Jerry Harris: Globalization of Capitalism

Jerry Harris, DeVry professor, author of The Dialectics of Globalization, explains the growing globalization of transnational capitalism replacing national sovereignty, at the Brecht Forum, November 14, 2008.

Thanks to Daniel Araya for the link

 

Conference: Global Studies Association Annual Conference – Call for Papers

Thanks to Mousumi Mukherjee for the link:

Global Studies Association Annual Conference

“The Global Crisis and Beyond“

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

May 7th -9th, 2010

Accepting 100 word abstracts on all topics that touch on globalization.

Abstracts should be sent to Jerry Harris at: gharris234@comcast.net

Deadline is March 31st.

The global crisis is all sided, affecting communities throughout the world. Our keynote speakers will examine different aspects and alternatives to the global meltdown including: affects on the global South; affects on and responses from women; cut-backs in education; how the media has covered the crisis;  the growth of right-wing populism and fundamentalism; and alternative economics. Workshops will cover a broad array of topics and we accept papers covering all aspects of globalization.

For information on the conference go to the GSA web site:

http://www.net4dem.org/mayglobal

 

Journal: Policy & Internet (call for papers)

The journal Policy & Internet is calling for papers. This looks promising. There are specific public policy issues associated with new information technologies that require better understanding. For instances, old issues of freedom of expression, ethics, education and public responsibility are renew in fascinating and rather complex forms.

Thanks to Daniel Araya for the link:

The Policy Studies Organization (PSO), the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), and Berkeley Electronic Press are proud to announce Policy & Internet: the first major peer-reviewed journal investigating the implications of the Internet and associated technologies for public policy. The Internet is now the most important international medium of communication and information exchange, embedded in interactions between citizens, firms, governments and NGOs, and bringing with it new practices, norms and structures. The societal shift enabled by the Internet has major implications for public policy in all sectors, requiring rigorous empirical investigation, theoretical development and methodological innovation across academic disciplines. Policy & Internet is the first journal to fill a crucial gap in policy knowledge and research. It will be the premier venue for scholars and researchers to set the public policy agenda in the digital era.

Policy & Internet calls for papers² reporting on innovative research into any aspect of the implications of the Internet for public policy. To stay notified, please sign up for email alerts by entering your e-mail address in the right-hand sidebar. To submit your next paper, please click here

 

Call for proposals: The Third Annual Teacher Education Symposium (April 3, 2010)

There is a call for submissions of proposals for the Third Annual Teacher Education Symposium sponsored by the Consortium for Research in Teacher Education and the College of Education at the University of Texas-Austin.

Thanks to  Mousumi Mukherjee for the link:

The proposal deadline is  February 7. The conference will be held on April 3, 2010. For the call for papers and information on plenary speakers, please see the following
link:

http://ows.edb.utexas.edu/?q=site/consortium-research-teacher-education/symposium-2010.

 

Call for proposals: Canadian Modern Language Review_Annual Special Issue

Thanks to Mousumi Mukherjee

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The Canadian Modern Language Review

SPECIAL ISSUE 2012

The Editors of the Canadian Modern Language Review invite proposals for the
annual special issue of the journal. Proposals should identify a
contemporary topic which will allow for the exploration of recent advances
in theory, research, and practice in second language learning and teaching.
The proposed topic should also be one that will attract diverse
perspectives, research methodologies, and pedagogical applications.

The special issue of the CMLR is an open call for papers; guest editors
therefore manage the submissions, following the standard double blind review
process. At least one of the editors should be fluent in both English and
French.

Proposals will be evaluated by the CMLR Editors and members of the Editorial
Board. The criteria will include: relevance to the mandate of the journal;
significance of the topic to the field; and the qualifications of the two
editors. The successful proposal will be announced in the spring of 2010.

Guest editors should refer to the Guidelines for Special Issue Proposals on
the CMLR website for the details of the submission requirements.

http://www.utpjournals.com/cmlr/cmlr.html

Due date for proposals: January 5, 2010

 

Resource: Virtual Library of Patrimonio Bibliográfico

The Virtual Library of Bibliographic Heritage is an ongoing project of cooperative digitisation by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, county libraries and other memory institutions. It includes more than 250.000 pages from about 1000 titles from manuscripts, old prints and rare books.

Link here

 

Resource: Reporting poverty Website – a resource for journalism tutors and students

Reporting poverty is a new website created under the auspices of the  Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF),  assisted by the Society of Editors . The website provides a number of useful resources to understand issues related to poverty, and examples on the ways that poverty has been previously covered in the mass media. Posts at the Roy Greenslade’s blog and the AJE (Association for Journalism Education) provide brief descriptions on the website resources.  I highly recommend to check the Practical guidance resources for reporting on poverty at this website.

From Reporting poverty Website:

“The British are remarkably effective in disguising their poverty. Here are a couple of examples given to me by journalists from stories they covered:

- mother who lived on virtually nothing but bread so her children could eat well and have a few little luxuries.
- A children’s bedroom with the latest electronic games, so the kids didn’t feel ashamed at school, but with a mattress on the floor being the only piece of furniture”.

(David Seymour in his introduction to Reporting poverty in the UK).

This website brings together a range of resources to help journalism tutors, trainers and students to understand the issues and sensitivities involved in reporting poverty in the UK. It offers practical guidance and examples of how journalists have covered this complex subject in a variety of media.

Link: Reporting poverty Website

 

Report: Overcoming barriers: access to research information (RIN, 2009)

The Research Information Network published its latest report last week. The report explore the difficulties that researchers in Scotland encounter to access information, and strategies used to overcome those barriers. The authors of the report also produce a very comprehensive list of non-cost barriers to accessing information observed:

• intellectual property restrictions, especially those associated with copyright and so-called ‘orphan works’
• information held by public bodies that is not yet available under the terms of the Public Records Acts or the Freedom of Information Act
• information held by corporate bodies that may be sensitive for commercial or other reasons;
• information about individuals that may be subject to privacy restrictions
• problems associated with digitisation or inadequate cataloguing, and  data that is locked up in formats that make them difficult to use

From RIN:

The report’s key finding is that access is still a major concern for researchers. Although researchers report having no problems finding content in this age of electronic information, gaining access is another matter due to the complexity of licensing arrangements, restrictions placed on researchers accessing content outside of their own institution and the laws protecting public and private sector information. This means that research into important information resources can be missing. Researchers report that they are frustrated by this lack of immediate access and that this slows their progress, hinders collaborative work and may well affect the quality and integrity of work produced.

Links:

• 

  Overcoming barriers: access to research information content report

• 

  Overcoming barriers: access to research information content briefing

• 

  ALC: How researchers secure access to licensed content not immediately available to them

• 

  PFL: Perspectives from libraries

• 

  NM: How institutions manage access to information resources for non-members

• 

  RPS: Information access for members of research pools in Scotland

• 

  NCB: Non-cost barriers to accessing resources

 

Two resources for Website Design and Posting from UNESCO

From UNESCO in the Spotlight: Science and Communications:

• How to Create a Website: Guiding Principles

This book was published by UNESCO’s India Office with comprehensive guidelines on how to create a website. 2005. (PDF, 244 pages)

• Tips on How to Post on a Website (or blog)

This is a power point presentation with guidance on how to post on a website or blog. It is provided by UNESCO’s Bangkok office. (PPT, 4.7MB)

 

News: U. of Minnesota Takes Heat for Proposal to Gauge Future Teachers’ Sensitivity

I always wondered why teacher training seem, for the most part,  specifically design to avoid the teaching of controversial issues in the curriculum or to provide critical outlooks of the realities of society in US. It is not difficult to answer that question when one reads on reactions such as the current attacks against proposals of change. For instances, the current debates against proposals at the University of Minnesota school of education to  broaden future teachers perspectives, by including  issues such as understanding the importance of “cultural identity”.

The chronicle of higher education reported last week on the debate taking place over the  the Teacher Education Redesign Initiative at the University of Minnesota and the attacks on their proposal of cultivating professional dispositions of teachers . Apparently the training of teachers to cultivate dispositions to interact in a diverse, multicultural society, requiring the critical dealing of controversial issues is under attack because it  may curtail “student’s academic freedom”.  The ACTA blog provide some useful comments on the critics by observers that deem the proposal as a heavy handed ideological approach. On the other hand, I should point out that students are increasingly require  to cultivate dispositions to deal with  globalize, multicultural settings in order to be economically competitive. This type of schooling requires of teacher prepare to deal with those issues.

The critics on the proposal are divided in two categories. First, those criticizing the heavy handed approach suggested, an not necessarily  the content of the proposal . Second, those criticizing the content of the proposal. The later are for the most part easy to identify. They   tend to launch diatribes such as “the University of Minnesota Adolf Hitler School of Education”,  etc.

Finally, I should indicate that  teacher training, and traditional schooling  in  general,  is usually ideologically charge though it is an ideology cultivating dispositions  towards conformity  rather than critical thinking.

From Chronicle of Higher education:

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities has come under pressure to reject a faculty panel’s proposal to require students in its education school to doubt the United States is a meritocracy and to demonstrate an understanding of concepts such as “white privilege.”(…)

The controversy over the Minnesota proposal echoes a recent debate over whether it is appropriate for colleges of education to require prospective teachers to display certain professional “dispositions” showing an ability to work with diverse students — a requirement that schools view as ensuring teachers are effective, and critics regard as thinly disguised ideological litmus tests. In response to such criticisms, the governing board of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education voted in 2007 to stop suggesting that teacher-preparation programs take their students’ views on “social justice” into account. (full article here)