Briefly Noted

Call for Iris Marion Young Award Nominations

Iris Marion Young

The Pitt Women’s Studies Program is calling for nominations for the Iris Marion Young Award for Political Engagement.

The award is given to a Pitt staff or faculty member, or graduate student who works to promote social justice and democracy, especially individuals whose work explicitly engages the issues of gender and sexual orientation.

The Iris Marion Young Award was created to honor those who work to promote justice within the University, or at the local, national, or global levels. Undergraduate students are encouraged to seek nomination for the Iris Marion Young Undergraduate Award.

Both awards were created to honor the memory of Iris Marion Young, a former Pitt faculty member considered by many to have been one of the most important political philosophers of the past 25 years. Young (1949-2006) taught political theory at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs for nine years. She maintained close ties to the Pitt community after leaving in 2000 to accept a political science professorship at the University of Chicago. Widely known for her work on theories of justice, democracy, and feminism, she also was a regular on picket lines and in the trenches of grassroots political activity, fighting for human rights, debt relief for Africa, and workers’ rights.

To nominate a candidate, send an e-mail to wstudies@pitt.edu or mail the nomination to the Woman’s Studies Program, 2208 Posvar Hall, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, by Jan.  8, 2010. The e-mail should include your name and contact information, the nominee’s name and contact information, and a couple of sentences explaining why you are nominating that person.

For more information on the Iris Marion Young Award, visit www.wstudies.pitt.edu/imya.html or call the Woman’s Studies Program at 412-624-6485.

—Kristin Shearer

Pitt Lands Grant for Health Sciences Librarian Certificate Program

Pitt’s School of Information Sciences and Health Sciences Library System were awarded a $991,311 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to support the creation of a post-master’s degree health sciences librarian certificate program. The grant is aimed at helping address a national need for librarians and information managers in the health sciences.

The 15-credit program provides a focused curriculum addressing current issues in health-sciences librarianship and is offered online to lend working students flexibility.

Highly qualified health sciences librarians are needed as the health care industry focuses on evidence-based medicine to translate basic research into clinical care and disease prevention. Health-sciences librarians play a key role in helping practitioners and researchers keep pace with a rapidly expanding knowledge base. Pitt’s program will prepare students for positions in health-sciences libraries in academic medical centers, hospitals, public health agencies, research institutes, and other health care settings.

More information is available on the certificate program’s Web site at www.ischool.pitt.edu/health.

—Anthony M. Moore