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Shamial

2/15/14

one of my brother-in-law environmentalists, who monitors ClimateWireNet, forwarded me this news item. i share it with you as a contribution to our conversations about how to have these difficult conversations. how does the religious language of evil work in the context of discussion about climate change? (of course the Church of England is also thinking of using the language of economics, as it discusses pulling the church's investments out of fossil fuel companies...)

Church of England battles 'great demon of our day,' climate change  (Friday, February 14, 2014)

The Church of England has threatened to terminate its investments in companies that aren't making efforts to mitigate climate change and thus disregard the church's moral, social and theological ideals.

Steven Croft, the bishop of Sheffield, referred to climate change as "a giant evil, a great demon of our day," adding: "Its power is fed by greed, blindness and complacency in the present generation, and we know that this giant wreaks havoc though the immense power of the weather systems, which are themselves unpredictable."

While the church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group has refused to pull the church's money from fossil fuel companies, its deputy chairman told the General Synod that it was contemplating "all options" in developing a future investment policy.

I loved all of the works in Shonibare's exhibit, but I was especially captivated by his series of works, "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters".  Based on a 1797-98 print of the same title by Spanish artist Francisco Goya, which was part of a series critiquing the Spanish society in which Goya lived, Shonibare's series features 5 photographs, identical to Goya's print except for the sleeping figure and the phrase written on the desk.  Shonibare's photographs are each focused on a continent- one each for Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.  In each photograph, he features a person whose apparent race contradicts the expected race for someone from the continent being portrayed, and, while the words on the desk in Goya's print translate to "The sleep of reason produces monsters," the words in Shonibare's photos ask, for example, "Does the sleep of reason produce monsters in the Americas?"  The animals in Goya's print- owls, bats, and a large cat that I can't exactly identify- are reproduced exactly in each of Shonibare's photos, symbolizing the monsters that the human figure's sleep of reason is seen to produce.

Colors, Patterns, Stillness and Liveliness, Wheelchair and Stilts, Conflicts and Companionship. So much is happening simultaneously in the Shonibare’s Magic Ladders exhibit. It is difficult to narrow in on one element of such an intentional, “provocative examination of European colonialism and European and African identities” (Media Preview, scan 6), but I think what struck me most was the representation of children and adults, and the contrasts between the roles they embody. The adult figures are purely embodiments of their roles in society, pre-defined by their profession and achievements. Of the 24 adult figures (including the five men in the aluminum prints), 22 are seated. All of the adult statues are headless. Perhaps this is representative of their fixed roles in life. They have reached their destinations and rather than strive for progress and knowledge, they have relaxed into their roles, unporous to discovery.

Hello Eco folks,

Here are some readings about Camden suggested by Michael for our class; I'm also including Michael's notes.  I'm posting them now in case you want to browse in them as we work on the lesson plans you're developing for our 5th grade partners.  We may also use some of these readings in other ways...

In Ed class on Wed., we had a silent discussion in response to quotes from our readings.  As I read over all of our rich, provocative writings (I love the way 'silent discussion' stays in place for a minute!), I started to notice language that seemed related to economics... and decided to highlight these in a post, hoping to prompt more cross-disciplinary talk, including "difficult conversations" within and across our 360 classes!

Here are some quotes from our language ('representation') on the silent discussion poster pages (with my italics added):

Is referring to (certain urban spaces) as "denatured" good - what if they reflect the nature of the community they are located in or hold a certain value to the community?

I'm wondering is these (manufactured playground structures) cost less overall -- less upkeep?  More economically affordable...

...is it necessary that we get the voices of urban kids and adults?  Do they want more access to nature and wildlife?  What spaces are valued and where (for example) could a park go?

But also in the name of money, because the same people who forbid these environmentally harmful activities (restrictions placed on children climbing trees, etc.) allow things like mountaintop removal and fracking...

This is something interesting I came across that reminded me of what Anne showed us the first day of class!

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/nobuttsorg_anticigarette_butt_pollution_campaign_rabbit

and on a more philosophical note...

alice lesnick just shared w/ our "internationalizing women's education" group a really wonderful essay
about "the right to research" which is focused on the needs and rights of poor global communities, but
which i think also has tremendous resonance for women inside. sara, it might go on the reading list
for your independent study, and sasha it might also help you w/ that thesis proposal!

I am a customs person and we have just welcomed several new members onto our hall this past week. One of these students is an international student from another dorm and my first years have been very sweet and accommodating to her and I was very touched by their actions. Most international students go by an English name for comfort’s sake and it cuts down on confusion when names are called out during class or when interacting with people. I too go by an English name because my name is constantly mispronounced/misspelled and the mispronunciation of my name is actually another Korean name and so I would never know if someone was calling me or another person and would cause A LOT of confusion. My Korean name is a very big part of my identity and I value what my name stands for because it shows my heritage and the history of my family (most Korean names have unique Chinese roots and belong to certain regions of the country and so lineages can be easily traced). I feel as if we lose a bit of our identity when we decide to go by an English name because most students pick a name that they have read in a book, heard on tv or in a movie or was given to them by friends or strangers. What really touched me was that my first years really made an effort to learn our newcomer’s real name and other international students’ names on our hall. Being called by our real names brings, at least to me, comfort and I feel little bit more ‘whole’. 

Attached find two drafts: for our lesson plan and homework handout.
By Thursday, please send suggested changes.

p.s. now I've removed the drafts, attached the edited versions.