Urban Studies Scholar on Occupy Movement

Perhaps of interest: two blog posts by Peter Marcuse, Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning in the
School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University:

What Space to Occupy in New York: A Two-Site Solution? suggests thinking through the possibility of (in New York, at least) having a "staging site" (where public events happen) and a "political incubator site" (where educational activities, discussions, the development and practice of alternative forms of political organization take place).

The Purpose of the Occupation Movement and the Danger of Fetishizing Space looks at the multiplicity of functions/purposes played by OWS in the struggle for a better world and then tries to discern the role played by space/territory in each as a way of assessing the importance of space. His conclusion:

The particular space being occupied should not be fetishized, should not become the prize, the conquest of which is the goal of the movement. It is only, for most aspects of the movement, symbolic; the rise and fall of the movement should not be linked to the extent of the physical occupation of a given space. The spaces sought for occupancy are not the prize for which the battle is being fought, but rather a terrain on which that battle takes place, and a more or less important source of support to facilitate the achievement of objectives more important than the command of a particular piece of ground.

Free Lecture by World Renowned Criminologist

If you are interested in cities, social control, criminology, or the like, you should check out this free lecture.

Why have crime rates dropped across the country over the last 20 years? Why did crime rates drop even more in New York City? What lessons can Oakland learn?

Franklin Zimring, nationally acclaimed crime policy expert  and Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, shares lessons learned from extensive crime and enforcement research detailed in his new book: "The City That Became Safe; New York's Lessons for Urban Crime and Its Control."

When: Sunday October 23, 2011 - 3:00-5:00pm

Where: St. Lawrence O'Toole Church, 3725 High Street, Oakland  

Presented by the Offices of Council members Pat Kernighan, District 2 and Libby Schaaf, District 4 FREE admission and parking, RSVP not required Questions? Please contact: Bruce Stoffmacher, Community Liaison / Policy Analyst Office of Councilmember Libby Schaaf, City of Oakland - District 4

o: (510) 238-7041

f:  (510) 238-6910

CYBERSOCIETY SEMESTER: 2nd CALL FOR STUDENTS

The new study abroad (SA) program "CyberSociety" (http://cybersociety-semester.org), which was announced earlier, is approaching its first term. We are making steady progress about the program's details and the specifics of the affiliation with Eötvös University in Budapest. We have formed agreements with teaching staff and secured the elements of the infrastructure.

This is a 2nd call for students for the 2012 Spring Semester.

Application deadline is November 15. For application details, consult the homepage at http://cybersociety-semester.org

The CyberSociety semester deals with innovative approaches in the social sciences. Besides sociology and social science majors susceptible to learn and adopt computational methods, the program expects physics, computer science, mathematics and different science majors with an interest to apply modeling and quantitative tools to social phenomena.

Please help us by advertising the program, contacting colleagues, students and administrators.

We are looking forward to a successful program!
Thank you for your support,

Best regards,

George Kampis and Peter Erdi,
Directors, BSCS

Research Assistant Job Announcement

San Francisco Office


Who We Are: Harder+Company Community Research is a consulting firm whose mission is to strengthen the social sector by providing organizations with the information and tools they need to do their work effectively. Founded in 1986, our firm now has offices in San Francisco, Davis, Los Angeles, and San Diego, California. Our clients include nonprofits, foundations, and public agencies—and cover a wide range of topics including arts and culture, child welfare, education, health, human services, and philanthropy. For these diverse clients, we conduct needs assessments, evaluate programs and funding initiatives, and facilitate strategic planning and community engagement projects, among other services. For more information about our firm, visit our website: www.harderco.com.

Who We Need: Harder+Company seeks a Research Assistant in its San Francisco office to provide support on a diverse array of team-based research projects. The Research Assistant will be responsible for literature reviews; planning and assisting with focus groups; conducting interviews; entering, coding, and analyzing data; administering surveys; and assisting with the preparation and editing of reports. Some travel within California necessary. The ideal candidate would contribute to the diversity of Harder+Company and enjoy contributing to the effectiveness of organizations working for social change.

Position Responsibilities:

• Assist with quantitative and qualitative primary data collection including interviews, focus groups, case studies, and surveys. May include assisting with the facilitation of focus groups.
• Manage logistics for focus groups, case studies, surveys, and external meetings.
• Enter data, prepare and label SPSS data files for analysis and reporting. Analyze survey data, including frequencies, cross-tabulations, means tables, and tests of statistical significance.
• Conduct literature reviews and internet research.
• Maintain communication with project team through emails and team meetings as needed.
• Manage resources and time effectively and adjust to changing demands and priorities.
• Assist with preparation of reports and presentations, including write-ups, editing, tables, charts, and formatting.
• Maintain positive and professional interactions with clients and their stakeholders.
• Skills, Qualifications & Experience:
• Bachelor’s degree in social sciences or related field
• At least 1 year of research experience, preferably outside the classroom
• Demonstrated understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Excellent critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Excellent writing and oral communications skills
• Detail oriented with effective time management skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Experience working with diverse populations
• Ability to be an effective team player and to work independently
• Bilingual preferred, but not required

This position is full time with an annual starting salary of $35,000 to $45,000 commensurate with experience.
Harder+Company offers a generous benefits package.

To apply: Send resume and cover letter to: jobs@harderco.com

Social Networks PhD Positions in Dublin

The Dynamics Lab (http://geary.ucd.ie/dynamicslab) at UCD CASL and the Geary Institute in University College Dublin, in collaboration with the newly established IBM Dublin Research Lab (http://www-05.ibm.com/ie/ibm/overview2.html) , is seeking PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows to work in the area of "Extreme Scale Social Network Simulations".

Sucessful candidate(s) are likely to have prior training in the computer and/or mathematical sciences or the business/social sciences combined with excellent computational skills.

The successful applicants will be funded by the IRCSET Enterprise Partnership Scheme.  Interested candidates should send their CV by 20^th September 2011 to Dr Diane Payne at the Dynamics Lab, CASL and Geary Institute, UCD (Diane.Payne@ucd.ie) and  Dr Georgios Theodoropoulos at IBM Dublin Research Lab (geortheo@ie.ibm.com).

For further information and enquiries please contact Dr Diane Payne (Diane.Payne@ucd.ie) and Dr Georgios Theodoropoulos (geortheo@ie.ibm.com)

General Overview

Social systems that need to be analyzed and modelled are becoming increasingly more complex in their structure and interdependencies. This coupled with the increasing capacity of scientific computation, as well as the various modelling techniques, challenges researchers to move towards extremely large scale social systems. Data are being collected and organized into databases at finer levels of granularity and these micro-data can now support individual-based simulations. Likewise computational power is advancing rapidly, so that researchers can now run large-scale micro-simulation models that would not have been computationally executable just a couple of years ago.

The Dynamics Lab at UCD, in collaboration with IBM, is particularly interested in exploring various ICT applications for research on governance and policy modelling within extremely large social networks.  This collaboration links to IBM’s Exascale programme which has the aim to create and evaluate novel ideas to advance the design of extreme scale systems and applications.

Some potential areas for research focus include:

1.      Social Networks and Distributed Collective Decision Making

2.      Self-Organisation through Social Networks for Effective Emergency Response

3.      Social Media, Civil Unrest and Collective Political Mobilisation

4.      Political Blog Communication, Opinion Formation and Leadership

MIT Researchers Create New Urban Network Analysis Toolbox

MIT Researchers Create New Urban Network Analysis Toolbox 
MIT News (09/06/11) Caroline McCall

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers associated with CityForm Research Group have developed an Urban Network Analysis (UNA) toolbox that can help urban designers and planners describe the spatial patterns of cities using mathematical network analysis techniques. "Network centrality measures are useful predictors for a number of interesting urban phenomena," says MIT's Andres Sevtsuk. The new toolbox, which is an open source plug-in for ArcGIS, enables urban designers to compute five types of graph analysis measures on spatial networks, including reach, gravity, betweenness, closeness, and straightness. The tools utilize several features that make network analysis especially suited for urban street networks. The tools account for geometry and distances in the input networks, as well as incorporating buildings, which are used as the spatial units of analysis for all measures. The tools also allow buildings to be weighted based on their particular characteristics, such as volume, population, and general importance. In addition, the toolbox offers a set of analysis options to quantify how centrally each building is positioned in an urban environment and how easily a user can access different amenities from each location.
http://web.mit.edu/press/2011/urban-network-analysis.html

From ACM news via SOCNET via Barry Wellman

Sociology on Twitter

You can use Twitter to follow the latest in the discipline of sociology. There's a consolidator called "This Week in Sociology" (@ThisWeekInSoc) or you can just track the hash tag #sociology. Tweets by the social theory class at Mills are marked #soc116.

A graphic worth studying...

 http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/09/04/opinion/04reich-graphic/04reich-graphic-popup.jpg

Headline: America's Next Top Sociologist (from Slate)

Reblog from Slate
America's Next Top Sociologist 
A daylong photo shoot for Vogue pays only $150, women are like milk cartons, and other insights from the academic study of modeling.
By Libby Copeland 
Posted Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011, at 1:06 PM ET

Ashley Mears wrote a sociological study of fashion models after being oneThere's a long tradition among academics of embedding in an occupation to study it. In the middle of the last century, social psychologist Marie Jahoda worked in an English paper factory to learn about about the lives of factory girls. More recently, sociologist Loïc Wacquant studied boxers by becoming one, while Sudhir Venkatesh spent seven years with a gang in the Chicago projects. One academic worked as a cotton picker, another entered prison as an inmate. Ashley Mears embedded as a model. (Click for more...)

Old articles in JSTOR freed

.@JSTOR Opens Up U.S. Journal Content From Before 1923: http://t.co/xIDzpgo "nearly 500,000 articles from more than 200 journals"” #soc116

Why study geography?

Opportunity to Hear Robert Bellah at UCB

COLLOQUIUM: “Where does Religion Come From?”    Mon. Aug 29^th  2-3:30pm with a reception to follow   (UC Berkeley – 402 Barrows Hall)

The Department of Sociology at UC Berkeley hosts Robert N. Bellah for their first colloquium of the semester. Bellah is Elliott Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Cal and awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Clinton in 2000.  He will speak on the question, “Where does religion come from,” which is a central issue in his just published book, Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age.

Bellah's new book just mentioned is a very ambitious project in the style of Durkheim's Elementary Forms. Were I not teaching, I'd be there!

Full student support for Trustworthy Computing Summer School

Another bit of "what's out there..."

Full student funding for our trustworthy computing summer school is still available, providing for airfare, meals, and lodging! Based on the previous two years, students greatly appreciated and benefited from our program. We again have an exciting set of speakers:

> Boris Balacheff, HP
> Dave Challener, Johns Hopkins
> George Coker, USG
> Michael Donovan, HP
> Virgil Gligor, CMU
> David Grawrock, Intel
> Kari Ti Kostiainen, Nokia
> Fred Leong, USG
> Andrew Martin, Oxford University
> Jon McCune, CMU
> Liam O Murchu, Symantec
> Dimitrios Pendarakis, IBM
> Ron Perez, AMD
> Ariel Segall, MITRE
> Bob Thibadeau, Wave Systems
> Michael Wei, UCSD
>
Please forward this message to students who may be interested in attending. Hope to see you at TIW!

TIW 2011: Third Annual Trusted Infrastructure Workshop: Advanced Summer School on Architectures for Trustworthy Computing 19-23 June 2011, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA, USA http://www.cylab.cmu.edu/tiw

Co-located with TRUST conference 2011: http://www.trust2011.org 4th International Conference on Trust and Trustworthy Computing

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN - access directly or from event website https://web.campusservices.cmu.edu/conferences/registration.taf?ID=2011TIW

*** TIW Overview ***

When IT infrastructure technologies fail to keep pace with emerging threats, we can no longer trust them to sustain the applications we depend on in both business and society at large.

Ranging from Trusted Computing, to machine virtualization, new hardware architectures, and new network security architectures, and the challenges arising from the increasing ubiquity of sensitive operations on mobile devices, trusted infrastructure technologies attempt to place security into the very design of commercial off-the-shelf technologies.

The TIW is an open innovation event modeled as a highly interactive summer school, consisting of lectures, workshops, and other lab sessions.  TIW is a collaboration between government, academia, and industry intended to benefit the cybersecurity research and development agenda by bringing together researchers in the field.  It is aimed at bringing together researchers in the field of IT security with an interest in systems and infrastructure security, as well as MS or PhD students who are new to the field.  Funding is available to support student attendance (see below).

We will have security leaders from academia, government, and industry providing lectures and leading discussions, labs, and research workshops.
>
> *** Agenda Highlights: Lots of new material vs. last year! ***
> - Plenary keynote lecture with TRUST 2011: 4th International
> Conference on Trust and Trustworthy Computing
> http://www.trust2011.org/
> Liam O Murchu - Reverse Engineering the Stuxnet Worm
> - Capture the Flag: hands-on, event-long competition leveraging trusted computing technologies
> - Combined gala dinner with TRUST 2011 attendees
> Learn about the very latest research in the area
> - Social outing: watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play baseball in the world-renowned PNC Park overlooking beautiful downtown Pittsburgh
> - Multiple technology lectures, research workshops, and hands-on labs.
> Learn more about open-source tools that can be used today
>
> For more details on the workshop and how to register, please visit
> http://www.cylab.cmu.edu/tiw

 *** Full support student scholarships available! ***

Sponsors are providing student support in the form of scholarships to aid selected students to attend the workshop. The scholarship includes coverage of all costs of workshop attendance, including airfare (up to $500), lodging, and meals. Interested students should register online and include a brief statement detailing the reason why they would like to attend. While sponsorships are available in priority to students from US academia, a small number of sponsorships can will be given to foreign students, but may not cover full travel or visa fees.


TIW Sponsors:
>
> - Carnegie Mellon CyLab
> - NSF
> - HP Labs
> - Microsoft
> - Google
> - Wave Systems
>
> Contact:
>
> Registration / logistical details: Tina Yankovich
> Technical details: Jonathan McCune
>
> Venue:
>
> CyLab, Carnegie Mellon University
> CIC Building
> 4720 Forbes Avenue
> Pittsburgh, PA 15213
> _______________________________________________

Paid Summer Internship for Student with Programming Skills

Possible job opportunity for a student with some programming skills…

http://www.missionanalyticsgroup.com/node/6

Summer Intern
Mission Analytics Group, Inc. is a new, non-advocacy policy consulting company based in San Francisco. We seek a smart, highly motivated undergraduate or graduate student to help our over-booked team this summer. This paid intern position can be structured to meet the abilities and interests of the selected candidate, but will focus in the areas of developmental disabilities, long-term care, HIV/AIDS or family services. The intern will work with an established team of researchers and analysts. Example responsibilities include statistical programming and data analysis, web-based research, literature review, proposal writing, and development of tables and reports. Skills in other areas such as website design (Drupal highly desirable), graphic design, copy-editing, or geographic information systems (GIS) are highly desirable.

Required Qualifications:

• Coursework in economics, statistics, public policy, biostatistics, public health, or related subject
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Expertise in Excel, PowerPoint, Word

Desirable Qualifications:

• Background in one or more of the following areas: social services for children and youth, developmental disabilities, aging, Medicaid-funded long-term care (institutional and/or community-based)
• Experience in policy research and evaluation or prior work in government
• Experience in statistical programming using SAS or Stata

This is a full-time, temporary position. Time period to be determined, but is expected to fall between April and September. To apply, send cover letter and resume to jobs@Mission-AG.com. Cover letter should indicate preferred start and end dates. Mission Analytics Group runs pre-hire background checks, including employment verification and searches of criminal and civil records. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation or national origin.

Gender Bias, Social Stability, & Violence in China and India

Two Important Social Theorists You May Not Have Met in SOC116

Keynes vs. Hayek Round 2

---

This video is a part of a project called EconStories. I've been thinking about a similar project for sociology. Any takers?

Who is Reading Us?

In the last 24 hours, we've had 40+ readers from:

Los Angeles, California | Santiago, Chile| Santiago De Compostela, Spain | Concepción, Chile | Valdivia, Chile | Portland, Oregon | Waterloo, Belgium | Mount Vernon, New York | Edinburgh, Scotland | State College, Pennsylvania | Norfolk, Virginia | Denmark | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Münster, Germany | Rosny-sous-bois,  France | Dallas, Texas | Rice Lake, Wisconsin | Tokyo Japan | Calabasas, California | Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada | Fukui Japan | Buenos Aires Argentina | Beacon, New York | Scranton, Pennsylvania | Keighley, West Yorkshire United Kingdom | Chicago, Illinois |

Want to become a blogger at Sociology@Mills?  Drop a line: danryan@mills.edu

Harold Garfinkel Dead at 92

It has been reported (use of passive intentional -- I have not located any official announcement or obituary) that the sociologist Harold Garfinkel passed away this week at age 94. Garfinkel founded the school of thought known as "ethnomethodology," the study of the methods people use to account for everyday actions.

The founding text in the field is the 1967 collection Studies in Ethnomethology, an collection of case studies and theoretical essays. Perhaps the most famous of these is "Studies of the Routine Grounds of Everyday Activities."

Even students whose only exposure to sociology is an introductory course probably know of the most famous concept associated with Garfinkel: "breaching experiments" in which tacit and taken-for-granted rules of everyday interaction are exposed by breaking them (a sort of sociological Candid Camera). Facing in rather than out in an elevator may be the most well known (dozens of examples on You-tube).

Garfinkel studied with Talcott Parsons at Harvard in the late 1940s and early 1950s. During this time he encountered several recently immigrated European thinkers, including Alfred Schutz, from whom he learned about new ideas in social theory, psychology and, especially, phenomenology. His ethnomethodology developed somewhat in parallel with Schutz' work as two of the dominant branches in micro-sociology (the other being symbolic interactionism).

Garfinkel's career was spent at UCLA from which he retired in 1987. His most direct legacy today shows up in the fields of conversation analysis and related hyper-micro-sociologies. Many who work in the subfield of symbolic interaction would also cite his work. The painstakingly detailed observation of interaction also appears in research on product design, marketing, and human-machine interface design. His last book Toward a Sociological Theory of Information was published in 2008 but had been written in the 1950s.

Two New Posts at Sociology of Information Blog

No Such Thing as Evanescent Data is about the "revelation" yesterday that iPhones, iPads, and likely other devices store geographic information.

Data Exhaust and Informational Efficiency is about a talk at the Palo Alto Research Center on the concept of "data exhaust" that has direct connections to what we do in the social sciences, interestingly, perhaps archaeology most of all.

Sample Job Ad for Using Sociology or Anthropology Degree

A frequently asked question around here is "what kind of jobs are out there where I can use my sociology degree?"  One answer is "research associate for an applied social science research organization."  The ad below requires slightly more experience than you are likely to have upon graduating with a BA, but it gives you an idea of the repertoire of skills and experience employers like this are looking for.  

For the record, I don't know anything about OMNI, but the list of skills and job activities here is pretty typical for research associate type jobs.

---

OMNI is an applied social science research and training/technical assistance nonprofit agency located in Denver, Colorado.  OMNI promotes a diverse work environment and encourages individuals from all backgrounds to apply. OMNI routinely seeks candidates who are bilingual (Spanish and English-speaking) and who have experience working with Spanish-speaking populations.

OMNI Institute's mission is to contribute to a broader understanding of social issues, help improve the effectiveness of social programs and strategies, strengthen the larger nonprofit and public service infrastructures, and guide the adoption of more effective state and federal social policies through the provision of high-quality, client-centered social science research and evaluation, technical assistance and training services. OMNI is soliciting applications for a Research Associate II to join our staff and contribute to our efforts to improve social conditions through social science research and evaluation. The responsibilities of these positions will involve project management, independent research/evaluation, communication with clients, and oversight of work performed by research assistants, data managers and/or data entry specialists. Starting salary for this position is $38,810.

Research Associate II position has the following requirements:

• A minimum of a BA/BS in a social sciences related field and 5 years experience in research is required. Completion of a Master's degree is preferred and can offset number of years of experience required.
• Experience with project management is required. Experience with client management and staff supervision is preferred.
• Experience with data management, cleaning and restructuring of data as well as a thorough understanding of basic descriptive and inferential statistics is preferred.
• Applicants will be expected to work closely with community partners to collect, report, and use evaluation data. Prior experience is strongly preferred.
• Applicants must have strong analytic, written and verbal communication skills.
• Expertise in at least one of the following areas is required: evaluation methods; statistics; public health and/or epidemiology; substance use prevention; recruitment and collaboration; and data utilization and technical assistance.

OMNI Benefits include a comprehensive healthcare package, eligibility to participate in a 401(k) plan with an employer match, employee wellness program and a dynamic and progressive working environment. Interested persons should send a cover letter that specifies any salary requirements, two areas of expertise (as identified above), and experience in main areas of responsibility including research, project management, and staff supervision. Please include a resume outlining qualifications,work history, and references to:

OMNI Institute Attn:
Human Resources
899 Logan St., Suite 600
Denver, CO 80203-3156
(fax) 303-839-9420 -
Attn: Human Resources or jobs@omni.org (email).

OMNI is an applied social science research and training/technical assistance nonprofit agency located in Denver, Colorado. We have been providing clients with technically sound social science services since 1976. OMNI's client base includes governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and private foundations. OMNI's experience cuts across many fields including community development, public health, early childhood and education, youth development, juvenile and criminal justice, and prevention and treatment of substance abuse. Visit us at www.omni.org.

Collaborate and put your social scientific insight to work?

Innovation Exchange is a worldwide online community of innovators who can use the system to create teams to solve problems for rewards. Most of their "challenges" are about commercial products, others are about public awareness, a few are about public problems. All share the idea that they can be solved by Open Innovation, an idea to keep on your radar screen.

-- DJR (disclosure: I am on their advisory board, contributing ideas about how to form effective teams)

	Hi djjrjr,

The challenge 'Create an advertisement campaign for a small-size car' is ending - and they still need your help! Your idea captured in a 1-2 page document may be all it takes for you to claim this reward. If you have already submitted a solution and want to amend it with any additional information or insight, make sure you post your revised solution by April 15, 2011. Regards, IX Support Team Create an advertisement campaign for a small-size car.  STATUS:     Closing April 15, 2011 REWARD:   $65,000 USD Located in East Asia, this car manufacturing company is looking for an imaginative and persuasive advertisement campaign (TV and print) for its small-size class car. Ranked third in market share, this small-size car has some tough competition to overcome, but the company believes that an advertising campaign that is focused on enjoying good music on its car's premium sound system will set it apart from its competition. With this in mind, they want your great ideas for an advertisement campaign that is witty, sentimental, and sophisticated ... and they need your ideas very quickly!

Next Monday: Briggs on "Moving to Opportunity" at UCB Colloquium

MONDAY April 11th    
BLUMER ROOM – 402 BARROWS HALL
2:00-3:30pm

The Berkeley Sociology Colloquium Series
Spring 2011 Presents:

MOVING TO OPPORTUNITY: What a remarkable social experiment teaches us about theory, research methods and public policy

Xavier de Souza Briggs
Department of Sociology and Urban Planning, MIT
Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the White House

Xav Briggs, who is on leave from MIT, is the only sociologist on President Obama’s senior domestic policy team at The White House. He will discuss lessons and implications of his new book, Moving to Opportunity: The Story of an American Experiment to Fight Ghetto Poverty. Moving to Opportunity tackles one of America's most enduring dilemmas: the unresolved question of how to overcome persistent ghetto poverty. Launched in 1994, the MTO program took a largely untested approach: helping families, on a voluntary basis, to move from high-poverty, inner-city public housing to low-poverty neighborhoods, some in the suburbs. The book's innovative, mixed-method approach emphasizes the voices and choices of the program's participants but also rigorously analyzes the changing structures of regional opportunity and constraint—in housing, education, the labor market, and more—that shaped the fortunes of those who "signed up," regardless of their goals, preferences and choices. It shines a light on the hopes, surprises, achievements, and limitations of a major social experiment, drawing on sociology, economics, social psychology, anthropology, and other disciplines. For all its ambition, MTO is a uniquely American experiment, and the book brings home its powerful lessons for policymakers and advocates, scholars, students, journalists, and all who share a deep concern for opportunity and inequality in our country.

Xavier de Souza Briggs is Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the White House, overseeing a wide array of policy, budget, and management issues for roughly half the cabinet agencies—Commerce, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Justice and Homeland Security—as well as the Small Business Administration, GSA, financial regulators, and other agencies. He is also an Associate Professor of Sociology and Urban Planning (on leave) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His latest book, with co-authors Sue Popkin and John Goering, is Moving to Opportunity: The Story of an American Experiment to Fight Ghetto Poverty (Oxford University Press, 2010).

FYI: Archaeology Summer School

South Africa Paleontology, Paleoanthropology and Paleoecology Summer School through Arizona State

May 21–June 19, 2011 (6 credits)

The Institute of Human Origins in ASU's School of Human Evolution and Social Change, in conjunction with the Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town (UCT), offers an internship focused on the west coast of South Africa. The ASU course co-coordinator is associate professor Kaye Reed, and the UCT course co-coordinator is Dr. Deano Stynder. In the program, students will learn about the ecology, paleoecology, and conservation of the unique habitat of this region; excavate 730,000-year-old fossils; and become familiar with the geology of the area.

For the first two weeks after arrival, you will attend lectures (along with UCT post-graduate students) in the analysis of African fauna at the University of Cape Town. During this time, you will reside in a conveniently located youth hostel and will have the opportunity to explore the sites and sounds of Cape Town on your own time. We leave for the field during the third week. For the next two weeks, we will excavate a newly discovered fossil locality (a series of paleo-hyena dens) that might date to the Middle Pleistocene. This locality is packed with faunal remains; it might even contain hominin remains (Homo heidelbergensis)! You will have ample opportunity to excavate and put into practice your newly acquired faunal identification skills! While in the field, we will live in a spacious house in the seaside village of Strandfontein. During the evenings, you will be expected to assist with the curation of the day's excavated finds and also to attend occasional lectures by staff and visitors.

Agenda

May 21-22:  Arrive in Cape Town

May 23-June 3:  Faunal lectures at the Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town

June 4-18:  Fieldwork at Cliff Point on the west coast of South Africa

June 19:  Program ends

Coursework

Students will receive 6 credits of ASM 338: Anthropological Field Sessions for participation in this program. 

Application Process

(Deadline to apply is April 1, 2011; decision made by April 22, 2011.)

Step 1
Students must submit their application, along with a 1-page, double-spaced statement explaining their academic background/goals, their research interests and why they are interested in participating in this fieldwork experience; they must also turn in an unofficial transcript (available through MyASU). Click here to download the application.

Step 2
Admitted students will be notified whether or not they are accepted into the internship by April 22. Once admitted, students will be required to sign up for the internship program through the Study Abroad office and pay a $100 application fee, which will go towards student health insurance while abroad.

Step 3
Students will sign up for 6 credits of ASM 338 Anthropological Field Sessions and attend a pre-departure orientation.

All materials should be handed to Lexi Shulla, the study abroad program assistant, in SHESC 233. Questions should be directed to shesc.global@asu.edu.

Costs

Below is a list of expected costs.

Program Time	32 Days
Application Deposit and Health Insurance	$120
Required # of Credit Hours	6
ASU In-State Tuition* ASU Out-of-State Tuition (6 credits)*	$2,665 OR $4,741
Health Insurance	Included
Passport	$130
Airfare	~$1,800
Program Fee (includes all accommodations, food while in the field, transportation to internship activities, laboratory supplies and training materials). This will be payable upon arrival at Cape Town.	$1,267
Recommended Allowance for Food while in Cape Town	$400
Recommended Allowance for Other Expenses (laundry, Internet, souvenirs and extra spending)	$400

*Based on 2009-2010 tuition, subject to change. Please check the tuition and fees schedule for the most up-to-date tution prices.

Call for applications opens soon. Places in the program are awarded in the order of application, so early application is always advised to be sure of securing a space. 

LEXI SHULLA

Study Abroad Program Coordinator

School of Human Evolution and Social Change

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Arizona State University | P.O. Box 872402 | Tempe, Arizona 85287-2402

480.965.1366 Fax: 480.965.7671 | e-mail: SHESC.Global@asu.edu

ASU School of Human Evolution and Social Change — Prepare to make a difference

SafeZONE Ally - asu.edu/safezone "Providing a safer, more receptive, and accepting campus climate for members of the LGBTQ Community at ASU"

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.