Grant Opportunity for Educators!

This is from the American Immigration Law Foundation :

Educators' Grant Program
APPLICATION DEADLINE: June 5, 2009

Do you have a creative educational project that needs funding? The American Immigration Law Foundation's Curriculum Center is here to help! In an effort to support teachers in engaging their students and communities in thoughtful dialogues centered on the issue of immigration and multiculturalism, the Center awards bi-annual grants for immigration-themed projects. While this school year is coming to a close, it's never too early to plan ahead for next year.
The next deadline for AILF's educators' grant is June 5, 2009 - only two weeks away!

ABOUT OUR GRANT PROGRAM

The American Immigration Law Foundation will award grants nationwide for the 2009-2010 school year, of $100 to $500, to fund a limited number of projects that provide education about immigrants and immigration. The Foundation seeks to fund activities that are innovative and supportive of AILF's mission of promoting the benefits of immigration to our nation.
This year, the Foundation is extending the grant program to fund more "service-learning" oriented projects and invites extension educators as wells a community leaders who want to make an impact in their community to apply. Take a look at past grant winners from 2005 to present to get an idea of the kinds of projects we fund.

WHAT WE FUND
The Foundation is always looking for innovative and creative classroom ideas. Applications for immigration-themed projects will be considered for all subject areas, although special consideration will be given for proposals that relate to the following categories:

Innovative use of technology
Underrepresented minorities
Community outreach and partnerships with community-based organizations
Math and science

Applications are limited to educators, extension educators and community leaders. Proposals that are classroom-based will receive strong consideration and the Foundation encourages projects that can be replicated in other classrooms across the nation. Funds for field trips will NOT be granted and grants are non-renewable.

HOW TO APPLY

Grant applications are available on the Curriculum Center's Teachers' Grant Program web page. Don't forget to include the following application components:
1. A completed application form.
2. An essay detailing the objectives of the proposed project, a timeline for the activity, a list of resources to be used and/or created, and an explanation of how the proposed project might be used by others. Also, please include at least one paragraph of autobiographical information, and tell us about any previous immigration-related curriculum activities you have conducted. 3. Proposed budget with estimated expenses. 4. Recommendation letter from principal on school letterhead.Send completed application packet to teachers@ailf.org.

DEADLINES

Grants will be awarded bi-annually with submissions deadlines of June 5, 2009 and November 20, 2009.
Recipients will be selected by AILF's Curriculum Advisory Board and announced and disbursed in July and December 2009. Grants will be paid to the teacher submitting the proposal and teachers will have one year to complete their projects. A summary lesson plan and sample materials must be submitted in hard copy and electronically to AILF by that time, and become the property of AILF for use on the Foundation website and in print materials.

Session Proposals Needed; Great Ideas Wanted!

Do you have an idea for a session for the TAM 2010 Annual Meeting? If it deals with diversity or multiculturalism, The MIC can help!

TAM has extended our deadline to Friday, May 22 to submit session proposals for the 2010 Annual Meeting.

Please contact me by Thursday, May 21 if you have a session idea or topic, or if you need help developing a session.

The TAM Multicultural Initiatives Action Plan

In 1995, the Texas Association of Museums published the Multicultural Initiatives Action Plan. The MIC is in the process of updating and revising the plan. However, the original document is still a valuable tool for museums who would like to do a self assessment or who would like some guidelines and/or measures for diversity in museums. While part of the plan is available from the TAM website, here is the printable version in its entirety. I hope some of you find it useful. Please send us your comments of what you would like to see updated, revised or added to this plan. You may click on the link to view it, or click on the small square on the top right corner of the screen to enlarge it. If you download it, the bluriness will be gone, although the the print is still quite light. Enjoy:
MIC Action Plan

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu Museums Multiculturalism

The Sor Juana Festival

The National Museum of Mexican Art, in collaboration with many museums and organizations, is in the midst of its Sor Juana Festival . Please take a moment to click on the link and look through the many events that have taken place in various museums throughout Texas.



"The Sor Juana Festival, a tribute to Mexican women,has become the largest Latino performing arts festival in the country. Currently, the festival is divided into two seasons: Marchthrough May in Texas and April through June in Chicago/Milwaukee with plans of further expansion into other cities.

The Sor Juana Festival is a multidisciplinary festival that honors one of Mexico’s greatest writers, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th-century Mexican nun who valued the education of women. Sor Juana was a celebrated playwright, mathematician and poet in her own time and considered to be the first feminist of the Americas. Through this unique festival, we celebrate the legacy of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and pay tribute to the rich artistic accomplishments of Mexican women from Mexico and the United States. The festival includes: culinary arts, dance, film, literature, music, theater and visual arts and takes place at different venues throughout the Texas cities of Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio."

Embracing Diversity within Museums: Texas Museums Take a Stand

Below is a wonderful essay written by one of the TAM scholarship recipients, Kendra A. Jones. Enjoy:


I would define “diversity” as the celebration of the uniqueness and distinctiveness of various types of people and their cultures. As the United States has entered into 2009 with the ushering in of the nation’s first African-American president, a man whose own background consists of a multi-ethnic cultural heritage, the importance of promoting diversity within American institutions has become evident. Throughout the history of the nation, the population of the United States has increasingly grown to include various cultures from around the world. In particular, boarder states such as the state of Texas, experience an influx of immigrants from neighboring countries such as Mexico; thus resulting in a large Hispanic population residing within the state of Texas. In response to this situation, the museums of the state of Texas have decided to make a conscientious effort to address the issue of diversity within their institutions.
In 1995, the Texas Association of Museums made a significant attempt at addressing the issue of diversity within museums in the state of Texas with the development of the Action Plan for Multicultural Initiatives in Texas Museums. This twenty-page publication emphasized the need for Texas museums to acknowledge, accept and further support the state’s ever-increasing diverse, multicultural population in order to remain culturally-relevant to the communities they serve. The Action Plan was designed to function as a guide for museums to follow in order to effectively increase the diversity present within their programs, staffs, board members, volunteers, audiences and other supporters. The guide presents a step-by-step approach for self-evaluating the performance of an institution and also assists with the development of a feasible plan of action based on the assessment of the results of such evaluation. Providing supplementary resources such as model case studies, a diversity glossary, an extensive bibliography, and additional resource lists, the publication serves as a vital asset to any institution desiring to promote and embrace diversity.
The 2009 Texas Association of Museums Annual Meeting in El Paso, Texas offered sessions highlighting the issues surrounding diversity and multiculturalism to the hundreds of museum studies students and museum professionals who attended this year’s annual meeting. Such sessions included “Cultural Foreign Affairs: Mexico's Commitment to International Cultural Exchange with the United States,” “Diálogo: Becoming Bilingual Museums,” and “Does Your Board Reflect Your Community?” These sessions covered such topics as the politics of the collaborative efforts and cultural affairs between the United States and Mexico in regards to the international exchange of art and culture, the philosophy of museums as catalysts for building community by creating inclusive environments through the use of bilingual programming and exhibitions and the conscription and development of a multicultural and diverse board that reflects the community it serves. The inclusion of such sessions into the programming for the Annual Meeting reinforces TAM’s commitment to increasing the awareness for the need to address issues of diversity and multiculturalism within the museum field.
During the 2009 Texas Association of Museums Annual Meeting in El Paso, Texas, I had the opportunity to attend the “Diálogo: Becoming Bilingual Museums” session and walked away with a greater understanding of what it means to be a “bilingual museum.” I initially went into the session thinking that the only requirement of a “bilingual museum” was to have someone (preferably an in-house staff member; to keep costs low) translate all of the exhibit labels into another language and offer audio tours in a secondary language. However, as the presenters in the session explored the topic of being a “bilingual museum,” I was pleasantly surprised with the various other factors that must also be considered. The session provided me with such insights as the essentialness of collaboration between museums and the audiences that they desire to reach in order to effectively create inclusive environments in which diversity thrives. Another insight I gained was that museums should seek to design and create exhibitions based on topics that are relevant and significant for the communities they serve, allowing for audience involvement with the development of the museums’ public programs and exhibitions. Museums are relevant to the communities they serve because, through successful public programming and exhibitions, these institutions establish connections between themselves and the lives of the people living within these communities. The input of a diverse group of people from within the community should result in museums having a better understanding of the various and particular needs and desires of their audiences. Equipped with this knowledge, the museums should be able to develop a strategic plan for their public programming efforts that addresses the need for creating inclusive environments within their institutions that embrace and promote diversity and multiculturalism.
As a staff member of a museum who recently underwent a name change, adding the word “multicultural” into the institutional name, in order to construct fashion a more inclusive image of the institution, I benefited greatly from attending this year’s annual meeting. I returned to my home institution with a notebook full of ideas that my museum team can begin to implement within our museum in order to compliment our new name as we move forward with a goal of highlighting the value and relevancy of diversity and multiculturalism within our museum, in the hopes of helping to shape a nation that is ready to embrace its diverse population.

A Nation of Many Cultures

I just wanted to share this interactive immigration map. It is a great illustration of all of the different immigrants that have come into the United States since 1880. You can select a decade, a particular state, and/or a region of where the immigrants came from. It is a powerful visual tool that asserts that our nation's history is indeed complex and multicultural.

TAM Annual Meeting Offers Great Sessions

The Texas Association of Musuems Annual Meeting is this week. With such a powerful theme like Building Bridges, Breaking Down Barriers, this meeting presents the perfect opportunity to discuss some of the diversity issues important to this committee. The program is full of international speakers as well as some very interesting and thought-provoking sessions.

If you are going to the meeting, make sure you check out the following sessions:

Wednesday, March 18

8:45 a.m.–10:00 a.m.

And the Myth Goes On…More “Lies My Docent Told Me…”
Back by popular demand, this session will be a continuation of the 2008 “Lies My Docent Told Me” panel discussion. Join our now famous myth busting team of Susan Smyer and Jonathan Plant as they are joined by Hal Simon and Henry Crawford in redirecting the free license that docents often take with history. Our panelists will introduce the topic, bring a few new myths they’ve dispelled, and then engage session attendees in a conversation about myths, why we love them, and how we can help make them go away. If you are looking to retrain staff, conduct research, or just a have a great time this discussion is for you!

10:30 a.m.–11:45 a.m.

Cultural Foreign Affairs: Mexico's Commitment to International Cultural Exchange with the United States
Off-site/El Paso Museum of Art
Museums throughout Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico, are increasingly interested in bringing art and culture from Mexico to their communities. No other part of the world shares so much of the same history, politics, linguistics, and socioeconomic concerns. Yet many museums are uncertain about the complications of international transit, crossing borders, and the longstanding bridges to success in collaboration that are already in place. Understanding may begin with knowing there is a strong commitment from the Mexican government to export its culture. This session will present information about the politics of binational and international foreign cultural affairs in Mexico and between the US and Mexico. One example to be presented is collaborative programming opportunities around the 2010 centennial of the Mexican Revolution and the Bicentennial of Independence of Mexico from Spain.

Feature Speaker: Alberto Fierro, Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Dirección General de Asuntos Culturales de Mexico

12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.

Opening Luncheon

Special Guests:
Alberto Fierro, Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Dirección General de Asuntos Culturales de Mexico

Kathy Dwyer Southern, President and CEO, National Children’s Museum, Washington, DC, and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the American Association of Museums, Washington, D.C.

Opening Keynote: Introducing All of the U.S. to All of the World: The Role of Museums in International Cultural Understanding By Adair Margo, El Paso
Adair Margo has chaired the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities since 2001, appointed by President George W. Bush. During her chairmanship, there has been a renewed focus on international cultural understanding and a flourishing of international activity among the cultural agencies. Adair was recognized by two Presidents for her recent work: by President Felipe Calderon of Mexico with the Aguila Azteca, the highest recognition given by the Mexican government to a non-Mexican citizen, and by President George W. Bush with the Presidential Citizens Medal.
Founded in 1985, the Adair Margo Gallery in El Paso has exhibited over 400 individual artists from a dozen countries. The Gallery hosted over 200 exhibitions and placed the work of regional artists in world class collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, U.S. Embassies worldwide, and the Oval Office of the White House.
Margo is the author of two books and has taught art history at New Mexico State University and the University of Texas at El Paso. Margo has served on many boards, including the Texas Commission on the Arts, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools/Commission on Colleges Executive Committee; Mid-America Arts Alliance; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum National Council.
Pre-registration is required. Cost is $28. Tickets must be presented for this event. No tickets will be sold in El Paso.

1:45 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

La pasada prohibida de…”: Organizing Exhibitions Borrowed from Museums and Collections in Mexico
Amazing examples of art and artifacts are held in collections on both sides of the border, but borrowing objects across borders and sharing exhibitions between countries can be a complicated and challenging process. This session will propose a checklist of considerations that must be made in formulating binational exhibitions and will offer advice to registrars, curators, preparators and other museum personnel involved in handling such exhibitions. It will also shed light on some of the most puzzling questions such as: Do I need to hire a custom’s broker? Who can transport these objects to/from and in Mexico? Will I need additional insurance in Mexico? At the end of this session attendees will have important legal and customs information about binational exhibitions. They will also learn of resources and contacts that simplify and clarify borrowing objects from Mexico.

Thursday, March 19

12:00 p.m.–1:15 p.m.

Networking Luncheon
Finally, here’s a chance for an informal lunch with friends and colleagues. Pick up your box lunch and join a conversation! TAM Affinity Groups meet during the Networking Lunch, so find a group that follows your interests and get acquainted with your counterparts
Pre-registration is required. Cost is $20.00. Tickets must be presented for this event. No tickets will be sold in El Paso.
MIC will be holding its annual meeting at this luncheon. Hope to see you there!

1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m.

Dialogo: Becoming Bilingual Museums

There are more than 28 million Spanish speakers in the United States today and more than 8 million live in Texas. This session lays out the challenges and benefits of creating inclusive environments for Spanish-speaking visitors. Based on a philosophy of museums as catalysts for building community, panelists will discuss both theory and practice of the bilingual museum, including providing accurate translation of museum didactics, partnering with community organizations to bring non-traditional visitors into the museum, and creating programming that allows for an exchange of ideas between immigrant populations and the larger community. Panelists will share from a rich history of past projects that have engaged a diverse cross-section of bilingual participants, building stronger museum audiences and stronger communities.

3:15 p.m.–4:30 p.m.

Does Your Board Reflect Your Community?
If you held a mirror up to your board members, would your local community be reflected? Institutions, councils, and friends groups across Texas are struggling to ensure that all voices are represented in their governing and supporting institutions. As the state grows more diverse, the challenge becomes more and more daunting. How can you achieve a truly representative board? Where do you find local leaders? And why is board diversity so important anyway? This session will focus on the recruitment and development of multicultural and diverse board members.

Friday, March 20

11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Closing Luncheon
Special Guest:
Sean McGlynn, Director, City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, El Paso

Closing Keynote: A Tale of Two Republics: Why the U.S. and Mexico are so Different By Donald S. Frazier, Ph.D., Professor of History, McMurry University, AbileneThe project was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A native of Big Spring, Donald S. Frazier, Ph.D., is professor of history at McMurry University in Abilene. He has authored several books, including the award-winning Blood and Treasure: Confederate Empire in the Southwest, is coauthor of Frontier Texas: History of a Borderland to 1880, and editor of The United States and Mexico at War: Nineteenth-Century Expansionism and Conflict. Frazier also founded and manages the Grady McWhiney Research Foundation, an Abilene-based nonprofit for the advancement of history education that includes State House Press, the McWhiney Foundation Press, and the museum and educational programs of the Texas Frontier Heritage and Cultural Center. He has consulted on several national projects for PBS, the History Channel, the National Park Service, and Preserve America.