[Air-L] HASTAC Scholars nominations - extensions granted!

[Fiona Barnett]

Hi everyone,

Don't forget - nominations for HASTAC Scholars are due *TODAY* -  
Monday, September 19.

  *I have received many emails asking for extensions. I'm happy to  
grant them for a few days if you contact me today!*

The HASTAC Scholars program is comprised of ~200 graduate and  
undergraduate students who are engaged with innovative projects and  
research at the intersection of digital media & learning, 21st century  
education, the digital humanities, and technology in the arts,  
humanities and sciences. We blog, host forums, organize events and  
discuss new ideas, projects, experiments, and technologies that  
reconceive teaching, learning, research, writing and structuring  
knowledge. For more information and to see our discussion forums,  
please see the HASTAC Scholars website.

Recent forums:
-  FEEL THE NOISE: Sound, Music and Technology
-  Openness in Academia
-  Race, Ethnicity and Diaspora in the Digital Age
-  Critical Code Studies  and the companion forum with actual code  
critiques
-  Blogs and Beyond: Teaching with Technology and Curiosity
-  Grading 2.0: Evaluation in the Digital Age
-  Queer and Feminist New Media Spaces

HASTAC Scholars are interested in questions such as:

-  What kinds of projects and ideas are included in the Digital  
Humanities, New Media Arts, or Science & Technology Studies? What do  
these kinds of projects make possible and how do they reimagine  
notions about culture, knowledge, aesthetics, science, the body or  
communication?
-  What might our research, technology design, and thinking look like  
if we took seriously the momentous opportunities and challenges for  
learning posed by our digital era?
-  How do we use technologies in our teaching & learning endeavors,  
not just to replace traditional media and assignments, but to  
fundamentally address different student approaches, needs, and  
possibilities afforded by new ways of thinking?
-  How do we work across and transform our different disciplines and  
fields? We have Scholars working in a huge array of projects: race and  
technology, equal access, architecture of digital spaces, digital  
historiography, queer and feminist theory, science studies, critical  
coding, education, nonprofit and government projects, biotechnology &  
medicine, media studies & more!

As a Scholar you can participate in various ways:
-  Blog about your own work and research projects, questions, ideas
-  Host and comment in the energetic discussion forums
-  Report on activities at your local institution and department
-  Share insights from conferences and performances
-  Blog, tweet, podcast, or participate on the wiki
-  Network with other students, professors, artists, scholars and  
researchers, both online and in local meet-ups
-  Conduct interviews, book reviews, project reviews, etc.
-  Lots of new opportunities to connect using our new website - to be  
launched this summer!
-  Your idea here we are collaborative and rely on your ideas and  
feedback!

Not sure why you should apply? Not sure if it's worth your time? Do  
you already blog, but want a larger community? Are you trying to  
figure out how to move forward with your dissertation, master's thesis  
or teaching? Are you new to your Ph.D. program, and not sure how  
you'll fit into a more traditional department?


Some Stats on the HASTAC Scholars:

-  last year there were over 200 Scholars, from over 75 universities  
and 5 countries, including the US, Canada, Spain, Korea, England,  
Australia and New Zealand.
-  this will be the 4th annual HASTAC Scholars cohort
-  In the last two years, our forums have generated well over 1000  
comments -- many of which are mini-essays!
-  not to mention hundreds of blog entries, comments and further  
conversations
-  350,000 visitors to the ten HASTAC Scholars Forums since September  
of 2009


Results of the Scholars program. Many Scholars have reported good news  
such as:

-  generating conference panels from their participation in blogs and  
forums
-  being invited to speak at other workshops, conferences and classes
-  class readings generated from the forums and blogs
-  forums and conversations used to justify preliminary exam fields  
and the scope of a dissertation
-  being invited to collaborate with digital humanities projects,  
civic advocacy groups, public policy advisories, university technology  
consulting
-  involvement with Scholars was frequently identified as the tipping  
point in the job search
-  success on the #alt-ac job market (i.e. jobs at university centers,  
non-profits, museums, and other jobs outside of the tenure-track market)
-  benefited from creating a community beyond traditional departments  
- many Scholars have expressed excitement at finding other students  
like them!
-  useful practice of working through conference paper drafts as blogs
-  beneficial practice explaining their own research and interests to  
a wider audience
-  keeping up with interesting news, policies, academic trends,  
technology applications for both teaching & research
-  meeting other like-minded folks on their own campuses, and meeting  
good contacts on campus & in their local city
This year is going to be amazing - with our new website, and lots of  
new & old Scholars, we're going to hit the ground running and have  
lots of smaller groups for specific topics. This program is ENTIRELY  
student-run and participant-driven, which means that if you have an  
idea, and we can make it happen, we will! The program's energy is  
entirely built around current HASTAC Scholar interests. What do you  
want this group to be? What do you want us to cover? Join us and make  
it happen!

FIND THE HASTAC SCHOLARS APPLICATION HERE!

  Requirements for Nominators:

Any faculty or staff member at a post-secondary institution may  
nominate an undergraduate or graduate student to be a HASTAC Scholar.  
Making such a nomination puts you in the official category of "mentor"  
and the Mentor will be responsible for the following:

-  Registering yourself as a user on this website
-  Agreeing to subsidize each HASTAC Scholar nominee with a $300  
fellowship paid by the Mentor's institution.  The payment process is  
entirely decentralized; the Mentor and the Scholar need to work out  
their own process. For participants outside the US, this $300  
fellowship can be waived if necessary -- please email fiona.barnett at duke.edu 
  for more information.
-  Check in with your HASTAC Scholar(s) throughout the year, suggest  
material/events to blog about or post on the HASTAC website, and help  
to promote your HASTAC Scholar within your institution.
-  We hope you will joins us too - you're invited to blog, comment in  
the forums, or participate in any other HASTAC activity.


Requirements for HASTAC Scholars:

-  The HASTAC Scholar will fill out the application form - take note  
of all the required information before submitting
-  Blog before October 1, introducing yourself and your projects,  
interests & ideas!
-  Report on at least ONE local relevant event any conference, talk,  
art project, symposium, experiment or collaboration during the year
-  Introduce at least one other technology project to the greater  
HASTAC community this could be a new technology, a new coding  
language, a new use of technology in the non-profit sector, a new game  
for learning, an interesting new book, etc. Share your research or  
personal interests, and help other Scholars learn about a new idea or  
implementation!
-  Contribute to HASTAC Scholar Discussion Forums, either by hosting  
or commenting. These very lively discussions are part of the backbone  
of the HASTAC Scholars program. You will be invited to propose topics  
for forums and to help facilitate forums, and everyone is invited to  
join in the discussion. For previous forum examples, see the HASTAC  
Scholars site: www.hastac.org/scholars
-  Build community and conversation by commenting, tweeting, covering  
conferences, and helping organize local meet-ups.
-  Sharing relevant job info, fellowship opportunities, conference  
CFPs, and publishing opportunities. This community is only as strong  
as we make it!

FAQs

Q: Are previous Scholars eligible again?

A: Yes! Previous Scholars ARE eligible to be re-nominated through this  
form. On the application form, the Scholar must mention their previous  
HASTAC involvement and how they have participated in previous years.

Q: Does HASTAC administer the fellowships? Does HASTAC supply  
fellowships to the program?

A: All fellowships are decentralized and provided by the Mentor, the  
department, or local institution. HASTAC does not process or arrange  
the payments; all financials are organized between the Scholar and  
Mentor.

Q: I'm not from the US - can I still be nominated? How do fellowships  
work?

A: Absolutely! We have Scholars from many countries, including Canada,  
UK, New Zealand, Germany & Spain and we welcome you! Were happy to  
discuss the fellowship process for international students please  
contact me at the email below.

Q: I'm not a student - can I be a HASTAC Scholar?

A: We are generally keeping the program limited to current students.  
However, if you have recently graduated and would like to be  
nominated, drop me a line and give me the details. Remember you can  
absolutely participate on the HASTAC website even if youre not an  
official Scholar!

  Q: My school isn't listed as a member organization, or none of my  
professors have been involved with HASTAC before. Can I still join?

A: Absolutely! Some of our mentors and Scholars have been involved  
with HASTAC before, but many many folks are joining the community or  
nominating a Scholar for the first time. By nominating a Scholar, your  
instituiton will be linked as a HASTAC organization and you will both  
become members!

Q: Can HASTAC find a Mentor or Nominator for me? I don't know anyone  
involved with HASTAC.

A: So far everyone who has really tried to find a mentor at their  
institution has succeeded -- I'm sure we can find one for you too!  
Write to your department chair, dean of the graduate school, or other  
related programs that deal with technology, culture, learning, or new  
media. If you need some help with wording, drop me a note and we can  
draft an email for you to use. We really want you to join if you're  
motivated and we're happy to help find the support you need!

  Q: Can a Mentor nominate more than one Scholar?

A: Yes! The only requirement is that the Mentor must still fund the  
$300 to each Scholar. We'd like to keep each Mentor to 4-5 Scholars,  
but email me if you'd like to nominate more than this.


Nomination process

Applications require the following information for both Scholar and  
Mentor:

-  Name
-  Title/Year (ex. Associate Professor/4th Year Graduate Student/Senior)
-  Program/Department
-  Institution
-  Preferred E-mail Address
-  Mailing Address
-  Telephone Number
-  Link to HASTAC User profiles
-  Scholar only - brief bio paragraph (no more than 250 words) that  
mentions research projects and interests (including dissertation if  
applicable) and their HASTAC-related interests and work.

All nominations due on September 19, 2011 but please contact me if you  
need an extension.

Please email me with any questions!

Fiona Barnett

Director, HASTAC Scholars
http://www.hastac.org/scholars
Ph.D. candidate
Literature Program and Women's Studies
Duke University
fiona.barnett at duke.edu
@HASTACScholars