EXTENDED DEADLINE — Call for Proposals: Fellowship Applicants for the USC Center for Feminist Research

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CALL FOR PROPOSALS: FELLOWSHIP APPLICANTS

USC Center for Feminist Research
NEW DIRECTIONS IN FEMINIST RESEARCH
2013-2014 Seminar Theme: “Global Capitalism and Intimate Industries”
Seminar Director: Rhacel Salazar Parreñas

Each year, the CFR sponsors an interdisciplinary research seminar broadly related to feminist topics, themes, or methods. The seminar’s theme in 2013-2014 is “Global Capitalism and Intimate Industries,” and will be directed by Professor Rhacel Salazar Parreñas (Sociology and Gender Studies). We are now inviting applications from USC faculty and advanced graduate students to become 2013-2014 New Directions Fellows. Faculty fellows are awarded research stipends of $2500 and graduate student fellows receive $1000 to pursue their own research related to the seminar’s theme.

The 2013-2014 seminar will bring together scholars from a wide range of disciplines to advance the humanities and social science literature on gender, labor, and global capitalism. The seminar focuses on “intimate industries” in peripheral economies, meaning industries that commodify intimacies including affect, care, reproduction, and sex in the ‘Global South’. Examples of these industries include international marriage brokerages, migrant care work training centers, medical tourism facilities, sex tourism companies, internet pornography businesses, cultural tourism institutions, call centers, adoption centers, and surrogacy clinics.

Seminar participants will examine the distinctive elements of markets for intimate industries, and account for the construction of race, gender, sexuality and nation in intimate labor. Employing a multi-scalar approach, the seminar will interrogate the social relations constructed in intimate industries, such as relations between surrogates and mothers, care workers and wards, and migrant remitters and recipients. Seminar participants will also examine how the state regulates intimate industries, illustrating how state and transnational regulations and public anxieties that are gendered and racialized often emerge alongside the commodification of intimacy. Lastly, the seminar will explore how intimate industries reconfigure the political economy of globalization. Scholars conducting international research are encouraged to apply.

Applicants should submit a CV of no more than four pages, and a two-page description of their ongoing or proposed research on by March 27th to Rebecca Das: cfr@usc.edu. Next year’s Fellows will be announced by mid-April. New Directions in Feminist Research Seminars offer a setting where faculty and advanced graduate students pursuing related research can work intensively on their own ongoing projects in a collegial atmosphere that encourages productive experimentation and provides both intellectual and material support. During the course of the academic year, New Directions Fellows participate in a series of workshop sessions focused on the development and presentation of their own work. Fellows are expected to meet in seminar at least six times during the academic year. They are also expected to participate in related public seminar events.

USC Staff Club Scholarship 2013

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Each year the USC Staff Club awards graduate students with $1,000 scholarships. This year the Staff Club is pleased to announce fifteen available scholarships. The scholarship is open to all USC students, including international students, who are currently enrolled in a USC graduate program. Criteria for selection include academic record, financial need, activities, service and future goals.

Recipients of the 2013 scholarships will be named on the USC Staff Club’s website Monday, April 15, 2013.  Previous recipients need not apply.


Application Instructions for Staff Club Scholarship 2013

University Staff Club APPLICATION 2013

Apply Friday, March 1, 2013 through Friday, March 15, 2013 at noon.
No exceptions. No application will be viewed after noon 3.15.13.

Send questions to
uscstaffclub@yahoo.com

NSF Innovation in Graduate Education Challenge

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From the USC Graduate Research Fellowship Program Office:

Calling Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Graduate Students:

Have you ever thought of ways to improve STEM graduate education? Do you have a creative idea regarding graduate training? If so, NSF wants to hear from you!

The National Science Foundation Innovation in Graduate Education Challenge is calling for entries from currently enrolled STEM graduate students and teams. They are invited to submit innovative ideas to prepare today’s graduate students for tomorrow’s opportunities and challenges. Entries are solicited for ideas with the potential to improve graduate education and professional development. Ideas can be directed toward students, faculty, departments, institutions, professional societies, and/or federal agencies. Winning ideas will be shared widely and winners will receive prizes between $1000 and $3000.

For more information and to enter the challenge, go to www.nsf.gov/gradchallenge/

Entry deadline is April 15th! Make your voice heard on STEM graduate education!

Provost Fellow Ranjan Pal Takes an Interdisciplinary Approach to Investigating Cyber Insurance

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Provost Fellow Ranjan Pal Takes an Interdisciplinary Approach to the Investigation of Cyber Insurance
By Lauren Evashenk

We live in a digital world, and our lives are replete with the evidence. On a regular day, we check email, browse the Internet, engage on social media sites, and open mobile apps for practically every aspect of our lives. Yet, how many of us routinely ponder the vulnerability created by our reliance on cyberspace?

USC Graduate School funded Provost Fellow, Ranjan Pal, has spent his graduate career identifying our cyber risks, and, more importantly, crafting security responses to these hazards. A Ph.D student in Computer Science, Pal investigates the economics of improving network security using analytical tools from economics, computer science and mathematics.

When thinking about computer security, antivirus products come to mind. Although such products are practically our only barriers of defense against cyber threats to the virtual representations of our characters, identities, and personal information, Pal notes that few people purchase the best software because of the ease of downloading free versions. Furthermore, those who do pay full-price for the top products often do not know how to properly use the full features. As a consequence, the antivirus software many rely on fail to address and remove all the threats we encounter in our daily lives.

Through his research on the economics of information security, Pal seeks to mitigate the barriers to proper cyber security. Specifically, Pal’s focus is incentives alignment among the various parties involved in the cyber insurance market. The cyber insurance market, Pal argues, is necessary to protect users as more of our lives move to the digital realm. However, Pal also asserts that in order for the cyber insurance market to blossom and function effectively and efficiently, the interests of regulatory agencies, cyber insurance companies, security product vendors, network users, and the network at large must be balanced. As the market currently exists, it is not feasible to provide individual users with cyber insurance policies.

Under the guidance of Viterbi School of Engineering faculty mentors Konstantinos Psounis, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and (jointly) Computer Science, and Leana Golubchik, Professor of Computer Science and (jointly) Electrical Engineering, Pal is taking an interdisciplinary approach and using mathematical techniques to create solutions for balancing market interests. He is also collaborating with Dr. Pan Hui, who is jointly associated with Deutsch Telekom (T-Labs) in Germany, and HKUST in Hong Kong.

Currently in the 5th year of his doctoral work, Pal plans to graduate by the end of the year. Before continuing in academia, Pal hopes to work in an industry research lab to bring his doctoral research to real industry projects, and ultimately make an impact in regular people’s lives through enhanced cyber security and the availability of cyber insurance.

Pal thanks his advisors, Drs. Golubchik and Psounis, for giving him the freedom and support to work on the research he loves.

Taiwan-United States Sister Relations Alliance (TUSA) Summer Scholarship Program

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Apply now for the Taiwan-United States Sister Relations Alliance (TUSA) Summer Scholarship Program, a unique ambassador program for United States college undergraduate or graduate students who are interested in studying Mandarin (Chinese) and learning about Taiwanese culture.

There is no requirement for proficiency in Chinese language. Accepted students will be enrolled in the Chinese Language Center at the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU, http://www.ncku.edu.tw ) in Tainan City, Taiwan. The application period ends on Feb. 15, 2013 for early acceptance and March 31, 2013 for general acceptance. Applications can be submitted on line at www.taiwanusalliance.com .

The 2013 TUSA program starts July 1 and ends August 23th. A stipend of NT $25,000 (US $800) per month for two months (July & August) will be awarded to each scholarship recipient. The scholarship is budgeted to cover tuition, dormitory fees, all program-related travel and excursions, and accident/outpatient health insurance. The program is sponsored by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan, and a total of 36 ‘Ambassador’ students will be accepted for the 2013 class.

Find out more information on the TUSA website.

Spring 2013 Thesis and Dissertation Submission Information Sessions

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Do you plan to submit your thesis or dissertation this spring and earn a May 2013 degree conferral date? If so, mark your calendar!

The Thesis Coordinator will hold two information sessions focusing on thesis and dissertation formatting and the submission process, one on the Health Sciences Campus and the other on the University Park Campus. Remember to review the new guidelines for submission beforehand and bring all your questions:
http://www.usc.edu/schools/GraduateSchool/current_thesis_dissert.html

HSC Information Session
Thursday, February 21st, 2013
2:30pm – 3:30pm
NTT7409

UPC Information Session
Friday, February 22nd, 2013
1:15pm – 2:15pm
KAP 146 

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