Tag: current affairs

Roland Bleiker: What to do about North Korea?

April 23, 2012

View of the concrete wall and barbed wire separating South Korea from North Korea. Roland Bleiker studies North Korea’s recent provocations and argues for an integrational approach to information diplomacy. Image from Creative Commons. BY ROLAND BLEIKER Professor of international relations at the University of Queensland  Dealing with North Korea has never been easy. Authoritarian and … More Roland Bleiker: What to do about North Korea?

Boston Mania: What drives us, professionals and amateurs alike, to run a marathon?

April 15, 2012

A statue of Greek soldier Pheidippides on Marathon Road northeast of Athens. According to legend, Pheidippides died after a 26.2-mile run from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persian invaders. Image from Creative Commons. BY CLAIRE E. RASMUSSENAssociate professor of political science and international relations at the University of … More Boston Mania: What drives us, professionals and amateurs alike, to run a marathon?

Before we had the Kardashians, even before we had The Real World, we had PBS’s An American Family — the original "reality" series.

January 11, 2012

The real Loud family (right) meets HBO’s Loud family. HBO’s triple-Golden-Globe-nominated Cinema Verite takes a look behind the scenes of the filming of America’s first reality TV family. Photo from http://blog.zap2it.com. Before 1973, the Loud family of Santa Barbara, California, lived in the privacy of their own home. With the airing of the documentary An … More Before we had the Kardashians, even before we had The Real World, we had PBS’s An American Family — the original "reality" series.

*They* Are … Penn State: "Qui tacet consentire videtur" ("Silence gives consent")

November 19, 2011

Fans cheer during the Penn State-Nebraska game in State College, Pa. This Nov. 12th, 2011, game was Penn State’s first time playing in decades without former head coach Joe Paterno, who was fired in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal involving a former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. AP photo. BY AMY BASSProfessor of … More *They* Are … Penn State: "Qui tacet consentire videtur" ("Silence gives consent")

Occupy Wall Street: A reminder of how radical spatial politics have changed.

November 16, 2011

The Occupy San Francisco movement in full swing. Jessica Ellen Sewell recalls how just a century ago, women were using spaces elsewhere in the city to campaign for women’s suffrage. BY JESSICA ELLEN SEWELLMember of the School of Social Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey As I was leading a walking … More Occupy Wall Street: A reminder of how radical spatial politics have changed.

What Participatory Democracy Looks Like: Occupy Wall Street and the Myth of Leadership

November 9, 2011

Occupy Nashville protesters at the state capitol. While media pundits look for a single “heroic” leader in the Occupy Wall Street movement, others point to a reclamation of participatory democracy and an emerging model of distributed leadership. Image from AP. BY DANA D. NELSONProfessor of English and American studies at Vanderbilt University Since just about … More What Participatory Democracy Looks Like: Occupy Wall Street and the Myth of Leadership

Libya’s declared adherence to Sharia law: What does it mean?

November 2, 2011

This map displays those countries that use Sharia law and to what extent. Here, author Zakia Salime looks at the different interpretations of Sharia law. Image from Creative Commons. BY ZAKIA SALIMEAssistant professor of sociology and women’s and gender studies at Rutgers University Should the West worry about Mustapha Abdul-Jalil’s declaration that Libya shall embrace … More Libya’s declared adherence to Sharia law: What does it mean?

Feature documentary film PINK RIBBONS, INC. seeks a new way to talk about breast cancer

September 29, 2011

Last October, author Samantha King (Pink Ribbons, Inc.) wrote a blog post for us about the ways in which breast-cancer marketing has now become a year-round industry (What’s next — Pink Cigarettes for the Cure?, Oct. 2010). This year, Pink Ribbons, Inc., has become a feature documentary film by award-winning Quebec filmmaker Léa Pool. The … More Feature documentary film PINK RIBBONS, INC. seeks a new way to talk about breast cancer

With veganism and animal-rights causes, a middle ground is always best.

August 31, 2011

BY KATHY RUDYAssociate professor of ethics and women’s studies at Duke University Ellen DeGeneres recently launched a national campaign endorsing veganism, and I give her a lot of credit. Along with people like Jonathan Safran Foer and many other media stars, she is putting the question of eating meat on the table as a significant … More With veganism and animal-rights causes, a middle ground is always best.

Reflecting upon Mary McLeod Bethune in light of this weekend’s MLK Jr. Memorial debut.

August 24, 2011

Construction photo of “Mountain of Despair” with Jefferson dome in background. Photo taken Aug. 11th, 2011, in advance of the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial debut on Aug. 28th, the 48th anniversary of the day King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Photo by the author. BY KELLY QUINN Quadrant fellow and assistant … More Reflecting upon Mary McLeod Bethune in light of this weekend’s MLK Jr. Memorial debut.