Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Prof. Weisskopf and Affirmative Action

A couple of days back we were visited by Prof. Thomas Weisskopf from the Residential College and Department of Economics of the University of Michigan. He gave a lecture on affirmative action in higher education (AAHE), which was thought provoking, to say the least. After encountering four years of mainly ‘legal’ analysis, his perspective on AAHE, from an economics angle, was an interesting change.
He talked about a wide range of issues pertaining to affirmative action, ranging from the benefits of not excluding the creamy layer to ensuring that such programmes yield the maximum returns. According to Mr. Weisskopf, students who have the ‘potential to succeed’ need to be identified and affirmative action policies need to centered round them. Further, he also agreed that through such actions situational advantage needs to be reduced. The arguments he made raises crucial issues which need to be debated on. For more details about him and the papers he has written please visit http://sitemaker.umich.edu/tomweisskopf/home

Friday, March 25, 2011

Notifications

Conferences and Calls for Papers 
1. The 'Association of Social Modernity' has recently started publishing a bi-annual (December & June) Asian Journal of Social Science entitled "Social Modernity" from Ranchi (Jharkhand), India. The theme of their second issue is "Social Inequality". The deadline is April 15th. The details are here
2. Conference: Qualitative Research for Policy Making, Delivering efficient qualitative research for
policy making in times of austerity, 26 - 27 May 2011, Belfast, U.K. Website:http://www.merlien.org/upcoming-events/qrpm2011.html

Opportunities
1. Indicorps is offering a summer internship from June 1 to July 16th this year. 
2. Jalebi Ink (www.jalebiink.com), a media collective for children and
youth, is looking for volunteers.
3. The Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YASHADA) is the Apex Administrative Training Institute of the Government of Maharashtra based in Pune, and they are seeking interns to document their '6 Block Pilot' Project. Contact: Email id - pradnya.dasarwar@gmail.com , contact no - 020 - 25608231. 
4. The Katha Centre for Film Studies calls for applications to the position of Research Associate. Contact: katha.film@gmail.com
5. Navayana is a looking for a paid intern/ editorial trainee who can assist with proof-reading, fact-checking, coordination between editorial and administration, organising book launches and discussions.
 
Resources 
1. CUTS has published an RTI toolkit which is available online

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Notifications

Conferences and Calls for Papers
1. The Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) will take place in Paris, France, on 30 May–1 June 2011. Its overall theme will be*Broadening Opportunities for Development. The proposal form should be completed and submitted by Tuesday, March 15, 2011. 
2.  JGLU and Institute of Rural Research and Development with University of Baltimore School of Law is organising a conference on "Good Rural Governance and Citizen Participation on March 21-22 at JGLU. 
3. The India Media Centre, Univ. of Westminster, in association with London Indian Film Festival, presents an International Conference on "What's New? The Changing Face of Indian Cinema; Contemporary and Historical Contexts", on Friday, 8th and Saturday, 9th July 2011 at Univ. of Westminster. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 31st March 2011 and those whose abstracts are accepted will be notified by 15th April 2011.
4. The Journal of Community Informatics invites submission of original, unpublished articles for a forthcoming special edition of the Journal that will focus on Open Data. Deadline for abstracts March 31, 2011. 
5. The Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group is holding The Fourth Critical Studies Conference, held in Kolkata on 08-10September 2011. The theme is - *Development, Logistics, and Governance* The University of Western Sydney and the University of Bologna will collaborate with CRG in holding the conference. The conference will be preceded by a special workshop on *"Transit Labour"*, which will engage in a comparative study of labour in transit, emergence of new forms of labour, and labour involved in logistical activities
6. The 

2nd International Conference on Economics and Business Issues, s

ponsored by: Indian Journal of Economics and Business, USA will be held on 

December 19-20, 2011, Hotal Hans, New Delhi (India). Deadline for abstracts: May 1, 2011. 
7. IGNOU,  Diaspora and Development: Prospects and Implications for Nation States, 14 to 15 October 2011 New Delhi, India. The deadline for abstracts/proposals is 15 May
2011.

Opportunities
1. (via Adithya Banavar) CHRI in association with the NUJS Legal Aid Society is offering an internship. For details, go here
2. The Arun Ghosh Memorial Essay Competition on equitable development is open. The deadline is April 30, 2011. 
3. The European Free Alliance is offering an essay competition on Climate Change and Women. The deadline is 1 June 2011. 
4. Manipal Centre for Philosophy & Humanities is offering its SIXTH SUMMER SCHOOL on Philosophy for the Social Sciences and Humanities from Sponsored by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research) from Monday, July 4, 2011 – Friday, July 15, 2011. Open to students pursuing postgrad degrees.Deadline is 1 April 2011.
5. The Caravan is now accepting applications for its paid Editorial Internship Program. Interns work on a full-time basis for three to five months (starting 1 April) and receive training and hands-on experience in critical reading, research, fact-checking, online publishing and the general workings of a narrative monthly. Deadline for applications: March 21, 2011. 
6. Global Human Rights Leadership Training Institute (GHRLTI) is now accepting applications for the 5th edition of its Certificate Course in Human Rights Leadership Development Training, on 24th March – 29th April 2011.The deadline for application is 21st March 2011.Inquiries about the course may be sent to: applications@justicegroup.org .
7. PRS' LAMP fellowship for 2011 has been released. For details, check the website. 
8. Gender Across Borders and Equality 101 <http://equality101.net/> are running a series on Feminism and Education on March 28 & 29, 2011 and are soliciting articles that explore a range of perspectives on the role of feminism in education. Deadline is March 14th. 
9.Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (former Bankakademie) is holding its Summer Academies 2011. The deadline for applications is 15 April 2011. 
10. The Akanksha Foundation is looking for writers to write for a quarterly update that goes to its Board of Directors, donors, supporters,and internal staff. The content will mainly consist of achievements of the kids at Akanksha, new teaching methods implemented, new products at the art shop, sports and other department updates. Additionally, the project also involves writing for the Akanksha website that is undergoing a revamp.
11. The Peace Conference of Youth Program will be held in Osaka, Japan from August 22 to 28th. For details see website. 
12. IBM and Universiti Brunei Darussalam are organizing a sustainability summer school in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. Further details, including eligibility and application requirements, are available at http://www.sustainability2011.org/
13. Offered for the first time in Asia Pacific, the Google Policy Fellowship offers successful applicants the opportunity to develop research and debate on issues relating to freedom of expression for a minimum of ten weeks from June to August 2011. The applicants will be selected in Australia, India and Hong Kong respectively. For more info: http://www.cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/google-policy-fellowship
14. Indiaguide.in is looking for a travel writer for Madhya Pradesh. Contact info@indiaguide.in.


News and Resources
1. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is now re-launching its website "Voices of Youth" which is a vibrant online meeting place where young people around the world explore, discuss and take action on global problems. The website contains interactive games and lively discussions boards and is available in English, French and Spanish. For more information, please visit: http://www.voicesofyouth.org/en
2.INP+ has launched an advocacy Manual during the Annual general body meeting held on 11th February 2011 at Guwahati.It can be accessed here. 
3. The National Centre for Biological Resources says, SeasonWatch (http://www.seasonwatch.in), is a citizen volunteer network that monitors the seasons as revealed by trees. We document the timing of flowering, fruiting and leaf-flush of roughly 100 tree species, and explore how this timing may be changing as the climate changes. There is no long-term information of this kind from India, so you can contribute to a better understanding of nature by simply watching the trees you love. 
4. The Preliminary Exposure Draft of the National Sports Development Bill 2011 is published on the website of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.  The draft National Sports Development Bill 2011 is available at 
http://www.karmayog.org/redirect/strred.asp?docId=32309 for comments and suggestions for improvement. 
5. The Travelling Archive http://thetravellingarchive.org/home.php is a freely accessible database of Indian folk music. 


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Movie screenings in Bangalore in March

  1. Screening of "Women are Heroes" on 10th March. For more info, see
http://bangalore.afindia.org/node/3108.

2. Screening of Marathi movies on 28th March. See

http://matinee.necab.org/?p=6

More notifications on movie screenings happening in Bangalore to be posted soon.