Egypt’s Future: Reflections and Dialogue - A panel discussion at UMass Lowell, February 22, 2011

Egypt’s Future: Reflections and Dialogue

A panel discussion about the amazing recent nonviolent revolution
in Egypt and possible outcomes for the democracy movement.

Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011
O’Leary Library, Media Center, Room 222
61 Wilder St., UMass Lowell South Campus

Reception: 5 p.m; Panel: 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. 

Featuring: Provost Ahmed Abdelal; Prof. Deina Abdelkader, Political Science Dept.; Gregory Aftandilian, Associate, UMass Lowell Middle East Center; and Prof. Stephen Mishol, Art Dept.
Moderator: Prof. Paula Rayman, Director, UMass Lowell Middle East Center

Refreshments will be served. Free and open to the public. 
Sponsors: Provost’s Office; College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; and the Middle East Center for Peace, Development and Culture

I have not been uncritical of President Obama. I do feel he could be doing more to fulfill his campaign promises, to reverse disastrous Bush-era policies, and to pursue justice and peace within our borders and without. However, last night I read his speech in Arizona, and I’ve just now watched it.

I think Obama gave a masterful speech and a Presidential speech. It was the speech he needed to give. It is for me a moment in which he regains my confidence in his leadership. I think this speech is evidence of leadership. I urge you to watch it if you haven’t seen it and tell me if you don’t agree.

This is what I think is the pivotal sentence in the whole speech:

If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost.

Do you think that Obama’s speech hit the right tone and covered the right feelings and ideas at this historical moment?

Maasai beadwork, ecotourism, volunteering

Today, I met Joseph ole Tipanko at the Andover Youth Services (AYS) tree lot. I shared with him something I had learned about his people while I was in high school, and he said it brought him back to his childhood. I also talked about my undergraduate anthropology professor, who spent time in Kenya, and a student I had from there. He talked about his projects trying to bring education to the children where he lives, and about problems with HIV/AIDS. We also talked about the UN’s Millenium Development Goals. By the end of the conversation, he was hugging me goodbye, and inviting me to spend time in Kenya. I’m surprised how quickly we made a connection. This is one small planet, and as W. H. Auden said, “We must love one another or die.”

“What do you mean when you say that?”

beingblog:

by Krista Tippett, host

On my radio show, which covers issues of faith and moral imagination, I encourage my guests to follow a couple of ground rules: No abstractions about God, and speak in the first person, not on behalf of your group or tradition (or God). This makes statements…

Obstacles to dialog are not long for this world.

afghanipoppy:

On the Monroe stop on the Red Line in Chicago. HERE’s their website.

Posted yesterday by C.N.,  on the color line blog of The Society Pages (American Sociological Association).

For this blogger, these events represent a cautionary tale for today’s “digital natives.”

Ultimately people are responsible for their own individual actions, but as a sociologist, I would argue that their actions are another example of one of the unfortunate results of the growing ubiquity of the internet and technology — the erosion of basic social etiquette and norms of behavior. That is, while the internet and social networking sites now allow us to interact with and share information between people much more easily, widely, and quickly than ever before, as some researchers argue, they have also led to the decline of many social norms. A Pew Research Institute report notes that some of the negatives associated with increased internet use are:

… time spent online robs time from important face-to-face relationships; the internet fosters mostly shallow relationships; the act of leveraging the internet to engage in social connection exposes private information; the internet allows people to silo themselves, limiting their exposure to new ideas; and the internet is being used to engender intolerance.

It’s with this in mind that I would argue that part of Ravi and Wei’s mindset in perpetrating these acts was based on being desensitized to and detached from the consequences of their actions. This is not an excuse for their actions, which were indeed thoughtless. Nonetheless, from a sociological point of view, like many young people these days who grew up surrounded by the internet and the ease of uploading videos, electronically chatting with friends, and sharing virtually all aspects of their public and private lives, they probably felt that streaming Clementi’s private life online was just like other forms of social life that they engaged in themselves or saw on television through reality shows, etc.

More importantly, the “interconnections” bring us to the crossroads of the kind of society we would choose.

A tragedy like this can tear us as a society apart, or it can help open up a dialog and ultimately bring us closer together. I believe that the despite inevitable differences that many individuals have within each minority group, the common experiences on feeling shut out of the American mainstream is an unfortunate but powerful bond that we do share together.

In my view, no effort we undertake to create tolerance and understanding is wasted. Can we use the internet as one among many tools for that?

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