February 10, 2009

Hey everyone,
 It’s a long line-up but be sure to read through everything. There are lots of things to apply for like the GAPSA leadership retreat and funding opportunities. There are TWO happy hours this week. SASgov is having one on Thursday from 5-7 in 3619 Locust Walk and GAPSA is hosting one on Friday. Who can say no to free booze? Come out and relax with us!

Best, 
Carla
VP of SASgov

Do you know the difference between SASgov and GAPSA? SASgov is the student government for the graduate students of the School of Arts and Sciences. Every school (i.e. Law, Medical, Wharton, etc.) has it’s own student government. GAPSA is the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly which represents all graduate and professional students at the University of Pennsylvania. It is made up of students from all 12 graduate schools. 

SASgov Announcements

3. Penn Transit GPS
Did you know that Penn Transit now has a GPS feature for their shuttles? You can track the shuttle that you need ahead of time so that you don’t have to wait out in the cold. The tracker also works on some hand-held mobile devices. Here’s the website: http://pennrides.com/

GAPSA Announcements

1. Upcoming Events

2. GAPSA Landlord Survey (Fill out the survey today.  You could win movie tickets to the Bridge Cinema de Lux)

3. GAPSA Professional Student Travel Grant

4. GAPSA Leadership Retreat

5. Call for Nominations for the 2009 Citation for Commitment to Graduate Student Life Award

6. Get Involved with the Wharton Follies 

7. Make Smart Finance Decisions: Jean Chatzky Speaks to Penn Students on Personal Finance

8. Wharton Forums

9. Penn Students of AMF

10. Philly Fight Night

11. Apply to be a GA in a College House 

12. A Course for Penn Graduate Students

13. Gender and Sexuality Studies State of the Field Conference

14. Elderhostel K. Patricia Cross $5,000 Doctoral Research Grant - Applications Due March 31st

15. Unspoken Borders Conference 2009

16. 2008 - 2009 DCC (Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism) Graduate Workshop Series

17. 1st Annual Oral Cancer Walk Philadelphia

18. Penn’s Division of Public Safety offers two excellent FREE self-defense classes for Penn women

19. Graduate Student Center Programs

 

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1. * GAPSA Happy Hour

Co-sponsored by the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Location: Hill Pavilion, School of Veterinary Medicine
Date/Time: Friday, February 13, 2009
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
What: Beer, wine, soda, and appetizers will be available.
FREE! Just bring your Penn card and 21+ ID.

*Volunteer with GAPSA at Darwin Day!


Date and time: Sunday, February 15, 2009, meet at the Grad Center at 11:30 AM
Volunteers are needed to assist with the various free events and greeting visitors at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology’s third-annual Darwin Day. Charles Robert Darwin has his 200th birthday in February, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology celebrates it in style, with the third-annual free Darwin Day and Evolution Teach In on Sunday, February 15, 2009, from 1 to 4 p.m. A full afternoon of free Darwin events takes place with a program that features short “teach in” talks in the galleries, a scavenger hunt, evolutionary twister, birthday cake, and more. 

You will receive a free “GAPSA volunteer” t-shirt in exchange for volunteering! Sign up today at gapsa.ticketleap.com



* Maya Angelou speaking at Penn! (SOLD OUT)

GAPSA will co-sponsor the keynote address of Women’s Week 2009 at Penn, to be given by American poet Dr. Maya Angelou. In addition, GAPSA has purchased a block of 300 tickets, for graduate and professional students, to the event, which will take place at 6:30pm on Tuesday February 17, 2009 in Irvine Auditorium (doors will open at 6:00pm). 

* GAPSA Dinner at El Vez Restaurant

Date: February 19th, 2009 at 7 PM
Location: El Vez Restaurant (121 S. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104)

This is a group dinner to enjoy a three course family-style, Mexican-American meal and meet other Penn Graduate and Professional Students.

Tickets: $35. Ticket only available online at gapsa.ticketleap.com. Limit two tickets per PennID. You must be at the restaurant by 7 PM. You do NOT have to make a reservation–GAPSA has made a reservation. The cost of this dinner is $35. The regular price of this dinner would be $65 (includes appetizer, main course, dessert, beverage, tax, and tip).

Directions: You are responsible for providing your own transportation to the restaurant. Take the SEPTA Market-Frankford Line (Blue Line) to the 13th Street stop and walk south to Sansom Street.

* Jorge Cham of PhD Comics comes to Penn Campus!

Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Time: 6:30 p.m. -8:30 p.m.

Location: Houston Hall, Hall of Flags

Please register in advance at http://www.gsc.upenn.edu/register/

Hosted by PGWISE (Penn Graduate Women in Science and Engineering), GSEG (Graduate Student Engineering Group), Co-sponsored by GAPSA 

* Turandot Opera (SOLD OUT!)

Location:  Academy of Music (corner of Broad and Locust)

Date & Time:  Wednesday, February 25 from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Cost:  Tickets can be purchased at the Graduate Center starting on January 26 for $25 each

Description:  This epic opera is centered around a beautiful Mandarin princess who possesses dazzling beauty, but a heart of stone. As countless suitors attempt to answer the mystifying riddles she poses, they meet their ruin. Can one brave, noble man beat her at her own dangerous game and at last ignite her passions? Puccini’s final opera and ultimate romantic masterpiece features a heartbreakingly-beautiful score anchored by the lavish melody “Nessun Dorma,” perhaps the most famous aria in all of opera. Unforgettable international star debuts are in store for this breathtaking opera’s triumphant return after 15 years.

* Philadelphia Phantoms Hockey Game with GAPSA


Come join 50 other graduate and professional students as we cheer on the Philadelphia Phantoms Hockey Team!
Date & Time: Friday, February 27, 2009 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM at the Wachovia Spectrum
Ticket sales begin: January 28, 2009 at 11 AM at the Graduate Student Center (3615 Locust Walk)
Ticket price: $5 each (regular price $10) (Ticket limit per PennID: 4)
Total number of tickets for the event: 50
Questions? Email gapsa.sp@gmail.com

* Philadelphia Kixx Indoor Soccer Game with GAPSA


Come join 50 other graduate and professional students as we cheer on the Philadelphia Kixx Soccer Team!
Date & Time: Sunday, March 1, 2009 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Wachovia Spectrum
Ticket sales begin: February 2, 2009 at 11 AM at the Graduate Student Center (3615 Locust Walk)
Ticket price: $5 each (regular price $15) (Ticket limit per PennID: 4)
Total number of tickets for the event: 50
Questions? Email gapsa.sp@gmail.com

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2. * 2009 GAPSA Landlord Survey

GAPSA, with guidance from the Office of Off-Campus Services is collecting survey data to be released within the next few weeks! 

With your help, we’ll be able to publish statistically significant results on landlord ratings which will provide incoming and current students with the information they need to make better-informed decisions about housing. 

 All entries made between now and this Tuesday 02/10/09 will be eligible for 10 randomly selected prizes of 2 tickets each (20 tickets total) to the Bridge Cinema de Lux. 

 To fill out the survey go to: http://www.gapsa.upenn.edu/gapsa-landlord-survey

 

3. * GAPSA Professional Student Travel Grant

Presenting at or attending a conference?  GAPSA wants to help!

Did you know that the GAPSA Professional Student Travel Grant GAPSA provides funding for professional students presenting at or attending an academic conference? Eligible graduate students may request individual travel grants for up to $300 or half of their total travel expense, whichever is less. Conference registration fees, transportation (by the most economical means available) and lodging (excluding meals) may all be included when calculating total travel expense.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.  For more information on how to apply, including application forms visit: http://www.gapsa.upenn.edu/engage/funding/travel-grant-for-professional-students or contact gapsa.travelgrants@gmail.com

 

4. * GAPSA Leadership Retreat

GAPSA, the Vice-Provost of University Life, and the Office of Student Life will be hosting a two-day Leadership Retreat open to all graduate students interested in enhancing leadership skills. This two-day retreat is designed to strengthen leadership skills among graduate students across disciplines or from across campus by exploring facets of effective leadership, problem solving with one another, and engaging in various training exercises. 

The focus areas of the retreat program are: 

• Group Dynamics: Recognition of group development and functioning 

• Power Dynamics: Understanding the uses and abuses of power. How privilege, wealth and status affect group formation and inter-group relations. 

• Leadership Styles and Skills: What type of leader are you? How does an individual leadership style affect group performance, cohesion and interaction. 

• Conflict Resolution: Techniques to deescalate intense situations between adversarial parties.

This leadership program accomplishes these tasks through a combination of a conceptual framework and experiential learning.

As part of the application there are a few brief essay questions that are required. These question should not take more 20 minutes of your time and it helps the committee get a better understanding of who you are and what you wish you to get out of the retreat.

The program will consist of structured activities facilitated by trained and experienced professionals. Networking opportunities will be available. There is no cost to participants; all meals, sleeping arrangements, and transportation is covered. The retreat will be from March 13th-14th, at the Fellowship Farm located in Pottstown, PA.

Students who participated in last year’s Initiative are not, generally speaking, eligible to participate this year. If you were on last year’s Initiative and feel that you have extenuating circumstances entitling you to re-attend, please contact GAPSA before applying.. Alumni of previous past Penn undergraduate leadership retreats must contact us. 

Applications must be submitted by midnight, February 20th 2009.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=o9ipPrElCwak510IoxqV_2bw_3d_3d

 

5. * The President’s and Provost’s Citation for Exceptional Commitment to Graduate & Professional Student Life

Nominations are now being accepted for graduating students to receive the 2009 Citation for Commitment to Graduate Student Life.  Please see details at http://www.gsc.upenn.edu/resources/alumni.php#awards  

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6. * Get Involved with Wharton Follies!

http://clubs.wharton.upenn.edu/wfollies/

Each year, MBA students at The Wharton School  of the  University of Pennsylvania  poke fun at themselves in a full-fledged musical production called the Wharton Follies.  The countdown for the much anticipated 2009 show has begun and volunteers are still needed for the technical staff.  Be a stage hand on the tech team to get experience working in the theater, meet new people, and watch the show for free from backstage!  Volunteers are needed during production week (2/8 – 2/14), hours pending availability.  If interested, please contact Alex Fleming (afleming@wharton.upenn.edu).  Come join the fun! 

 

7. * MAKE SMART DECISIONS!:  PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT JEAN CHATZKY TO HELP PENN STUDENTS

Jean Chatzky (C’86) will speak to students at Penn on Tuesday, February 10 at 7 pm in Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall as part of the 2009 Women’s Week Speaker Series. A renowned personal finance expert, Jean is a regular on “Oprah” and the financial editor for NBC’s “Today” show, as well as a best-selling author.  She will give students advice to manage debt and take control of their finances by making smarter decisions about money now, in the current economic reality, and in the future. Chatzky will discuss the real reasons why people – especially women – rely on excuses that prevent them from achieving their financial goals, and share with students strategies for avoiding roadblocks and getting on a path to real wealth, real financial security – and peace of mind. 

 

8. * Wharton

Save the dates:

Wednesday, February 11th @ 4:30pm (JMHH 245) – Learn about legal aspects of entrepreneurship

Wednesday, February 18th @ 4:30pm (JMHH 260) – Practice pitching and recruit members to your team

Wednesday, February 25th @ 4:30pm (JMHH 260) – TBD

First week of March @ 4:30pm (JMHH 265) - Get your business reviewed by a legal professional!

 

9. * Join Penn Students of AMF (Ailing Mothers and Fathers) on Tuesday, February 10th at 8pm in the main lobby (on the left, 1st floor) in Houston Hall for food and information about Penn Students of AMF!

Penn Students of AMF includes a peer-led Support Group for students coping with the illness or death of a loved one for an open-discussion, a Service Group open to ALL students to get involved in service events (like Lung Cancer walks, Heart Disease Runs, etc) to fight back against terminal illness, and the Angels Program which pairs up faculty members with members of the Support Group to provide mentoring and to be there if they need anything.

The organization is SAC- and GAPSA-recognized.

For more information, please take a look at our website: www.studentsofamf.org. 

 

10. * Philly Fight Night!

Date: February 28^th, 2009

Arena: The Legendary Blue Horizon

You may have heard about it…

1.    It is one of the highlights of the Wharton calendar.

2.    It is an amateur boxing event between Wharton and other Penn students at the legendary Blue Horizon.

3.    It is the signature fundraising event of Fighting for Philly Kids, a 501(c) 3 not for profit organization, donating 100% of the fundraising contributions to The Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia.

 

11.  * Apply to be a GA in a College House

College Houses and Academic Services is seeking graduate and professional students to become Graduate Associates for 2009-2010 in the undergraduate dorms. APPLY ONLINE BEGINNING DECEMBER 1, 2008. Complete information and the 2009-2010 application is available on-line for GAs athttp://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/. GA selection is a rolling application process.

 

12. * A Course for Penn Graduate Students

YES+ is being offered at UPENN through the Art of Living Foundation(AOLF), a UN recognized NGO http://us.artofliving.org/index.html.   

Course dates:  February 20^th -24^th, 2009

Weekday Timings:  6:30-9:45pm   
Weekend Timings:  1:00-7:00pm
Venue:  UPENN campus (location to be emailed)
Student Fee:  $250
Further details/registration: kanand@wharton.upenn.edu / 215 301 4429

YES!+ course at the University of Pennsylvania* 

YES!+ is an innovative, educational life skills program over five days, that provides the individual with techniques and processes that aim to decrease baseline stress, reduce negative emotions, heighten awareness and increase mental focus.  The program includes the presentation of novel breathing and meditation techniques, yoga exercises, as well as interactive processes to increase confidence during problem-solving and conflict resolution.  A video description can be found here:http://www.change.org/art_of_living_foundation/videos.   

* YES!+ is being offered at UPENN, but is not a university accredited course.   

 

13. * Rethinking Sex: Gender and Sexuality Studies State of the Field Conference

Date: March 4-6, 2009

Location: University of Pennsylvania

The conference will feature panels, conversations, and roundtable sessions on Wednesday evening, Thursday, and Friday. Topics will include activism and scholarship, sexuality studies and academic disciplines, global sexualities, the relations between feminism and LGBT/queer studies, queer of color critique, historiography, sexual practice and community, scholarly generations, new forms of kinship, transgender studies, queer media, gay neoliberalism, disability studies, queer diasporas, affect, and pedagogy.

Sponsored by Penn’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center, Women’s Studies, and the Alice Paul Center for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality.

 For more information, please visit the web site at <http://www.sas.upenn.edu/wstudies/rethinkingsex/>.

14. * Elderhostel K. Patricia Cross $5,000 Doctoral Research Grant - Applications Due March 31st

Elderhostel invites applications from doctoral candidates researching lifelong or later-life learning for the Elderhostel K. Patricia Cross Doctoral Research Grant. This $5,000 grant is awarded annually to a student in various disciplines including, but not limited to, psychology, education, gerontology, cognitive studies, neuroscience, leisure studies, aging and social work. Because the selection committee requires an abstract and description of your current research, you must already be engaged in your dissertation research.

The application deadline is Tuesday, March 31, 2009. For further information, including requirements and the online application, please visit: www.elderhostel.org/grants. Should you have any questions about the Elderhostel K. Patricia Cross Doctoral Grant, please email grants@elderhostel.org.

15. * Unspoken Borders Conference 2009

3rd Annual Unspoken Borders Conference

ECOLOGIES OF INEQUALITY

The Future of Design in Race, Space and Politics

April 3-4, 2009 

Location: Penn School of Design, 210 S. 34th Street

Keynote Speaker: Teddy Cruz, Estudio Teddy Cruz

This year’s Unspoken Borders Conference theme, “Ecologies of Inequality”, takes on an investigation of the systems, which create or maintain inequity within societies and of how these systems interrelate to each other. In the face of the growing global necessity for sustainability in all undertakings, the conference asserts that inequalities are unsustainable, not only in terms of socio-economic injustices, but also in regards to the amount of resources invested in maintaining or creating these inequalities.

We propose a three-tiered approach: 1) Expose concealed systems, existing and historical, that reinforce or promote stratification of society; 2) Examine the mechanisms of recognized systems; 3) Recommend proposals to re-engineer existing systems or to create alternative systems that promote socio-economic and environmental sustainability.  These investigations are organized around five topics:

-The Environment (constructed, cultivated or untended)

-Public Health

-Mobility and Access

-Communication

-Race, Class, and Culture

For more information, please visit http://www.design.upenn.edu/unspokenborders09

****Registration begins February 15th****

Unspoken Borders is brought to you by PennDesign Black Student Alliance and UB09 Student Conference Committee, University of Pennsylvania.

 

16. * 2008 - 2009 DCC (Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism) GRADUATE WORKSHOP SERIES http://www.sas.upenn.edu/dcc/workshops/graduate.html

The DCC Graduate Workshop aims to stimulate interdisciplinary research on the challenges and opportunities that the spread of citizenship in constitutional democracies poses. If you would like to join a growing group of graduate students from Penn and surrounding universities committed to helping each other on this exciting research agenda (presenting papers, serving as a discussant, reading each other’s papers, contributing to discussion), please email any of the following graduate fellows: Phillip Buckley (buckleyd@dolphin.upenn.edu), Jo Cohen (cohenjo3@sas.upenn.edu), or Willie Gin (wgin@sas.upenn.edu). Coffee, cookies, beer, and pizza will be served at all meetings!

 

February 18 (4:30 pm, Rm 205 College Hall)

Anne-Marie D’Aoust, “Love Stops at the Border: Marriage, Citizenship, and the Mail-Order Bride Industry”

March 18 (4:30 pm, Rm 219 College Hall–NOTE, DIFFERENT ROOM FROM USUAL)

Sourabh Singh, “Locating a Short Lived Authoritarian State in Postcolonial India”

April 8 (3:00 pm, Rm 205 College Hall–NOTE, DIFFERENT TIME FROM USUAL)

Erik Mathisen, “Schools of Citizenship: Allegiance, Obligation and State Formation in the Confederate Army, 1861-65″

May (date, TBA): Forum—Information, Deliberation, and Oversight

C. Daniel Myers, “Information Sharing and Democratic Deliberation”

Meredith Wooten, “Overlooked or Out of Sight? Congressional Oversight of Intelligence, 1945-2000″

 

17. * 1st Annual Oral Cancer Walk Philadelphia

Date: April 18, Saturday, 2009

Time: 8:30am-2pm

School: School of Dental Medicine

Oral and pharyngeal cancer affects thousands of Americans and causes over 8,000 deaths each year!  It is a disease that warrants much attention yet seldom gets it.  The School of Dental Medicine brings you the 1st Annual Oral Cancer Walk in Philadelphia!  Please help us increase awareness about oral cancer and with this goal in mind, we hope you will join us in this great cause.  Registration/sponsorship fee is $20, which benefts the Oral Cancer Foundation.  The 3.1-mile walk starts and ends at Penn Dental.  Free oral screenings, refreshments, and live entertainment will be provided.  Oral cancer survivors walk for free!  Please visit our website for complete details and registration info: http://www.oralcancerwalkphilly.org.

 

18. * Penn’s Division of Public Safety offers two excellent FREE self-defense classes for Penn women

1) Self-defense Awareness & Familiarization Exchange (S.A.F.E.) is a 2-hour educational awareness, crime-victim prevention program. The purpose is to prevent crimes of sexual violence in our communities through programs of education and training, focusing primarily on awareness and prevention and to educate women about realistic options that will help them avoid, escape, and survive assaults if they do occur. S.A.F.E classes are held at Penn on the 8th of every month during the Fall and Spring semesters. They are for women only and are FREE of charge. For a schedule go to: http://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/downloads/Ad_SS_DP_SAFE_Spring_09.jpg

For more information, contact Susan Dever, Support Specialist, Department of Special Services at 215.898.8762 or sdever@publicsafety.upenn.edu 

2) The Rape Aggression Defense System (RAD) is a program of realistic, self-defense tactics and techniques. The RAD System is a comprehensive course for women which begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, and progresses to the basics of hands-on defense training. RAD is not a martial arts program. Our courses are taught by certified RAD instructors and provide you with a workbook/reference manual. This manual outlines the entire physical defense program for reference and continuous personal growth. Our system of realistic defense will provide a woman with the knowledge to make an educated decision about resistance. For a schedule go to: http://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/downloads/Ad_SS_DP_RAD_Spring_09.jpg

For more information, contact Susan Dever, Support Specialist, Department of Special Services at 215.898.8762 or sdever@publicsafety.upenn.edu

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19. Graduate Student Center Programs

* EVOLUTION EXHIBITION– CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Deadline: February 15

The Grad Center is calling for artistic submissions for our spring exhibition focused on ideas and concepts related to the University-wide Year of Evolution. We encourage submissions conveying the theme of evolution, as interpreted by the individual artist. Works of art can be from the areas of painting, drawing, photography, lithography or other print media. Read more at http://www.gsc.upenn.edu/activities/exhibitions.php

* Mentor a Penn Undergrad

Help an undergrad learn first-hand about preparing for, applying to, and succeeding in graduate school. http://www.gsc.upenn.edu/mentoring

* Navigating the Classroom

http://gsc.upenn.edu/navclass/index.php

Faking It: Teaching What You Don’t Know or Don’t Like
Thursday, February 12, 2009, 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM 

*
To “B” or not to “B”: Considering Grading
Monday, February 16, 2009; 3:30 pm - 5 pm; 

The Art of the Lecture
Wednesday, February 25, 2009; 12:30 pm - 1 pm

Navigating the Dissertation

Refine Your Quantitative Skills

http://www.gsc.upenn.edu/register/

 

Introductory Statistics Workshop

Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

 

Advanced Statistics Workshop

Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

 

* Navigating the Grant

NRSA / AHA Workshop
Thursday, February 12, 2009, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM 
http://gsc.upenn.edu/navgrant/index.php

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX!

Friday, February 13; 6:00-8:00PM; Grad Center Common Room

*FREE* happy hour, goodie bags, conversation and more about sex! Penn professional sex educators and students will share information, tips, and free samples to help you have a smarter, better sex life. Win door prizes, including: novelties, adult toys, and gift certificates for free massage, food, and more! Register in advance at http://www.gsc.upenn.edu/activities/personal.php

* Peer-to-Peer Grant Application Advising

http://www.gsc.upenn.edu/navgrant/advisee.php

 

* Upcoming Grants & Fellowships

Apply Now! http://www.gsc.upenn.edu/navgrant/rfp.php