Gifted musician joins USC Thornton’s composition program

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Georgi Dimitrov selected USC in part because of its strong composition faculty. (Photo/Kadi Lee)

By Lauren Evashenk
January 22, 2013

Georgi Dimitrov loves the contrabass clarinet and the uniqueness of a really high contrabassoon. And though he prefers the alto flute to the flute, Dimitrov is quick to point out that writing for “instruments that are not among one’s favorites is often a welcome challenge.”

Dimitrov is a first-year composition major in the Master of Music program at the USC Thornton School of Music. One of two students to enter the composition program this year, he studies under Distinguished Professor of Composition Stephen Hartke, who has been lauded as one of the foremost composers of his generation.

Though he is only beginning his graduate career, Dimitrov is already a promising composer. Last summer, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation recognized Dimitrov with the Graduate Arts Award.

Presented to a maximum of 15 graduate students each year, the award provides individuals who display exceptional creative or artistic talent with a scholarship to be put toward graduate studies in his or her chosen artistic field. Dimitrov was one of only two students nominated for the award by the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), his undergraduate institution.

Thanks to the Graduate Arts Award, Dimitrov was able to pursue his graduate studies at the institution of his choice. After completing his BFA degree in music composition at CalArts, Dimitrov joined USC Thornton in the fall. Dimitrov selected USC because of its strong composition faculty and for the opportunity to have outstanding musicians — namely USC Thornton peers — play his music.

“I hope to draw from [the faculty’s] experience and knowledge,” he said. “They’ve been successful composers for 20 or 30 years and have had their own music performed around the world. They will help me to see what I can’t see on my own, and thus my notes will get better.”

During his first semester at USC, Dimitrov crafted solos and chamber music while completing an orchestral piece. Though the accomplished musician learned to play the violin as a boy, he is also now studying the viola, and he looks forward to concerts scheduled for March when USC players will perform his pieces.

Following the completion of his master’s degree, Dimitrov hopes to pursue a doctoral degree and to teach composition.

Dimitrov’s website, georgidimitrov.us, is under construction, but music lovers can preview a few of his compositions on his SoundCloud stream.

http://news.usc.edu/#!/article/45899/gifted-musician-joins-usc-thorntons-composition-program/

Japan Travel Grants

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Attention, Graduate Students in Asia/Japan Studies:

KCC Japan Education Exchange (KCC-JEE) $2000 Travel Grants 2013 Fellowship
KCC-JEE is offering travel grants for research in Japan for up to $2000 each.

Application materials will be available at the KCC Japan Education Exchange website by the next week. Please check at: www.kccjee.org.

The travel grant must be used for travel to, from, and within Japan. It may not be used to buy equipment, purchase books or materials, or any other direct research expenses. It may not be used for language instruction.

There are no restrictions on the discipline or content of the research project. This travel grant may be combined with any other fellowships or grants.

Eligibility Criteria:
An applicant must be a US citizen enrolled in (or affiliated with) an American university; Ph.D. candidate who has been advanced to candidacy; Proficient in research level Japanese language

Applications include:
The cover sheet with bio info (from KCC); CV; Proposal; One letter of recommendation from the candidates thesis advisor; One letter ranking language proficiency

The proposal should include:
Brief dissertation abstract (500 words)
Statement of research agenda in Japan
Budget showing how the travel grant will be used

Upon completion of expenditure of funds, the recipient will be required to submit a report to KCC/Japan Education Exchange explaining the outcome of his/her project.

Applications are due no later than February 15, 2013 and recipients will be notified by February 28, 2013.

For questions please contact Roberta Wollons at rwollons@gmail.com or Cindi Sturtz-Sreetharan csturtz@saclink.csus.edu.

Fellowships for International Study

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Do you want to do research abroad? If yes, take note of these upcoming information sessions on international fellowships. The general sessions will discuss programs such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, Luce and more. The Fulbright sessions will discuss the Study and Research Grants, or the English Teaching Assistantship grants.

Sessions will be held on the following dates and times:

General Fellowships for International Study:

January 30, from 12:00pm – 1:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium
February 28, from 1:00pm – 2:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium
March 26, from 12:00pm – 1:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium
April 8, from 1:00pm – 2:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium

Fulbright Study and Research Grants:

January 28, from 1:00pm – 2:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium
February 13, from 12:00pm – 1:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium
March 12, from 1:00pm – 2:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium
April 4, from 12:00pm – 1:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium

Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA):

January 24, from 12:00pm – 1:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium
February 5, from 1:00pm – 2:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium
March 4, from 1:00pm – 2:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium
April 17, from 3:00pm – 4:00pm in Leavey Library Auditorium

U.S. Citizenship is required for the fellowships. Additional information regarding the fellowships is available at www.usc.edu/aif

The Office of Academic and International Fellowships also has a new Facebook page where they will post upcoming info sessions and applicant resources: www.facebook.com/uscaif. Please like them!

If you are unable to attend the information sessions and would like to learn more about the fellowships, please contact the Academic and International Fellowships Office at aifstaff@usc.edu or (213) 740-9116.

East Asian Studies Center 2013-14 Foreign Language and Area Studies & ACE-Nikaido Fellowships

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EAST ASIAN STUDIES CENTER 2013-2014 FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND AREA STUDIES (FLAS) FELLOWSHIP

FLAS fellowships are provided by EASC’s U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant for undergraduate and graduate study of Mandarin Chinese, Japanese or Korean and East Asian area studies. The purpose of the program is to enrich the nation’s pool of area and international specialists. Applicants should be planning to use their training to teach, to serve in government or international agencies, or to engage in other work that advances American understanding of other countries.

Applications are available online. Please visit the website for more details: http://dornsife.usc.edu/eascenter/flas/

Application Deadline: Friday, February 1, 2013 by 5:00pm

Summer 2013 FLAS Fellowship
● $2,500 stipend
● $5,000 maximum tuition payment for approved intensive summer language program

Summer 2013 FLAS fellowships are awarded to graduate and undergraduate students for intensive language study of Mandarin Chinese, Japanese or Korean at an institution in the U.S. or abroad. The language study must be at least 6 weeks in length and include 120 or more contact hours for advanced level study, 140 or more for beginning/intermediate level study.

Academic Year 2013-14 FLAS Fellowship
Graduate Students:
● $15,000 stipend
● $18,000 tuition payment

Undergraduate Students:
● $5,000 stipend
● $10,000 tuition payment

Academic Year FLAS fellows enroll in one East Asian language course during both fall and spring semesters and must take at least two area studies courses on East Asia during the award period. All language and area studies classes must be taken for a letter grade.

Eligibility
● U.S. citizens or permanent residents
● Full-time USC students
● Graduate students: Engaged in advanced language study (3rd year and above). Those already fluent in one East Asian language may apply for beginning/intermediate study of a second East Asian language.
● Undergraduate students: Engaged in intermediate or advanced language study (2nd year and above)
● FLAS-eligible languages include Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean

 

EAST ASIAN AREA STUDIES CENTER 2013-2014 ASSOCIATION FOR JAPAN – U.S. COMMUNITY EXCHANGE (ACE) NIKAIDO FELLOWSHIP

The Association for Japan-U.S. Community Exchange (ACE) – Nikaido Fellowship provides stipends of up to $5,000 to awarded students, depending on the proposed course of study. Most awards are given in smaller increments based on proposed project. The award may be used for research, Japanese language training or Japanese area studies. The purpose of the award is to advance understanding of Japan and/or US-Japan relations.

Applications are open to full-time USC graduate students from all disciplines and to both domestic and international students. Please visit the website for more details: http://dornsife.usc.edu/eascenter/ace/

Application Deadline: Friday, February 1, 2013 by 5:00pm 

USC Graduate School’s Academic Professional Development Program announces the Spring 2013 Doctoral Student Institute

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The USC Graduate School’s Diversity Outreach and Academic Professional Development Programs will be offering two Ten Week Institutes, one on the Health Science Campus (HSC) and the other on the University Park Campus (UPC), between January 29th and April 2nd.

The HSC Institute is focused on STEM fields, and the UPC Institute is focused on Social, Behavioral, & Economic Sciences and Humanities.

Refer to the advertisement below for application instructions. If you have a question, please email uscapdev@usce.edu

USC Center for Excellence in Research (CER): Final Set of Workshops for the Semester

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This week, the USC Center for Excellence in Research (CER) will have its last set of workshops for the semester.  Hopefully you can join in!

Mission Agency Funding-DoD, DoE, NASA
Objective: To identify opportunities, determine funding priorities, prepare applications, and advocate effectively for funding the application.

Presented by: Dr. James Murday, Associate Director, Washington DC Office of Research Advancement

Wednesday, December 5th, 12-2 PM (Lunch provided)
CUB 329 (Credit Union Building, 3720 S. Flower St, 3rd Floor Conference Room)

Mastering Public Presentations (Great and rare opportunity!)
Objective: Learn the tips and tricks to take your scientific presentations to the next level. In this session, you will learn some fundamental tips and tricks for speaking publicly, obtain some valuable tools for crafting and delivering powerful presentations, and be introduced to a method of critique that will help you in giving and receiving constructive feedback from your colleagues.

Presented by: Tim Miller, Tim Miller is a communications expert who works exclusively in the field of scientific and technical communication. He has appeared at museums, universities, and professional societies from coast to coast.

Dates:
Session #1: December 6th, 9-12pm (Open to new/junior faculty, post-docs, graduate students)
Session #2: December 7th, 12-2pm (Open to all- everyone is encouraged to attend) It covers topics including use of voice, movement, finding an audience, proper use of graphs and figures, the importance of critique, and tips for speakers of English as a second language. The lecture portion last approximately 80 minutes, followed by a Q&A.
Session #3: December 7th, 2-5pm (Open to new/junior faculty, postdocs, graduate students)

Location: All sessions at HSC NRT-LG 503/4
NRT- Norris Research Tower, rooms near Aresty Auditorium

For RSVP: Please indicate which portions you will attend; example #1 and 2, or #2 and 3 or just 1 or 3. Accurate numbers are needed for a food count on session #2. RSVP at usccer@usc.edu as soon as possible. For more information, please see the agenda: CER Workshops Miller Agenda.

Please RSVP by Tuesday, December 4th.

We hope to see you!

Deadline Reminder: SSRC Eurasia Program Fellowships

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SSRC Eurasia Program Fellowships
http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/eurasia-fellowship/

 

DEADLINE: 11:00PM EST December 8, 2012

The Eurasia Program offers two types of fellowship support in 2012, providing financial and academic support to graduate students in the early stages of dissertation development and Ph.D. candidates near completion of their doctoral programs in the social sciences and related humanities.

PRE-DISSERTATION AWARDS (PDAS)
Pre-Dissertation Awards (PDAs) enable early-stage graduate students to perform initial field assessments of up to four weeks for archival exploration, preliminary interviews, and other feasibility studies related to their dissertations. We anticipate awarding six young scholars the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge of their proposed field sites, establish contacts within local communities, meet with local scholars, and gain insight into how their dissertation topics resonate with regional intellectual, political, and social currents. Proposals should reflect a clear plan for initial field assessment, require a budget of less than $3,000, and clearly articulate the policy relevance of the proposed project.

DISSERTATION DEVELOPMENT AWARDS (DDAS)
Dissertation Development Awards (DDAs) are intended to provide one year of support to enable the prompt completion of a PhD dissertation. We anticipate offering approximately ten DDAs (with stipends of up to $20,000) to advanced graduate students who have completed their fieldwork. Fellows will participate in professionalization activities and a fall workshop and contribute to the Eurasia Program’s new working paper and policy brief series. Applicants should pay serious attention to the policy-relevant aspects of their research. All DDA applicants must have obtained ABD status (meaning they have completed all requirements for the PhD except for the dissertation) by the application submission deadline.

ELIGIBILITY
Proposals and research must pertain to one or more of the regions and countries currently supported by the program: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. We will consider comparative projects if one or more of the countries/regions under consideration are supported by the program.

Phi Kappa Phi Student Recognition Program

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The Phi Kappa Phi All-University Honor Society is pleased to announce the 30th annual Phi Kappa Phi Student Recognition Awards Program for 2012-13, which recognizes outstanding artistic and academic works by undergraduate and graduate students during the previous year. Four awards of $500 each will be presented at the USC Annual Academic Honors Convocation in April.

The deadline for submission is Monday, November 19, 2012 at 4:30 pm.

Repercussions: A Serious Games and Immersive Journalism Exhibit

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The Media Arts + Practice Program in the School of Cinematic Arts presents an exhibit of new work by doctoral students in a show titled “Repercussions: A Serious Games and Immersive Journalism Exhibit.”


The show features examples of immersive journalism, a form of news reporting that is entirely experiential, as well as critical perspectives on video game tropes of violence, control and progress.

Please join us for the opening, Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. in the SCA Main Gallery.

If you miss the opening, the show will be open to visitors on the following days:
Thursday, November 15, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Friday, November 16, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 17, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Call for entries: Nineteenth Century Studies Association 2012 Emerging Scholars Award

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From the Society of Architectural Historians:

The Nineteenth Century Studies Association (NCSA) is pleased to announce the 2012 Emerging Scholars Award. The work of emerging scholars represents the promise and long-term future of interdisciplinary scholarship in 19th-century studies. In recognition of the excellent publications of this constituency of emerging scholars, this award recognizes an outstanding article or essay published within five years of the author’s doctorate. Entries can be from any discipline focusing on any aspect of the long 19th century (the French Revolution to World War I), must be published in English or be accompanied by an English translation, and must be by a single author. Submission of essays that are interdisciplinary is especially encouraged.

Entrants must be within five years of having received a doctorate or other terminal professional degree, and must have less than seven years of experience either in an academic career, or as a post-terminal-degree independent scholar or practicing professional.

Only articles physically published between September 1, 2011 and August 31, 2012 (even if the citation date of the journal is different) are eligible for the 2012 Emerging Scholar Award. Articles published in any scholarly journal, including on-line journals, or in edited volumes of essays are eligible and may be submitted either by the author or the publisher of a journal, anthology, or volume containing independent essays. In any given year, an applicant may submit more than one article for this award.

The winning article will be selected by a committee of nineteenth-century scholars representing diverse disciplines. Articles submitted to the NCSA Article Prize competition are ineligible for the Emerging Scholars Award.

The winner will receive $500 to be presented at the annual NCSA Conference in Fresno, California, March 7-9, 2013. Prize recipients need not be members of the NCSA but are encouraged to attend the conference to receive the award.

Send three off-prints or photocopies of published articles/essays to the committee chair: Professor Judith W. Page, Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research, PO Box 117352, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. (Electronic submissions will not be accepted.) Address all questions to page7@ufl.edu. Please note that applicants must verify date of actual publication for eligibility and provide an email address so that receipt of their submissions may be acknowledged.