Associated Colleges of the South > Newsletters > ACS Announcements       

On behalf of the staff at the Associated Colleges of the South, we wish you and your family a very happy holiday season!

For December 4, 2009

OPPORTUNITIES

1. An Open Invitation to the Post-Doctoral Fellow-Mentors Conference
2. Second ACS Student Research Conference in Chinese Studies
3. Middle Eastern Program
4. Confucius Institute Scholarships Available
5. Teaching English in China
6. Activities for Confucius Institute
7. ACS Explores Collaboration in Technology
8. British Studies Symposium
9. Latin American Studies Symposium
10. Summer Teaching and Learning Workshop
11. International Competition for Undergraduate Research Papers
12. NITLE

OPPORTUNITIES

1.   AN OPEN INVITATION TO THE POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS-MENTORS CONFERENCE

Please mark your calendars for June 1-4, 2010, when the first annual Post-Doctoral Fellows-Mentors conference will be graciously hosted by Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. The conference is designed for all Environmental Postdoc Fellows and their Mentors, but we welcome all interested environmental faculty, and are particularly interested in participation by faculty who are acting as inter-institutional mentors who are in dialogue with Fellows about their research.

The conference goal is to bring Fellows together with peers and mentors and give them opportunities to learn more about interdisciplinary pedagogy, to make connections between research and teaching, and to share research. The conference is still in the planning stages, and ACS solicits suggestions from all environmental faculty. We are also interested in hearing suggestions for a keynote speaker.  Please contact Elizabeth MacNabb at emacnabb@centre.edu.

2.    SECOND ACS STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE ON  CHINESE STUDIES

The second ACS Student Research Conference on Chinese Studies will be held on April 16-17, 2010 in Atlanta. The agenda is still in the planning stages. The conference will showcase original research by undergraduate students, covering such issues as Chinese history, culture, language, environment, economics, society, science, government, literature, and religion. The conference will consist of a plenary session for presentation of papers by students and panel-facilitated discussions. Poster presentations are also being considered. Grant funds are available for two students from each ACS institution. For more information about the conference, please contact Jinping Zhu at jzhu@colleges.org.

3.   MIDDLE EASTERN PROGRAM

The consortium is working with the U.S. Arabic Distance Learning Network. The Network, a consortium of universities led by Montana State University (MSU), serves to expand opportunities for students to study Arabic language and Islamic culture. The consortium is planning tests for those institutions that are interested in offering innovative and effective online instruction to students. Interested institutions should contact Jinping Zhu at jzhu@colleges.org.

4.   CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

The “Confucius Institute Scholarship” is established by the Confucius Institute Headquarters, with a goal of encouraging students and teachers worldwide, who study and/or teach Chinese as a second language, to study Chinese language and culture in China. Heilongjiang University in Harbin is pleased to provide the opportunity for students or teachers to participate in the summer 2010 program. Scholarships will be available to those who meet one of the program's standard eligibility criteria listed below.

1. Outstanding students from Confucius Institutes (Classrooms) worldwide;
2. Foreign teachers who are teaching or planning to teach Chinese as a second language;
3. Students who received distinguished grades in the Chinese tests held by Confucius Institute Headquarters;
4. Outstanding contestants in “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competitions;
5. Students studying Chinese in overseas universities or colleges (such as the U.S.);
6. Applicants who meet the requirements of other Confucius Institute Headquarters’ agreements.
7. Applicants must be non-Chinese citizens in good health.

For more information about the Scholarship, please contact Jinping Zhu at jzhu@colleges.org.

5.   TEACHING ENGLISH IN CHINA

The Hubei Provincial Foreign Experts Bureau in China welcomes ACS graduates to teach English in Hubei Province. The selected teachers will be dispatched to 302 Chinese schools (elementary schools, middle schools, high school, training schools, and universities). All of the schools have official permits to employ foreign teachers, issued by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, the People's Republic of China (SAFEA). The working permit and visa notification letters will be issued to teachers to assist them with their application for Z (working) visas and resident permits. Requirements for teachers include:

1. Possess a college diploma or TESOL/ESL/TEFL certificate plus high school diploma
2. Be a native English speaker
3. Be enthusiastic about teaching, and have good communications skills

For more information, please contact the project manager, Ms. Fen Huang at hbfeb@yahoo.com.cn.
 
6.     ACTIVITIES FOR THE CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE

The consortium is in the process of applying to establish an Associated Colleges of the South Confucius Institute in partnership with Heilongjiang University in Harbin, China. The consortium asks faculty related to Chinese studies to suggest activities that would be most helpful to their institutions. Ideas may relate to faculty development, seminars, workshops, course materials, and extracurricular activities such as Chinese writing contests, speech contests, or movie festivals. Please send your ideas to Jinping Zhu at jzhu@colleges.org.  
 
7.    ACS EXPLORES COLLABORATION IN TECHNOLOGY

We are exploring technology collaboration in these and other areas and we welcome your ideas.  If you are interested, please send your comments to acs@colleges.org.

• Student Internships in Software Engineering
• A virtual Faculty and Student Art Gallery
• Music collaboration for faculty and students
  
• "Transformations," an online journal for digital and information fluency formerly published by ACS
  

8.   BRITISH STUDIES SYMPOSIUM

The British Studies Symposium will be held on February 26-27, 2010 at Rhodes College.  The deadline for receipt of submissions of paper proposals is February 8, 2010.  For more information, please contact Michael Leslie, Office of the Dean, British Studies At Oxford at leslie@rhodes.edu or (901) 843-3715.

9.    LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES SYMPOSIUM
 
The  BSC Latin American Studies Program invites proposals for the 18th Annual LAS Symposium hosted by the Birmingham-Southern College on April 16-17, 2010. This interdisciplinary conference aims to promote undergraduate research focused on Latin America. All topics pertaining to Latin America are welcome. The presentations should be 15 minutes in length. We encourage proposals of panels and invite faculty members to serve as panel chairs and discussants. Papers in English, Spanish and Portuguese will be considered. Registration: All participants have to register for the conference. The registration fee is $35.00. Submissions: Please send panel/paper proposals to the address below or submit online.
Deadline:  January 31, 2010 . By Mail: Dr. Barbara Domcekova,  Latin American Studies Symposium, Director, Birmingham-Southern College
900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham, AL 35254,  Phone: (205) 226-4975,  Fax: (205) 226-3089 Online: http://www.bsc.edu/academics/las/symposium.htm
 
10.    SUMMER TEACHING AND LEARNING WORKSHOP

The 18th Annual Summer Teaching and Learning Workshop is scheduled for May 31-June 5, 2010 at Rollins College.  Interested faculty are urged to contact their academic deans who will nominate faculty for the workshop.  More information is available at www.colleges.org/summerteach/summerteach.html or by contacting the workshop's acting director, Barbara Lom, Associate Professor and Chair of Biology at Davidson College (balom@davidson.edu).

11.    INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PAPERS

Wartburg College announces an international competition for undergraduate research papers, supported by a generous grant from the Metanexus Institute. Students from around the world are invited to submit research papers that will focus on the relationships among technology, the natural world, and human identity or spirit.   Submissions are due no later than June 1, 2010.  Send papers to lake.lambert@wartburg.edu. All papers  must be written in English and will be evaluated by a blind review process. Cash prizes in the amounts of $1,000, $500 and $250 are available for the top three papers.  Winning papers will be published at www.wartburg.edu/metanexus. For more information, call (319) 352-8684 or email dean.johnson@wartburg.edu.

12.    NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR TECHNOLOGY IN LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION
 
For activities and conferences with NITLE, please visit:  http://www.nitle.org/.


For archives of ACS publications, please go to: http://www.colleges.org/palladian/   Also, if you have any campus news articles you would like featured on our website or quarterly newsletter, please e-mail dara@colleges.org.

************************************************************************
The ACS Announcements are sent several times a semester to all faculty and staff at ACS member institutions. All announcements are approved by ACS. For more information about this newsletter, please contact Dara Hawkins at dara@colleges.org. If you know of ACS faculty or staff members who are not receiving this newsletter and would like to receive it, they may request that they be added to the list by sending a blank email to palladian-subscribe@colleges.org. You may remove yourself from the list by sending an email to palladian-unsubscribe@colleges.org.