For almost a decade, the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF) has been telling the stories of inspiring women from American history with its Empowering America program. In 2008, AWMF expanded the Empowering America program to share the stories of these women with middle schools across the country.

In partnership with the Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, AWMF developed educational collateral and put it in the hands of teachers to stimulate and enhance classroom conversations about these female icons, who have pioneered in fields such as science, social reform, public service, sports, journalism, music and aviation. Past subjects of Empowering America programs include Annie Easley, Gloria Estefan, Gabrielle Giffords, Barbara Jordan, Christa McAuliffe, Muriel Siebert, Sonia Sotomayor, and many more.

Submission Requirements: Please submit a proposed script for the video along with a sample of previous video work and letter of recommendation from a professor or media professional. The script must include and incorporate the competition theme, Blazing the Trail: Celebrating the Women of Empowering America, and feature at least four women from the 2013 Empowering America program (booklet available here). Here are some questions to consider:

In what ways have these women influenced the course of American history? What can we learn from them?

What positive qualities do these women possess that could speak to students or future leaders?

How do these women leaders and their legacies continue to impact us today?

We encourage you to look at the 2013 Empowering America booklet to get a sense of the featured women, their accomplishments and their journeys. You are not required to focus on all of the women featured in the booklet, but must include a representative sample.

You must be full‐time undergraduate or graduate student at an accredited college or university. Please include with your submission the following information in its entirety:

Name

College or University, Expected Year of Graduation

Contact Information (mailing address, phone, email)

Copy of a valid student ID

A proposed script/outline for the two to three‐minute video, as described above

A sample of previous video work

A letter of recommendation from a media professor or media professional

Prize: AWMF and Ford Motor Company Fund will select one student winner to receive $5,000, payable to the winning student’s educational institution upon completion of the video. All production expenses are incurred by the student.

Selection: The script, sample video and recommendation along with any collateral are due December 16, 2013. A panel consisting of representatives from AWMF and Ford Motor Company Fund will choose the winning student. The winning student will be notified by December 20, 2013 with production to occur in December 2013/January 2014. The final video must be completed and received by February 20, 2014 and must include an AWMF‐provided tag line. The video must be cleared for the uses noted below. We will launch the video as part of our Women’s History month initiative.

The winning video will be posted on the AWMF web site for use by middle schools across the country, as well as incorporated into the Empowering America program wherever possible.

The video will be prominently distributed and displayed on AWM’s and social media outlets.

Determinations of appropriateness will be made in the sole discretion of AWM and Ford Motor Company Fund.

Application materials will not be returned to the student.

Employees of Ford Motor Company (sponsor), their subsidiaries, affiliates, and immediate family members are not eligible for the contest. Void where prohibited.

• Presents information on Asian Americans and individual Asian ethnic groups that provides comprehensive overviews of the respective groups
• Includes special topic entries that contain source information regarding major historical events
• Comprises work from a truly outstanding list of contributors that include scholars, journalists, writers, community activists, graduate students, and other specialists
• Expands the boundaries of Asian American studies through innovative entries that address transnationalism, gender and sexuality, and inter- and cross-disciplinarity

• Alien Land Laws
• Asian American Gay and Lesbian Movement
• Asian Americans and Affirmative Action
• Asian Americans in Hollywood
• Asian Indian Women in America
• The Chinese Confession Program
• Chinese Railroad Workers in America
• Japanese American Transnational Families
• Korean Cuisine in America
• Multiracial Asian American Families
• Multiracial Coalition after the Los Angeles Civil Unrest of 1992
• Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
• Parachute Kids
• Ronald Takaki
• The Yellow Brotherhood

Dr. Christine Mallinson has recently co-authored a new book, We Do Language: English Language Variation in the Secondary English Classroom (Teachers College Press, 2014).
 
The publisher’s website notes, “We Do Language builds on the authors' highly acclaimed first collaboration, Understanding English Language Variation in U.S. Schools, and examines the need to integrate linguistically informed teaching into the secondary English classroom. The book meets three critical goals for preparing English educators to ensure the academic success of their students. First, the book helps educators acquire a greater knowledge of language variation so they may teach their students to analyze the social, cultural, and linguistic dimensions of the texts they read in class. Second, the chapters provide specific information about language varieties that students bring with them to school so that educators can better assist students in developing the literacy skills necessary for the Common Core State Standards. Third, the text empowers educators to build their linguistic awareness so they may more fully understand, respect, and meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. We Do Language features concrete strategies, models, and vignettes, as well as classroom materials developed by English educators for English educators. It is essential reading for anyone interested in learning about the role that language plays in the experiences of students, both in secondary and postsecondary environments.”
 
Professor Shirley Brice Heath of Stanford University writes in an endorsement to the book, “Full of advice and support for walking hand-in-hand with students into imaginative ways of understanding the realities of language variation, this book is pure joy for teachers and college counselors. Even more important is the guarantee that when these educators embrace the humanity and philosophy so touchingly illustrated by the authors, the intrigue of thinking deeply about speaking, writing, and reading is sure to follow for students." 

To find the book on Amazon, please visit: http://amzn.to/1cZY0fH

LLC Students - Please see below for information from the December GSA Senate meeting. 

- January 10 and 11, 2014 Dependable Strengths Workshop, GSA will pay for the first 20 graduate students to register

- February 12, 2014, 5:30-7:00 pm, Men's Basketball Cookout, all Graduate Students are invited

- March 26, 2014, Graduate Research Conference, please register by February 15th at http://gsa.umbc.edu/grc-2/

Please congratulate Jesse Fox (Biology) for his new position as University System of Maryland Student Council President and Inte'a DeShields (LLC) for being UMBC's Student Regent Nominee. These are great accomplishments and no other UMBC graduate student has ever served in these positions

The new Director of Athletics, Tim Hall, spoke at the Senate meeting and requested that graduate students contact him at halltw@umbc.edu with any ideas on how to make the RAC more attractive for graduate student.

If you should have any concerns that you would like to bring before the GSA Senate, feel free to send an email to Romy at romy.huebler@umbc.edu.

1. Read and write, no matter how hard it gets.
2. Get to know your professors.
3. Figure out how to get some of Dr. Bryan’s rhybarb pie.