In brief

‘Talk of the Nation’ live from GSE

Today (March 21), the Graduate School of Education (GSE) and WGBH/Frontline are sponsoring a live broadcast of National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” from Longfellow Hall, Askwith Auditorium. The show, which will air from 2 to 4 p.m., will focus on President Bush’s education policy, and how to improve the quality of American schools. As part of the day’s events, an early screening of Frontline’s “Testing Our Schools” will take place in the Gutman Conference Center from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

These events are free and open to the public. For more information, call (617) 495-0740.

Women’s writing group forming

Sponsored by the Joint Committee on the Status of Women and the Office of Human Resources, a women’s writing support group is being formed to provide encouragement for women staff, faculty, and students who want to write in community and who seek to find a voice through creative writing.

Following a process designed by author and writing teacher Eunice Scarfe, who will offer a one-day workshop at the Medical School later in April, the group will write to carefully chosen literary prompts, read work together, and reflect on what would strengthen subsequent text. This process can be used as a technique in qualitative research, to generate new text, to build a team, and to enhance networking.

An information session will be held on Thursday, April 4, at 3 p.m. in the Countway Minot Room for all women interested in participating in the writing group. To register, contact the Office of Human Resources at (617) 432-2035.

Pluralism Project summer research grants available

Harvard’s Pluralism Project invites students in the comparative study of religion, anthropology, sociology, and other academic fields to participate in the task of exploring and understanding the changing contours of American religious life. Undergraduates and graduate students with academic backgrounds in the Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jain, Sikh, or Zoroastrian traditions are encouraged to consider research work on this project, and are invited to apply. Research funds ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 will be available this summer.

Students who undertake research through the sponsorship of the Pluralism Project will present their work during a fall conference to be held in October. The Pluralism Project also expects a full written report on the research, either as an independent paper or as part of a thesis project.

Application information is available online at http://www.pluralism.org/research/applications.php.

The deadline is Friday, April 12.

Contact Grove Harris at (617) 496-2481 or e-mail staff@pluralism.org for more information.

– Compiled by Andrew Brooks