Join the University College in welcoming new students and their families this summer.  Become an Orientation Assistant!  The Office of New Student Programs is seeking to hire thirty Summer 2008 Orientation Assistants.  Recruitment has begun and the application deadline is  Fri, January 25.  As the job of Orientation Assistants has changed somewhat this year, applicants are encouraged to attend one information session in the student commons while applying.

Please download the following form for the complete application and further information about the program.

Application

• Opportunity: Free Student Art Gallery
• Information: STUART is the world's largest free online student art gallery. The STUART site already has profiles of 25,000 art students from around the world, allows each individual to have their own page to display their work. The aim is provide a free forum for you to showcase your art and make connections with other students, dealers, curators and collectors from around the world. Registering for and using the site is completely free of charge.
• Contact: Phoebe Beloe | Saatchi Gallery PhoebeBeloe@saatchigallery.com STUART – Student art, photos, profiles videos etc http://www.saatchigallery.com/stuart

• Opportunity: Artist In Residency.
• Information: The HUB-BUB.COM Residency Program is an eleven-month opportunity for motivated pre-professional and emerging artists who create high quality work to live rent-free in order to focus on the creation of their work. The residencies are open to one creative writer and to three artists working in all forms of visual art; however, our facilities will limit certain applicants like welders, potters, and glass artists who require excessive space or special tools. The live/work spaces will be best suited to artists who work in genres which do not require major equipment, such as (but not limited to) painters, bookmakers, paper artists, filmmakers and computer artists. Photographers are welcome to apply; however there is no dark-room facility in the complex. Artists are responsible for all equipment that they do require (ie. Film artists must provide editing equipment, etc.).
• Requirements: All residents will be between the ages of 20 and 30 upon application. The ideal candidates for this program are challenging, progressive artists who are self-directed, motivated, and passionate about creating new art. Applicants are judged solely on their application and the quality of their work, and not on the basis of previous education. This is a nation-wide search, so both artists in Spartanburg and artists from outside the area will be considered.
• Contact: Visit http://hub-bub.com/air/ for further information and applications.

• Opportunity: Funding for international travel and language programs this summer.
• Information: Critical Language Scholarships provide full summer funding for beginning, intermediate and advanced study of Arabic, Bangla/Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish, Urdu, Chinese, Korean, Persian, and Russian. The grant covers all program costs, including travel between the student’s home city and program location, pre-departure orientation costs, applicable visa feeds, room, board, travel within country and all entrance fees for program activities. The programs run from mid-June to mid-August. University level credit may be available. The deadline is quickly approaching on Jan 25, 2008.
• Contact: Interested students should attend an information session Tues, Jan 15, 2008 at 2pm in Room 1302 or Wed, Jan 16, 2008 at 12:30p in Room 1303 at The Honors College (701 W. Grace St). For more information, go to www.clscholarship.org or contact Jeff Wing, the National Scholarship Coordinator, at jawing@vcu.edu or www.honors.vcu.edu/nationalscholar. Copies of last year's successful applications are available in the National Scholarship Office.

• Opportunity: Study Abroad.
• Information: VCU is offering 30 different opportunities to study and travel abroad this summer! For more information, visit http://www.vcu.edu/oie/eao_ss/index.html.
• Contact: 804-827-7882 or abroad@vcu.edu.

• Opportunity: Art Contest
• Information: The US Olympic committee and the International Olympic committee are sponsoring a contest for sculptural and graphic works to be included in a show exhibited at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The top three winners of the USOC competition in each category will be selected on 7 February. Each winning artist will have until 21 February to deliver the original art to the Academy. Winners of the national USOC competition will be entered in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) art competition at the IOC Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, where first prize is $30,000 in each category. The winning art will be on display at the Beijing 2008 Olympic games.
• Requirements: 1) Sculpture (max weight 66 lbs, max dimensions 4.9 feet x 3.2 feet x 3.2 feet) 2) Graphic Works (max. dimensions 4.9 feet x 3.2 feet) Deadline for entries is February 1. Entries are to be emailed as Tiff. or Jpg. files. The top three entries will be decided February 7, and each artist will have until the 21 to deliver their original work to the Academy.
• Contact: Contact: 251-626-3303 For Inspiration: www.amazingawaits.org Entry forms at: http://art.ussa.edu/ A copy of the official IOC rules and regulations is available here. Please refer to this site for all updates on the USOC Sport Art Competition. E-mail digital images (jpg or tiff) to Robert Zimlich, Curator by 1 February 2008

Experience the real Caribbean!

The Office of International Education, The Department of History and the Department of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University are pleased to offer a unique opportunity to study on site in Barbados. This program will highlight the historical and cultural heritage of the Caribbean at a festive time in Barbados (the Crop Over festival) when the island is in the midst of celebrating its African cultural traditions through music and dance. Lectures will be held at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies.

Course Description and Credits:
6 VCU credits will be awarded in the following courses: HIST 391 / ANTH 391 Caribbean History and Culture, AFAM 491 Caribbean Perspectives on the African Diaspora *
*This can be substituted for HIST 491 or ANTH 492
Students are required to sign up for six credits.

Through lectures and field visits led by faculty members, students will explore the evolution and development of Caribbean societies from around the 15th century to the present, as well as the responses of Caribbean peoples to forces that have shaped their lives. This exploration will include, but not be limited to the following: plantation slavery, gender, language, migration, education, religion, race, identity, sports, architecture, archaeology, music, dance, the Kadooment Day celebration, and cuisine. The Barbados study-abroad program is designed to give students, with or without a background in Caribbean studies, an authentic, stimulating and memorable Caribbean experience. It will appeal to broad-minded individuals who are open to ethnic and cultural diversity. Participants will gain a greater appreciation of the history and culture of the Caribbean, and the significance and uniqueness of Barbados in particular.

Program Cost: $2,980 + VCU tuition
The program fee is $2,980 and includes the following:

•    Round-trip airfare from either Washington, DC or Richmond
•    Pick-up and drop-off at the Barbados airport
•    Accommodations
•    Study visits and tours
•    On-site Program Director support
•    Application fee and deposit
•    Pre-departure orientation
•    VCU administrative fees
•    International Student Identification Card

Payment of fees:
The nonrefundable registration fee of $50 is due upon registration.  A nonrefundable deposit of $200 is due two weeks after receipt of acceptance packet.  Students who register after April 1 must pay the deposit and registration fee together upon registration. The balance of the program fee and the tuition costs (based on the number of credits taken) will be billed separately through VCU Student Accounting after May 2008.  (Both amounts may be billed at the same time.)

Eligibility:  Students must have a minimum 2.0 gpa to participate in this program.

Application deadline: May 15, 2008. Applications will be accepted until the deadline, or until participant space is full.

Activities and excursions:
Swim with turtles in their natural habitat in the Caribbean Sea!  View fantastic coral formations, exotic aquatic life and undersea wreckage!  These are among the excursions that the Barbados program offers.  Among other highlights is Family Day, where students are hosted for the day by a Barbadians and other gracious Caribbean hosts.  In addition, participants will visit the Barbados Museum, the Speightown Museum, wildlife reserves, local potteries and art galleries.  There will be a guided historical walking tour of the city of Bridgetown – a major Atlantic port of call from the 17th century and an architectural delight.  Other outings include a visit to Harrisons’ Cave – a stunning cavern formed hundreds of thousands of years ago from crystallized limestone – local folk festival events during the Barbados carnival called Crop Over, and a boat cruise (ending with a swim) up the West Coast of beautiful Barbados – a photographer’s paradise.

Accommodations and meals: Students are housed in the beautiful seaside dormitories of the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies. Meals are not included.

Program director:
Dr. Bernard Moitt, chair of the history department at VCU who was born and raised in Antigua, specializes in the histories and literatures of Africa and the Caribbean. He has a keen interest in gender and slavery, and is nationally and internationally recognized for his scholarship and intellectual activities. His vast knowledge of the Caribbean, and his extensive personal and professional contacts in Barbados and other parts of the region, make his study-abroad program a unique opportunity that should not be missed.  This is his eleventh year anniversary of leading the program to Barbados

Please download the following information for further information and application:

Application

Program Information

Barbados Brochure

• Opportunity: Paid administrative assistant position in Richmond.
• Information: Assists with all office clerical work including maintaining membership database, handling membership correspondence, producing mail merged letter campaigns, assisting with conference registration, assisting with advocacy campaigns, etc. May work on site at annual conference in January. May write and distribute press releases depending on language skills. May be asked to perform other duties depending on capability displayed.
• Requirements: See website.
• Contact: Please visit http://www.VaforArts.org for application and contact information.

• Opportunity: Study abroad scholarship
• Information: There is a $1,000 study abroad scholarship opportunity (50 awards to be made) for students with a 3.5 GPA, 30-90 semester credits completed, and participating in a study abroad program that must begin no earlier than May 1, 2008 and end no later than June 30, 2009. It is sponsored by the Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society, and requires that students attend a school with a Phi Kappa Phi chapter on campus. There is an active Phi Kappa Phi chapter on VCU's campus. The application deadline is February 18th.
• Requirements: GPA of 3.5 or higher, and 30-90 semester credits completed.
• Contact: Visit this website for more information and an application. http://www.phikappaphi.org/Web/Scholarships/studyabroad.html

• Opportunity: Art Auction/Benefit
• Information: LiVE is a night of art, action, and activism. Taking place in Richmond's well known Artspace Art Gallery in Plant Zero, LiVE will include live music, screen printing, an art exhibit and auction, poetry, food and drinks, and the opportunity to come together as a community to bring peace to northern Uganda. All proceeds from ticket sales and proceeds made during LiVE will be donated to rebuild a war-torn school in northern Uganda.
• Contact: please visit: http://www.vcuinvisiblechildren.com/live if you have any questions please email: live@vcuinvisiblechildren.com or contact Sara Knowlton: Sarah Knowlton 703.304.7203