SSW Ph.D. STUDENT
WELCOME BBQ & POTLUCK

The Ph.D. Student
Welcome Barbecue and Potluck is on Friday, September 10, 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the
Peters Hall Courtyard. This is a great opportunity to meet the new Ph.D.
students and welcome back returning Ph.D. students, as well as socialize with
fellow faculty members. The school will provide burgers (regular and
veggie), as well as eating utensils, plates, cups, etc. Jim Reinardy,
Director of the School of Social Work, will put on his chef's hat and grill
the burgers. Please bring side dishes and drinks to share. RSVP for
this fun event to Jan Goodno by noon on Thursday, September 9.

CASCW PRESENTSNEW
ONLINE LEARNINGMODULES

The Center for
Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) has just made public new Web pages
containing Online Learning Modules with narrated presentations, videos, and
other materials of interest to child welfare students, professionals, and
others. The modules were developed by faculty members and graduate
assistants with support from the Title IV-E M.S.W. Training Program.

The new pages can be accessed through the "Learning Tools" item on CASCW's
home page
or by going directly to the Online Learning Modules
pages
at The number of modules available will continue to grow and
in spring semester a feature allowing the acquisition of continuing
education hours will be added.

SOROS FELLOWSHIP FOR NEW AMERICANS

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans support 30 individuals a year for up to two years of graduate study in any subject anywhere in the United States. The fellowship provides $25,000 maintenance and half tuition (up to a maximum of $20,000 per academic year) wherever the Fellow attends. Candidates must be either holders of Green Cards, naturalized citizens, or a child of at least one naturalized citizen parent (the other parent may not be a native-born U.S. citizen). The deadline is November 1, 2010, and the announcement of the recipients will be in March. More information, including the application form, is available here.

SCHOLARLY EXCELLENCE IN EQUITY AND DIVERSITY (SEED) AWARDS

The Office for Equity and Diversity’s Scholarly Excellence in Equity and Diversity (SEED) Awards program honors and acknowledges diverse students who are doing outstanding work at the University of Minnesota, both in and out of the classroom. The awards are for graduate, professional and undergraduate students. The application deadline for the undergraduate awards is September 27, 2010, and is October 1 for the graduate and professional SEED awards. Eligibility and application instructions can be reviewed at the SEED Web site.

STUDENT AWARDS FOR 2011

The Center for Clinical Social Work announced a new cash award program for master’s degree programs in social work. The Howard D. Snooks Prize of $2,000 will go to the master’s program whose students submit the largest number of eligible papers in the center’s annual Judith Holm Memorial Awards contest. The $2,000 cash prizes are awarded to student authors of papers that best demonstrate mastery of the essentials of clinical social work and readiness to enter professional practice. The Holm Awards go to second-year graduate students intending to become clinical social workers. Guidelines can be reviewed at the awards Web site.

MELLON FELLOWSHIP DISSERTATION RESEARCH
The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) is accepting applications for the 2011 Mellon Fellowships for Dissertation Research in Original Sources. The program will be offering about 15 fellowships for 2011. The maximum award for each will be $25,000. Applicants do not have to be U.S. citizens, but must be enrolled in a doctoral program in a graduate school in the United States. For further information on eligibility, requirements, and deadlines, please visit CLIR’s Web site.

ANNOUNCING THE IDRF 2011 COMPETITION

The IDRF Program is administered by the Social Science Research Council in consultation with the American Council of Learned Societies and funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The IDRF Program supports the next generation of scholars in the humanities and social sciences pursuing research that advances knowledge about non-U.S. cultures and societies. The program is open to graduate students in the humanities and social sciences – regardless of citizenship – enrolled in doctoral programs in the United States. Seventy-five fellowships of varying amounts are awarded annually. The application deadline is November 3, 2010. For more detailed information and to apply, visit the IDRF Web site.

BOOK DRIVE FOR KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

Book
donations of textbooks and related teaching materials on gerontology,
research and statistics are being collect for Kenyatta University in
Nairobi, Kenya. The ESPO International Task Force, in
collaboration with Samuel M. Mwangi (a doctoral student in Social
Gerontology at Miami University and a graduate of Kenyatta University) are
spearheading this effort. Your book donations will help to build a
foundation of educational materials on Gerontology for Kenyatta University
and, eventually, promote the emergence and expansion of Gerontology programs
in other parts of Kenya. In partnership with American Friends of
Kenya, some 500 books have been collected and are being shipped to
Kenya.

Mail your books to
Samuel
Mwangi
c/o Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University
396 Upham Hall
Oxford, OH 45056

Or, if you
can, donate money to help with book shipping costs at:
www.afkinc.org
If you
have questions, please contact Mr. Mwangi at
mwangism@muohio.edu. Or
contact Rusudan Kilaberia, ITF member, at
kilab002@umn.edu. Thank you.

What's Goin' On

(Details on events, conferences,
seminars, workshops, retreats, and more . . . whatever’s happening in our
social work community.)

SSW TEAM TO DO THE NAMI WALK

Hope you’ll walk the walk by joining fellow students, faculty and staff for a day of fun to support a great cause! For the third year in a row, the School of Social Work will have a team of walkers at NAMIwalk. The walk enables NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) to raise the public’s awareness of mental illness and to break down the stigma that surrounds it. This year’s walk will be Saturday, September 25 at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. SSW Director Jim Reinardy is our team captain. To sign up to walk or make donations to the team, please visit our team page.

MINNESOTA NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK SOCIAL WORKERS

Mark your calendar for the 2010 MN NABSW Conference on Friday, October 29, 2010, featuring keynote speaker Judge Pamela Alexander, director of the non-profit Council on Crime & Justice. The conference will be held at Urban Ventures 3041 4th Avenue South in Minneapolis. More information and to register.

PROJECT FOOTSTEPS SEEKS VOLUNTEERS & INTERNS

The mission of Project Footsteps is to inspire, empower and prepare youth and community to be agents of change, social leaders and volunteers.For more information and to explore the more than 101 ways to get involved see the project’s Web site.

7th ANNUAL WOMEN’S HEALTH RESEARCH CONFERENCE

The 7th Annual Women’s Health Research Conference is designed to address areas of health disparities that impact women, in order to increase the knowledge of social determinants of health for healthcare providers.Keynote speaker Jacquelyn Campbell, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Professor, Anna D. Wolf Chair, Department of Community-Public Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, will speak about her research on women and domestic violence. The conference is Monday, September 20, 2010, 9:00 a.m.-3:30.p.m., at McNamara Alumni Center. Special guest is Franni Franken, wife of Senator Al Franken. Registration fee is $25; $10 registration fee for students. More info and registration here.

FALL FORUM: MICROFINANCE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The Fall International Leadership Forum will present “How Micro-finance Works In Developing Countries: Experiences of the Founding Father of Micro-lending.” Thornton Auditorium, Minneapolis Campus, University of St. Thomas on Tuesday, October 26, 2010. Pancho Otero is recognized as one of the foremost authorities in Micro Finance in the world. Otero, who today heads I.P.M. (Micro Enterprise Policy Institute), is the founder of BancoSol, the world’s first private and fully commercial Micro Finance Institution. This is an evening program followed by a reception. For more information, contact Brian Kao at brian.kao@stthomas.edu

MIXED METHODS RESEARCH, JOURNAL REVIEW ANDPRESENTATIONS

The Mixed Methods Interdisciplinary Graduate Group (MMIGG)
is seeking ways to involve more faculty not only in the monthly meetings but
also in larger-scale collaborative projects that are interdisciplinary in
nature (ideally to seek out extramural grand funding opportunities). They
have scheduled a faculty conversation from 4:00-6:00 p.m. on Thursday,
September 16, in the Dale Shepard Room of the Campus Club (4th
Floor, Coffman Union) to discuss the MMIGG, review where we have come, and
plan on where we can go in the future. This conversation is open to
all interested faculty. Free appetizers and wine will be offered. More
information at the at the
Office of
Interdisciplinary Initiatives Web site.To RSVP or if you have any questions or comments, please
e-mail or phone (612-626-2485) Joe Gaugler, Ph.D.

12th
ANNUAL NATIONAL WHITE PRIVILEGE CONFERENCE

The 12^th
annual White Privilege Conference will be held in Minnesota on April 13-16,
2011 in Bloomington. It’s eight months away but it’s a provocative topic
and you should mark your calendar for registration that begins in
mid-January. The conference theme is "This Land is Whose Land?
Defining Citizenship, Understanding Access, Taking Action."

Hosting
the White Privilege Conference is the new Minnesota Justice Collaborative,
which includes Minnesota Colleges and Universities, Augsburg College, the
YWCA Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota, among others.
More than 1,500 people from all over the country are expected to attend.
The conference is far-ranging in its inclusivity, with privilege topics
extending beyond skin color to gender, sexuality, class and disability. All
are woven together, the planners say, adding that issues of poverty and land
ownership for Native Americans will figure prominently in the Minnesota
conference. Understanding, connecting, and respecting are keys to the
conference.
For more
information or to volunteer, e-mail
Raul Ramos.