The following letter was forwarded to me from Cat Quinn after her presentation last Wednesday. The letter and attached article from ABC news present us with a cautionary tale of how good intentions can be abused.
Any thoughts on this issue? What, if anything, can be done? We're hungry for your comments.
>Daniel
In Latin America, there are deep suspicions that the U.S. Embassy recruits church missionaries, peace corps workers, and U.S. business people as spies on civilian organizations which the United States believes may threaten U.S. interests. Given the considerable number of U.S. government covert operations carried out worldwide by the CIA, this is not an irrational fear. Incidents like this one below in Bolivia remind Latin Americans that they should remain cautious of trusting U.S. citizens, even those of good will. For additional insight, check http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=964&thisview=item /index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=964&thisview=item>. These U.S covert operations in Latin America disrespect civil society and undermine democratic institutions. These practices are counterproductive, and should end.
Gary L. Cozette, Program Director
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)
Article from ABC NEWS - Exclusive: Peace Corps, Fulbright Scholar Asked to 'Spy' on Cubans, Venezuelans.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Class 3 Wrap-Up
A brief case study of the instructors' experiences in Uganda was presented in the class to provoke dialogue and serve as an introduction to Cat Quinn's presentation on Concern America.
Main points presented:
The brief analysis of this case study was followed by a presentation and Q + A session with Cat Quinn from the international NGO Concern America.
The screening of a documentary film that chronicles the 35-year history and philosophies of Concern America was a starting point for a conversation that touched on the topics of popular education and the dangers of 'good intentions.'
At the end of her presentation, Cat read the following story from the Training for Transformation guide to introduce the journal prompt for our next class.
Remember the following prompt is only a SUGGESTION. You can write your journal entry about any topic that interests or excites you or any thoughts you'd like to voice or explore. What sparks your imagination? With all of that said...
The Prompt:
After reading the passage below by Anne Hope think about a time when you were entering a community/group as either an "expert" or on the other end as a community/group member.
A few questions to think about...
What did you learn from this experience? What does it mean to be an "expert?" What qualifications did this person have to be considered an "expert?" Was there a need for an outside expert to come into the community?
If you can't think of any personal experiences, then comment on the following passage.
Anne Hope, Training for Transformation:
This exercise was developed from a real life experience in Uganda in 1959. A village had numerous problems in both the health field (all types of worms, malaria, no clinic) and a very poor school from which the teachers were nearly always absent. In a village meeting the people really did insist that their top priority was to make a football field. I was appalled but the CDO very wisely encouraged the group to go ahead. They made their football field, started playing football, organized a team, played matches against other villages. The football field was a turning point in the life of the village. They had gained self-confidence, a structure for communicating with one another, and a sense that they were capable of changing things. Later they tackled many other, "more important" projects. But were they really more important? Was not their own intuition that they needed something that would build their own sense of themselves as a community, and their confidence that they could achieve their own goals, far more important than my outsider priority that they needed a clinic? This was also a turning point in my own education about how to work with communities. Later I heard many other stories of how football fields had helped deal with serious problems of teenage drinking.
>Harishi
Main points presented:
- A group of young student from the United States were compelled to go to Uganda after watching a documentary film.
- In Uganda, they were introduced to a community-based organization working to alleviate the consequences of the HIV/AIDS crisis.
- The organization asked the group to help them build an orphanage to house and educate some of the many children orphaned by AIDS in rural Southwestern Uganda.
- After extensive research back in the United States, the students found that orphanages should only be used as a last resort. Instead, studies unanimously support community-based solutions that keep children in the homes of relatives or neighbors.
- The student group switched their focus, from building an orphanage to addressing the psycho/social needs of orphaned children through art empowerment projects. These projects offered community members an opportunity to share their stories using art as a means of expression.
- The community-based organization does not understand the necessity of art projects in the context of obvious material needs.
- Lack of understanding leads to mistrust which strains and ultimately dissolves the relationship between the student group and the Ugandan community based-organization.
- What went wrong?
- Did the students make a mistake by going to Uganda in the first place?
- Should they have responded to the explicit desire of the community by building an orphanage? Or were they right to follow the unanimous recommendations of researchers?
- Is it right to continue with a project that addresses a need that's not a priority within the community?
- How is trust built between two groups coming into collaboration with their own preconceived notions and returning to completely different realities?
The brief analysis of this case study was followed by a presentation and Q + A session with Cat Quinn from the international NGO Concern America.
The screening of a documentary film that chronicles the 35-year history and philosophies of Concern America was a starting point for a conversation that touched on the topics of popular education and the dangers of 'good intentions.'
At the end of her presentation, Cat read the following story from the Training for Transformation guide to introduce the journal prompt for our next class.
Remember the following prompt is only a SUGGESTION. You can write your journal entry about any topic that interests or excites you or any thoughts you'd like to voice or explore. What sparks your imagination? With all of that said...
The Prompt:
After reading the passage below by Anne Hope think about a time when you were entering a community/group as either an "expert" or on the other end as a community/group member.
A few questions to think about...
What did you learn from this experience? What does it mean to be an "expert?" What qualifications did this person have to be considered an "expert?" Was there a need for an outside expert to come into the community?
If you can't think of any personal experiences, then comment on the following passage.
Anne Hope, Training for Transformation:
This exercise was developed from a real life experience in Uganda in 1959. A village had numerous problems in both the health field (all types of worms, malaria, no clinic) and a very poor school from which the teachers were nearly always absent. In a village meeting the people really did insist that their top priority was to make a football field. I was appalled but the CDO very wisely encouraged the group to go ahead. They made their football field, started playing football, organized a team, played matches against other villages. The football field was a turning point in the life of the village. They had gained self-confidence, a structure for communicating with one another, and a sense that they were capable of changing things. Later they tackled many other, "more important" projects. But were they really more important? Was not their own intuition that they needed something that would build their own sense of themselves as a community, and their confidence that they could achieve their own goals, far more important than my outsider priority that they needed a clinic? This was also a turning point in my own education about how to work with communities. Later I heard many other stories of how football fields had helped deal with serious problems of teenage drinking.
>Harishi
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Attendance and Participation Policy
There's a new law in town and 2 deputies to enforce it.
More than one unexcused absence or missing journal entry will result in a failed grade for this seminar.
Our Reasoning:
1) There are only 8 classes in the seminar. 2 missed classes, therefore, amounts to 1/4 of the entire course.
2) The class is discussion-based and we want everyone to participate by sharing their experiences and thoughts in class. When you miss class, all of the students, including Harish and I, miss out on the insightful comments and personal experiences you have to offer.
>Deputies Yang and Patel
More than one unexcused absence or missing journal entry will result in a failed grade for this seminar.
Our Reasoning:
1) There are only 8 classes in the seminar. 2 missed classes, therefore, amounts to 1/4 of the entire course.
2) The class is discussion-based and we want everyone to participate by sharing their experiences and thoughts in class. When you miss class, all of the students, including Harish and I, miss out on the insightful comments and personal experiences you have to offer.
>Deputies Yang and Patel
Featured Journal Entries from Class 1
Reflections on the Introduction to William Easterly's book, 'The White Man's Burden' (pg 1 - 33).
Rebecca Wilkening
After reading this article I realized I was ignorant about this issue of the planners and the searchers, as William Easterly put it in The White Man’s Burden. I don’t feel that it was negative thing that I was ignorant about certain issues on foreign aid and still am ignorant on certain aspects. Yet now I can better understand this idea of “The Big Plan” that us Westerners come up with and that as a future, hopefully, searcher I can steer clear of these unsuccessful and expensive ideas of big plans. It’s not that we should point the fingers at planners and shame them, because planners have high hopes of helping other people. But just like myself, once educated on the subject of planning versus searching I can understand how the planners are falling short of the reality of helping those in need.
When reading about foreign aid and countries around the world, about the need of searching for solutions instead of just throwing a bunch of money in their general direction I immediately thought of Hurricane Katrina. I spent 8 months in the golf coast a year ago in a volunteer group called Americorps*NCCC, I spent a lot of time gutting homes, hearing the stories of people still suffering from the tragedy, rebuilding homes, planning future evacuations for people without transportation and all the while wondering where did the money went. One of the most memorable things about Katrina was the call to donate, every where you went someone was collecting money to help those on television that the U.S. watched as they were stranded and starving. Yet when I went to places such as New Orleans or Mississippi a year after the hurricane came you would think that you were in a third world country. The planners took over for Hurricane Katrina so that while tons of money was donated to the relief efforts, the money seemed not to make it to those most in need and then people felt as though they had done enough through donations and therefore forgot about the cause. New Orleans reminds me of third world countries that Easterly speaks of and how this planning has just been a band aide on a broken arm.
Easterly also speaks about planners needing to feel like heroes of the poor, as if they are children to watch over and therefore missing the point of helping people. This reminds me of a non-profit I volunteered for in the New Orleans schools that were very devastated from the storm. My group of volunteers was called to help rebuild the schools, but because this particular weekend was a special volunteer weekend where reporters and big speakers came much of the efforts of helping were exhausted through patting each other on the back and buying tee shirts for everyone. We started the day splitting up and going to various schools to make the schools better for the students starting school within a few weeks. Our jobs were to paint the interior of the classrooms, any other rooms, hallways and stairways. The only problem was that we were painting over an existing horrible paint job, which while we were painting was chipping off. We painted over things that needed to be properly fixed yet we band-aided it. The point was to give kids a better school, but because of the needed to congratulate ourselves on heroism we missed the target. Not that volunteering isn’t a great thing to do and feel great about, but when the focus becomes you instead of others in need, the point of the action is lost.
I also really enjoyed the part where Easterly expresses the need for people in need to be involved in the plan such as the bed nets in Tanzania. Those who bought the nets at a small price used the nets more than those who got them for free. As a human being I can relate to this because while it is great to sometimes receive things for free to feel human and to have a feeling of worthiness even those in need, such as the extreme poor, want to feel as though they have a part in helping themselves. I noticed this while working with Habitat for Humanity. People receiving a home had to help build other peoples homes, to be a part of bettering themselves and others. I feel there is a real need for us as human beings to feel as though we can better ourselves and the world around us through contributing something.
I found Easterly’s ideas about the connection of planners and the historical domination through imperialism. That goes along with the idea of people such as Jean-Claude Shanda Tonme where he feels that the planners see him and other third world citizens as children needed to be saved through the West’s more “civilized” ways. I have never realized how connected the whole planners are to the old way of thinking civilized us versus not civilized “them”. I never realized the historical tie made between imperialism and organizations such as the World Bank and IMF trying to tell those nations how to govern and be. The most interesting thing to me that Easterly explained is how that imposition of how to govern comes from a desire to further better the West’s economic interests such as the growth of capitalism where the puppet masters are the Westerners.
I am very glad I have read this and hope to read the rest of the book because now that I am informed I feel I can be more of aware of myself, especially because I would like to start a non-profit. I hope to be a searcher and follow through with plans and take responsibility for myself as well as taking responsibility when working on the issues with others and for others. I also hope that I can be a searcher by helping people help themselves and not trying to be their hero.
Dan Schneider
The ideas expressed by William Easterly are similar to the methods used by professionals in my academic field of study, Anthropology. The idea is that one goes to an area and becomes amerced in the lives of the people. The Anthropologist becomes a participant-observer. The main objective of the Anthropologist is to essentially become as close to being an insider within that particular group as possible. From that perspective, one comes to understand a group of people with clarity that is certainly obscured from an outsider’s perspective. The people that are most able to understand a situation are the people that are directly involved with it. In essence, the Anthropologist must become a searcher. He or she must understand a group and from there he or she must evaluate the situation to find strengths and weaknesses within the group. After they are identified, the Anthropologist utilizes local as well as international resources to provide solutions for any problems discovered. The solution must be tailored to fit the cultural ideals and practices of the people It is a grassroots approach, from the bottom to the top.
This leads me to my question, if a person from another culture can never gain a completely insider point of view, then can the outsider ever confidently offer solutions to problems identified by him or her? My initial answer to this question is yes. Firstly, I will begin by emphasizing the grassroots approach to the solution. I think the easiest way to get a true bearing on the effectiveness of a solution is simply to involve the people who are benefited by this solution. They are the true insiders and they can foresee the possible benefits and the drawbacks to one’s solution. One cannot simply come into a community and decide what is best for it. The people must decide. The outsider may be able to offer a new perspective on a problem and knowledge that may not be available to the insiders; however, if the insiders come into conflict with a solution, it is unlikely that they will see the necessity to utilize it. It is unlikely then that the solution will in fact be a solution. The outsider becomes a tool that the insiders can utilize for information and ideas. Furthermore, the outsider hopefully is able to provide a link that did not exist in the community before, a link between a community and the resources that can be utilized to obtain what the community needs. He may be a bridge between the people and foreign aid, the people and the knowledge to create a change, or a link to any other resource. No matter what the outside links a community to, the change needs to come from a collaborative effort that continually involves the people being affected by the change. On the other hand, there is a possibility the presence of an outsider can cause more damage to the community than was present before the outsider’s arrival. Anthropologists have a rule to protect against this, “Do no harm.” However, there is always a chance of doing harm. No solution can ever be easy and without negative consequences. The outsider will never understand a culture completely. His intervention has high chances of bringing negative consequences to a group of people. Are these risks worth it? Or should the outsider simply stay home and not meddle in other people’s lives. This is no easy question to answer and it should not be. I am having difficulty coming up with reasons why one should just not bother and leave people alone.
Leaving people alone seems like a good decision, but the truth is that it is impossible to “leave people alone.” The actions of every person today affect others indirectly. It is the duty of an Anthropologist to understand how one’s actions affect others and minimize the negative consequences. In a globalized world, we are all linked, and our decisions have unforeseen consequences on people. I look around and see many examples of my actions affecting other people. My own curiosity leads me to want to know more about these situations, and with that knowledge comes power and responsibility. One is given the power to create change, and the responsibility to protect the people one hopes to help.
One of the greatest risks to a community comes by opposing one’s own solution on other people. To reiterate, a person can never truly know everything about a group of people if he is not a member himself. This is an extremely ethnocentric and selfish viewpoint to believe that one knows more than a group people because they are different. Many aid agencies believe that they have all the answers to the problems of the world. They are the Planners who impose simple solutions on complex problems, but they never seem to come any closer to solving any of the problems. They never even seem to make any headway on helping people. They also make no analysis about the consequences of their decisions. For example, you cannot tell Muslims in Africa that female circumcision is dangerous and has no real benefits and expect them to change their practices. You have to understand why the people practice female circumcision and work to change the beliefs that cause this practice. Simply scolding the people for their “dangerous practices” will negatively impact one’s relationship with the people, making any current or future change impossible.
To conclude this somewhat random assemblage of thoughts, I believe that if one becomes as close to and insider in a group as possible, he or she can offer solutions to problems. The solutions must be filtered through actual insiders to be utilized. Solutions cannot be imposed on other people. If the people are involved in every step of the process, the chances of causing harm are greatly reduced. However, one must be vigilant to recognize faults and constantly adapt to minimize the harmful consequences of them. We all do our part to impact other people; it is up to us to decide if it is a positive or negative contribution.
Rebecca Wilkening
After reading this article I realized I was ignorant about this issue of the planners and the searchers, as William Easterly put it in The White Man’s Burden. I don’t feel that it was negative thing that I was ignorant about certain issues on foreign aid and still am ignorant on certain aspects. Yet now I can better understand this idea of “The Big Plan” that us Westerners come up with and that as a future, hopefully, searcher I can steer clear of these unsuccessful and expensive ideas of big plans. It’s not that we should point the fingers at planners and shame them, because planners have high hopes of helping other people. But just like myself, once educated on the subject of planning versus searching I can understand how the planners are falling short of the reality of helping those in need.
When reading about foreign aid and countries around the world, about the need of searching for solutions instead of just throwing a bunch of money in their general direction I immediately thought of Hurricane Katrina. I spent 8 months in the golf coast a year ago in a volunteer group called Americorps*NCCC, I spent a lot of time gutting homes, hearing the stories of people still suffering from the tragedy, rebuilding homes, planning future evacuations for people without transportation and all the while wondering where did the money went. One of the most memorable things about Katrina was the call to donate, every where you went someone was collecting money to help those on television that the U.S. watched as they were stranded and starving. Yet when I went to places such as New Orleans or Mississippi a year after the hurricane came you would think that you were in a third world country. The planners took over for Hurricane Katrina so that while tons of money was donated to the relief efforts, the money seemed not to make it to those most in need and then people felt as though they had done enough through donations and therefore forgot about the cause. New Orleans reminds me of third world countries that Easterly speaks of and how this planning has just been a band aide on a broken arm.
Easterly also speaks about planners needing to feel like heroes of the poor, as if they are children to watch over and therefore missing the point of helping people. This reminds me of a non-profit I volunteered for in the New Orleans schools that were very devastated from the storm. My group of volunteers was called to help rebuild the schools, but because this particular weekend was a special volunteer weekend where reporters and big speakers came much of the efforts of helping were exhausted through patting each other on the back and buying tee shirts for everyone. We started the day splitting up and going to various schools to make the schools better for the students starting school within a few weeks. Our jobs were to paint the interior of the classrooms, any other rooms, hallways and stairways. The only problem was that we were painting over an existing horrible paint job, which while we were painting was chipping off. We painted over things that needed to be properly fixed yet we band-aided it. The point was to give kids a better school, but because of the needed to congratulate ourselves on heroism we missed the target. Not that volunteering isn’t a great thing to do and feel great about, but when the focus becomes you instead of others in need, the point of the action is lost.
I also really enjoyed the part where Easterly expresses the need for people in need to be involved in the plan such as the bed nets in Tanzania. Those who bought the nets at a small price used the nets more than those who got them for free. As a human being I can relate to this because while it is great to sometimes receive things for free to feel human and to have a feeling of worthiness even those in need, such as the extreme poor, want to feel as though they have a part in helping themselves. I noticed this while working with Habitat for Humanity. People receiving a home had to help build other peoples homes, to be a part of bettering themselves and others. I feel there is a real need for us as human beings to feel as though we can better ourselves and the world around us through contributing something.
I found Easterly’s ideas about the connection of planners and the historical domination through imperialism. That goes along with the idea of people such as Jean-Claude Shanda Tonme where he feels that the planners see him and other third world citizens as children needed to be saved through the West’s more “civilized” ways. I have never realized how connected the whole planners are to the old way of thinking civilized us versus not civilized “them”. I never realized the historical tie made between imperialism and organizations such as the World Bank and IMF trying to tell those nations how to govern and be. The most interesting thing to me that Easterly explained is how that imposition of how to govern comes from a desire to further better the West’s economic interests such as the growth of capitalism where the puppet masters are the Westerners.
I am very glad I have read this and hope to read the rest of the book because now that I am informed I feel I can be more of aware of myself, especially because I would like to start a non-profit. I hope to be a searcher and follow through with plans and take responsibility for myself as well as taking responsibility when working on the issues with others and for others. I also hope that I can be a searcher by helping people help themselves and not trying to be their hero.
Dan Schneider
The ideas expressed by William Easterly are similar to the methods used by professionals in my academic field of study, Anthropology. The idea is that one goes to an area and becomes amerced in the lives of the people. The Anthropologist becomes a participant-observer. The main objective of the Anthropologist is to essentially become as close to being an insider within that particular group as possible. From that perspective, one comes to understand a group of people with clarity that is certainly obscured from an outsider’s perspective. The people that are most able to understand a situation are the people that are directly involved with it. In essence, the Anthropologist must become a searcher. He or she must understand a group and from there he or she must evaluate the situation to find strengths and weaknesses within the group. After they are identified, the Anthropologist utilizes local as well as international resources to provide solutions for any problems discovered. The solution must be tailored to fit the cultural ideals and practices of the people It is a grassroots approach, from the bottom to the top.
This leads me to my question, if a person from another culture can never gain a completely insider point of view, then can the outsider ever confidently offer solutions to problems identified by him or her? My initial answer to this question is yes. Firstly, I will begin by emphasizing the grassroots approach to the solution. I think the easiest way to get a true bearing on the effectiveness of a solution is simply to involve the people who are benefited by this solution. They are the true insiders and they can foresee the possible benefits and the drawbacks to one’s solution. One cannot simply come into a community and decide what is best for it. The people must decide. The outsider may be able to offer a new perspective on a problem and knowledge that may not be available to the insiders; however, if the insiders come into conflict with a solution, it is unlikely that they will see the necessity to utilize it. It is unlikely then that the solution will in fact be a solution. The outsider becomes a tool that the insiders can utilize for information and ideas. Furthermore, the outsider hopefully is able to provide a link that did not exist in the community before, a link between a community and the resources that can be utilized to obtain what the community needs. He may be a bridge between the people and foreign aid, the people and the knowledge to create a change, or a link to any other resource. No matter what the outside links a community to, the change needs to come from a collaborative effort that continually involves the people being affected by the change. On the other hand, there is a possibility the presence of an outsider can cause more damage to the community than was present before the outsider’s arrival. Anthropologists have a rule to protect against this, “Do no harm.” However, there is always a chance of doing harm. No solution can ever be easy and without negative consequences. The outsider will never understand a culture completely. His intervention has high chances of bringing negative consequences to a group of people. Are these risks worth it? Or should the outsider simply stay home and not meddle in other people’s lives. This is no easy question to answer and it should not be. I am having difficulty coming up with reasons why one should just not bother and leave people alone.
Leaving people alone seems like a good decision, but the truth is that it is impossible to “leave people alone.” The actions of every person today affect others indirectly. It is the duty of an Anthropologist to understand how one’s actions affect others and minimize the negative consequences. In a globalized world, we are all linked, and our decisions have unforeseen consequences on people. I look around and see many examples of my actions affecting other people. My own curiosity leads me to want to know more about these situations, and with that knowledge comes power and responsibility. One is given the power to create change, and the responsibility to protect the people one hopes to help.
One of the greatest risks to a community comes by opposing one’s own solution on other people. To reiterate, a person can never truly know everything about a group of people if he is not a member himself. This is an extremely ethnocentric and selfish viewpoint to believe that one knows more than a group people because they are different. Many aid agencies believe that they have all the answers to the problems of the world. They are the Planners who impose simple solutions on complex problems, but they never seem to come any closer to solving any of the problems. They never even seem to make any headway on helping people. They also make no analysis about the consequences of their decisions. For example, you cannot tell Muslims in Africa that female circumcision is dangerous and has no real benefits and expect them to change their practices. You have to understand why the people practice female circumcision and work to change the beliefs that cause this practice. Simply scolding the people for their “dangerous practices” will negatively impact one’s relationship with the people, making any current or future change impossible.
To conclude this somewhat random assemblage of thoughts, I believe that if one becomes as close to and insider in a group as possible, he or she can offer solutions to problems. The solutions must be filtered through actual insiders to be utilized. Solutions cannot be imposed on other people. If the people are involved in every step of the process, the chances of causing harm are greatly reduced. However, one must be vigilant to recognize faults and constantly adapt to minimize the harmful consequences of them. We all do our part to impact other people; it is up to us to decide if it is a positive or negative contribution.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Introduction to Class 3
Assigned readings for this class:
1. Paulo Freire’s Approach to Leadership - summary extracted from the book Spirituality of Leadership by Donal Dorr
2. To Hell with Good Intentions by Ivan Illich
3. Chapter 2 of Paulo Freire’s seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed
The class will be conducted in two parts:
Part 1: Harishi and Daniel will facilitate a discussion around a case-study drawn from their own experiences working in Uganda.
Part 2: Guest Speaker Cat Quinn from Concern America will speak about her organization, it’s history and philosophy. This will be followed with a discussion of popular education and it’s application in the realm of international development.
For more information about Concern America - http://concernamerica.org/
For more information about the guest speaker - http://www.vnafoundation.net/resources/press_release_06.28.06.html
>Harishi
1. Paulo Freire’s Approach to Leadership - summary extracted from the book Spirituality of Leadership by Donal Dorr
2. To Hell with Good Intentions by Ivan Illich
3. Chapter 2 of Paulo Freire’s seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed
The class will be conducted in two parts:
Part 1: Harishi and Daniel will facilitate a discussion around a case-study drawn from their own experiences working in Uganda.
Part 2: Guest Speaker Cat Quinn from Concern America will speak about her organization, it’s history and philosophy. This will be followed with a discussion of popular education and it’s application in the realm of international development.
For more information about Concern America - http://concernamerica.org/
For more information about the guest speaker - http://www.vnafoundation.net/resources/press_release_06.28.06.html
>Harishi
Review and Reflections from Class 1 and 2
Review and reflections from the first two classes. Please contribute with your own thoughts and feedback!
Class 1:
Each of us introduced ourselves and answered the question, “are you optimistic or pessimistic about doing good?" We were overwhelmingly optimistic. I wonder if our attitudes will change before the end of the course.
After our introductions, Daniel Swartzman, UIC Professor of Health Policy and Administration, shared a lecture entitled "An Ethics of Engagement – The Power of Ideas.” This lecture, a condensed version of a course taught with twenty years of experience, presented us with a philosophical framework to understand the causes and consequences of caring for others.
Memorable thoughts/quotes:
“Does 5+5=8+2?”
“Inspiring the moral imagination to the bring the 'Truly Other,' the abstract and unrelated, into the realms of the real and related.”
“Telling my parent’s story in landscape and portrait.”
Contact Information of the guest speaker: daniels@uic.edu
Class 2:
In this class, we read and discussed the first chapter of William Easterly's book, The White Man's Burden. Through lively discussion, we worked to clearly define the attitude and characteristics of 'Searchers and Planners.' After this exercise, we participated in a group activity that separated us into Searcher and Planner camps. Each group devised a problem and proposed a solution to their problem representing the viewpoint of their respective camps.
>Harishi
Class 1:
Each of us introduced ourselves and answered the question, “are you optimistic or pessimistic about doing good?" We were overwhelmingly optimistic. I wonder if our attitudes will change before the end of the course.
After our introductions, Daniel Swartzman, UIC Professor of Health Policy and Administration, shared a lecture entitled "An Ethics of Engagement – The Power of Ideas.” This lecture, a condensed version of a course taught with twenty years of experience, presented us with a philosophical framework to understand the causes and consequences of caring for others.
Memorable thoughts/quotes:
“Does 5+5=8+2?”
“Inspiring the moral imagination to the bring the 'Truly Other,' the abstract and unrelated, into the realms of the real and related.”
“Telling my parent’s story in landscape and portrait.”
Contact Information of the guest speaker: daniels@uic.edu
Class 2:
In this class, we read and discussed the first chapter of William Easterly's book, The White Man's Burden. Through lively discussion, we worked to clearly define the attitude and characteristics of 'Searchers and Planners.' After this exercise, we participated in a group activity that separated us into Searcher and Planner camps. Each group devised a problem and proposed a solution to their problem representing the viewpoint of their respective camps.
>Harishi
Journal Entries
As a fundamental component of the class, we want you to write journal entries or response papers. Normally, you’ll be presented with a journal prompt but remember, you are free to write about any topic that's related to the ideas discussed in class.
Prompt From Class 1:
1. Write about anything related to the class.
2. Write about Daniel Swartzman's lecture - 'An Ethics of Engagment'
3. Write about the reading for Class 2 - Searchers vs. Planners (from chapter 1 of Easterly's White Man's Burden)
Prompt From Class 2:
1. Write a response to Paulo Freire's theory of popular education.
2. Write a response to Ivan Illich's article, To Hell with Good Intentions
3. Write a response to the arguments of both writers.
4. Write about your natural inclination towards either the Planner or Searcher mindset.
----------------------------------------
Harishi and I are first time instructors that recognize our obvious limitations in addition to our assets. Although we lack experience and knowledge, we are fortunate to have friends and mentors whose expertise range across a broad spectrum of topics. As instructors for this course, we have made a commitment to read and personally respond to every essay we receive. However, we're eager to open up the discussion to a greater audience than just the two of us. We recognize that we are not the best ones to respond to every topic that you, the students, may write about.
Consequently, we’ve invited some of our friends, co-workers and mentors to volunteer as 'readers' for this class. These experienced volunteers from across the country have agreed to read and carefully respond to your journal entries. We hope that through this interaction you will be motivated to share and develop your thoughts knowing that someone qualified and interested on the other side is taking his or her time to read and process your writing.
>Daniel
Prompt From Class 1:
1. Write about anything related to the class.
2. Write about Daniel Swartzman's lecture - 'An Ethics of Engagment'
3. Write about the reading for Class 2 - Searchers vs. Planners (from chapter 1 of Easterly's White Man's Burden)
Prompt From Class 2:
1. Write a response to Paulo Freire's theory of popular education.
2. Write a response to Ivan Illich's article, To Hell with Good Intentions
3. Write a response to the arguments of both writers.
4. Write about your natural inclination towards either the Planner or Searcher mindset.
----------------------------------------
Harishi and I are first time instructors that recognize our obvious limitations in addition to our assets. Although we lack experience and knowledge, we are fortunate to have friends and mentors whose expertise range across a broad spectrum of topics. As instructors for this course, we have made a commitment to read and personally respond to every essay we receive. However, we're eager to open up the discussion to a greater audience than just the two of us. We recognize that we are not the best ones to respond to every topic that you, the students, may write about.
Consequently, we’ve invited some of our friends, co-workers and mentors to volunteer as 'readers' for this class. These experienced volunteers from across the country have agreed to read and carefully respond to your journal entries. We hope that through this interaction you will be motivated to share and develop your thoughts knowing that someone qualified and interested on the other side is taking his or her time to read and process your writing.
>Daniel
Book List and Summaries
These books are available for you to access at the Honors College Front Desk. We’re hoping to turn this collection into a small library with the purpose of building social consciousness among students at UIC. Feel free to offer us suggestions or donate an old book to the growing library!
WHITE MAN'S BURDEN - WILLIAM EASTERLY
“An informed and excoriating attack on the tragic waste, futility, and hubris of the West's efforts to date to improve the lot of the so-called developing world, with constructive suggestions on how to move forward. William Easterly's "The White Man's Burden" is about what its author calls the twin tragedies of global poverty. The first, of course, is that so many are seemingly fated to live horribly stunted, miserable lives and die such early deaths. The second is that after fifty years and more than $2.3 trillion in aid from the West to address the first tragedy, it has shockingly little to show for it. We'll never solve the first tragedy, Easterly argues, unless we figure out the second. The ironies are many: We preach a gospel of freedom and individual accountability, yet we intrude in the inner workings of other countries through bloated aid bureaucracies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank that are accountable to no one for the effects of their prescriptions. We take credit for the economic success stories of the last fifty years, like South Korea and Taiwan, when in fact we deserve very little. However, we reject all accountability for pouring more than half a trillion dollars into Africa and other regions and trying one "big new idea" after another, to no avail. Most of the places in which we've meddled are in fact no better off or are even worse off than they were before. We need to face our own history of ineptitude and learn our lessons, especially at a time when the question of our ability to "build democracy," to transplant the institutions of our civil society into foreign soil so that they take root, has become one of the most pressing we face.”
http://www.amazon.com/White-Mans-Burden-Efforts-Little/dp/0143038826/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677379&sr=8-2
A BED FOR THE NIGHT - DAVID RIEFF
“Timely and controversial, A Bed for the Night reveals how humanitarianorganizations trying to bring relief in an ever more violent anddangerous world are often betrayed and misused, and have increasingly lost sight of their purpose. Although humanitarianism's accomplishments have been tremendous, including saving countless lives, the lesson of the past ten years of civil wars and ethnic cleansing is that it can do only so much to alleviate suffering. Aid workers have discovered that while trying to do good, their efforts may also cause harm. Drawing on firsthand reporting from hot war zones around the world -- Bosnia, Rwanda, Congo, Kosovo, Sudan, and most recently Afghanistan -- Rieff describes how the International Committee of the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, the International Rescue Committee, CARE, Oxfam, and other humanitarian organizations have moved from their founding principle of political neutrality, which gave them access to victims of wars, to encouraging the international community to take action to stop civil wars and ethnic cleansing. A cogent, hard-hitting report from the front lines, A Bed for the Night shows what international aid organizations must do if they are to continue to care for the victims of humanitarian disasters.”
http://www.amazon.com/Bed-Night-Humanitarianism-Crisis/dp/074325211X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677414&sr=1-2
THE BOTTOM BILLION - PAUL COLLIER
“Global poverty, Paul Collier points out, is actually falling quite rapidly for about eighty percent of the world. The real crisis lies in a group of about 50 failing states, the bottom billion, whose problems defy traditional approaches to alleviating poverty. In The Bottom
Billion, Collier contends that these fifty failed states pose the central challenge of the developing world in the twenty-first century. Collier analyzes the causes of failure, pointing to a set of traps that snare these countries, including civil war, a dependence on the extraction and export of natural resources, and bad governance. Standard solutions do not work against these traps, he writes; aid is often ineffective, and globalization can actually make matters worse, driving development to more stable nations. What the bottom billion need, Collier argues, is a bold new plan supported by the Group of Eight industrialized nations. If failed states are ever to be helped, the G8 will have to adopt preferential trade policies, new laws against corruption, and new international charters, and even conduct carefully calibrated military interventions. As former director of research for the World Bank and current Director of the Center for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University, Paul Collier has spent a lifetime working to end global poverty.”
http://www.amazon.com/Bed-Night-Humanitarianism-Crisis/dp/074325211X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677414&sr=1-2
THE END OF POVERTY - JEFFREY SACHS
“He has been cited by "The New York Times Magazine" as "probably the most important economist in the world" and by Time as "the world's best-known economist." He has advised an extraordinary range of world leaders and international institutions on the full range of issues related to creating economic success and reducing the world's poverty and misery. Now, at last, he draws on his entire twenty-five-year body of experience to offer a thrilling and inspiring big-picture vision of the keys to economic success in the world today and the steps that are necessary to achieve prosperity for all. Marrying vivid eyewitness storytelling to his laser like analysis, Jeffrey Sachs sets the stage by drawing a vivid conceptual map of the world economy and the different categories into which countries fall. Rather than deliver a worldview to readers from on high, Sachs leads them along the learning path he himself followed, telling the remarkable stories of his own work in Bolivia, Poland, Russia, India, China, and Africa as a way to bring readers to a broad-based understanding of the array of issues countries can face and the way the issues interrelate. He concludes by drawing on everything he has learned to offer an integrated set of solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and
social problems that most frequently hold societies back. In the end, he leaves readers with an understanding, not of how daunting the world's problems are, but how solvable they are-and why making the effort is a matter both of moral obligation and strategic
self-interest.”
http://www.amazon.com/End-Poverty-Economic-Possibilities-Time/dp/0143036580/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677465&sr=1-1
MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS - TRACY KIDDER
“This powerful and inspiring new book shows how one person can make a difference, as Kidder tells the true story of a gifted man who is in love with the world and has set out to do all he can to cure it. At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life's calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This magnificent book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer—brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti—blasts through convention to get results. Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is
humanity" - a philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners In Health. At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope, and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb "Beyond mountains there are mountains": as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.”
http://www.amazon.com/Mountains-Beyond-Quest-Farmer-Would/dp/0812973011/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677488&sr=1-1
PATHOLOGIES OF POWER - PAUL FARMER
“Pathologies of Power uses harrowing stories of life--and death—in extreme situations to interrogate our understanding of human rights. Paul Farmer, a physician and anthropologist with twenty years of experience working in Haiti, Peru, and Russia, argues that promoting the social and economic rights of the world's poor is the most important human rights struggle of our times. With passionate eyewitness accounts from the prisons of Russia and the beleaguered villages of Haiti and Chiapas, this book links the lived experiences of individual victims to a broader analysis of structural violence. Farmer challenges conventional thinking within human rights circles and exposes the relationships between political and economic injustice, on one hand, and the suffering and illness of the powerless, on the other. Farmer shows that the same social forces that give rise to epidemic diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis also sculpt risk for human rights violations. He illustrates the ways that racism and gender inequality in the United States are embodied as disease and death. Yet this book is far from a hopeless inventory of abuse. Farmer's disturbing examples are linked to a guarded optimism that new medical and social technologies will develop in tandem with a more informed sense of social justice. Otherwise, he concludes, we will be guilty of managing social inequality rather than addressing structural violence. Farmer's urgent plea to think about human rights in the context of global public health and to consider critical issues of quality and access for the world's poor should be of fundamental concern to a world characterized by the bizarre proximity of surfeit and suffering.”
http://www.amazon.com/Pathologies-Power-Health-California-Anthropology/dp/0520243269/ref=pd_sim_b_img_7
PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED - PAULO FREIRE
“The methodology of the late Paulo Freire, once considered such a threat to the established order that he was "invited" to leave his native Brazil, has helped to empower countless impoverished and illiterate people throughout the world. Freire's work has taken on special urgency in the United States and Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centers is increasingly accepted as the norm. With a substantive new introduction to Freire's life and the remarkable impact of this book by writer and Freire confidant and authority Donaldo Macedo, this anniversary edition of Pedagogy of the Oppressed will inspire a new generation of educators, students, and general readers for years to come.”
http://www.amazon.com/Pedagogy-Oppressed-Paulo-Freire/dp/0826412769/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677557&sr=1-1
DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM BY AMARTYA SEN
“Amartya Sen is the most respected and well-known economist of his time. This book is a synthesis of his thought, viewing economic development as a means to extending freedoms rather than an end in itself. By widening his outlook to include poverty, tyranny, lack of opportunity, individual rights, and political structures, Professor Sen gives a stimulating and enlightening overview of the development process. His compassionate yet rigorous analysis will appeal to all those interested in the fate of the developing world, from general reader to specialist.”
http://www.amazon.com/Pedagogy-Oppressed-Paulo-Freire/dp/0826412769/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677557&sr=1-1
>Harishi
WHITE MAN'S BURDEN - WILLIAM EASTERLY
“An informed and excoriating attack on the tragic waste, futility, and hubris of the West's efforts to date to improve the lot of the so-called developing world, with constructive suggestions on how to move forward. William Easterly's "The White Man's Burden" is about what its author calls the twin tragedies of global poverty. The first, of course, is that so many are seemingly fated to live horribly stunted, miserable lives and die such early deaths. The second is that after fifty years and more than $2.3 trillion in aid from the West to address the first tragedy, it has shockingly little to show for it. We'll never solve the first tragedy, Easterly argues, unless we figure out the second. The ironies are many: We preach a gospel of freedom and individual accountability, yet we intrude in the inner workings of other countries through bloated aid bureaucracies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank that are accountable to no one for the effects of their prescriptions. We take credit for the economic success stories of the last fifty years, like South Korea and Taiwan, when in fact we deserve very little. However, we reject all accountability for pouring more than half a trillion dollars into Africa and other regions and trying one "big new idea" after another, to no avail. Most of the places in which we've meddled are in fact no better off or are even worse off than they were before. We need to face our own history of ineptitude and learn our lessons, especially at a time when the question of our ability to "build democracy," to transplant the institutions of our civil society into foreign soil so that they take root, has become one of the most pressing we face.”
http://www.amazon.com/White-Mans-Burden-Efforts-Little/dp/0143038826/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677379&sr=8-2
A BED FOR THE NIGHT - DAVID RIEFF
“Timely and controversial, A Bed for the Night reveals how humanitarianorganizations trying to bring relief in an ever more violent anddangerous world are often betrayed and misused, and have increasingly lost sight of their purpose. Although humanitarianism's accomplishments have been tremendous, including saving countless lives, the lesson of the past ten years of civil wars and ethnic cleansing is that it can do only so much to alleviate suffering. Aid workers have discovered that while trying to do good, their efforts may also cause harm. Drawing on firsthand reporting from hot war zones around the world -- Bosnia, Rwanda, Congo, Kosovo, Sudan, and most recently Afghanistan -- Rieff describes how the International Committee of the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, the International Rescue Committee, CARE, Oxfam, and other humanitarian organizations have moved from their founding principle of political neutrality, which gave them access to victims of wars, to encouraging the international community to take action to stop civil wars and ethnic cleansing. A cogent, hard-hitting report from the front lines, A Bed for the Night shows what international aid organizations must do if they are to continue to care for the victims of humanitarian disasters.”
http://www.amazon.com/Bed-Night-Humanitarianism-Crisis/dp/074325211X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677414&sr=1-2
THE BOTTOM BILLION - PAUL COLLIER
“Global poverty, Paul Collier points out, is actually falling quite rapidly for about eighty percent of the world. The real crisis lies in a group of about 50 failing states, the bottom billion, whose problems defy traditional approaches to alleviating poverty. In The Bottom
Billion, Collier contends that these fifty failed states pose the central challenge of the developing world in the twenty-first century. Collier analyzes the causes of failure, pointing to a set of traps that snare these countries, including civil war, a dependence on the extraction and export of natural resources, and bad governance. Standard solutions do not work against these traps, he writes; aid is often ineffective, and globalization can actually make matters worse, driving development to more stable nations. What the bottom billion need, Collier argues, is a bold new plan supported by the Group of Eight industrialized nations. If failed states are ever to be helped, the G8 will have to adopt preferential trade policies, new laws against corruption, and new international charters, and even conduct carefully calibrated military interventions. As former director of research for the World Bank and current Director of the Center for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University, Paul Collier has spent a lifetime working to end global poverty.”
http://www.amazon.com/Bed-Night-Humanitarianism-Crisis/dp/074325211X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677414&sr=1-2
THE END OF POVERTY - JEFFREY SACHS
“He has been cited by "The New York Times Magazine" as "probably the most important economist in the world" and by Time as "the world's best-known economist." He has advised an extraordinary range of world leaders and international institutions on the full range of issues related to creating economic success and reducing the world's poverty and misery. Now, at last, he draws on his entire twenty-five-year body of experience to offer a thrilling and inspiring big-picture vision of the keys to economic success in the world today and the steps that are necessary to achieve prosperity for all. Marrying vivid eyewitness storytelling to his laser like analysis, Jeffrey Sachs sets the stage by drawing a vivid conceptual map of the world economy and the different categories into which countries fall. Rather than deliver a worldview to readers from on high, Sachs leads them along the learning path he himself followed, telling the remarkable stories of his own work in Bolivia, Poland, Russia, India, China, and Africa as a way to bring readers to a broad-based understanding of the array of issues countries can face and the way the issues interrelate. He concludes by drawing on everything he has learned to offer an integrated set of solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and
social problems that most frequently hold societies back. In the end, he leaves readers with an understanding, not of how daunting the world's problems are, but how solvable they are-and why making the effort is a matter both of moral obligation and strategic
self-interest.”
http://www.amazon.com/End-Poverty-Economic-Possibilities-Time/dp/0143036580/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677465&sr=1-1
MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS - TRACY KIDDER
“This powerful and inspiring new book shows how one person can make a difference, as Kidder tells the true story of a gifted man who is in love with the world and has set out to do all he can to cure it. At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life's calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This magnificent book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer—brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti—blasts through convention to get results. Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is
humanity" - a philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners In Health. At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope, and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb "Beyond mountains there are mountains": as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.”
http://www.amazon.com/Mountains-Beyond-Quest-Farmer-Would/dp/0812973011/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677488&sr=1-1
PATHOLOGIES OF POWER - PAUL FARMER
“Pathologies of Power uses harrowing stories of life--and death—in extreme situations to interrogate our understanding of human rights. Paul Farmer, a physician and anthropologist with twenty years of experience working in Haiti, Peru, and Russia, argues that promoting the social and economic rights of the world's poor is the most important human rights struggle of our times. With passionate eyewitness accounts from the prisons of Russia and the beleaguered villages of Haiti and Chiapas, this book links the lived experiences of individual victims to a broader analysis of structural violence. Farmer challenges conventional thinking within human rights circles and exposes the relationships between political and economic injustice, on one hand, and the suffering and illness of the powerless, on the other. Farmer shows that the same social forces that give rise to epidemic diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis also sculpt risk for human rights violations. He illustrates the ways that racism and gender inequality in the United States are embodied as disease and death. Yet this book is far from a hopeless inventory of abuse. Farmer's disturbing examples are linked to a guarded optimism that new medical and social technologies will develop in tandem with a more informed sense of social justice. Otherwise, he concludes, we will be guilty of managing social inequality rather than addressing structural violence. Farmer's urgent plea to think about human rights in the context of global public health and to consider critical issues of quality and access for the world's poor should be of fundamental concern to a world characterized by the bizarre proximity of surfeit and suffering.”
http://www.amazon.com/Pathologies-Power-Health-California-Anthropology/dp/0520243269/ref=pd_sim_b_img_7
PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED - PAULO FREIRE
“The methodology of the late Paulo Freire, once considered such a threat to the established order that he was "invited" to leave his native Brazil, has helped to empower countless impoverished and illiterate people throughout the world. Freire's work has taken on special urgency in the United States and Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centers is increasingly accepted as the norm. With a substantive new introduction to Freire's life and the remarkable impact of this book by writer and Freire confidant and authority Donaldo Macedo, this anniversary edition of Pedagogy of the Oppressed will inspire a new generation of educators, students, and general readers for years to come.”
http://www.amazon.com/Pedagogy-Oppressed-Paulo-Freire/dp/0826412769/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677557&sr=1-1
DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM BY AMARTYA SEN
“Amartya Sen is the most respected and well-known economist of his time. This book is a synthesis of his thought, viewing economic development as a means to extending freedoms rather than an end in itself. By widening his outlook to include poverty, tyranny, lack of opportunity, individual rights, and political structures, Professor Sen gives a stimulating and enlightening overview of the development process. His compassionate yet rigorous analysis will appeal to all those interested in the fate of the developing world, from general reader to specialist.”
http://www.amazon.com/Pedagogy-Oppressed-Paulo-Freire/dp/0826412769/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200677557&sr=1-1
>Harishi
Class Information
Class Description:
"Overwhelmed with images of war, famine, and disease young people in the United States are suffering from an epidemic of compassion fatigue. In this course, students will explore issues of global relevance in an effort to better understand the world around them and their position as potential change agents. The class will be based upon an examination of articles and case studies, discussions with guest lecturers, and a final project in which students propose and implement ideas in response to the topics addressed in class."
Where: University of Illinois at Chicago, Taft Hall Room 301.
When: Every Other Wednesay, 3 - 5 PM - starting Jan. 16, 2008
Who: 14 students from the Honors College, Harish Patel and Daniel Yang, Guest Lecturers, and anyone else who wants to join in on our discussions.
Why: The purpose of this course is to intrigue you, to unleash your creative potential by providing you with action opportunities and a platform to discuss, collaborate, and critically question.
General Outline of the Class:
The class will be divided into 3 sections –
1) Analysis (3 classes)
2) Action (3 classes)
3) Reflection (2 classes)
The course is designed as a mosaic of 8 distinct units, employing different styles and techniques every class. There are, however, common elements that ground the course with some consistency.
Common Elements in the Class:
1) Discussion based – feel free to challenge other people's opinion, we want active dialogue but please be respectful.
2) Journal Entries – writing and reflection is very important in developing our own ideas and processing the information and arguments we're bombarded with.
3) Out of classroom learning – we'll keep you posted with opportunities for action (i.e. conferences, panel discussions, demonstrations, etc…)
4) Community – we want to foster a sense of community among the class, emphasizing collaboration and learning from each from other's experiences.
5) Feedback – 1) tell us what works and what doesn't in the class; 2) we promise to offer you feedback by responding to your journal entries and e-mails.
Bio of the Two Instructors:
Daniel Yang and Harish Patel have been working together for the last two years, starting as Honors College students at UIC. In the fall of 2006, the two of them watched a documentary film about a twenty-one year civil war in Northern Uganda. In response to the film, they decided to travel to Uganda. Lacking money and a clear plan, they took to the streets of downtown Chicago dressed in pink teddy bear costume bought on eBay for $150. With the support of a few thousand hugs, the two of them made it to Uganda, handing 16 children in the slums of Kampala a camera and an opportunity to share their stories. After returning from their first trip, Harishi and Daniel co-founded Project FOCUS, a locally-based youth-led initiative of artists, writers, activists and students. This non-profit organization is committed to educate, inspire and empower youth through art. Currently, the organization is working with a rural community devastated by HIV/AIDS in Lyantonde, Southwestern Uganda.
Our Contact information:
Daniel Yang
danielyang20@gmail.com
773 550-0477
Harish I Patel
harishibrahim@gmail.com
312 823-0090
For more information about Project FOCUS, please visit our website: http://projectfocus.org
If you’d like to read about our experiences in Uganda this past summer, visit us at our blog: http://projectfocusprogress.blogspot.com/
>Daniel and Harishi
"Overwhelmed with images of war, famine, and disease young people in the United States are suffering from an epidemic of compassion fatigue. In this course, students will explore issues of global relevance in an effort to better understand the world around them and their position as potential change agents. The class will be based upon an examination of articles and case studies, discussions with guest lecturers, and a final project in which students propose and implement ideas in response to the topics addressed in class."
Where: University of Illinois at Chicago, Taft Hall Room 301.
When: Every Other Wednesay, 3 - 5 PM - starting Jan. 16, 2008
Who: 14 students from the Honors College, Harish Patel and Daniel Yang, Guest Lecturers, and anyone else who wants to join in on our discussions.
Why: The purpose of this course is to intrigue you, to unleash your creative potential by providing you with action opportunities and a platform to discuss, collaborate, and critically question.
General Outline of the Class:
The class will be divided into 3 sections –
1) Analysis (3 classes)
2) Action (3 classes)
3) Reflection (2 classes)
The course is designed as a mosaic of 8 distinct units, employing different styles and techniques every class. There are, however, common elements that ground the course with some consistency.
Common Elements in the Class:
1) Discussion based – feel free to challenge other people's opinion, we want active dialogue but please be respectful.
2) Journal Entries – writing and reflection is very important in developing our own ideas and processing the information and arguments we're bombarded with.
3) Out of classroom learning – we'll keep you posted with opportunities for action (i.e. conferences, panel discussions, demonstrations, etc…)
4) Community – we want to foster a sense of community among the class, emphasizing collaboration and learning from each from other's experiences.
5) Feedback – 1) tell us what works and what doesn't in the class; 2) we promise to offer you feedback by responding to your journal entries and e-mails.
Bio of the Two Instructors:
Daniel Yang and Harish Patel have been working together for the last two years, starting as Honors College students at UIC. In the fall of 2006, the two of them watched a documentary film about a twenty-one year civil war in Northern Uganda. In response to the film, they decided to travel to Uganda. Lacking money and a clear plan, they took to the streets of downtown Chicago dressed in pink teddy bear costume bought on eBay for $150. With the support of a few thousand hugs, the two of them made it to Uganda, handing 16 children in the slums of Kampala a camera and an opportunity to share their stories. After returning from their first trip, Harishi and Daniel co-founded Project FOCUS, a locally-based youth-led initiative of artists, writers, activists and students. This non-profit organization is committed to educate, inspire and empower youth through art. Currently, the organization is working with a rural community devastated by HIV/AIDS in Lyantonde, Southwestern Uganda.
Our Contact information:
Daniel Yang
danielyang20@gmail.com
773 550-0477
Harish I Patel
harishibrahim@gmail.com
312 823-0090
For more information about Project FOCUS, please visit our website: http://projectfocus.org
If you’d like to read about our experiences in Uganda this past summer, visit us at our blog: http://projectfocusprogress.blogspot.com/
>Daniel and Harishi
Welcome!
Welcome to our blog! We want to use it as an online platform to expand our discussions beyond the walls of our classroom. Here, you’ll find important information and updates about the course. You can expect an introduction and review of each class, links to additional resources, an events calendar, and other functions soon to be determined by you! So speak up! Be active! Share your thoughts and comments! Invite your friends to read! The success of this blog relies on your participation, so make it yours!
>Daniel and Harishi
>Daniel and Harishi
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