Technology: technical, social and artistic considerations"
29/05/2012 Graeme Warren, University College Dublin, "New Understandings of the Céide Fields: the prehistory of North Co. Mayo, NW Ireland"

Seminars are on Tuesdays, and start at 5pm. Unless otherwise stated, they will be held in Room 2.02, Mansfield Cooper Building. Look out for emails and posters advertising each seminar for more information.

As usual, wine and juices will be available at the start of each seminar.

Workshop

Wed 22 Feb 2012 - MFTN Workshop: Suryia Nayak, ‘Black feminism is not white feminism in blackface’

Wed 22 February 2012, 3-5pm. University Place 3.210, University of Manchester. Suryia Nayak, University of Salford, gives this workshop on Audre Lorde.

Reading:
Lorde, A. (1979) ‘Sexism: An American Disease in Blackface’ reprinted in Lorde, A. (1984) Sister Outsider. Crossing Press Feminist Series. United States of America.

Thursday 19 January 2012

Methods and Challenges of Researching Social Networking Sites

Manchester Digital Media Network

Workshop 2: Methods and Challenges of Researching Social Networking Sites
Tuesday March 20th, 9:30-5pm
Venue: G306a, Jean MacFarlane Building

A postgraduate workshop organised by the Manchester Digital Media Network (MDMN) and the Research Institute for Cosmopolitan Cultures (RICC) and sponsored by methods@manchester.

Social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are now widely used in everyday activities for both work and leisure. As a result, they are also increasingly used in social science research, whether as a site or object of research, or as a tool to recruit research participants or disseminate one’s work. Yet, there is no single methodology for studying SNS, nor an established methodological ‘toolkit’. The aim of the workshop will be precisely to try and create such a toolkit, firstly by mapping several possible approaches to SNS (qualitative and quantitative) and familiarising the participants with available software to apply some of these approaches. Secondly, the workshop will showcase several research projects that are at the forefront of developing new methods to studying Facebook and Twitter, by inviting leading international scholars in the field. Lastly, the workshop will offer an opportunity for participants to discuss their own work, receive feedback and develop their own methodological tools.

This full day workshop will have three leading national and international experts as well as a session with short presentations by some of the MDMN members.

**If you are interested in presenting your own work, please email caitriona.devery@manchester.ac.uk by 1 February 2012**

Speakers:
Debra Ferreday, University of Lancaster
Daniel Miller, University College London
Terri Senft, New York University

Participation is free but registration is required as the number of places is limited.

**If you are interested in participating, please contact Caitriona Devery at caitriona.devery@manchester.ac.uk by 23 February 2012**

Stachniewski Masterclass: Brian Cummings

Brian Cummings will offer a masterclass for PG students before his lecture on the 8 February. The title is  'Using Religion and Secularity'

Wednesday 8 February 2012, 14:00: University Place 3.212

To register:

http://www.artsmethods.manchester.ac.uk/events/calendar/feb.html

Postgraduate essay prize


The Raymond Williams Society
http://www.raymondwilliams.co.uk/
RWS Postgraduate Essay Competition
Deadline extended to 1 April 2012

The Raymond Williams Society is holding its second postgraduate student essay competition for work grounded in the tradition of cultural materialism. The aim is to encourage a new generation of scholars in this area, especially those who are engaged in discourses and approaches arising from the work of Raymond Williams.

The competition is open to anyone studying for a higher degree (masters or doctoral) in the UK or abroad, either on course, or who graduated no earlier than 31 July 2009. The prize for the winning entry is £100 GBP, and a year's subscription to the Society. The winning essay will also be considered for publication in a future issue of our peer-reviewed journal Key Words: A Journal of Cultural Materialism.

Submission Requirements 
Entries should be between 5-7000 words long, including endnotes (which should normally be kept to a minimum). Entries must follow the Keywords Style Notes for contributors.

Entries must be submitted electronically. Please send your submission to the Contributions Editor of Key Words, Catherine Clay, catherine.clay@ntu.ac.uk, accompanied by a brief coversheet with the following details, and ask your supervisor to send us an email confirming your status:
Name
Postal Address
Email address
Institutional affiliation
Current or most recent programme of study
Date of graduation (if applicable)
Title of essay
Word count

The deadline for entries is 1 April 2012

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Cultural evaluation - impact and instrumentalism in the arts and cultural sector (PGR training session)

Arts and cultural organisations have had to demonstrate the impact of their activities on audiences, communities, economies and places and their value to funders and policy makers for some time now. This has led to a prolonged debate about the intrinsic and instrumental value of the arts, how to measure these impacts and how far extrinsic effects and benefits of artistic and cultural endeavours should be written into the funding, development and core missions of arts organisations. This session looks at how these debates have progressed and considers what arts and humanities researchers can learn from the cultural sector in regard to the ‘lmpact Agenda’.

Session lead - Abigail Gilmore

Book here: http://www.artsmethods.manchester.ac.uk/events/calendar/feb.html

Roscoe 3.9, 2pm, 6 February

Book History Research Methods session (PGR)

This session introduces key ideas relating to Book History.  In particular we will cover the communications circuit, books in culture, the use of texts, e-books, textuality and paratexts - no previous knowledge necessary, just an awareness of books and a desire to understand how they work as entities. This session will be of use to anyone in the humanities, particularly with a view to thinking about how publishing might work in the future.

Run by Jerome de Groot and Guyda Armstrong

Roscoe 3.9., 2pm, 30 Jan

Booking here: http://www.artsmethods.manchester.ac.uk/events/calendar/jan.html

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Arts Methods Resources Officer (temporary)

artsmethods@manchester is a programme of talks, workshops and events running throughout the academic year which explore approaches to arts research, research methods and the dissemination of arts & languages research at the University of Manchester.

artsmethods@manchester also works closely with cultural partners across Manchester and the North West to enhance the impact and dissemination of arts and languages research. We also work in collaboration with methods@manchester and the Humanities Researcher Development Team to offer relevant, effective and comprehensive professional development for researchers at various stages of their careers.

Research methods resources are central to the artsmethods@manchester programme. We aim to house a variety of resources including videos, screencasts, podcasts, reading materials, blog posts, comment pieces and articles.

In pursuit of this aim the artsmethods@manchester team are looking to recruit a current Postgraduate Researcher within the School of Arts, Histories & Cultures (SAHC) or the School of Languages. Linguistics & Cultures (LLC) to fulfil the role of Arts Methods Resources Officer (temporary).

This role is office-based and is available for 7 hours a week for 21 weeks, starting on 13th February 2012 or soon thereafter, payable at a GTA rate of £13.39 per hour.

For more information please consult the artsmethods resources officer job advert

Renaissance Old Worlds: English Encounters from the Levant to the Far East

Renaissance Old Worlds: English Encounters from the Levant to the Far East
The British Library
29 June - 1 July 2012

The early modern period saw England establishing its first colonies in the New World, but its ideas and expectations about foreign nations, travel and its identity as a political and economic power on the global stage were influenced largely by its experiences in other distant but familiar nations. This conference will investigate English interactions with the ‘old worlds’ of the Middle East, South Asia and the Far East. It will ask how such cross-encounters may have shaped not only the literature, art and cultures of England and the host nations, but also a broad range of intellectual, political, cultural, religious and economic determinants of England’s relationship with the wider world.

Overarching questions to be investigated by the conference include:
(1) How did English cultural memories of the Old World, from art, literature and political events such as conflicts in the Islamic Mediterranean, influence actual travel encounters?
(2) How did information and expertise about distant places circulate, and who were the agents of such circulation (from missionaries, merchants, administrators, and indigenous informants, to artisans and scholars)?
(3) What form did the information take (from maps and texts to material artefacts)?
(4) How did religion inflect political and social negotiations? (How is anxiety about piracy in the Islamic Mediterranean and North Africa, for instance, connected to anxieties about conversion between Christianity and Islam?)
(5) What role did trading companies, both those established by the English and their European trading competitors, play in determining structures of knowledge and cross-cultural encounters?

Proposals are invited for complete panels of three or four papers, as well as individual papers on one of the following themes:
·         Interplay between ‘old worlds’ and ‘new’
·         Circulation networks
·         Visual and material culture (art, cartography, crafts)
·         Trade, diplomacy, piracy
·         Gift-exchange
·         Religion and conversion
·         Translation and transformation

Please send abstracts (250 words for individual papers and 500 words for complete panels) and a brief biographical statement (if proposing a panel, one for each participant) to Nandini Das at row@liverpool.ac.uk by 1 March 2012. Papers should take between 15–20 minutes to present, and panels should last no longer than 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Monday 16 January 2012

Whose Story Counts? Madness from the Inside Out

Whose Story Counts? Madness from the Inside Out

Bobby Baker in conversation with Gail Hornstein



CIDRA in collaboration with the Institute for Cultural Practices (ICP)

Tuesday 14th February at 6pm, Whitworth Art Gallery Lecture Theatre, Oxford Rd

The University of Manchester

Free & no booking required but early arrival recommended.



Related Events:

Tuesday 7th February 5-7 pm, Mansfield Cooper 4.10

Research Seminar and Screening of Bobby Baker's Work

Helen Iball (University of Leeds) and Simon Parry (University of Manchester) will introduce clips of Bobby Baker's performance practices (including How to Live and Box Story) and discuss a range of aspects of her performance and broader artistic work.



Wednesday 15th February from 10-11.30am, Mansfield Cooper 2.02

Postgraduate Masterclass: Bobby Baker & Gail Hornstein

with Simon Parry (ICP) and Maggie Gale (Drama)

Bobby Baker is a performance artist and writer whose book, Diary Drawings: Mental Illness and Me, won the 2011 Mind Book of the Year.  Gail Hornstein is Professor of Psychology at Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, whose research and writing focus on first-person narratives of madness.  Her book Agnes' Jacket: A Psychologist's Search for the Meaning of Madness was published in 2009.



For more information on the events, visit http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/cidra/

For more information on the speakers, visit

http://www.bobbybakersdailylife.com/

http://www.gailhornstein.com/

Thursday 12 January 2012

Declaring the Activism of Black Feminist Theory Convention


Trafford Rape Crisis Presents the Launch of their

Black and Minority Ethnic Women’s Service


Proudly Hosts


Declaring the Activism of Black Feminist Theory Convention


9th March 2012


Longford Park Stadium Manchester
Key note Speakers:

Sara Ahmed, ,  Gargi Bhattacharyya,  Kum Kum Bhavnani, Kimberle Crenshaw, Carole Boyce Davies,  FORWARD, Southhall Black Sisters, Ann Phoenix, Sunera Thobani


The daily reality of living with the effects of racism and sexism mixed up with other pressures such as poverty, disability and homophobia is exhausting.  The ways in which Black women are physically, emotionally and sexually violated and survive these experiences need to be understood in relation to racism and those other weights of oppression that press us down. In other words Black women survivors of this racist patriarchy have very specific issues and specific needs which require particular strategies, knowledge and forms of action.  This convention has grown out of Black women (in Manchester and beyond) voicing their desire/ need for mutual nourishment, inspiration and exchange of intelligence and  support.

Comments about this convention:

Author of
Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins: 'I think that it is really important that you and your colleagues have decided to organize this conference. I applaud your initiative.'

Indian-American Theorist Chandra Talpade Mohanty: ‘I will be there in spirit, since I am sure you will generate some powerful energy at the meeting!’In Solidarity, Chandra

Law Professor Kimberle Crenshaw: It is of course timely, essential and inspired’.

This convention examines the ‘links between Black feminism as a social justice project and black feminist thought as its intellectual center’ (Hill Collins 2000 p x).  In a direct challenge to the binary of activism or theory, experience or scholarship the conference explores the  intersectionality of  Black feminist theory and activism as lived experience.

Key objectives:
·         A detailed examination of the relationship between Black feminist theory, Black feminist activism and the lived experience of Black women survivors.
·         A detailed examination of Black feminist ‘theory as liberatory practice’ (Hooks 1994 p59) picking up the potential of Black feminist scholarship to confront  the regulation and  violation of women.   

·         The convention seeks to create debate, share standpoints in order to question what counts as theory and who counts as theorist.

·       Convention and Launch: 9th March 2012 - Conference fee £65

This includes all refreshments including lunch and the Launch dinner.


·       Master Class: Question and Answer Discussion Session: 10th March 2012 – fee £30

This half day session gives you an opportunity to discuss particular issues, ask questions and share ideas with the keynote speakers in a smaller group. 


We are determined to make sure that the fee is not a barrier that prevents anyone from attending - please do let us know if you want to attend but are unable to pay the fee.


For more information and booking form please visit email
bme.services@traffordrapecrisis.com  or visit http://traffordrapecrisis.com/


This convention is supported by The Manchester Feminist Theory Network, UCU and The Psychology of Women Section of the BPS
The MFTN list is archived at: http://listserv.manchester.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?A0=MFTN

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Fellowships/ PhD places at York

*Research Fellowships: Transatlantic Slave Trade Project*

*Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past, University of York*

The Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past (IPUP) has won funding as part of an EU research network, EUROTAST, that brings together an unprecedented range of researchers from the humanities and sciences. Using a combination of historical research, archaeology and cutting-edge genomics this project will address pressing questions relating to the transatlantic slave trade and its legacies. The team of historians, archaeologists and scientists will research the origins of the 12.5 million Africans carried into the transatlantic slave trade, their physical quality of life, and the material legacy of the slave trade.


For further information on the project and to find out about job applications, please visit the project website www.eurotast.eu <http://www.eurotast.eu/>.

Funded through the Marie Curie Actions, the €4.3 million project will support 15 young researchers who will be based at 10 partner institutions in 7 European countries. The researchers will be recruited from a wide range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, genetics and social anthropology.  The lead partners areUniversity of Copenhagen and University of York.

Questions that will be addressed during the course of the four-year project deal with the captives’ origins, their physical quality of life, and the material legacy of the slave trade in Europe, West Africa, and the Caribbean.

A unique feature of EUROTAST is that the research will be widely disseminated through school projects, museum exhibitions and media products. Guided by Professor Helen Weinstein, Director of IPUP (York, UK) each of the students will be encouraged to document their research and their findings through podcasts and video diaries.

“The scale of this project is ambitious and it is essential that the findings reach a wide audience beyond the walls of academia” says Professor Weinstein. “The use of popular media products will help engage a wide audience but in addition we will develop learning materials for museums and schools in Europe, Africa and theCaribbean which will have a significant impact on the way that this traumatic history is taught and understood across the world.”

IPUP will be very grateful if you can circulate to potential candidates the three positions suitable for historians, one post doc and two doctoral funded projects, with application deadline of 30th and 31st January 2012.

http://www.eurotast.eu/research/ERs/er1

http://www.eurotast.eu/research/ESRs/esr4

http://www.eurotast.eu/research/ESRs/esr13


****************************************


Experienced Researcher - dissemination & outreach

ESR Code: ER1
Supervision: Prof. Helen Weinstein (IPUP, York)
Host Institution: Centre for GeoGenetics (Copenhagen) and IPUP (York)
Duration: 2 years – starting from 1 May 2012
Deadline: Monday, 30 January 2012

The primary responsibility of the ER will be to work on dissemination aspects of the project and to co-ordinate outreach activities. Based at the Centre for Geogenetics in Copenhagen, Denmark, and trained at the Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past (IPUP) in York, UK, the ER will be committed to communicating academic research on the slave trade into the public realm. Her/his main task will be to develop and create content for the project website to promote understanding of the individual research projects and the project as a whole. In addition, she/he will be trained in documentary-making to document the research and to help disseminate its major findings. During the first year, she/he will research and develop a 30 part history documentary series for radio foregrounding the research of the network. During the second year, she/he will help develop educational material for museums and schools and co-ordinate school visits as part of the network’s outreach programme.

*Application process:*
Applicants should send a short cover letter outlining their suitability for the post and their ideas for the project, full CV, and the names of 2 referees to applications@eurotast.eu <mailto:applications%40eurotast.eu>. In addition, we require applicants to send in 500 words pitching a suitable story on race/identity/enslavement, past or present, to a newspaper, radio or TV station. Applications are welcomed from any qualified applicants, regardless of gender, ethnicity or country of origin, but will only be considered if eligibility requirements are met and the application guidelines are strictly adhered to. *Deadline for applications is 30 January 2012*.

Entry Requirements:
To be eligible for the post you must be EITHER in possession of a doctoral degree at the time of recruitment OR have at least four years commensurate full-time equivalent research experience in a museum, archive, media organization, or similar. In either case, you should have no more than 5 years of full-time equivalent research experience. You will have previous research experience on the history of the transatlantic slave trade or a related topic and you will have demonstrated commitment to communicating academic research into the public realm. Ability to write with clarity for a non-academic audience and to work with new technologies is essential. You will have excellent knowledge of English and a proven track record of writing in English. Knowledge of another European language such as French or Spanish will be preferable, but not essential. Although not a prerequisite, candidates who have experience of writing and designing pages for the web will be preferred.

Mobility Requirement:
Researchers can be of any nationality but have to comply with the conditions of mobility. This means that in order to be eligible to apply for one of the ER fellowships, the researcher must not have resided, worked or studied in the country of their host organisation (ie. Denmark) for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to the time of recruitment. Compulsory national service and/or short stays are not taken into account.


Professor Helen Weinstein
Director of IPUP
Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past
BS/120 Berrick Saul Building Room 120
University of York
York Y010 5DD

IPUP office: 01904-328-126 <tel:01904-328-126>
IPUP website: http://www.york.ac.uk/ipup/

Tuesday 10 January 2012

BUNAC Scholarships for postgraduate study in USA/ Canada

BUNAC is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the BUNAC Educational Scholarship Trust (BEST) Scholarships.

The BEST scholarships are open to UK passport holders who are currently or, have been within the last five years inclusive, in full-time tertiary education at a UK university or college and who are planning to undertake postgraduate study in either the USA or Canada.

Up to eight scholarships are awarded each year from a fund of $50,000. The individual amounts awarded vary but a typical award is in the region of approximately $5000-$10,000. The sum of $4,000 is available as the Christopher J. Harbour Memorial Scholarship to a candidate looking to do sports-related studies and $2,000 as the John S. Ball Award to a candidate looking to pursue a teaching or geography-related career. At the judging stage, preference is given to those whose proposed study in North America is likely to do most to further transatlantic understanding or to those who are required to go to the US or Canada to do a specific course

The BEST Scholarships are top-up funds, not a prime source of funding and candidates should be actively looking to secure funding from other sources while in the process of applying to BEST. Candidates cannot already be engaged in their course of study in North America at the time of application although they should be looking to apply to courses in their chosen field.

The closing date for applications is Friday 16th March 2012. Short-listed applicants will be invited to London for an interview in June.

Application forms are available online at www.bunac.org/awards

Advanced GTA training forum: UCU session

UCU is the largest post-school education Trade Union, representing academic and academic related staff, including Graduate Teaching Assistants. We campaign fervently for better terms and conditions for early careers staff.

This Advanced GTA training forum will cover your legal rights, key university policies affecting you and the ongoing negotiations on the assimilation of GTAs to the single pay spine.

Roscoe 3.9, Jan 23, 4-5pm

Sign up here: http://www.artsmethods.manchester.ac.uk/events/calendar/jan.html

Monday 9 January 2012

British Council - teach in China

Teach in China
British Council’s English Language Assistants China programme offers an inspiring opportunity; the chance to live and teach English in one of the world’s most fascinating and rapidly developing countries. Let your sense of adventure take you
on a journey to the ‘real China’.
We are looking for open-minded, mature, adaptable individuals who are ready for a challenge. As an English Language Assistant, you will support the teaching of English
and UK culture in a Chinese state school to classes of up to 50 students. China is home to one of the oldest languages in the world but you do not need to have a knowledge of Mandarin to apply.
Right from the word go you will have the opportunity to improve your language skills, learn about another education system and be immersed in a completely different culture. Your time in China as an English Language Assistant will be an experience that will make any recruiter sit up and take note upon your return.
What is involved?
•    You will attend a two week compulsory TEFL training course in China in mid-August
•    You will teach and live in China for 10 months (September – June)
•    You will be contracted for approximately 20 hours teaching time a week and receive a local salary of between 3,000 - 4,500 RMB per month
•    You will receive free accommodation for the duration of your employment and be reimbursed for your return flights to China
•    A placement fee of £80 is payable once you have been accepted onto the programme.
Are you eligible? •    You do not need to have any previous
teaching experience
•    You must have a UK or other EU member state passport
•    You need to be a native-level English speaker with a degree (of any discipline) and secondary education in the UK
•    You need to be able to cope with conditions very different to those in the UK
•    Further eligibility criteria on our website. English Language Assistants
China Programme
E language.assistants@britishcouncil.org
T    0161 957 7755
Apply online at: www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistants
British Council English Language Assistants
Deadline: 28 February

Thursday 5 January 2012

V&A Fellowships

The V&A/RCA History of Design MA programme, run in partnership by the
Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal College of Art, invites
applications for 2012/13. Applicants this year will be considered for
the
award of the American Friends of the V&A Scholarship and the Friends of
the
V&A Scholarship.

The programme is a two-year full-time programme, based at both the V&A
and
the RCA, offering three specialist pathways at MA level:

Renaissance: History of Design and Material Culture 1400-1650
Asian: History of Design and Material Culture 1450-present day
Modern: History of Design and Material Culture 1650-present day

Our small seminar-based classes provide a unique environment for the
study
of the aesthetic, social, cultural, technological, economic and
political
contexts for design. The course specializes in object-focused
scholarship
ranging across architecture and interior design, fashion and textiles,
furniture and product design, ceramics, metalwork, glass, prints,
drawings
and digital media, giving students direct access to the V&A¹s
unrivalled
collections and the highly specialized art and design practices of the
RCA.
As well as placing emphasis on primary research and object analysis,
the
programme offers a broad-ranging theoretical and methodological basis
for
the study of design and material culture. Our graduates go on to work
internationally in universities and colleges, museums and galleries, as
well
as in a host of other art and design based professions such as
curating,
journalism, media research and design policy.

American Friends of the V&A Scholarship
Students applying from the United States of America are eligible for
this
new award, the American Friends of the V&A Scholarship. The AFV&A
Scholarship will be offered to a student applying from the USA who
intends
to work in a museum after graduating from the V&A/RCA History of Design
MA
programme. It covers full overseas fees for the two years of the course
and
also a maintenance grant of up to 3000 GBP per year. Overseas fees for
2012/13 are 26,000 GBP per annum.

Friends of the V&A Scholarship
Students applying from the UK or the EU are eligible for the Friends of
the
V&A Scholarship. The FV&A Bursary will be offered to a student applying
from
the UK or EU who intends to work in a museum after graduating from the
V&A/RCA History of Design MA programme. The Scholarship covers full
fees for
the two years of the MA and also includes a maintenance grant of up to
3000
GBP per year. Home/EU fees for 2012/13 are 9000 GBP per annum.

The awards are given on a competitive basis, judged at interview.
Students
should indicate their interest in and suitability for the Awards on
their
application form. The priority deadline for application for 2012/13 is
16th January 2012, and interviews will be held in March 2012. For more
information please contact the course administrator, at:
hod@rca.ac.uk.
Further details on the course, entry requirements, college fees and
funding
can be found at www.rca.ac.uk <http://www.rca.ac.uk>

If you are from the USA you should note that the Royal College of Art
is
designated as an eligible institution for American students to apply
for a
Guaranteed Student Loan under the new Direct Loan Program. The RCA¹s
School
Code is 00942300.