VOLUME 4
NUMBER 1
SEPTEMBER 2011
Contents:
2
campus news
5 GSC update
6
out & about the 5cs
the pedant
A newsletter for CGU students, or the etymologically inclined. Now bigger, faster, stronger.
10 research & awards
11 La Flaneuse: the
Claremont Wanderer
12 events calendar and
more
GSC Travel Awards make
traveling to conferences a
breeze (page 3)
Strapped for cash while in
school? Relax, this one’s on the
fed (page 8)
INSIDE:
new
the
CGU (page 4)
Claremont Graduate University
campus news
EDITOR’S NOTE
The times, they are a-changin’
(and so are we . . . )
You may notice that the Pedant looks a little different. You may
also notice that there’s a lot more of it. As part of the Pedant’s
continued mission to enhance student life, we realized that we
could be doing more. Along with our usual highlights – research
and awards, news, events, and campus resources – we have added
information and stories on life outside of CGU. Not only are we
now featuring more academic and funding opportunities, but
ways to engage more deeply in the Claremont community.
We are also committed to keeping students abreast of the
changes going on internally at CGU – and big changes they are.
In the spring 2011 issue, we covered the newly established subcommittee on student-centeredness, and this current issue
delves deeply into the proposed restructuring of your schools,
departments, and CGU as a whole; all changes that impact your
life as a graduate student.
Lastly, we have also devoted a column to the Graduate Student
Council (GSC), the student governing body behind the travel
awards, student advocacy, and the beginning- and end-of-year
parties. With a new forum in which to share their plans, events,
and ways for students to get involved, we anticipate that this will
be a huge step in our long worked at efforts to build community.
I hope you’ll agree.
Rachel Tie
Pedant@cgu.edu
the Pedant
Volume 4, Number 1 August 2011
Many thanks to Gina Carlson and the GSC, Sharone Williams
(for getting paid to drink), Atilio Pernisco, Maggie DePond, Susie
Guilbault, Jan “Mitch” Andres, Esther Wiley, Mandy Bennett,
Sheila Lefor, Anna Fagergren, Monika Moore, and Jacob Adams, for
helping to flesh out the details.
The Pedant is . . .
Rachel Tie
Jordan Perry
Editor
Writer
Brendan Babish
Kevin Riel
Editor Emeritus/Writer
Editor Emeritus/Writer
Scott Kneece
Sharone Williams
Contributor
Contributor
2 Otium cum dignitate
Student journals
spring eternal at CGU
This spring and summer two new student-led journals launched
at CGU. In April, the Claremont Journal of Mormon Studies
debuted. Next month, Foothill: a journal of poetry will publish
its first issue.
The Claremont Journal of Mormon Studies is a biannual (May and
September) online academic journal produced by the Claremont
Mormon Studies Student Association. It publishes journal
articles and reviews predominantly written by graduate students.
“Because of social and cultural developments surrounding
Mormon history, it is often the case that Mormon studies research
gets interpreted as either pro-Mormonism or anti-Mormonism,”
said David Golding, who serves as co-editer with Loyd Ericson.
“Claremont has served as a more abstracted location for Mormon
studies research, where scholars and members of the Mormon
community can engage topics in Mormon studies with a more
overt attempt at academic discourse and methods of inquiry.”
The inaugural issue of Foothill is set for a September release.
Foothill is a quarterly online publication, with one print edition
a year. The journal only publishes poetry by graduate students
based in the United States.
“The Tufts poetry awards [which are based at CGU] honor poets
at the beginning and middle stages of their career. We want to
encourage and recognize those still in the apprenticeship of
graduate study,” said Kevin Riel, editor of Foothill, and former
editor of the Pedant.
For more information on the Claremont Journal of Mormon
Studies visit www.claremontmormonstudies.org/journal; for
Foothill, visit www.cgu.edu/foothill or www.facebook.com/
foothilljournal.
Claremont Graduate University
campus news
Executive Vice President
and Provost, Jacob Adams
GSC Travel Awards get professional
development off the ground
CGU is known for its conference-attending, paper-giving,
competition-entering students. But along with the sheen
of prestige and a 30-page CV, academic and professional
productivity can be expensive (at least until our intellectual
prowess begins to pay for itself). To help offset the costs of travel,
the Graduate Student Council (GSC) implemented its semi-annual
Travel Award competition . . . and suddenly that conference in
Paris is looking a lot more attractive.
With an annual allocation of $20,000 devoted to subsidizing
student travel, the GSC began the award competition to
encourage more students to gain professional experience in
their fields. Awards are given on merit (as opposed to financial
need because, let’s face it, that’s a pretty even playing field) and
students can apply for an award for participation in an event that
falls into one of three categories: Presentation in competitions,
conferences, symposiums, or art exhibits; participation in
research in the student’s field of study; and participation in a
professional development event (such as training, a workshop, or
a conference) pertinent to the student’s field.
Every academic year the GSC has two Travel Award competitions,
with the fall 2011 application period opening Monday, October 24
and closing Friday, November 4. Since the GSC needs proof that a
student actually attended an event and paid for it, the awards are
given retroactively. For the fall award period, events need to have
occurred between May 1, 2011-October 31, 2011.
Recipients of the GSC Travel Awards are selected based on an
essay that convincingly argues for the academic significance of
the event, long- and short-term professional development, and
significance to CGU. The full application includes a less-thanconvenient checklist of paperwork and signatures, to which
painstaking attention should be paid, as qualified candidates
have been (and will be) disqualified for a missing signature or
cover page.
Awards are generally between $100-$300, enough to offset
somewhere between a few tanks of gas and a roundtrip plane
ticket. However, the Presidential Award, an additional $500 to the
top applicant, can make a substantial dent in a trip to, say, Hawaii
(Professional development?” Ok, if you say so.)
While not every applicant will receive remuneration (it is, after all,
a competition), last spring, 25 awards were given out, so the “energy
output to potential reward” ratio is fairly high. For details on the
application process, including forms and procedures, visit the
GSC’s Travel Award webpage at www.cgu.edu/travelawards.
New Executive VP
and Provost
On August 1, 2011, Jacob Adams began his term as the new
Executive Vice President and Provost of CGU.
The Executive VP and Provost is the second-in-command in
CGU’s administration, reporting directly to the president.
Responsibilities for the position include overseeing academic
financial planning and university strategic planning, as well as
the selection of academic deans and other academic new hires.
Adams will be the first ever to hold this position at CGU.
Adams joined the faculty at CGU’s School of Educational
Studies in 2006 after several years teaching public affairs at
the University of Washington and teaching in the College of
Education at Vanderbilt University. While at CGU, he has sat
on eight faculty appointment committees and served as chair
for four. Most recently, Adams chaired the Academic Standard
Committee and co-chaired the Steering Committee on CGU
Excellence.
“At CGU, Jacob has been a tireless workers, known for his
commitment, organization, and listening skills, and for the
excellent job he did running the Faculty Executive Committee and
co-chairing the Steering Committee on CGU Excellence this year,”
wrote President Deborah Freund in a letter to the CGU community.
“His savvy budget and people skills, honed from his experiences in
the capitals and board rooms, and his excellent academic work in
Nashville, Seattle, and Claremont, are sure to serve us well in the
years to come.”
Congratulations to the spring 2011
GSC Travel Award Winners!
Vanessa Kettering
Thomas Connelly
Evren Eryilmaz
Coral Bruni
William Swartz
Chase Knowles
Soomi Lee
Scott Strovas
Karen Strovas
Charla Delacuardra
Jerimiah Bowden
Stephen Pu
Jennifer Miller
Sarah Robinson
James Griffith
Ginger Silvera
Emi Makino
John Ruiz
Hans Gustafson
Dali Cao
Elaine McLemore
Jeremiah Gonzalez
Rafael Vasquez
Veronica Gonzalez
Dianee Legree
Leisure with dignity 3
Claremont Graduate University
campus news
CGU realignment
At her Gavel Presentation in February, President Deborah
Freund announced one of the major initiatives of her presidency:
realignment. For new and returning students, here’s a briefing on
what Freund ambitiously calls “creating the future of graduate
education here at CGU.”
Friend’s first step was the establishment of the Steering
Committee on CGU Excellence. Co-chaired by Jacob Adams,
who was then a professor in the School of Educational Studies
(and is now executive vice president and provost), and Stewart
Donaldson, dean of the School of Behavioral and Organizational
Sciences, the committee (made up of faculty, students, and
staff) released a final report on May 5 outlining the proposed
realignment of CGU.
Driven by a renewed focus on student-centeredness, experiential
learning, and cross-cutting research themes, the committee
located several areas that would be restructured to serve these
needs. These include a centralization of student services,
a university center for transdisciplinary research, and the
realignment of the nine current schools into two larger
collectives: The School of Arts and Sciences and an administrative
clustering of the professional schools.
Though there is still much fine-tuning to be done before the
plan is implemented, feedback has been largely positive. In her
comments at the May board meeting, Freund said, “The report is
frankly the single most penetrating and deeply thoughtful work
that I have ever seen from a committee such as this.”
Centralization of student services
A common concern the committee found during its fact-finding
phase was that students thought the fragmented nature of CGU’s
administration and student services made it difficult not only to
use those services, but to know what services were even available.
The new vice provost of enrollment and student affairs, a position
yet to be filled, will oversee admissions, recruiting, financial
aid, the registrar, data services, student life, career services, the
Graduate Student Council, Minority Mentor Program, and Writing
Center. Think of it as a one-stop shop for all your student needs.
Ideally, this will create a more streamlined system for student
transactions (transcripts, financial aid, and the like), and (we hope)
more support for finding employment while in school and after
graduation. According to the report, “this structural change directly
addresses university challenges regarding a more student-centered
delivery of services.”
Center for Transdisciplinary Research and Engagement
Transdisciplinarity has long been a hallmark of CGU’s
curriculum. But aside from T-courses, reading-group funding, and
transdisciplinary dissertation awards, transdisciplinarity has not
yet been fully realized on a university-wide scale. The new center
will provide an infrastructure that supports and promotes crosscutting research, expands the university’s capacity for funding
4 Otium cum dignitate
Steering Committee on CGU Excellence co-chairs Stewart Donaldson
(left) and Jacob Adams
“[These structural changes] directly address
university challenges regarding a more
student-centered delivery of services”
research, supports proposal writing and manages grants, and develops
transdisciplinary curricula.
According to Freund, the new center “is a place to break down barriers,
get faculty from different schools and disciplines working together on
very timely world issues, and enhance the meaning of transdisciplinary
research, teaching, and engagement at CGU.” For students, the center
will make studying across the disciplines more easily accessible and
provide new learning and research opportunities.
Realignment of schools
One of the most debated elements of the realignment is the tentative
idea of collapsing CGU’s nine schools into two: the School of Arts and
Sciences (which will be comprised of Art, Botany, Cultural Studies,
Economics, English, History, Information Science, Math, Music,
Philosophy, Politics, and Religion) and the professional schools (the
Schools of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences; Educational
Studies; Community and Global Health; and the Peter Drucker
and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management) into another
conglomeration.
These mergers will, theoretically, eradicate the ambiguous
relationships between schools, diseconomies of scale, and financial
instability of small schools. However, there is concern that
departmental identity may become subsumed by the larger school
identity, and the greater pool of funds that the merger would create
may actually end up depriving certain departments an equal cut.
“The committee is confident about parts of the realignment plan [in
terms of administration and the new School of Arts and Sciences]
but we’re still dealing with some of the issues present in [the
reorganization of the professional schools],” said Adams at the April
Town Hall presentation of the final report.
Over the summer, Freund charged the committee with fleshing out
the details of what new budgets would look like, tweaking the model
for the professional schools, and doing more to figure out how to
build central capacity to stimulate cross-disciplinary research. The
committee will present the results of a plausibility test to faculty in
September, with a presentation to CGU’s Board of Trustees likely to
occur in November.
Claremont Graduate University
campus news
Everything you always wanted to know
about the GSC (but were afraid to ask)
Every school year is a chance to start
anew: to return to unfinished projects, to
rededicate oneself to work and study, and
for some of us, to finally stay on top of
the “laundry situation.” For the Graduate
Student Council (GSC), the new school
year means a chance to keep doing what
previous councils have done well and to
continue improving student life at CGU.
And let’s not forget the parties.
Because of our illustrious status on
campus (or because we poked and
prodded), the Pedant had the opportunity
to sit in on some early meeting of the
Executive Board of the Graduate Student
Council (GSC) this summer and has gotten
the skinny on what’s brewing for the
upcoming semester.
Along with its usual events (see “Events Calendar” on page 12), including
the famed “Welcome Back BBQ” and Halloween party, the GSC’s main
prerogatives are to enhance communication and increase student
involvement at CGU.
“We’re stoked about President Freund’s commitment to studentcenteredness,” said GSC President Gina Carlson. “Having her as an ally
will enable us to more effectively communicate with students and continue
working on projects that enhance students’ experiences at CGU.”
More concretely, the council has begun sprucing up its webpage, making it
easier for students to learn about GSC resources, of which there are several: a
research portal where students can create profiles and exchange information,
travel-award information, GSC house rental information (yes, the GSC has its
own cottage off 12th street that students can rent for free), and club funding
information and forms (all at www.cgu.edu/gsc).
Students are encouraged to attend the GSC’s bi-weekly meetings, which
will resume after classes begin. Some schools still have representative and
delegate positions open for the upcoming year (details available on the GSC
webpage), but if labels aren’t your thing, you can still get involved.
“We always need volunteers to assist with community programming as
well as to advocate for students at GSC meetings,” said Carlson. “Whatever
your involvement, the GSC offers students the opportunity to nurture their
leadership skills, give back to the community, and form relationships with
colleagues and administrators.”
To contact the GSC, go to www.cgu.edu/gsc and choose the “contact” link on
the left side of the page. And as always, keep checking your e-mail for GSC
news and events.
2011-2012 GSC officers (from left): Gina Carlson
(president), Han Chen (treasurer), Wendy Duran
(secretary), Heather Vittengl Carr (vice president)
Alumni e-mail now one more perk
of graduation
CGU’s Office of Alumni Relations
is now offering alumni free e-mail
accounts powered by Google. These
accounts should especially come in
handy for those who have built up
a cache of valuable correspondence while at CGU – or just want to show
off that they have a graduate degree without being garish.
Alumni e-mail accounts will come with a suite of applications, such as
Google Calendar, Google Docs, and over seven GB of storage space.
When you are nearing graduation Alumni Relations will send an e-mail to
your student account with your alumni e-mail address and password.
For more information on this service, or for instructions on transferring
e-mails from your student account to your alumni account,
visit www.cgu.edu/alumnimail.
Requests for an alumni e-mail account, e-mail address correction,
or e-mail password reset, should be sent to
Alumni Relations at alumni@cgu.edu.
Leisure with dignity 5
Claremont Graduate University
Out and
about the 5Cs:
cutting-edge academics, innovative arts, and gratis hors d’œuvres
The life of a graduate student can easily slip into a cycle of work, class, and endless reading and writing. But if you’re looking
for academic enrichment, want to connect to the 5Cs community, or simply need something to do in the dead hour from noon
to one, the Claremont Colleges offer ongoing, lively, and free- to low-cost events almost daily. So if you have a penchant for
transdisciplinarity, classical arts, or crudités, keep reading.
Athenaeum Events at CMC
Claremont McKenna College will continue to host a diverse series
of events that include speeches and performances from some of the
world’s most recognizable musicians, businesspeople, politicians,
actors, academics, and journalists. Previous speakers have included
Bill Clinton, Bono, Michael Eisner, and Karl Rove (in case you
didn’t know, they’re kind of a big deal). Unless noted otherwise,
events begin at 6:45 pm and take place at the Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum on the CMC campus. A list of fall speakers will be
available at www.cmc.edu/mmca in the coming months.
CGU Art Exhibits
concerts by professional musicians. Concerts are held at Balch
Auditorium on the Scripps campus and have featured an eclectic
variety of traditional classical and world music, from Brahms’
quartets to Zimbabwean Mbira music. For a detailed schedule,
including musicians and event specifics, visit www.scrippscollege.
edu/academics/department/music.
Global Health Seminars
The School of Community and Global Health will host speakers
from diverse backgrounds throughout the year on a variety
of subjects. Seminars are currently in development. For more
information log on to www.cgu.edu/scghcalendar.
There’s just about always something going on at CGU’s art
galleries. Bi-weekly shows curated by art faculty start August 29;
weekly student exhibits begin October 25. Exhibits usually open
with wine-and-cheese receptions, and all students are welcome.
During gallery hours exhibits are open to the general public. CGU
art students are doing impressive work and there is no substitute
for seeing it in person, and nothing makes you feel more fancy
than hobnobbing with artists. Art exhibits are located at the
East and Peggy Phelps Art Galleries, 251 East 10th Street. For a
schedule of exhibitions and events, visit www.cgu.edu/pages/567.
asp.
ISS Brown Bag Lunch Speaker Series
CGU Concerts at Claremont School
of Theology
Pomona College Literary Series
Alternating Thursdays throughout the semester, the Institute
for Signifying Scriptures (ISS) hosts a diverse selection of
presentations on various scriptures and their impact on society
and culture. Additionally, the ISS has a Distinguished Speaker
Series, which has included Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, and
world-renowned literary and cultural critic Gauri Viswanathan.
The events are free an open to the public. For more information,
including schedule, visit www.signifyingscriptures.org. Oh, and
don’t forget your lunch.
Resuming this fall, the CGU Music Department will once
again host its ongoing concert series. Concerts include faculty
performances, student recitals, and music lectures, hosted on
Tuesdays at 4:15 p.m. in Mudd Theater, Seeley G. Mudd Building,
or Kresge Chapel. Admission is free. For a fall schedule as well as
videos of past performances, visit www.cgu.edu/cguconcerts.
Every year, the Pomona College Department of English hosts a
series of readings from visiting authors, the crème de la crème
of the literary world. Readings take place at 4:15 pm in the Ena
Thompson Reading Room located in Crookshank Hall on the
Pomona College campus unless otherwise noted. This semester’s
lineup includes Samuel Delaney, Steve Erickson, and others. More
information available on the department website at www.english.
pomona.edu/litseries.html.
Friday Noon Concert Series
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
Each Friday at noon, as the event’s name suggests, the music
departments of Pomona and Scripps Colleges sponsor free
A stone’s throw away from the CGU student apartments, the Rancho
Santa Ana Botanic Garden is one of Claremont’s most notable locales.
Admission is $6 with a student ID, which grants you entry into one
6 Otium cum dignitate
of the most unique collections of California native plant life. Become
a member for $45 annually and get free admission for the year. For
hours of operation, events, and details, visit www.rsabg.org.
Social Socials
Hosted by CGU’s School of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences,
this bi-weekly event features presentations by graduate and
professional speakers in the field of social psychology, as well
as career workshops and discussions. Past symposiums have
included “Surviving Graduate School: A Students’ Perspective,”
and “Is Conscious Thought Good for Anything?” (Don’t think too
hard about that.) Socials are typically from noon-1:00 p.m. and
include lunch. Anyone with an interest in the subject discussed is
welcome. For the fall schedule and other information, visit: www.
cgu.edu/socialsocials.
SPE Lunch Talks
In this ongoing series, the School of Politics and Economics
has speakers present on topics from the geo-political to the
community specific – all of which you’ll be more ready to tackle
thanks to the swell lunch provided. Previous speakers have
included ambassadors and government officials from across the
globe. Watch your CGU e-mail for announcements or visit www.
cgu.edu/PAGES/494.ASP for further information.
Thursdays at the HRC
Every Thursday the CGU Humanities Resource Center hosts guest
speakers and discussions on a variety of topics relevant to careers
in academia and academia itself. Information ranges from advice
on CV/resume design and career management to discussions of
media and web resources. Events are open to all CGU students
and have been known to serve cured meats and imported beer.
Huzzah! For more information, e-mail tamar.salaibian@cgu.edu.
Tuesday Noon Academy
Every Tuesday at noon, Mallott Commons, located in the heart
of the Scripps campus, hosts both local and visiting speakers
on an eclectic array of subjects. Previous topics have included
stargazing, queer theory, ancient animals, and minimum-wage
policy. See the Mallott Commons website for more information at
www.scrippscollege.edu/campus/malott-commons.
Leisure with dignity 7
Claremont Graduate University
When it comes to work-study,
it pays to be broke
The phrase “work-study” often conjures up images of less-than-ideal jobs: working the lunch counter at the school cafeteria,
answering someone else’s phone, or re-shelving library books for hours on end. But at CGU, many of the work-study positions
are not only pretty swanky in terms of the day-to-day, but can open up paths to careers later on down the line.
Federal Work Study (FWS) is a need-based financial aid program
that provides funds earned through part-time employment to
assist students in financing the costs of postsecondary education
(read: “will work for books”).
To qualify for FWS, students must demonstrate financial need.
Need is determined by looking at a student’s “expected family
contribution” (EFC) on their FAFSA, a number determined from
information on the student’s tax forms. EFC is based on a number
of factors such as students enrolled in college in their household,
investments, and income. At CGU, the maximum EFC is $4,000/
year. When we crunched the numbers, we found that a single
person making $15,000/year would have an EFC of $5,000, $1,000
above this maximum. So it is only the truly destitute that get to
partake of the FWS bounty.
But qualification does not guarantee placement. Although
hundreds of CGU students qualify for FWS, the school is awarded
a limited amount of FWS funds from the federal government each
year, typically much less than is needed. And although workstudy jobs can range from $10-$20/hour, there is a set limit to
the amount a student can work and earn: no more than 20 hours/
week, with a $6,000 cap for the school year.
So how does CGU determine who’s in and who’s out?
“We give priority to continuing students who were previously
awarded FWS,” said Susie Guilbault, director of financial aid at
CGU and someone you should definitely get to know if you haven’t
already. “We then give priority to students still in course work.
This is because the whole point of work-study is to offset the
high cost of tuition. However, there are some jobs that require
more advanced students, such as writing center employees,
who proofread dissertations; research and teaching assistants
who have experience in their fields; and other university
administration jobs, which require knowledge of how the
university functions.”
Art student Atilio Pednisco shows that FWS can be all fun and games.
8 Otium cum dignitate
If you are one of the lucky awarded FWS, the next step is to go out
and get a job. Each spring, the Office of Financial Aid asks all of
History student Maggie DePond gazes adoringly at student records at her work-study gig in the Registrar’s Office.
“work-study provides an opportunity to become well-rounded . . . . Especially in this economy,
the more well-rounded you are, the better chance you have of getting a job”
the university employers to compile job descriptions for the workstudy positions they want to fill for the upcoming year. At the
start of the fall semester, the Office of Financial Aid posts these
descriptions on their website, and in the fall students can peruse
these listings and begin applying. But be forewarned: If you do
not secure a job by October 15, your funds will be reallocated back
into the pool for the next student on the waitlist to redeem. So
diligence is key.
Magge DePond, a second-year MA student in history, has a workstudy job at the Registrar’s Office at CGU. Her duties are to file all
the student forms that come through the office and occasionally
to embark upon culinary adventures.“We had a cupcake
decorating contest for Halloween,” said DePond. “The next day
we had a ton of leftovers, so I spent my entire shift frosting
cupcakes.”
When asked if this exposure to the world of confectionary arts
impacted her chosen career path, DePond resolutely replied “no.”
Yet for many students, work-study jobs not only provide fulfilling
work experience (and some mad money for the weekend: see
page 11 for ideas), but open up career options that they hadn’t
previously considered.
“From students’ perspectives, work-study provides an opportunity
to become well-rounded, to work in a field outside their own
departments. Especially in this economy, the more well-rounded
you are, the better chance you have of getting a job. Even if you
want to become a professor, having experience in, say, admissions
can go a long way. And it’s a great way to engage more deeply in
the university,” said Guilbault.
This was certainly the case for alumnus Brendan Babish, who
started out as a creative writing MA and student worker for
the Office of Communications, and now, degree in hand, is the
assistant director of university communications.
“One of the great things about work-study is that it not only gives
students a chance to try their hands at something new, but it’s a
great way for the university to tap into talented resources,” said
Babish.
But if work-study is more about a paycheck and less about a
career path, that doesn’t mean that it has to be dull. Not only do
students fill many of the administrative jobs throughout CGU,
they are also employed as researchers, designers, and writers
(present author included). Many of CGU’s work-study students
work at writing centers throughout the 5Cs, and there is a large
faction that serve as SAT tutors to local high school students.
Other interesting jobs include working at Planned Parenthood,
a dance studio, and, yes, shelving books in the catacombs of
Honnold.
Atilio Pernisco, an MFA student in art, started working at the
Children’s School at Claremont McKenna College last semester as
a teachers’ assistant. In this capacity, his duties involve helping
with classroom lessons, leading activities, and supervising
children from kindergarten through second grade.
“I’ve had a lot of memorable experiences at this job,” said Pernisco,
who plans to eventually teach college art. “I had showed some
paintings at school one day that met mixed reviews; it was
devastating. When I got to work that afternoon, a child, in complete
earnestness, asked if I wanted to help him catch lizards. Somehow,
it put everything in perspective and was exactly what I needed.”
To see if you qualify for FWS, check your financial aid award letter
in your CGU portal. For questions, contact finaid@cgu.edu. And
for those of us down in the work-study trenches, hold on for dear
life, because there are about 400 others gunning for our jobs.
Leisure with dignity 9
research +
awards
2012 Ford Foundation
Diversity Fellowships
Gratulacje to Jan Andres for landing a Fulbright to teach in Poland.
CGU Fulbright
Scholar
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take,” as selfproclaimed “World’s Geatest Boss” Michael Scott famously quoted
Wayne Gretzky, which is applicable for hockey, paper sales, and of
course, awards and scholarships.
To put it another way, you lose all of the awards you don’t apply for.
So anyone with any interest in researching and/or teaching in a
foreign country should seriously consider applying for a Fulbright
Award. Applications for the Fulbright US Student Program are due
October 17.
Fulbright Awards were created to foster international research
and collaboration. They are prestigious and career-enhancing for
recipients, who include John Lithgow, Sylvia Plath, and more Nobel
Prize winners (including two in 2010) than any other academic
program.
There are various Fulbright grants, but probably the most relevant
for CGU students is the Fulbright US Student Program (available
to US citizens only). This provides grants for study, research, or
teaching English during an academic year abroad in the country of
your choice. All awards include monthly living expenses and roundtrip airfare, with varying other benefits depending on country.
For those daunted by the program and application process take
note: CGU Arts & Humanities student Jan Andres recently received
a Fulbright to research and teach in Poland during the 20112012 academic year. And perhaps most importantly, she said the
application process “wasn’t too bad.”
Andres started her application in September and wrote her onepage personal statement and one-page statement of purpose over
a few evenings after work (different programs require different
application procedures). She cited the forums of the Grad Café
(www.thegradcafe.com) as particularly helpful while guiding herself
through the application process.
10 Otium cum dignitate
The Ford Foundation has announced its 2012 Predoctoral
and Dissertation Fellowships Program and is now accepting
applications.
The Predoctoral award includes an annual stipend of $20,000 and
expenses to attend at least one conference of Ford fellows, while
the Dissertation award includes a stipend of $21,000 and the
same conference access.
Students must be enrolled full time in a PhD program in an
eligible field of study. Selection is based on superior academic
achievement, promise as a scholar and educator, and membership
in an underrepresented ethnic group. A panel of judges selected
by the National Academies will select candidates based upon
essays, letters of recommendation, and academic records.
The deadline for applications is November 14, 2011. For more
information and to apply, visit http://sites.nationalacademies.org/
PGA/Fellowships.
2012 Paul & Daisy Soros
Fellowships for New Americans
The Soros Fellowships help fund two years of graduate levelstudy in any field with $25,000 in maintenance grants and up
to $20,000 in tuition support for each year of study supported,
totaling as much as $90,000 in aid.
Eligibility is based on age, immigration, and program progress.
Candidates must be “newly American” or first generation; being
either a green-card holder, naturalized citizen, or a child born of
naturalized citizens. Candidates must be under 31 years of age
and not be beyond their second year of study.
Selection is based on creativity and demonstrating sustained
accomplishment. A total of 30 fellowships will be awarded.
Applications are due November 1, 2011 and finalists will be
announced January 2012. For more information and to apply, visit
http://www.pdsoros.org/competition.
• You just want to eat nachos and have a drink with your friends
after a Week-with-a-capital-W.
No question about it, the Press is unique. As the former home of the
presses of the Claremont Courier, it has hipster-geek appeal, but it
also has a dorky clip-art logo to draw the older crowd; The food grad
students can afford (appetizers) is reasonably tasty; the lighting
is suitably dim; it has a dance floor, live music, a chalkboard menu
from before chalkboard menus were cool, a smoking porch, and
servers who (usually) aren’t hostile.
La Flâneuse
by Sharone Williams — writer, editor, loafer
Flâneuse, French: 1) a city wanderer; 2) one who strolls
about aimlessly; 3) a shopper with no intent to buy; an
intellectual parasite.
The rumors are true: life does exist outside of graduate school.
To help guide you through the strange slice of life that is the
broader Claremont community, the Pedant’s resident Flâneuse
covers where to see and be seen, what to eat and drink, and
more frequently than not, how to point and laugh. This issue:
Thursdays at the Press.
Most importantly, it has people of all kinds – which is important,
because grad school can be a cloistering experience. Chances are
if you wander in, you’ll find someone you know or want to know
better, including the occasional notable visitor to Claremont (Newt
Gingrich stopped in after delivering a speech at Scripps last year).
At the very least, the bouncer who asks you for ID will remind you
of the glory days when you looked under 21.
The Press has long held an almost-monopoly as the drinks
destination for Claremont students (in part because it’s one of few
places in the Village open after sundown), but lately it’s faced some
competition from gastropub the Back Abbey (est. 2009) and freshfaced debutante Eureka!Burger (est. April 2011), which combines
the beer selection and crazy-good burgers of the Back Abbey with
the full bar and drink specials of the Press. Will Eureka!Burger,
with all its buzz, overtake the Press in popularity? I’ll do some
heavy-duty evaluation and get back to you.
You may have noticed that on Thursday night all roads invariably
lead to the Village, especially to the Press. Maybe you’ve been on
other weeknights, but Thursday is the Friday of this college town.
On Thursdays, you don’t go to the Press to ruminate or continue
class discussions like you might on a Tuesday. No, you go for one or
more of the following reasons:
• Happy hour, duh. Like Nigel Tufnel’s amp, it goes to 11.
• I t’s after 9 p.m. and you want a Manhattan, absinthe, or anything
besides beer and wine — and Espiau’s has either too many
basketball fans or too few plaid shirts for your liking.
•Y
ou enjoy standing nose-to-nose with people you’ve just met (and
shoulder-to-elbow with total strangers) and shouting small talk.
•Y
ou want to socialize with your colleagues and get to know the
side of them that doesn’t talk about Derrida or game theory . . . as
much.
•Y
ou like to play hipster facial hair bingo. Overheard: “I’ve got
mutton chops, Allen Ginsberg beard/hair combo, sad pornstache,
mustache/_finger tattoo, and lumberjack beard. Do I win?”
Claremont Nightlife in all its glory
•Y
ou enjoy the wide array of Claremont life on display. On any
Thursday, you may spot undergrads doing Jägerbombs, dolledup locals, people holed up with laptops and stacks of grading,
passersby straddling bicycles and bumming cigarettes out
front, and at least one variety of “that guy,” who’ll hit on you by
inexplicably admiring your drink choice. Overheard: “Gin and
tonic. Perfect. Tonic deserves something . . . celebratory.”
Leisure with dignity 11
Claremont Graduate University
calendar
August 25-27 Drucker School Orientation for MBA, Financial Engineering,
and dual degree students. Events will be held in the Burkle building. E-mail
hayley.kiruki@cgu.edu for more information.
August 29 Welcome back! First day of classes.
September 5 No Classes: Memorial Day. Take a day trip to the Salton Sea,
Big Bear, or Palm Springs.
September 12 Last day to add/drop.
September 27 Come support second-year MFA students in a group art
exhibition and reception at the East and Peggy Phelps Galleries (251 East
10th Street) from 6-9 p.m. A visiting artist lecture will precede the exhibition
at 4:30 p.m. in Albrecht Auditorium.
October 6 28th Annual Bowen Lecture on education with distinguished
speaker Vincent Tinto. 7:30 p.m. in Albrecht Auditorium. Contact denise.
thompson@cgu.edu for more information.
October 7 Movie Night! Hosted by the Graduate Student council. More
information to come.
October 11 Check out first-year MFA students as they get their sea legs.
First-year student exhibition will be held at the East and Peggy Phelps
Galleries at 251 East 10th Street from 6-9 p.m. The exhibition will be
preceded by a visiting artist lecture at 4:30 p.m. in Albrecht auditorium.
October 25 MFA thesis exhibitions and reception for Bryan Miller and Kevin
Moore at the East and Peggy Phelps Galleries (251 E. 10th St.) from 6-9 p.m.
October 28 Let loose before the final stretch of the semester at the annual
Graduate Student Council Halloween Party. Details to come.
November 1 MFA thesis exhibitions and reception for Jocelyn Grau and Nick
Shake at the East and Peggy Phelps Galleries (251 E. 10th St.) from 6-9 p.m.
November 9 MFA thesis exhibitions and reception for Mihyang Kim and
Conchi Sanford at the East and Peggy Phelps Galleries (251 E. 10th St.)
from 6-9 p.m.
November 17 Graduate Student Council annual Thanksgiving potluck. Check
your e-mail for details.
November 24-25 Get outta town, it’s Thanksgiving Break!
December 5-9 During finals week the Graduate Student Council will host a
series of study breaks. Details TBA.
December 17 Last day of the semester. See you in the spring!
12 Otium cum dignitate
EVENT IN FOCUS
September 15:
President Freund’s Installation
This all-day event begins at 10:00 a.m. with
processional and installation at the Bridges
Hall of Music at Pomona College followed
by “President’s Forum: The Transdisciplinary
Imperative.” Students are then invited to a free luncheon at
the Smith Campus Center Ballroom also at Pomona, with
activities, including an open house and art exhibit, planned
for the rest of the afternoon. Be sure to check your e-mail
for an official invitation and RSVP instructions or visit
http://www.cgu.edu/installation. This swanky way to spend a
Thursday is definitely not to be missed.