The views and opinions expressed on this site and blog posts (excluding comments on blog posts left by others) are entirely my own and do not represent those of any employer or organization with whom I am currently or previously have been associated.
Academic Version: Applying my personal experiences and academic research as a professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies to provide a more complete understanding of political, economic, and cultural issues and current events related to American race relations, and Asia/Asian America in particular.
Plain English: Trying to put my Ph.D. to good use.
Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues, with a particular focus on Asian Americans. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.
Migration, Ethnicity, and Urban Inequality in Europe
Graduate Student Conference
UCLA
March 2-3, 2012
Organized by:
UCLA Center for European and Eurasian Studies
UCLA Program on International Migration
Department of Sociology
Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences
Over the past several decades, Europe and North America have been at once confronted and transformed by the advent of large-scale international migration. While the migrants may sometimes have been wanted, they have rarely been welcomed, with frontiers made ever tighter, a change to which migrants have responded by finding new ways of crossing borders. While issues of border management, smuggling, and trafficking have become increasingly important, control policies have had limited effect, with the result that both irregular migrants and efforts to police them are pervasive.
In addition, the countries of immigration find problems taking new form, as the migrants’ children have come of age, often understanding themselves as members of the societies in which they have grown up, and yet finding themselves not fully accepted. The challenge of incorporation has been heightened by a complex set of factors. First, immigrant-origin populations have responded to their situation in a variety of ways, whether through protest, the development of new ethnic and religious identities, or more conventional forms of political mobilization and engagement.
Second, exclusion has taken new form, driven by growing levels of inequality, changes in the fabric of urban areas, and the expansion of non-standard or precarious employment. Simultaneously, migration is feeding back to sending countries, whether through migrants’ remittances, investments, or political engagements, activities which complicate incorporation trajectories in the destination countries.
These are the topics to be discussed at a graduate student conference, to be held at UCLA on March 2-3, 2012. Part of an effort to both build an interdisciplinary network of young researchers and to begin a trans-Atlantic conversation, the conference is organized by the UCLA Center for European and Eurasian Studies and the interdisciplinary Program on International Migration, in cooperation with the the Department of Sociology at Sciences Po and the Berlin Graduate School of Social Science.
Up to 10 partially-funded invitations will be made to North American (US and Canadian based) graduate researchers to present a paper and participate in a two day conference with faculty and graduate students from UCLA, Sciences Po, and the Berlin Graduate School of Social Science. Commentary, advice, and discussion will be offered to help authors develop their papers for journal publication. The bulk of the conference time will take place in workshop sessions, each of which will feature three presentations by graduate students and a comment by a faculty member. All papers will be available beforehand on a password protected webpage.
Researchers working on European aspects of migration, ethnicity, and urban inequality are invited. We welcome papers from a broad variety
of disciplines, including anthropology, economics, geography, law, political science, sociology, urban studies, women’s studies, addressing any one of the topics below:
Incorporation of the first, second, and later immigrant generations
New forms of urban, ethnic protest and mobilization
Policies and implementation of policing, security, control and border management issues
International legal and human rights issues in the management of new migration in Europe
Ethnographies of mobility, trafficking, labor migration and refugee movements into Europe from Eurasia, the Balkans, the Middle East or Africa
Cross-border connections: remittances, investment, politics, development
Ethnic and racial inequality: education, labor market and housing
Ethnic and racial categorization
The conference will take place at UCLA. Invited participants will be offered 3 nights accommodation in Westwood in a shared room, together
with a fixed rate contribution to their travel costs according to distance (max $500 each). Sending institutions will be invited to contribute partially to funding their students.
Interested participants should submit an application, including a 750 word abstract (max), a one-page short c.v., and an airfare estimate, to be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a faculty advisor. Applications must be submitted by no later than January 1, 2012. Applications will be taken electronically at the following site: http://apply.international.ucla.edu/?cees. Invitations will be sent by January 15. Completed papers must be delivered by February 10.
John Moy & Southwest Airlines Congressional Internship
The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is now accepting applications for the John Moy & Southwest Airlines Congressional Internship program. During the program’s inaugural cycle in Summer 2011, interns were placed in the offices of Representatives Xavier Becerra (CA-31) and Mike Honda (CA-15). JACL is proud to continue providing experience-based training for emerging young leaders through this program.
Duties and responsibilities will be outlined by the congressional member’s office in which the intern is placed. Placement offices have yet to be determined. Congressional interns will have a unique opportunity to experience the policymaking process and gain exposure to Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) issues.
This internship program is made possible by a generous donation from John Moy, longtime supporter and member of JACL, and roundtrip tickets provided by JACL’s official airline, Southwest Airlines.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis for two eight-week, paid internships beginning in Winter 2012. Preference will be given to rising undergraduate juniors and seniors and recent graduates. If you have any questions, please contact (202) 223-1240 or policy@jacl.org.
Internship: International Leadership Foundation
The International Leadership Foundation promotes the civic awareness, public service and economic effectiveness of the Asian Pacific American community and develops young leaders in the United States and other Pacific Rim countries in the fields of public service, entrepreneurship and the international arena through a network of business and community leaders. ILF has provided scholarships, educational seminars and leadership training for over 1,000 select college students from across the country and placed them in structured internships in government agencies for the past 10 years.
Our partner federal agencies are focusing on “STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathmatics — to include finance and accounting) for their summer interns. Students studying in these fields are especially encouraged to apply. ILF welcomes applications from all students seeking federal government experience.
ILF is accepting applications for the 2012 Civic Fellowship program. The eight week internship program will begin June 11, 2012. ILF has provided scholarships, educational seminars and leadership training for over 500 Asian American college students from across the country and placed them in structured internships in government agencies and the private sector.
For the thirteenth year, the International Leadership Foundation (ILF) will award over 30 fellowships to Asian Pacific American college students who exhibit the qualities for and potential as future business, community, or professional leaders. The ILF Civic Fellows will spend eight weeks in the summer interning for a federal government agency in Washington, DC and gaining firsthand knowledge of the workings of the American government. Any Asian Pacific American undergraduate student with at least a 3.0 GPA is eligible to apply. Applicants must be United States citizens. Interested students can visit ILF’s website to apply and obtain more information.
The Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) is currently accepting applicants for its 2012 Summer Internship Program in Washington, DC.
The APAICS Summer Internship Program provides select undergraduate students the opportunity to experience American politics and public policy. During the eight-week program, APAICS Summer Interns are placed in the U.S. Congress, federal agencies, or partner Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) non-profit organizations. APAICS Interns have the opportunity to engage in leadership and relationship-building events to foster a strong interest in public service.
To apply for the 2012 APAICS Summer Internship Program, please fill out the 2012 APAICS Internship Program Application here: http://bit.ly/APAICSSummerInternshipApplication2012. For additional information, please contact our Program Director, Laila Mohib at Internship@apaics.org or 202-296-9200.
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)
Queer Asian Internships
Winter/ Spring 2012
The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) is a federation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations. We seek to build the organizational capacity of local LGBT AAPI groups, develop leadership, promote visibility, educate our community, enhance grassroots organizing, expand collaborations, and challenge homophobia and racism.
NQAPIA is seeking talented young people for internships in the following:
National Conference Planning
Interns will assist in administration, programming, communications, and outreach for a national, pan-ethnic, multi-gender conference for LGBT AAPIs and their networks. The conference will be held in the Washington, DC area July 2012.
National Advocacy for LGBT AAPIs
Interns will attend high level national policy meetings, congressional briefings, and other events to raise the concerns of LGBTs in mainstream civil rights issues, and of AAPIs in LGBT rights issues. Interns will assist in coordinating a national conference of grassroots LGBT AAPI activists from across the nation to educate the community on policy matters.
LGBT Immigrants’ Rights and Immigration Reform
The intern will work directly with queer Asian immigrants and media professionals to develop testimonials and personal narratives that can be posted on websites, printed for publication, and developed for audio and video distribution. The goal is to bring the real lives of queer Asian immigrants to the fore and to inspire others to come out and take action. The intern will also assist in coordinating community press conferences and other community meetings.
Federation of AAPI LGBT Organizations
NQAPIA serves as a national convenor for LGBT AAPI communities and organizations. Interns will support national efforts to reach out to LGBT AAPI organizations and initiatives to coordinate activity to build capacity and to amplify their voice.
Capacity Building Resources, Workshops, and Trainings
Interns will also have an opportunity to participate in developing an organizational tool kit with best practices and model documents; special trainings/workshops; being a voice for LGBT AAPI on current issues, and explore ways to promote LGBT AAPI engagement.
Description of Internships
The intern will learn strategies in using public policy, grassroots organizing, and the media to advance social justice. Interns are supervised by NQAPIA professional staff. Interns work primarily on research and writing, policy advocacy, community outreach and organizing.
These internships are not paid positions, but academic credit can be arranged. During the winter and spring, interns work anywhere between 15-40 hours per week. Internships are usually about ten weeks.
To Apply:
Any bilingual ability should be stated in the resume. Bilingual ability is helpful but not required. Applications should also state the number of hours the intern is able to work per week. Send a resume and cover letter to:
NQAPIA Intern Search
1322 18th Street, NW Washington, DC
Email: nqapia@gmail.com
Electronic submissions strongly preferred. Please write: “Intern Applicant” in the Subject.
For more information, contact Ben de Guzman at ben_deguzman@nqapia.org or 202-422-4909.
Undergraduate Research Forum, Asian American Studies, UPenn
Faces of Asian America: The First Undergraduate Research Forum on Asian American Studies
Deadline: March 17, 2012
Where: University of Pennsylvania
Please submit your original work to the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania for their Faces of Asian America: The First Undergraduate Research Forum on Asian American Studies on March 17, 2012. The Research Forum explores the issues surrounding the Asian American experience with the goal of promoting a more profound understanding of Asian America. Faces of Asian America welcomes research from all disciplines including but not limited to History, Literature, Sociology, and Cinema.
All students are invited to enter their work such as papers from current or past academic courses or independent study. All submitted research will be reviewed by a panel, and twelve outstanding papers will be selected to participate at the Forum. One exceptional work will be selected for an award of $300.
Dr. Elaine Kim will be their Keynote Speaker for the event. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP here. If you are also interested in submitting your work, please send it to upennasam@gmail.com. For questions or concerns, please email Susan Hirai at hirai@sas.upenn.edu.
Position: Director, Asian/Asian American Studies, Syracuse
Syracuse University seeks nominations and applications for the position of Director, Asian/Asian- American Studies, an interdisciplinary program housed in The College of Arts and Sciences. The successful candidate will be a senior tenured professor who demonstrates a strong commitment to teaching, advising students, and conducting a serious research agenda in an area of Asian-American Studies that is consistent with the University’s vision of “Scholarship in Action.†The specific research area and discipline of the Director is open.
The charge for the Director is to lead this quickly growing interdisciplinary program in Asian/Asian- American Studies, which recently established a minor in the curriculum of The College of Arts and Sciences but is available for every undergraduate major at Syracuse University. There are currently over 30 courses offered on campus and abroad that contribute to this minor. More courses are expected, and the potential to offer a major in Asian/Asian-American Studies within a few years is extremely strong. The Director will provide local and national leadership in the field of Asian/Asian-American studies; identify areas of future growth; coordinate the curriculum offered by faculty members in this area; and work to enhance the profile of the program.
A spirit of creativity, ingenuity, collaboration, and an entrepreneurial approach to leadership are essential qualities for the Director. S/he must be a strong leader and a believer in collaborative decision-making and open communication. The Director will teach undergraduate courses in the Program, coordinate courses that contribute to the Program, work to develop the Program, and advise students who are interested in this area of study.
For full consideration candidates should complete an online Dean/ Senior Executive/Faculty application at www.sujobopps.com for job # 028604 and attach curriculum vitae with a list of 3 references, statement of teaching philosophy, cover letter describing your history in Asian/Asian American Studies. The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications on February 10, 2012 and continue until the position is filled. Inquiries regarding the position may be directed to the search committee chair, Gina Lee- Glauser, Vice President for Research (315-443-2492; leeglaug@syr.edu).
Below is an announcement about a research project and online survey in need of Asian American respondents. As always, this announcement is provided for informational purposes only and does not necessarily imply an endorsement of the research project.
Hello,
My name is Danielle Godon, and I am pursuing my M.A. in psychology at Mount Holyoke College. I would like to invite Korean adoptees to participate in a study that focuses on sense of belonging to one’s birth and adoptive groups.
Being a Korean adoptee myself, I know what it is like to look one way, but sometimes feel another way. For my thesis, I am exploring how we navigate between feelings of similarity and difference. Since past studies have indicated some Korean adoptees feel like outsiders amongst both White people and Korean people, I hope to discover factors that facilitate positive interpretations of difference.
I am looking for people who were adopted from Korea, by a White parent or parents, to participate in an online survey that takes about 30 minutes to complete. To compensate you for your time, at the end of the survey, you will have the option to be entered into three raffles for $50 each. Here is the link if you are interested: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QC2KXZ2.
Thank you very much for considering my request. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to email me (godon22d@mtholyoke.edu). If you have children, friends, family, etc. who might be willing to complete this survey, please send them the link!
Last week, the U.S. commemorated the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese military that led to the U.S.’s entry into World War II. Of course, the attack was a watershed moment in U.S. history — Japan’s unjustified and heinous act led to the deaths of 3,000 human beings, united the U.S. like never before, and in the end, was the start of Japan’s downfall as a imperial military power.
Unfortunately, the Pearl Harbor attacks also prompted the U.S. government to strip 120,000 Japanese Americans of their legal rights and imprison them without any due process, based largely on the “fear” that Japanese Americans would be loyal to Japan and engage in espionage or treason against their adopted U.S. homeland.
This entire “internment” episode has been recounted and analyzed over the years, most notably by the bipartisan Congressional “Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians,” which ultimately conducted a thorough investigation and in their final report titled “Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians,” finally concluded that the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II was a “grave injustice” and resulted from “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.” Congress then approved and distributed a reparation payment of $20,000 to all surviving Japanese Americans who were imprisoned. To my knowledge, this is the only instance in which the U.S. government has officially apologized and provided monetary reparations to any of the injustices that they’ve committed in its history.
As it turns out, this week’s anniversary commemoration unfortunately prompted some to once again bring up the old argument that there was a logical rationale to the U.S.’s imprisonment of Japanese Americans, or that it was even completely justified. For example, in a museum review of Heart Mountain Interpretive Center (in Wyoming, site of one of the prison camps) in the Dec. 9, 2011 edition of the New York Times, ‘art critic’ Edward Rothstein engages in such musings.
Specifically, Rothstein uses a few historical examples of misdeeds by Japanese and Japanese Americans to argue that “the threat was palpable” and that therefore, there was a “rationale” for the U.S.’s subsequent imprisonment of 120,000 Japanese Americans. While Rothstein does state, “I am not suggesting that such factors justified the relocations,” the tone of his piece displays an ignorant accounting of the entire collection of historical facts surrounding how isolated incidents of Japanese and Japanese Americans misdeeds were exaggerated and generalized to an entire population, how many allegations of espionage and sabotage by Japanese Americans were never substantiated and even completely fabricated, and how similar and even more pernicious acts by Germans and German Americans were largely ignored.
Unfortunately, Rothstein’s piece is a sad example of selective memory, if not outright revisionist history. The examples he cited as providing “rationale” for the mass imprisonment are of dubious historical accuracy and value and even if valid, only reinforce and perpetuate the tired notion that the acts of a few can be taken out of context and generalized to an entire population. In response to Rothstein, I would like to share the responses of some of my colleagues who provide a more clear and comprehensive picture of the supposed “palpable” threat of Japanese Americans after the Pearl Harbor attacks:
In his attempt to understand the wartime removal of Japanese Americans, Edward Rothstein (“the How of Internment, but not all the Whys”, NYT, December 9) repeats a set of falsehoods and distortions about its causes. He insists that because Japan engaged in widespread espionage, and decoded Japanese messages (in reality a mere handful) spoke of contacts, surely Japanese Americans were implicated in espionage. In fact, Tokyo’s spymasters shied away from using Americans of Japanese ancestry, whose loyalty to Japan they rightly suspected, and made use of non-Japanese. Col. Kenneth Ringle, the prewar agent of the Office of Naval Information who broke the most important Japanese spy ring in Los Angeles and was in a position to know the facts, was an outspoken defender of the loyalty of Japanese Americans.
Similarly, Rothstein declares that the Japanese “threat was palpable” since a Japanese submarine had sunk American shops and shelled a California oil field. In fact, only a single American ship was sunk, compared to the hundreds sunk by German submarines off the East Coast, and the single shelling incident took place after the order to remove Japanese Americans had already been issued. Worse, Rothstein argues that the “treasonous” conduct of a Nisei couple in Hawaii validated the fears of government authorities about West Coast Japanese Americans. The absurdity of this statement is easily demonstrated by the fact that there was no mass roundup of the large Japanese community in Hawaii itself.
Although he insists that he is not justifying removal, cultural critic Rothstein sadly displays not only a carelessness toward history, but reveals how much the baseless ideas about “Japanese” disloyalty that led to mass removal still remain in the culture.
I write this disappointed letter in response to Edward Rothstein’s December 9, 2011 piece, “The How of an Internment, but Not All the Whys.” Notwithstanding the express reason for this piece (as a review), I was particularly struck by Mr. Rothstein’s incomplete and incendiary reading of not only U.S. history but Japanese American history. Dismissing the “now standard” evaluation of the internment as the “result of wartime hysteria and racism,” Mr. Rothstein offers an allegedly “clearer understanding of the prewar Japanese-American population” rooted in familiar characterizations of yellow peril takeovers, perpetual foreign frames, and traitorous subjects. What is especially remarkable and distressing is that Mr. Rothstein manages – quite irresponsibly — to take NYT readers “back in time” to aforementioned “wartime hysteria and racism.”
Cathy J. Schlund-Vials
Assistant Professor, English and Asian American Studies
University of Connecticut
I teach Asian American Studies to graduates of this city’s k-12 system, and I am continuously disheartened by the many young people who have never heard of Japanese American internment, or, if they have, possess no meaningful understanding of the nature of the event. With that lack of information in mind, I was appalled to see your paper repeat long since discredited misinformation in apparent disregard for rigorous scholarly work, and the trauma inflicted upon thousands upon thousands of individuals and families who did nothing but look like “the enemy.” Despite his assurance to the contrary, Edward Rothstein’s review of the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center implies that we should explore long since debunked (dare I say “fringe”) theories that justify the racial stereotype of Japanese Americans as inherently treasonous, and thereby make excuses for what scholars agree is a racially motivated and shameful event in U.S. civil rights history.
Jennifer Hayashida
Director, Asian American Studies Program
Hunter College, City University of New York
In Edward Rothstein’s review of the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center (“the How of Internment, but not all the Whys”, NYT, December 9) he declares that the unconstitutional incarceration of over 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry was “a geographic rationale, not simply a racial one.” Yet Mr. Rothstein fails to account for the fact that mass removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans did not occur at the site that propelled the U.S. into WWII—Hawaii. Indeed, all reputable scholars of the Japanese American Internment note that it was war time xenophobia and racism that spurred Executive Order 9066—an order that never specified ethnic ancestry and that effectively nullified the constitutional rights of every person living on the West Coast during WWII. FDR ordered the military to target Japanese Americans using EO9066. If that’s not a racial rationale, I’m not sure what is.
Jennifer Ho
Associate Professor
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Unfortunately, as a country, we are now poised to repeat the same mistake that was committed 70 years against Japanese Americans. Specifically, Congress is currently debating the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2013. One of the proposed provisions is to give U.S. government authorities the ability to arrest and indefinitely detain anybody who they deem to be a threat to national security — including U.S. citizens — without charging them with a crime or giving them a trial. In other words, it would basically legalize what happened to Japanese Americans after the Pearl Harbor attacks.
Fortunately, there is opposition to these provisions from both sides of the political spectrum. If you also oppose these provisions, I urge you to contact your Representative and Senator and tell them to vote against these provisions. As George Santayana’s quote goes, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
As 2011 comes to an end, once again I look back at the major events, developments, and trends in U.S. racial/ethnic relations during the past year and focus on some of the positive highlights as well as the setbacks in terms of achieving racial/ethnic equality and justice, with a particular focus on Asian Americans (my area of expertise). This list is not meant to be an exhaustive review of all racial/ethnic news in 2011, but rather the ones that I covered in this blog and ones that I believe have the most sociological significance.
Thoughts on the ‘Tiger Mother’ Controversy The firestorm over Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother book highlights some key lessons for Asian Americans and non-Asians in terms of parenting and cultural differences.
Happy 10th Birthday to Asian-Nation Reflections on where this website and blog has been as I celebrate the 10th birthday of Asian-Nation.org.
Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.
Define American Campaign Manager Define American is changing the way we think and talk about immigration. Our mission: change the public conversation by reaching new audiences with fresh content about, and by, immigrants and their champions.
About Us:
We’re a unique social media campaign launched in June 2011 that is already creating dramatic waves across the country. We draw on the stories of immigrants and their non-immigrant champions – telling the untold truths about how our nation’s immigration is impacting real communities. The effort was launched by a small team of dynamic leaders, inspired by our co-founder Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer prize winning former journalist, who “came out†as an undocumented immigrant in a courageous piece in the New York Times Magazine. Unlike many non-profits that want to live forever, we are hoping to be so successful that we work ourselves out of existence.
About You:
You are a fierce self-starter with black-belt multi-tasking ability. You are tenacious, and ambitious, and somehow, maintain an ability to laugh at yourself. You can work remotely and still drive the project forward. You know how to tell stories and produce content. You’re able to manage big personalities and balance competing interests. You’re able to think creatively and outside-the-box about everything, but particularly immigration. You have a start-up attitude that is less Washington-centric and more mainstream-pop culture-social media savant.
Let’s be honest: This job is an all-consuming, multi-layered position that will require your utmost focus and commitment. We know we’re coming on strong, but if you’re hungry to make a mark and help own one of the most exciting movements of our time, then we know you’re picking up what we’re putting down.
Responsibilities:
Work with Executive Team to determine priorities and implement Define American’s overall strategy for promoting a new national conversation around immigration
Manage daily operations including relationship with Tides Center
Manage a growing team of interns, volunteers and support staff
Initiate, plan, and coordinate public events that encourage a public dialogue on immigration
Plan and coordinate private meetings with opinion leaders and key stakeholders
Manage production and dissemination of written and video content for DefineAmerican.com and social media collateral
Work in coalition with other organizations with related interests
Manage incoming requests for partnership, events, etc.
Establish work flow systems and process to manage the work of multiple team members
Requirements and Qualifications:
Experience and demonstrated creativity with campaigns, organizing and communications
Exceptional project and time management skills – with the ability to balance multiple projects at once
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with an emphasis on editing and writing for the web
Team management experience, and ability to manage up
Proficiency in social media tools and web-centric communities (such as list-serves and other groups)
Demonstrated knowledge of immigration reform and commitment to Define American’s goals
Physical Demands:
(These physical demands are representative of the physical requirements necessary for an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the described essential functions of the job.)
Requires sitting, talking, keying and/or listening for up to 5 hours per day
Standing and moving for up to 3 hours per day, reaching with hands and arms for up to 3 hours per day
An average of 3-5 hours per day spent at computer
Occasional stooping, kneeling, crouching or crawling and lifting up to 25 pounds
Requires moving from place to place, sitting, and talking for 5+ hours per day
Define American, a project of Tides Center, is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage and seek applications from women, people of color, including bilingual and bicultural individuals, as well as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, medical condition (cancer-related) or conditions Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and AIDS-related conditions (ARC). Reasonable accommodation will be made so that qualified disabled applicants may participate in the application process. Please advise in writing of special needs at the time of application.
To Apply:
Please send a letter of intent outlining who you are, why you do what you do, what are you most proud of, how you fit into this conversation and how you will expand it, along with your resume to jobs@defineamerican.com by December 3rd, 2011. Salary commensurate with experience. Competitive benefits package.
Position: Sociology, State Univ. of New York, Plattsburgh
The Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the State University of
New York College at Plattsburgh is seeking an Assistant Professor in Sociology, effective fall 2012.
Responsibilities include: The successful candidate must be well qualified to teach in two or more of the following areas: qualitative methods, race & ethnicity, gender, globalization, or social stratification. Teaching will occasionally include the introductory course in sociology. Responsibilities also include engaging in scholarly work, student advising, and department
and university service.
Required Qualifications: Ph.D. in Sociology from an accredited institution required. ABD’s will be considered for appointment at a lesser rank. Evidence of promise in teaching, scholarship, and service.
Salary: $45,000 per year minimum, plus excellent benefits. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Materials received by January 16, 2012 will be guaranteed full consideration. Please apply to http://jobs.plattsburgh.edu/postings/3029 and include CV, cover letter of interest, evidence of teaching effectiveness and contact information for 3 current references. Official transcripts from an accredited institution will be required prior to employment.
The Washington Leadership Program (WLP) is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications from high-potential South Asian college students for the 2012 summer leadership program scheduled to take place from June 9, 2012 to August 3, 2012. The WLP cultivates the South Asian American community’s next generation of leaders by placing them in Congressional offices or Government Agencies for eight-week summer internships and a structured leadership-training curriculum. The students gain a firsthand view of the policy-making and legislative process, as well as gain access to high-profile South-Asian leaders in the nation’s capitol. Applications are available online. The deadline for submitting applications is January 20, 2012.
All students who are either US citizens or legal permanent residents are encouraged to apply. Selection to the WLP is highly competitive and not limited to students pursuing majors in social sciences. The backgrounds of past participants have ranged from medical school to art and business.
Interns will receive a total stipend of $1,500 and will be required to complete 2-3 short writing assignments during the internship.
The WLP has over 180 alumni who have interned for notable elected officials including Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN), and Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-LA). Alumni from the program have gone on to win Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, and Mitchell Scholarships, as well as acceptances into top-flight medical, law, public policy, and other post-graduate programs. Several alums are currently senior advisors to government officials, and one is an elected representative from the State of Maryland.
The original program built a strong reputation on both the Hill and in the community and continues to receive favorable reviews from former participants. Former House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) called the WLP “the best program of its kind on the Hill.” The program has continued to receive generous support from alumni, the community-at-large, and community organizations and corporations.
The National Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) has kicked off its Scholarship Program for the 2012 academic year. The JACL offers over 30 awards, with an annual total of over $70,000 in scholarships. Awards are available in the following categories: Freshman, Undergraduate, Graduate, Law, Creative & Performing Arts, and Financial Aid.
The 2012 National JACL Scholarship Program informational brochure and applications were recently posted on the JACL website.
Freshman applications are to be submitted to the applicant’s local JACL Chapter by March 1, 2012. The chapters shall then review the applications and forward the “outstanding” ones to the National JACL Freshman Scholarship Committee (c/o Salt Lake City JACL, P.O. Box 584, Salt Lake City, UT 84110) by April 1, 2012.
All other National JACL Scholarship applications are to be sent directly by the applicants to: National JACL Scholarship Program, c/o Portland JACL, P.O. Box 86310, Portland, OR 97286. The deadline for these applications is April 1, 2012. For additional information regarding the JACL National Scholarship Program, please contact JACL Regional Director Patty Wada at (415) 345-1075, jacl-ncwnpro@msn.com or Jason Chang, National JACL Vice President for Planning & Development, at vpp-d@jacl.org.
Positions: MinKwon Center for Community Action
The MinKwon Center for Community Action (formerly YKASEC) was established in 1984 to meet the needs and concerns of the Korean American community through our five program areas: Community Organizing and Advocacy, Social Services, Civic Participation, Youth, and Culture. Since our founding, we have made a profound presence in the Korean American community through various grassroots organizing, education, and advocacy initiatives that address important community issues, including immigration policies at the national, state and city levels, voter rights, and cultural awareness.
The MinKwon Center places a special emphasis on meeting the needs of our marginalized community members who have less access to resources, including the youth, the elderly, recent immigrants, low-income residents, and limited English proficient residents.
Our goals are to educate community members about issues that are impacting immigrant communities, including the Korean American community; to increase Korean American civic participation and to promote immigrant rights through long-term organizing, advocacy and education programs; to serve the marginalized members of our community through various social service programs; and to preserve our cultural roots by involving members of our community in projects that promote our ethnic and cultural heritage.
Open Position #1: Advocacy & Organizing Director (Full-Time)
The Advocacy & Organizing Director would help lead our Advocacy and Community Organizing Program to engage in advocacy campaigns on issues such as comprehensive immigration reform, fairer allocation of city and state budgets and other social justice issues; and to develop an informed, active base of community members engaged on these issues. The Director would have the following specific responsibilities:
Work closely with senior-level staff and Board to plan, develop and strengthen both existing and new campaigns
Represent MinKwon and play leadership role in meetings with other coalition groups on joint campaigns
Supervise and work closely with MinKwon’s Community Organizers
Work with organizers to engage in intensive outreach to Korean community members
Mobilize community members to participate in MinKwon campaign events
Work with Organizers to develop members’ leadership’ abilities, coordinate regular member meetings, and track members contacts in our membership database
Speak at rallies, campaigns and media appearances on behalf of organization
Work closely with development staff & Administrative Director on grant reports & applications
Job Requirements/Candidates will be evaluated on the basis of the following:
Experience in advocacy and/or community organizing (strongly preferred)
Demonstrated interest, experience and commitment to working on social justice issues, such as immigrants’ rights and civil rights
Ability to work closely and cordially with co-workers and allies in close-knit team environment
Excellent communications skills and ability to guide and help lead group meetings
Ability and willingness to participate in regular evening/weekend events
Ability to be highly organized, adapt to simultaneous timelines, and take initiative on projects
Strong communication skills in Korean
Open Position #2: Development Director (Full-Time)
The Development Director will work closely with the Executive Director and with other staff, Board and volunteers to plan, execute and implement a robust fundraising strategy for the organization. Specifically, the Development Director will have the following responsibilities:
Help develop, oversee and strengthen our organization’s long-term fundraising strategy, working closely with Program Directors and Board
Set annual fundraising goals together with organization’s leadership, and meet goals through strong execution of development efforts
Prospect potential funding streams of all sources (foundation, major donor, individual, corporate, government), and develop new funding partnership opportunities
Lead cultivation and solicitation of donor prospects and coordinate with leadership, program staff, and Board
Help plan, execute and implement annual Gala and a Spring Reception to raise funds and awareness of the MinKwon Center and its mission
Plan and execute at least two mailed fundraising appeals per year
Develop, draft and edit proposals for our specific program areas as well as for general organizational support
Prepare, draft and edit grant reports to funders, and work with Administrative Director and other staff to gather needed financials, statistics and budget information
Maintain detailed grants management database, records, and systems
Help manage and grow volunteer Friends of MinKwon group
Ensure regular communication with current and prospective program officers and funders
Job Requirements
2+ years experience in development and fundraising efforts and developing relationships with funders (strongly preferred)
Interest, experience and demonstrated commitment in working on social justice issues, such as immigrants’ rights, workers’ rights, and civil rights
Ability to work closely and cordially with co-workers and allies
Excellent ability to communicate our mission, impact, growth trajectory, and programs
Strong project management skills working in team environment
Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to manage funder relationships
Ability to be highly organized, adapt to simultaneous timelines, and take initiative on projects with minimal supervision
Ability and willingness to participate in occasional evening/weekend events
Demonstrated strong writing skills
Open Position #3: Youth Program Associate (Part-Time)
The MinKwon Center views young people as potential leaders, both now and in the future. Our Youth Empowerment Program provides the opportunity for local Asian American high school youth to become future leaders for the community, by educating them on critical issues and providing them opportunities to advocate for themselves on these issues. Through our work, we hope to raise a generation of socially conscious individuals that understand the importance of community engagement and civic involvement. The Associate would have the following specific responsibilities:
Help plan, coordinate, and facilitate weekly meetings with youth
Help maintain direct contact with youth through follow-ups
Participate in community organizing efforts to engage youth
Help conduct educational activities for youth to inform them of issues that are impacting immigrant youth communities, including the Korean American community
Engage in advocacy efforts on behalf of youth, immigrants, and low-income community members
Job Requirements/Candidates will be evaluated on the basis of the following:
Strong interest in social justice issues
Have the desire to empower the Asian American community
Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills
Strong organizational skills and independence, requiring minimal supervision
Experience in working with youth (strongly preferred)
For all three open positions, the MinKwon Center will accept applications on a rolling basis until each position is filled. Please prepare a detailed cover letter and resume describing your interest in the organization and position to:
