Distinguished Professor of English Margaret Ferguson was elected second vice president of the Modern Language Association (MLA). This office sets Ferguson on progressive path toward presidency of that organization. Ferguson will serve as second vice preseident from January 2012 through January 2013 and will automatically become first vice president in 2013, serving through January 2014. Her term as president will begin after the close of the January 2014 convention and will continue through the close of the January 2015 convention.

With over 30,000 members, the MLA is among the largest organizations of language and literature scholars in the world. Presidential candidates are nominated by their fellow scholars and elected by an association-wide vote. We congratulate Professor Ferguson on this well-deserved honor.

Stanley Sue, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Asian American Studies and Psychology, has been awarded an Elizabeth Herlock Beckman Trust Award for his work at Palo Alto University. The award recognizes distinguished professors from around the nation who inspire their students to create organizations that make a difference in their communities, granting each a cash award of $25,000.

"As my mentor, Dr. Sue encouraged me to pursue 'high impact' research and professional activities," says UC Davis psychology professor Nolan Zane, who nominated Dr. Sue for the award. "When I worked with him as a post-doctoral fellow, he graciously involved me in helping apply to the National Institute of Mental Health to establish the National Research Center on Asian American Mental Health (NRCAAMH). The advanced mental health research center that I currently direct builds upon a program of research on the mental health issues of Asian American populations that had been carried on since Dr. Sue established NRCAAMH in 1988."

In addition to his research devoted to adjustment and delivery of mental health services to culturally-diverse groups, Dr. Sue sponsored the creation of the Palo Alto University Asian Pacific American Psychological Student Association.

For the full press release, please see  http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/1/prweb9080319.htm  

Associate Professor Robyn Magalit Rodriguez of the Asian American Studies Department has been honored by two national organizations for her 2010 book Migrants for Export: How the Philippines Brokers Labor to the World (University of Minnesota Press, 2010). An award will be presented at this year's Geographical Perspectives on Women (GPOW) Book Event at the 2012 Association of American Geographers meeting in New York, and the book will be awarded honorable mention for the 2010 Book Award in Social Sciences at the Association for Asian American Studies annual meeting in Washington, D.C. in April 2012 

Rodriguez joined the UC Davis faculty in fall 2011.  

Professor Emerita Angela Y. Davis of UC Santa Cruz, renowned social justice advocate and scholar, will present "Social Justice in the Public University of California: Reflections and Strategies," a lecture and discussion with UC Davis students as part of the Hart Hall Social Justice Initiative Teach-in at the ARC Pavilion on Thursday, February 23 from 12:00-4:00pm.    

Davis will lecture and talk with students from 12:00-2:00pm, followed from 2:15-4:00pm by a faculty roundtable and audience exchange.

Davis's visit is cosponsored by the UCD Office of the Provost, African & African American Studies, American Studies, Asian American Studies, Chicana/o Studies, Cultural Studies, Native American Studies, Women and Gender Studies  

Nearly 70 HArCS senate and federation faculty met on January 20 to talk about critical issues facing the division and the campus in the wake of November 18.

The draft notes from the gathering are available here.

Cristina González's timely talk on Wednesday, January 18th - the latest in the Humanities Institute's series of "Conversations in the Humanities" - suggested that the University of California might find a vision for the future by looking to the past. A professor of Spanish and Education, González challenged faculty to articulate a strong vision for the future of the University of California that considers historical forces of globalization and privatization, while also better addressing the diversity of the state.

To learn more about Cristina González's research on the history and future of the University of California, see her new book, Clark Kerr's University of California: Leadership, Diversity and Planning (Transaction Publishers, 2011). 

Read the full article here. 

UC Davis Provost Ralph Hexter and Jeffrey Gibeling, Dean of Graduate Studies, have announced a major new fellowship initiative to support PhD and MFA students in the arts, humanities and social sciences beginning in 2012-13. Developed in collaboration with Deans Mangun, Owens, and Van Alfen, the Provost's Fellowships in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences program will allocate $2 million of fellowship support. This funding includes $1.4 million of new funds, which will be combined with an existing allocation of $600,000. The resulting total will fund a combination of first-year and dissertation-year fellowships--50 per year--including an annual stipend of $25,000 and remission of fees and tuition for each recipient.

"Providing additional support for the arts, humanities and social sciences is an important step toward making UC Davis more competitive for the best graduate students," said Hexter and Gibeling. "In addition, these fellowships will help to ensure that students complete their degrees in a timely manner and at high rates of success in disciplines that are often overly dependent on teaching assistantships for graduate student support."