|
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome back! The first day of class is always an exciting time - full of anticipation, some butterflies, and of course a little trepidation about whether our best-laid plans will actually pan out. However, today is an especially exciting first day of semester. Today is the 50th anniversary of the creation of the coalition known as the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) at UC Berkeley.
On January 22nd, 1969, the UC Berkeley TWLF multiracial coalition came together to demand that the University acknowledge the histories of communities of color as vital scholarship through the creation of a Third World College dedicated to the underemphasized histories of African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanos/Chicanas and Native Americans. The three month long protests that followed resulted not in a Third World College but in the Department of Ethnic Studies. This struggle for research, education policy and a curriculum grounded in the diverse experiences of our communities, is, of course, the progenitor for the AC requirement.
Today, we celebrate this history, and its ongoing influence in our university's very existence and the commitment we hold to research, teaching and learning constitutive of our complex, dynamic social and cultural formations. We invite you to join generations of students, staff, faculty and our broader communities, who will gather at 12 pm on the Mario Savio steps to commemorate this legacy.
A great way to start the semester!
Warm Regards, Victoria Robinson
Director, The American Cultures Center
|
|
American Cultures Course Development Grants
We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting development grants of up to $1,500 to assist in the design of an AC course. Such course development might build on an existing course offering, but which is currently non-AC in status, or help with the development of a new class which has yet to be offered. Learn More.
|
|
|
Resilience Archives: Free 10-week Storytelling Workshop
Do you want to write your own story? Do you want to be in a space filled with other beginning, emerging, and established LGBTQ APA storytellers? If so, check out the Resilience Archives: Performing Resilience workshop, a free 10-week personal narrative workshop open to LGBTQ APAs. It's a super easy application process, there's no fee, and check out our cohort from last year!
Applications Due February 10, 2019:
To learn more about The Resilience Archives, be sure to follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
|
|
The American Cultures Teaching Award
We are happy to announce that we are now accepting applications for the 2019 American Cultures Teaching Award!
The AC Teaching Award recognizes faculty for their continued excellence in engaging and exciting students’ intellectual and cultural curiosity in the AC classroom.
All members of the Academic Senate, non-Senate faculty and instructors of an AC course taught within the past two academic years, are eligible to apply.
Recipients are celebrated at our annual award ceremony in May and will receive a $2500 grant.
Nominations are due by February 22nd, 2019.
To view previous recipients and learn more about guidelines and procedures, please visit our Teaching Award Page
|
|
The American Cultures Student Prize
Hey Students! (and faculty who wish to nominate a student)
Have you created an awesome project in your AC course that addresses race, culture, ethnicity, and diversity of the American experience?
Send us your project to be considered for the AC Student Prize! Recipients will be recognized at our annual prize ceremony in May and will receive a $1,000 award.
Projects can range from essays to websites, presentations, short stories, poems, etc. As long as your project was created in an AC course, or derives from an AC course - it will be considered!
Applications are due by March 15th, 2019. Read More.
|
|
Rally to Commemorate the 1969 TWLF Strike at UC Berkeley
Tuesday, January 22nd, 12:00-1:00 pm
Mario Savio Steps, Sproul Hall
Today, January 22nd, 2019, Tuesday, an informational rally will be held on Sproul Steps to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1969 Third World Liberation Front Strike (TWLF) at UC Berkeley. TWLF veterans will read the original 1969 demands that led to Ethnic Studies programs throughout the UC system and nationwide.
Additionally, there will be speakers from subsequent generations who fought to sustain and make relevant Ethnic Studies on campus and in the community.
Sponsored by CRG (Center for Race and Gender, UCB), The American Cultures Center, TWLF-Research Initiative, TWLF 1969, twLF veterans.
For more information, please visit the event page.
|
|
Upcoming Meeting Dates:
Friday, February 8th
Friday, March 3rd
Friday, April 1st
Friday, May 3rd
Please note:
The deadline to submit course materials is exactly one week before the next meeting
|
American Cultures Senate Subcommittee: Spring 2019 Meetings
When a course holds American Cultures (AC) status, it means that the first instructors to offer that class developed course content and assignments towards a critical engagement with race, ethnicity, and culture, past, present, and future. To ensure that this approach is maintained, we ask that a new instructor appointed to teach an AC course (or developing a new one) provides their course materials to the AC Senate committee. The AC Center works directly with faculty to support their submission to the Senate committee.
For any questions about the submission process or to discuss course development ideas, please email us.
|
|
2018 -19 AC Curriculum Guidelines: Newly Annotated Version
The AC classroom represents faculty's interpretation of and conversation with Senate regulation 300. Passed in 1989, regulation 300 created guidelines for how a faculty's intellectual engagement with issues critical to America's dynamic racial, ethnic and sociocultural landscape, would enter the classroom.
AC curriculum guidelines present an exciting point of departure for faculty from 49 departments and programs across campus. With such a broad constituency of faculty engagement, the UC Berkeley Academic Senate Committee on American Cultures has provided additional guidance on how the guidelines are read and interpreted.
|
|
2019 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
Tuesday, March 5, 2019, 12:00-5:00 pm
Moffitt Undergraduate Library, Room 405
Wikimedia’s race and gender trouble are well-documented. Let's change that. The AC Center and the University Library invite you to the Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon, an annual event for members of the campus community to edit Wikipedia pages, and attend workshops on editing. This year's theme will focus on Art+Feminism - a national campaign improving coverage of cis and transgender women, feminism and the arts on Wikipedia, and Race+Justice.
So, bring your laptop, power cord and ideas for entries that need updating or creation! For the editing-averse, we urge you to stop by to show your support. People of all races and gender identities are invited to participate. Read more.
|
|
Data Science Modules Exposition
Thursday, February 21, 2019, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
Academic Innovation Studio, 117 Dwinelle Hall
Please join the Data Science Education Program (DSEP) for a workshop designed to introduce some of the types of course materials being developed for Data Science pedagogy from a variety of classes, including introductory, intermediate and advanced courses, and American Cultures classes. Hands-on learning and conversation with instructors adopting and adapting these materials should ensure a lively afternoon.
|
For more information please visit the following page.
|
|
The Chosen Ones: Black Men and the Politics of Redemption
Wednesday, February 13th, 4:00 - 5:30 pm
Academic Innovation Studio (AIS)
117 Dwinelle Hall
This event will be a discussion between Nikki Jones, Associate Professor of African American Studies, UC Berkeley, and Clarence Ford, Masters Candidate, Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley, and Berkeley Underground Scholar. The discussion will be based on Dr. Jones's new book, The Chosen Ones: Black Men and the Politics of Redemption, which centers on the topic of the struggles faced by formerly incarcerated black men trying to fit back into their communities and the obstacles they face when attempting to integrate into greater society.
The event is sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues and co-sponsored by the Center for Race and Gender, the Center for the Study of Law and Society, the American Cultures Center, and Berkeley Underground Scholars.
|
|
Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area
Tuesday, March 12th, 4:00-5:30 pm
Dwinelle Hall, Room 370
Dockworkers have power. Often missed in commentary on today's globalizing economy, workers in the world’s ports can harness their role, at a strategic choke point, to promote their labor rights and social justice causes. Peter Cole brings such overlooked experiences to light in an eye-opening comparative study of Durban, South Africa, and the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Pathbreaking research reveals how unions affected lasting change in some of the most far-reaching struggles of modern times.
Event Sponsored by American Cultures Center, History Department, Ethnic Studies Library, Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholarships, Institute for Research on Labor & Employment, Center for Labor Research & Education, and Geography Department.
To learn more, visit this page.
|
|
|
|
