C L A R E M O N T the G R A D U A T E U N I V E R S I T Y Pedant A newsletter for CGU students, which doubles as a Hagelbarger’s placemat. March 2009 CGU news All the campus news that’s fit to print. Get the latest on the new interim president, the Writing Center’s new spread, poets getting paid, and how to get in touch with your inner child. Page 2-3 Volume 1, Number 3 Teacher training A Pedant’s guide to becoming a professor. Learn from three ambitious students who are intrepidly carving out a promising career path in higher learning. Page 4 Pondering the great hereafter with the Office of Career Management Our busy grad-student minds are a whirlwind of deadlines, theorems, reading lists, to-do lists, brilliant ideas, forgettable ideas, scheduling conflicts, familial and relationship demands, and lots and lots of caffeine (which only spins the tumult faster). It’s rare that we ever stop to think about life after graduate school. Quoth Hamlet (a student himself worried about the great hereafter), “If it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.” The counselors at the Office of Career Management can help make you ready to avoid “the slings and arrows” of unemployment or an unsatisfying job, and onto a career that might make you an “outrageous fortune.” Research and awards Henry Kravis awards entrepreneurial innovation, a BGSA call for papers, and getting schooled at Oxford. Page 7 Campus events A full calendar of events, including how to get your monthly Debussy fix. Page 8 What aren’t you learning in graduate school? Page 8 It doesn’t work that way. Your first appointment is the beginning of a sustained partnership in which you must patiently and proactively work with a counselor. Alas, poor Yorick! What will I do for a career? Surely, you may be saying, I can continue to put off worrying about how to pay that student loan balance I can’t bear to look at. Not so, says Office of Career Management director Fatma Kassamali. Asked when students should begin visiting the office for consultations, she said bluntly: “The first day. “Students should come in on their very first day at CGU because it takes a long time to crystallize your ideas about what you want to do, what you are good at, and to strengthen your job-finding skills,” she added. The Office of Career Management offers a range of services, not just geared toward showing you the money, but also showing you the way to a stimulating and fulfilling career. However, don’t expect that on your first visit a counselor will set you up with a wealthy alumnus who just happens to have a six-figure position open on the beach in the Caribbean. “Don’t just come once,” says Kassamali. “It takes more than one appointment to figure out what you want to do and how to get there. I think it’s really important that students take advantage of our really strong counseling staff. They’re well equipped to help guide you to useful resources and information.” For starters, you might want to attend one of their workshops. They’re open to all students and have, in the past, addressed topics such as: job searching, resume writing, interview techniques, skills assessment, salary negotiation, and networking. (Continued on page 6) CGU factoid Can you guess which former United States President narrated a documentary on the Claremont Colleges? Find out on page 8 Leisure with dignity 1 C L A R E M O N T G R A D U A T E editor’s note: cgu news: Though it might seem like the spring semester just started, finals will be upon us before we know it. Likewise, no matter how far along you are in achieving your degree, when you’re walking across that stage at commencement I’m guessing more than a few of you will wonder where the time went. And that’s why it’s important you don’t put off preparing for your future career, be it in academia or elsewhere. Dr. Joseph C. Hough Jr. named interim president of CGU Send your e-mails to brendan.babish@cgu.edu. Electronic copies of this and past issues of the Pedant are available on our website at: www.cgu.edu/communications. Special thanks To Fatma Kassamali and the Office of Career Management, Ambereen Dadabhoy, Christopher Farrish, David Dunaetz, and anyone else who generously gave their time to our humble publication; and Stone Brewery. 2 Otium cum dignitate I V E R S I T Y Moving the center The Writing Center has risen from the depths of the Harper Basement, and moved on up to a deluxe cottage on 141 East 12th Street. This quaint, blue-grey chalet is within casual strolling distance from anywhere on campus, lying two blocks north of its old location in Harper Hall, and just across the street from the old student apartments. The iDoctor is in CGU’s Board of Trustees have announced that Dr. Joseph C. Hough, Jr. will be the university’s interim president. Hough has agreed to lead CGU for the next 18 months while a formal search for a new president is conducted. He and his wife, Heidi, are returning to Claremont, where they had lived for 25 years. Hough then served on the faculty of Claremont School of Theology and was chair of the Religion Department at Claremont Graduate School. He also served as dean of the Claremont School of Theology from 1974 to 1987. the Pedant March 2009 Volume 1, Number 3 N The new lodgings are replete with tutoring rooms, conference rooms, offices, a new kitchen with coffee and tea maker, and a spacious living room to wait in comfortably for your appointment, browse the center’s resource library and bulletin board, or to spiritedly discuss split infinitives with fellow students. For more information and pictures, check out their website at www.cgu.edu/ pages/726.ASP. Though we are always trying to provide you with tips on getting the most out of your time here at CGU, this issue’s features are devoted to realizing your career goals. If you’re already taking advantage of the opportunities to gain experience and network, that’s great. Maybe we can still provide some tips that will help you augment your efforts. If you aren’t doing anything outside your classes to fulfill your career goals, stop putting it off. Get busy. I know you want to see who gets voted off American Idol this week, but don’t do it at the expense of your career. Lastly, as always, we would love to hear from our constituents, the CGU students. If you have any questions or comments, including story ideas, please contact us. We want to make this a valuable resource for you, so let us know what information you consider valuable. U Most recently, Hough was president of Union Theological Seminary in New York City. While there, he guided Union through a strategic plan that made the Seminary fiscally viable, invigorated its academic programs, and strengthened historic ties with neighboring institutions. Hough’s first day is set for March 10. Has your dog used your iPod as a chew toy? Have you spilled a tasty pint of ale on your iBook while studying at the Back Abbey? Look no further than the Huntley Bookstore for the cure for what ails your Apple products. No, the friendly staff at our bookstore don’t double as computer technicians by night, they pass the work off to Cornice. Cornice is a local authorized data and repair service that can do everything from memory upgrades to open-motherboard surgery. Visit www.cornicemac.com for more information, and remember that the Huntley Bookstore also has incredible deals on Apple, Sony, and Dell computers; software packages; and other technical wares. C L A R E M O N T G R A D U A T E U N I V E R S I T Y A slice of sky looking pretty in pink. Kingsley Tufts: poet, poetry benefactor, pioneer of the poetic mustache. Everybody must get to the Stone Center All the pretty colors CGU awards the bardic tradition Feeling beat down by the demands of adult responsibility? The bar at Heroes isn’t the only place in Claremont to get in touch with your inner child. After a casual browsing of the book stacks at the George G. Stone Center for Children's Books (SCCB), you’ll be transported back to the days when classroom temper tantrums were not only tolerated, but therapeutic. Hey man, wanna have your mind blown? Cruise over to Pomona College and check out CGU alum James Turrell’s outdoor installation “Skyspace: Dividing the Light.” Is it Shakespeare’s Sonnet XVIII that begins: “Shall I compare the Kinglsey & Kate Tufts Poetry Awards to a summer job’s pay?/ They art more lucrative and distinguished.” No? Anyhow, these awards are among the most prominent in the literary world, and they’re administered by CGU. A bibliophile’s fountain of youth. Founded in 1962, the Stone Center is a special library associated with CGU's School of Educational Studies. In addition to its circulating collection of more than 20,000 trade books for young people (toddlers through young adults), the center has a noncirculating collection of historically significant children's literature and reference materials on children's books and their use in classrooms. Checkout privileges are free to all students, faculty, and staff of the Claremont Colleges. General collection books may be held up to four weeks and special collections books for one week (and beware the dreaded 10 cents per day overdue fines). There is no book drop, so books must be returned during regular hours: Monday through Thursday from 1 to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The Stone Center also puts on various events. This includes its weekly series: “Saturday Story Time” – where, no, you may not ask the librarian to read your chemistry textbook out loud while you sip chocolate milk and fall asleep on the floor. For more information go to www.cgu.edu/pages/3613.asp. Turrell, a native Angelino, graduated from Pomona College in 1965 with a degree in perceptual psychology, and received an MFA in art from CGU in 1973. Since then, Turrell has become internationally regarded as an artist of the highest order. His work has appeared in major museums worldwide and he’s received several prestigious awards, including a Guggenheim and MacArthur “Genius Grant” fellowship. Turrell’s work is concerned with the way we experience light and space. His installations often compel the viewer to become more aware of the sometimes passive act of “seeing.” His pieces frequently engage the natural world, seeking by various methods of framing, a reexamination of how we experience it. Such is the case with “Dividing the Light,” in which a large metal canopy, with a square opening in the middle, envelopes a courtyard, exposing the sky to viewers seated below, beside a pool that mirrors the open roof. On Sundays and Mondays the canopy is illuminated by alternating colors that brilliantly contrast the changing sky. The lighting programs occur twice a day: about 25 minutes before sunset and about 100 minutes before sunrise. “Dividing the Light” is located in the Draper Courtyard beside the Lincoln and Edmonds building on the campus of Pomona College. The public is welcome but groups of 10 or more must make arrangements with the Pomona College Museum of Art at 909-621-8283. Established in 1992, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award is given annually for a work by an emerging poet who is past the very beginning but has not yet reached the acknowledged pinnacle of his or her career. While some poetry prizes discover and honor new voices, and others crown an indisputably major body of work, this award aims to sustain a poet who is laboring somewhere in between. And did I mention the award purse is $100,000 (that’ll buy a lot of quills). The Kate Tufts Discovery Award is given every year for the first book published by a poet of promise. Though less dazzling in the quill-buying department, this award accounts for a not-too-shabby $10,000; not to mention the visibility one receives by garnering this prestigious award. The panel of judges is a who’s who of poetic heavyweights, including New Yorker poetry editor Paul Muldoon and former United States Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. Last year, they selected Janice Harrington for the Kate Tufts Award, while the big prize went to former Southern Californian Tom Sleigh for his outof-this-world collection Space Walk. Leisure with dignity 3 C L A R E M O N T G R A D U A T E U N I V E R S I T Y Christopher Farrish is a student who plays the professorial part even better than he looks it. As you can see, that’s saying something. Professorial Preparedness 101 Wearing horn-rimmed glasses, tweed jackets (with leather patches, natch), or smoking a bruyére pipe won’t do much to make you a tenured professor. If you’re preparing for a career in academia, no amount of well-considered facial hair can sprout a promising career like learning to act ahead. Just as the most ambitious of us were taking graduate courses when we were undergrads, if you want to make it in the academic world, now’s the time to access the inner professor you always sensed was there, yearning to pontificate. According to most experts, getting straight As and writing a spectacular dissertation aren’t always enough to break into this ridiculously competitive job market; you have to distinguish yourself by demonstrating success in the responsibilities you’ll be expected to take on later. But what are these “responsibilities?” You’ll find no “Professorial Preparedness 101” on any course catalog. What there are plenty of, though, are CGU students who are sterling examples of professors-in-the-making. 4 Otium cum dignitate Three of them – Ambereen Dadabhoy, David Dunaetz, and Christopher Farrish – have regaled the Pedant with advice that, when taken together, resembles a virtual professorial preparedness syllabus, chock-full of assignment-like suggestions of what they’ve done that will help put you far ahead of the graduate school curve. It all starts with building a good resume, or as we in the biz call it: the curriculum vitae (the chief difference being that a resume is expected to be succinct, while a CV can be – nay, should be – long). According to Dadabhoy: “A good CV is perhaps the weightiest weapon in your arsenal. You should definitely get someone to look over your CV and give you feedback on it. I would also advise students to check out other people's CVs as models.” The same goes for Farrish, who suggests just short of keeping your CV under your pillow at night, to “keep it updated and keep it clean. Tailor it to your career goals and check-in with it monthly. If I’m not adding something new to my CV every semester, I’m not working hard enough.” Paul Gray and David E. Drew, CGU professors and the authors of What They Didn’t Teach You in Graduate School: 199 Helpful Hints for Success in Your Academic Career (see page 8), even recommend getting your CV professionally done. They say, “It should be neat but not gaudy. Include everything in your resume that is remotely relevant. Some search committees use a checklist of skills, experiences, and other criteria they expect for a position . . . A committee may blindly drop you from consideration if its members don’t put a checkmark next to each of their items.” Okay, you’ve got it. You need to work on your CV. But what if you have nothing to put in it? Start getting your work published, for Pedant’s sake. Instead of sending your end-ofsemester research papers down the River Lethe to join the rest of your forgotten work in crowded computer files, send them to journals where they’ll be eternalized in print. Dadabhoy, who states, “It’s very important to continue to stay engaged with your work,” is currently revising chapters of her dissertation to send them out for publication in journals. C L A R E M O N And while getting published is more important in some disciplines than others, you can never publish too much. Or, if you’re having trouble getting work into print, you might look into coauthoring a paper with a professor. This a great way to learn the publishing ropes from one of our many Yodas on campus, all the while building a lasting relationship with a faculty member who may know people who know people. Which is also one of the chief reasons you should be attending conferences – aside from the fact that they’re also great CV fodder and a place to catch up on cutting-edge research – you get to meet people just as obsessed with things like fourteenth-century basketry as you are. Only, don’t be discouraged by academic conference epithets like “nerd camps.” Gone are the high school years when bullies might hide near the entrance, waiting to nab conference goers and hang them from the flagpole by their briefs. In graduate school, everyone goes to conferences, even bullies. “Conferences are crucial,” says Farrish. “It doesn’t matter if you’re not presenting, just going and listening plugs you into the mainline of what’s ‘hot’ in your field. Plus, they’re a blast.” Which is precisely the attitude to have. Go to a conference to have fun. Make friends. Make a basketful of basket-like networks of basket-loving friends, if that’s what you’re into. “A network of academic friendships is really important,” says Dunaetz. “For this, you can’t beat face-to-face contact. You want to develop a lasting, emotional connection with people in your field and who you may work with one day. So the main thing you want to be doing is cultivating trust. Most people and professors are looking for colleagues they can get along with and who they trust.” Not only is developing a trusting relationship with a national (even international) network of academic friendships important, it’s just as crucial to build them here at CGU. Which means getting involved. Go to on-campus Ambereen Dadabhoy glowing with accomplishment. T G R A D U A T E U N I V E R S I T Y meetings, participate in student government, join study groups, start glee clubs, anything to strengthen connections with your fellow Pedants. (You might even join our CGU Facebook page. Sure, it’s not face-to-face networking, but as Farrish imparts, “Facebook isn’t a bad resource for keeping up to date with colleagues and friends outside of our community.” However, keep this in mind when posting photos and making comments on your page, some hiring committees look at things like social networking sites and may not be impressed by the photo of you in Las Vegas with the . . . maybe it’s better to leave that alone. You get the point.) “It's important to have a network while you’re in graduate school,” seconds Dadabhoy. “Make connections with students and faculty you can share your work with and get critical feedback from. My dissertation committee was very helpful while I was in school, and I find that even now they give me unparalleled support. These are the people who will be writing letters for you when you go on the market, and you want to make sure that they have good things to say about you.” Another good way to befriend and work closely with faculty is to work with them; for instance, coauthoring a paper or working as their research or teaching assistant. Alas, because we are a graduate-only university, TAships are harder to come by at CGU (RAships a little less so), but they are out there. The best way to find them is to ask around, talk to professors, gossip with department administrators, hassle advisors, hustle deans, work angles, cultivate anonymous sources who’ll only meet in parking garages. Anything. There’s funding available, the bottom line is you have to make it happen. “Do or do not, there is no try,” a professor may tell you. Why is a TAship something you should consider? Because learning how to teach is vital to professorial success, whatever the field. According to Dunaetz, “learning to be a good teacher is super important.” If you can’t find a teaching opportunity at the Claremont Colleges to hone your pedagogical skills, you might have better luck at other area institutions like the University of La Verne or Citrus College, just to name a few within driving distance. Or, you may have luck recommending yourself for a position that hasn’t even been conceived yet. Says Dunaetz, “When I noticed that CGU didn’t have David Dunaetz learning from his students how to be a good teacher. a French instructor, I asked about it and found out they just couldn’t find anyone, so I suggested myself.” Or heck, take a summerschool job. Nothing will strengthen your public-speaking chords like talking over fifteen-year-olds. Whatever the case, the earlier you begin training the better, because good student evaluations are important to many schools. So what if you’re already an academic superstar with a stellar CV to prove it? Or maybe you aren’t; at least not quite yet. No matter where you are in your development, checking job postings is a useful exercise. “I look at them even if I'm not looking for a job,” says Dadabhoy. “I find that job postings often reveal a trend in hiring, and can help you develop in an area you may not be too well versed in. And it's essential to see what's out there when you finally do decide to do a job search. I frequently check the job listings on the Chronicle of Higher Education. I think it's one of the best sites around. Their CV Doctor has helpful hints on making your CV stand out, and their articles tackle a number of pertinent issues facing graduate students.” Finally, probably your best resource is the professors you have now. Visit them during their office hours, ask them how they got to where they are, and what they think you should be doing to get where you want to be. They’ll likely tell you that while wearing a scarf in Southern California makes a daring fashion statement, it won’t do as much to get you the job you’re working so hard for quite like acting ahead. Another excellent resource for students is the Preparing Future Faculty Program. However, due to unexpected budgetary issues, this program has been suspended for the Spring, 2009 semester. To find out more, check out: swww.cgu.edu/pages/392.asp. Leisure with dignity 5 C L A R E M O N (Continued from page 1) In fact, networking accounts for as high as 85 percent of all new jobs, according to some career experts. The Office of Career Management counselors can teach you the essentials of this delicate social art, transforming you into a glad-handing, resume-hurling, slick-talking übermensch or überwomensch, as it were. T G R A D U A T E bulletin board: So once you’ve assessed your skills, honed your networking abilities, and drafted a stellar resume, it’s time for your counselor to prepare you to leave the nest. First, they’ll register you with Expericence.com or NACElink.com, online recruiting databases that send your resume and information to thousands of companies worldwide, all eager to snatch up as many talented Pedants as they can. Experience.com will also update you on networking events that occur every Friday. Finally, a counselor may eventually be able to set you up with a one-on-one with the most schmoozeable alumni in your relevant academic fields (if that happens to be in Caribbean Beach Studies, more power to you). To make an appointment for a consultation, email the office at career.center@cgu.edu, call (909) 621-8177, or hoof it to 1263 North Dartmouth Avenue. Also, don’t forget to check out their website (http://www.cgu.edu/pages/ 166.asp); it’s filled with information, links, and career advice. Just remember, the great hereafter bears fast upon all of us. The sooner you begin planning your employment future, the better. With the help of the Office of Career Management, the job you want is within your grasp, the readiness is all. 6 Otium cum dignitate N I V E R S I T Y Charles Young’s guide to eating: Mexican Charles Young, professor of philosophy in the School of Arts & Humanities, has put together a list of local good eats for those new to the area. We’ve serialized it and will be publishing extracts over the next couple of issues: Another useful step to take in the quest for a great career is to work with your counselor to find an internship. This is an excellent way to scout the industry you’re considering, so that after a summer of stamp licking, you should have a good idea if this is the career path for you. (If it is, this is also a great opportunity to showcase those networking skills, given that your tongue hasn’t gone numb.) Even if you’re only looking for part time work, say, as a sign twirler, a counselor can help you craft a resume that even the most exclusive pizzeria couldn’t turn down. Bring your resume to the office for a complete substantive and stylistic overhaul, changes that could make the difference between a desk in the corner office and a spot in the breadline. U Though you may get the urge, we don’t recommend showing off your new body in the Honnold Library. Don’t blame it on the Rains Center If you’re feeling a little out of shape after the holidays, don’t blame the winter weather for keeping you indoors and immobile; join the Rains Center. All CGU students, faculty, and staff are invited to sign up (sorry, no spouses or family). Membership includes use of the Voelkel Gym, Memorial Gym, the Rains Center Fitness Room, Sessions Courts, and Haldeman and Pendleton Pools during specified hours. Membership for one semester is $60, $100 for two, and $135 for the entire year (September 1 through August 31). To apply, visit the front desk on the second floor of the main building, located on the campus of Pomona College near the intersection of 6th and Dartmouth Avenue. This March, look out for the next issue of the Flame. It will be a special edition issue devoted to faculty research. Copies will be distributed around campus or you can visit the Flame Online by going to the Office of University Communications website at: www.cgu.edu/pages/4612.asp. You may also request that a hard copy be sent to you by e-mailing mandy.bennett@cgu.edu. The competition in Mexican food in Southern California is so fierce that natural selection guarantees that anyone who's been in business more than six months is doing something right and doing it cheap. If you see a line coming out some door, stop: the people are there for something. I can't explain Taco Bell. A few special treats: Barbacoa at Los Jarritos No. 1 (246 S. Towne, Pomona). Only Sunday morning. Bring an appetite. No. 2 (3191 N. Garey, Pomona) is popular with the Colleges' crowd. Menudo on Sunday morning, if that matters to you. The author at work. Shredded beef tacos (with hot sauce) at Juanita's (1735 Indian Hill, Pomona). It's a walk-up with just a table or two. Plan to go to a park. The burritos are not bad, either. Tacos for a buck twenty-five on Tuesdays. Fish tacos at El Taco-Nazo (320 E. Foothill, Pomona). Yes, I said fish tacos. The incarnation in Upland between Popeye's and Tasty Goody uses batter that's too thick, and produces tacos that are soggy with oil. The Pomona location does it right. Fish tacos for a buck on Wednesday. I think they’re now called Senor Baja, vel sim. Chicken at Juan Pollo. (156 W. Foothill, Upland). The best chicken ever. An occasional pilgrimage to the original (South Euclid in Ontario, a mile or so north of the 60) is appropriate, even if they did tear it down to build a clean one. Popeye's (1620 W. Foothill, Upland) is Cajun, not Mexican, but it's good enough to be Mexican. Their Spicy is the best fast food fried chicken ever, and not many moms can do better. C L A R E M O N T G R A D U A T E U N I V E R S I T Y research and awards: Summer schooling at Oxford BGSA calls for papers Henry R. Kravis award for entrepreneurship This July, instead of reading Graham Greene novels on the beach, live one by spending the month in jolly old England, all the while knocking off a T-course requirement by studying at Oxford. The Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA) at CGU is calling for papers for its 2nd Annual African Research Conference: “Critical Perspectives: Exploring African Diasporic Communities.” The event will take place Friday, April 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Keynote speakers will include Dr. Kumea Shorter-Gooden and Assemblywoman Amina Carter of California’s 62nd Assembly District. This is the competition for students and alumni who think they have what it takes to exhibit the imagination, creative flair, and general aptitude required of an innovator and/or entrepreneur in today’s world. The class, MGT 401/TNDY 401K “Global Strategy and Trade,” will be taught at St. Peter’s College, Oxford from the 18th to the 31st. Professors Kees de Kluyver and Emile Pilafidis will discuss what subjects will be covered by the course, cost, housing arrangements, registration, and will address all your questions Tuesday, March 3, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Burkle 16. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you’re unable to come but interested in the course, email bernadette.lambeth@cgu.edu or emile.pilafidis@cgu.edu. Tally ho! Students are invited to share completed or proposed research that pertains to Africa, its inhabitants, and its descendants in the African Diaspora. All submissions of individual research papers, research panels, poster presentations, artwork, or demonstrations adhering to the topic will be considered. Send your abstract (300 word maximum) and the title of your presentation or image and description of your artwork to bgsa@cgu.edu by February 28, 2009. Enter “BGSA Conference” in the subject line of your email. In conjunction with the naming of the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Henry R. Kravis, a founding member of the Board of Visitors, established a competition to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. Each year students and alumni of the Claremont Colleges are encouraged to submit concept plans of their innovative ideas. Certificates of participation will be granted, and those who demonstrate real promise as innovators and/or entrepreneurs are chosen as finalists. At the award ceremony, the judges, a group of experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, give direct feedback to the finalists as to the strengths and potential of their plans. All finalists will receive a Henry R. Kravis Award certificate. Top finalists will receive a monetary award as well. Students and alumni of any of the Claremont Colleges may enter this competition. Finalists will be required to present their concept plans on Friday, April 3, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. for evaluation. For more information or to find out how to apply visit: www.cgu.edu/pages/4775.asp? item=2628. This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England and her Oxford Colleges. The ground from which the academic clay of our five Cs was shaped. Leisure with dignity 7 C L A R E M O N T G R A D U A T E U N I V E R S I T Y cgu events calendar March 2 – Comedian Bill Santiago performs his unoman show: “Pardon my Spanglish,” 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., Dom’s Lounge, Pomona College. March 3 – The Institute on Signifying Scriptures Distinguished Speaker Series presents internationally acclaimed author and scholar: Charles H. Long: “Critical Perspectives on Religion in the 21st Century,” 4:00 p.m., Albrecht Auditorium. March 4 – Visiting Artist Lecture Series: Russell Crotty, 4:30 p.m., Albrecht Auditorium. March 6 – SBOS’s Stauffer Colloquium Series: Dr. Gregory Herek speaks on “Beyond 'Homophobia': What Social Science Tells Us About Sexual Prejudice,” 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Friday Noon Concert: “Dvorzak: Piano Trio in F Minor, Op. 65,” 12:15 p.m., Balch Auditorium. March 7 – Hooray kids! It’s “Saturday Story Time: Feathered Friends,” 10:00 11:00 a.m., Stone Center for Children's Books. March 11 – Tap, tap, tap: is this thing on? It’s “Open Mic Night at the CGU English Colloquia,” 7:00 - 8:30 p.m., Humanities Resource Center. March 13 – Friday Noon Concert: “Debussy: Sonata, Ravel: Tzigane,” 12:15 p.m., Balch Auditorium. March 14 – Whoa again! “Saturday Story Time: Feathered Friends,” 10:00 11:00 a.m., Stone Center for Children's Books. March 16-20 – Spring Break! Don’t forget to wear sunscreen, especially those of us who spent ample time losing pigment in the library. March 21 – Oh my gosh, another one! “Saturday Story Time: Feathered Friends,” 10:00 - 11:00 a.m., Stone Center for Children's Books. Graduate tips the CGU Professors Paul Gray and David E. Drew, authors of What They Didn’t Teach You in Graduate School: 199 Helpful Hints for Success in Your Academic Career, have been kind enough to allow us to publish one helpful hint from their book in each issue. This is so that one day you don’t raise your fist in the air and curse CGU for not teaching you to . . . 17. JOB HUNTING IS A RESEARCH PROJECT, and you should treat it as such. Gather as much information as possible. Read the ads. Contact sources. Follow up leads. Be aggressive. Use your contacts. The chance of landing a good appointment is higher if you search broadly than if you sit in your office waiting for one or two possibilities. Begin job hunting early and make it a project you do along with other work. If you are a graduate student, don’t wait until your dissertation is finished to start looking. 8 Otium cum dignitate March 24 – CGU English Colloquia: Elaine Showalter, of Princeton University presents “American Women Writers and American Literature,” 4:00 - 5:30 p.m., Board of Trustees Room, Harper Hall. March 25 – Visiting Artist Lecture Series: Iva Gueorguieva, 4:30 p.m., Albrecht Auditorium. March 28 – Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology, 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., Albrecht Auditorium. April 2 – Stauffer Colloquium: Dr. Janet Clinton discusses “The role of evaluation in long term community health evaluations,” 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. April 3 – Friday Noon Concert: “Music by Haydn,” 12:15 p.m., Balch Auditorium. For more CGU events and important dates visit: www.cgu.edu/pages/2059.asp or www.collegescalendar.org/. April 1 – Visiting Artist Lecture Series: James Gobel, 4:30 p.m., Albrecht Auditorium. Pedant is . . . Brendan Babish — Managing editor Kevin Riel — Head writer Liz Nurenberg –– Colorist CGU factoid You guessed it, the “Great Communicator” himself, Ronald Reagan is the voice behind “A Continuing Vision of Greatness: the story of the Claremont Colleges.” This wistful, half-hour long journey guides us back into our institution’s past and idealistic promise. Celestially scored by the Choruses of the Claremont Colleges and the Orchestra of Pomona College, this Cold-War era film seeks to “tear down this wall” of social modesty, boastfully exhibiting the five C’s – by spotlighting past students learning Russian, atomic science, and how to economically stabilize business cycles (guess we’re still working on that) – as crucial weapons in the arms race for societal superiority. If you’d like to see this blast from the past go to: www.cgu.edu/ cgupodcasts. It’s worth it if only to see what passed for high-tech equipment in those days.