Planning Camp in Oakland this Saturday

Planningcamp.org is an unconference exploring urban planning, technology, and social change.

This Saturday (Oct 12th), Urban Strategies Council and OpenPlans are excited to bring PlanningCamp to Oakland and the East Bay!  Be there on October 12th if you're working at the intersection of technology and the hard effort of making better cities -- on the technology side, or the planning side, or a bit of both.

To be held at Laney College.

Here are a few of the sessions form the NYC PlanningCamp to whet your appetite:

• NACTO urban street design guide: How do we change the DNA of city streets?
• Gentrification of the waterfront after Sandy in Nook.
• Digital Deserts (infrastructure + adoption + literacy)
• Participatory Budgeting: how can we keep the bad ideas out?
• How can technology build social capital and economic opportunities for low income communities? (brainstorm)
• Lost in Translation—>tools to increase participation among immigrant communities
• Carshare & self driving cars: How do we repurpose the street?
• Measuring the Quality of Bicycle Infrastructure.

PlanningCamp Bay Area will take place at Laney College in the Forum Building, close
to E 10th St. We're just a block away from the Lake Merritt BART, close to AC Transit bus lines, and totally accessible by bike.

register at http://planningcampbayarea.eventbrite.com/

See also: openoakland.org

UC Press Sidewalk Sale Next Week

It’s back! The annual UC Press Sidewalk Sale (née Hurt Book Sale) is going down on the steps of Berkeley Way next Thursday, October 10. Snap up paperbacks like Seth Holmes’ Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States for $5 and hardcovers like Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu for just $10. Some books have little dings and scratches on them (which is why they’re “hurt”); others are like new. All books deserve a good home, we say. Arrive early for the best selection!

D Lab at Berkeley to Offer Intermediate R Workshops

D-Lab @DLabAtBerkeley

Intermediate R - 3 new #rstats training offerings Tuesdays in Oct & Nov dlab.berkeley.edu/training

Other workshops too.

Designers + Policy Analysis = Improved Public Conversation about Issues

An interesting project that brings graphic designers together with policy analysts to improve public knowledge about important issues.

 

Paid Internship in Program Evaluation at Wikimedia Foundation

The team at the Wikimedia Foundation is looking to bring on an intern for 3-6 months part time (with potential for a full time internship depending on the work load). This is a paid internship. You'd be working closely with me and my teammate, Jaime. Please forward! 

You can learn more here: http://hire.jobvite.com/Jobvite/Job.aspx?b=nsA6clwa&j=ovdRXfwg

Description:

The Wikimedia Foundation, the non‐profit organization behind Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, is looking for an intern for the Programs Department. If you’re a current student of social sciences, have experience in evaluating programs or projects, and if you have a background in working with statistical data, we can provide you with an immersive in‐house experience over the course of three to six months. Interns selected would work half‐time at the Foundation’s downtown San Francisco office (we will also consider applications for full‐time work on a case‐by‐case basis).

What to expect:

This year, the Wikimedia Foundation started the Wikimedia movement’s first initiative on systematically evaluating the effectiveness and impact of different programs across countries. Programs include "Wiki Loves Monuments", a public photo competition around cultural heritage monuments, "Wikipedia Education Program", using Wikipedia as a teaching tool in universities around the world, Wikipedia Edit-a-thons and workshops, on-wiki contests, and a large number of other, volunteer-driven initiatives that aim at growing the amount of freely accessible online information. Our goal is to empower Wikimedia Chapters and individual volunteers to evaluate their own programs and programmatic activities in order to increase impact through ongoing analysis and shared learning.

As an intern to the Programs Department you would be

• Extracting and summarizing data from evaluation reports;
• Helping to coordinate data submissions by grantees (across different countries);
• Creating data tables and graphs;
• Participating in team meetings of the Program Evaluation and Design Team;
• Learning about the diverse and international world of Wikipedia and its sister projects;
• Getting insight into the many programs and projects created and executed by volunteers around the globe.

An ideal candidate has:

• High energy for and commitment to the Wikimedia Foundation’s free knowledge mission.
• The strong ability to analyze and synthesize quantitative and qualitative data from different sources, and proven ability to create simple, meaningful tables and graphs.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills and interpersonal skills.
• The ability to excel in a fast‐paced, multitasking environment that demands fast turn‐around.
• Intellectual curiosity and flexibility that makes them enjoy tackling difficult and ambiguous problems in creative ways. Students with strong research backgrounds are preferred.
• The ability to flourish in a highly transparent and collaborative environment and work on a team with diverse demographic and cultural characteristics.

This is a paid internship. When the opportunity exists, we will work with an intern’s university to facilitate earning academic credits.

Application Details:
Please submit a cover letter (including information about your possible start date) and a resume.

The Wikimedia Foundation values and promotes diversity. We invite applications from candidates regardless of race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, age, or disability.

Ethnography at Facebook

Design & User Experience

Ethnographer

Menlo Park, CA

Facebook aims to connect the world in a big way, across all cultures and creeds, cities and countrysides. And to do that successfully, we need to understand the unique character of all those communities: what Facebook means or could mean to each of them, what themes are common across them, what themes are unique to each, and how best to make our products and technology work for all of them. Come join a diverse and collaborative team of researchers who work to make the best social platform for Facebook’s billion+ users. For this position we are looking for an experienced ethnographer to help drive us towards this mission, where success rests largely on the careful understanding of its social, human element. The ideal candidate will have an extensive background conducting research, especially in international/developing markets.

Responsibilities

• Partner with a diverse team to identify research topics
• Design the strategy and methodology for ethnographic research relevant to all initiatives within Growth and Analytics
• Generate insights that inspire design, improve the user experience, and help unlock the potential of Facebook
• Work cross-functionally with design, product management, content strategy, engineering, and marketing
• Understand the diverse cultural norms, needs, and perceptions present among these different communities. Seek opportunities to translate and raise awareness of these factors among internal teams, particularly where they defy conventional understanding.
• Deliver actionable research insights that make the Facebook user experience measurably better

Requirements

• 3+ years conducting ethnographic research
• Command of a broad set of qualitative and user-centered design methods
• Compelling verbal and visual communication
• Ability to ask, as well as answer, meaningful and impactful questions
• Experience working with design and product teams
• Master’s or Ph.D. in Human Computer Interaction, Cognitive or Experimental Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology or a related field

Apply now

Summer Internship | Religion and the Public Sphere

Summary

The Social Science Research Council (SSRC), an independent, nonprofit international organization devoted to the advancement of interdisciplinary research in the social sciences, seeks a summer 2013 intern for the Religion and the Public Sphere Program.

Description

The Religion and the Public Sphere Program aims to foster innovative research on questions concerning religion, secularism, and related themes, especially in regard to their impact on contemporary public life; to encourage exchanges and collaborations between scholars working on these and similar topics across disciplinary boundaries; and to inform and elevate public discourse by disseminating rigorous and research-based social science in an accessible form and through innovative and catalytic media.

The intern will assist with the Religion Program’s ongoing projects and digital forums, including The Immanent Frame and Reverberations, and will be expected to work at the SSRC’s Brooklyn Heights office for approximately twenty hours per week for three months (June–August). This is an unpaid internship, with a monthly stipend for travel and expenses.

Qualifications

Applicants should be current undergraduates or recent graduates in the social sciences or humanities, preferably with an interest in religion, and should have

• strong writing and editorial skills, as well as excellent organizational abilities and attention to detail;

• experience with publicity efforts, including through social networks; and

• proficiency with web publishing platforms and Internet resources (familiarity with HTML being a plus).

Responsibilities

• Work closely with program staff to help conceive and implement publicity efforts.

• Manage social networking and e-mail campaigns in promotion of noteworthy project developments, as well as regular Twitter and Facebook activity.

• Help expand and organize our academic, media, and public contact lists.

• Copyedit and edit according to the standards of the Chicago Manual of Style, the APA, the MLA, and other sources.

• Provide assistance with the day-to-day maintenance of The Immanent Frame and Reverberations.

Terms, Salary and Benefits

While this is an unpaid internship, we provide a monthly stipend for travel and expenses.

Application Information

Please send a resume and cover letter to applications@ssrc.org (with “Religion Summer Intern” in the subject line of your e-mail).

The SSRC is an equal opportunity employer.