Spring 2006 Honors Seminar
Topics
Slow Food
Anna Kuhn
Executive
Summary
The international slow food movement
emerged in reaction to the standardization, homogenization
and globalization of the fast food industry. It was founded
in 1986 by Carlo Petrin in protest against the proposed
opening of a McDonald’s in his hometown of Rome. As
its name implies, the movement self consciously positions
itself against the fast food culture that is so prevalent
in our contemporary society. While appearing to focus primarily
on food, the slow food movement is also deeply political.
Among the questions that the slow food movement poses are:
“Should we favor, local, organic farming over corporate
agribusiness? If so, how do we implement this?” One
of the most famous devotees of slow food is Alice Waters,
whose Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse, has been called
the best restaurant in America. This course examines the
gastronomic, cultural, economic and political impacts of
the international slow food movement.
Stop Stealing Our Stories!
Lynette Hunter
Executive
Summary
In the 1990s this slogan was one of the rallying cries
from the Native American Indian community. It left a lot
of people wondering what it meant: Can you steal a story?
Don’t they belong to everyone? And if not, what determines
one person’s ownership rather than another’s?
These questions are central to the difference in cultural
values between western ideas about knowledge as fact, and
approaches to knowledge in many traditional and indigenous
communities – and they become even broader when they
raise issues to do with collaborative work, plagiarism,
copyright and intellectual rights.
If you work together on a project with other students,
is it plagiarism if you copy their notes into your essays?
And why can scientists work together on writing papers,
while it’s so discouraged in the arts and humanities?
What’s the difference between a story you tell about
yourself that you don’t mind others re-telling, and
one you don’t want told by anyone else? How do you
feel when someone else gives the punchline to your joke?
Or tells a joke about your particular community when they
don’t belong to it? When you find out about something
that happens in another culture, what right do you have
to tell others about it? Should we worry about people taking
Native American stories and turning them into Hollywood
movies? All disciplines, from anthropology to literature
to biochemistry (do we have the right to take tribal knowledge
about cures for malaria and market it in the west?), touch
on these issues. What do you think?
Whose planet is it anyway? - environmental
ethics, ecoactivism, and nonhuman animal rights
Daniel Potter
Executive
Summary
What moral responsibilities do we humans have to the other
animal species with whom we share the earth? In this seminar,
we will explore a variety of perspectives on this issue,
including philosophical, scientific, legal, and religious
views from a range of cultures and time periods. The topic
is broad and students will be asked to focus on particular
areas of interest with the goal of developing guidelines
for an educational program in this area. Possible questions
to be investigated include the following: Do any/all non-human
species have rights? What criteria do we and should we apply
in determining what are and what are not acceptable ways
to treat other animals, in terms of the identity of the
species (e.g., mammals vs. insects, primates vs. non-primates,
endangered species vs. non-endangered ones) and the ultimate
purpose of the interaction (e.g., hunting animals for food
vs. for recreation, using animals in medical research vs.
in testing cosmetics)? To what extent is it appropriate
to draw comparisons between the ways different human populations
(e.g., ethnic, racial, and religious groups) treat one another
and the ways we treat other species? Are humans superior
to other species? If we were ever to encounter beings from
another planet that could be considered superior to us,
should we grant them the same dominion over us that we now
hold over other terrestrial species? How much do most people
care about these issues and how much should they care? How
effective, if at all, are environmental and animal rights
activist groups in raising awareness of these issues? When,
if ever, do they go too far?
The Iraq War: We can't change the past, so what
do we do now? A termination plan.
Jeffrey Granett
Executive
Summary
The plan was for US forces to leave Iraq when a strong,
democratic government stabilized peace. The successful election
and approval of the constitution are good on the surface,
but ethnic strife, the insurgency, and human suffering belie
real progress. Whether or not we approved getting into this
war, we are there, and have a moral obligation to leave
Iraq better off than when we entered. Can understanding
the country help us design options? Historically how did
Iraq get to where it was at the war's beginning? How does
the ethnic/religious makeup of the country and the region,
relate to the internal conflicts? Are our information sources
reliable and objective? What is Islamic Law, how do Islamists
want to use it, and is it compatible with democracy and
the country as a whole? What economic factors are contributing
to the country's problems/solutions? How do all these factors
interact? In this seminar we will try to come up with solution
tracts from different constituencies so we can stage a debate
at the end.
What does love have to do with it? Violence
in intimate relationships
Yvette G. Flores
Executive
Summary
Epidemiological data indicate a marked increase in physical
and verbal violence in dating and other intimate relationships.
Most studies find high levels of aggression between men
and women in heterosexual relationships, where both women
and men are perpetrators of violence. This seminar will
explore our popular understanding of violence, its causes
and manifestations in intimate relationships.
Are women indeed as aggressive as men? How is female to
male aggression similar to male to female? Is it different?
What are the patterns of aggression in same sex intimate
relationships? How does violence affect intimate relationships?
How are children raised in a violent home affected by violence?
If someone you love is violent towards you, should you forgive
that person? Is the issue viewed differently in different
cultures? Is this OK? Under what circumstances?
What are the social, economic, political, medical, and
cultural implications of violence in intimate relationships?
Whose responsibility is it to prevent or stop violence in
a relationship? What is the role of the media in perpetuating
and helping stop this form of violence? How does popular
culture influence our views on intimate violence?
High Tech Society: Do we know where we are
headed?
Mani Tripathi
Executive
Summary
The last few decades have seen an unprecedented growth
in information technologies. New products that were not
foreseen even in science fiction are now readily available.
Is this technology evolving according to society's wishes
or is society playing catch-up with a technology that is
developing at its own pace? Are there long term side effects
that will emerge from addictive dependencies on such technologies?
Is there cause for new regulations or can the free market
be relied upon to remain responsible?
Devices such as i-pods, cell phones and hand-held video
games are making it possible for individuals to increasingly
isolate themselves even when in a crowd. Internet chat rooms
and message boards have replaced traditional social circles
for a large number of internet users. Vast data banks of
pornography are just one mouse click away on the internet.
In this seminar, students will examine ways in which these
technologies have the potential to transform society. We
will debate the responsibilities of individuals and of lawmakers
in this rapidly changing world.
Science in the Movies: Science Fact or Science
Fiction?
Jerry Last
Executive
Summary
For many of us in the USA and Western Europe, the entertainment
media of movies and TV are a major source of information
about science for the uneducated, for the undereducated,
and for many otherwise well educated individuals who have
not taken science classes at the college level. What are
the social and political consequences of many in our electorate
learning about Ebola virus, DNA cloning, and global warming
from the movies rather than learning the factual science?
We will choose a few examples from recent major movies
and/or TV series with science-based themes and examine their
influence in pop culture and the media to explore the question:
Is this an acceptable way for non-scientists in our society
to learn science?
There are many possible movies and/or TV series for detailed
analysis. A few randomly selected examples follow; the class
will choose the examples we actually select for study:
Do we really learn the facts about global warming from
“The Day After Tomorrow”?
Does the CSI series on TV accurately portray what goes
on in legal forensics?
Are we really well informed about genetic cloning and genetically
modified foods after watching “Jurassic Park”?
Does watching movies like “Armageddon”, “Erin
Brockovich”, and “Deep Impact” give us
an appreciation of what are real risks, and the best way
to allocate our finite resources to lower our risks to health
and safety?
Our final product, in whatever format the class chooses
to create, should draw conclusions as to whether science
in the media becomes or influences public policy and public
perception, and whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.
Stem Cell Research
Krishnan Nambiar
Executive
Summary
UC Davis has been selected by National Institutes of Health
as a new Center of Excellence in Human Stem Cell Research
recently. Since President Bush has restricted the use of
federal funds for stem cell research, California voters
approved funding for stem cell research through Proposition
71. In this seminar we will explore the controversy surrounding
stem cell research. We will investigate the scientific,
religious, political, medicinal/health care issues and economic
aspects of this controversial issue.
It wasn't me!! The demise of personal responsibility???
Ann Orel
Executive
Summary
Someone sues McDonalds for serving high calorie, high fat
food that makes them obese. Someone sues Apple over hearing
loss possibly caused by playing their iPod at too high a
volume. Companies who advertise food during children's TV
programs are sued for contributing to childhood obesity.
Gun makers are sued for when their guns are used to commit
a crime. Tobacco companies are sued for wrongful death in
cases involving smokers. Have we gone too far in personal
responsibility?? Is it always someone else's fault? Have
we gone law-suit crazy? Are these lawsuits abuses of the
legal system??
This seminar will address the question: Where is the line
between personal responsibility and liability?
Winter 2006 Honors Seminars
The Aftermath of Katrina: Public and Private Sector
Responsibility in a Recovery from a Natural Disaster.
Jack Goldberg
Executive
Summary
Hurricane Katrina produced the largest displacement of population
in the history of the United States. Large areas are now
uninhabitable. Official statements proclaim that we will
rebuild. In its aftermath people donated more than $1.6
billion to the American Red Cross. Other charitable agencies
received millions of dollars. Businesses donated money,
clothes, and food. Strangers opened their homes to displaced
families. States have generously provide temporary housing,
health care, and schooling for the half million displaced
individuals. Local and state agencies have organized job
fairs to help those displaced find jobs. The Federal government
provided and paid for temporary housing, food, and security
and some financial assistance. The short-term needs of those
displaced have been met.
What's next? While government leaders state that damaged
areas will be rebuilt, they have been silent on specifics
of a recovery plan, its cost and how this cost will be met.
The United States provided the majority of the aid, $12
billion from 1948 through 1951, through the Marshall Plan
to rebuild Western Europe following the devastation of World
War II. The United States government used its strong economy
to supply aid and promote development in Western Europe
and Asia. The United States funded the post-World War II
economic, political and social recovery. Economic aid became
an instrument for foreign policy. Should federal economic
support to communities, businesses, and individuals also
be an instrument for domestic policy in the economic and
social recovery following a disaster in which there is both
massive physical destruction and large displacements of
the population? What should be the roles of the public and
private sectors in developing and implementing a recovery
plan for the communities and individuals? Can the economy
support the cost of a recovery without an increase in taxes?
Will the public support increases in taxes if the cost of
recovery requires it?
A Glimpse from the Lens: Cinematic Gender Representations
from a Cross-Cultural Perspective
Beatriz Pesquera
Executive
Summary
Is gender a product of our genetic composition, therefore
a "natural" phenomenon that is biologically based?
Or, is gender a product of norms, values, and beliefs regarding
what it means to be "female," or "male?"
Is gender socially constructed? Do all societies share common
notions of gender? If not, why?
This course will utilize film as a vehicle for exploring
gender representations from a cross-cultural perspective.
In conjunction with film, students will be expected to research
this topic in relation to the countries reflected in the
film. We will view a Cuban film on cross-dressers in a small
Cuban town, and a film that explores homosexuality in Juchitan,
Oaxaca, a small Mexican indigenous community, during the
first session of class. These films underscore that what
constitutes "gender" is complex and controversial.
Students will develop a list of films for the course and
selections will be made on the basis of both the content
and cross-cultural perspectives for our exploration of gendered
cinematic representations.
Terrorism and The Politics of Fear
Della Davidson
Executive
Summary
Is terrorism ever justified as a tactic for political change?
How did the Islamic terrorist movement arise? What are the
possible political solutions to ending terrorism? How do
we fight terrorism? How does fear affect the way we live?
How does the media perpetuate fear? Are there any solutions
to the terrorist activities in the Middle East?
We will watch a powerful BBC documentary entitled The Power
of Nightmares on the rise of terrorism in the Middle East.
From this source we will research the above questions as
well as different political views on terrorism as a tactic
for political change.
Same Sex Marriage and Family
Jim Harding
Executive
Summary
Questions regarding same sex marriage have attracted a lot
of attention recently. Currently, same sex marriage is not
legally recognized in the United States, but is recognized
in Canada, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands. It was a
major issue in the last U.S. election, often separating
Conservatives from Liberals. It appears that roughly half
of us in the U.S. are on one side of the issue or the other,
meaning that the answers are not simple. Proponents of same
sex marriage have argued that the Bill of Rights assures
each of us the right to marry anyone regardless of their
gender. What is more important than marrying your true love?
Opponents argue that marriage is, by definition, the union
of a man and a woman. For some, this is part of their religion.
Opponents also argue that same sex marriage denies children
their need to have a male and a female parent as distinct
role models. On the other hand, proponents of same sex marriage
argue that parenting skills are gender neutral and that
two skilled parents, regardless of gender, will best nurture
children to happiness. Opponents fear that the acceptance
of same sex marriage will change and diminish the meaning
of marriage. The crux of the issue, in a democracy, may
reside in the question, "Who decides?"; Who decides
the definition of marriage? Who decides what constitutes
a family? Who decides whether to have children or not? And
finally, who decides the answers to these incredibly important
social and very personal issues? Is it the Supreme Court,
Congress, State Legislatures, Religious leaders or Churches,
or you and me!!!! We will explore both sides of the issues
with total respect for all points of view and an eagerness
to learn from one another.
Girl Geeks: Why are't there
more women in math and science?
Ann Orel
Although there have been impressive gains of representation
by women in many areas of the workforce, the number of women
in science, math and engineering is still rather small.
In a recent speech, Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard
suggested three possibilities, in order of decreasing importance.
First, either the inability or unwillingness of women with
children to work 80-hour weeks, second, innate differences
between male and females that lead to poorer performance
in the 'hard' sciences by women and finally, the effect
of discrimination, leading to lower numbers of women. There
was an immediate outcry denouncing his comments, but the
question still remains: Why? In this seminar we will examine
this issue, and try to draw our own conclusions. - CANCELLED
Team America World Police? What right does a government
have to break the law?
Peter Lichtenfels
Executive
Summary
In many societies people have accepted that their government
has the right to break the law in situations of extreme
danger. But it is not always easy to know when to take a
stand. Since 9/11 the people of the United States, like
those on Britain, for example, have accepted that their
government can act above/outside of the law, which has led
to disregarding the UN, the Patriot Act, Guantanamo, and
the invasion of Iraq. Are these acceptable?
Once a government starts to act above/outside of the law,
what is to stop it from going the whole way and tearing
up treaties left and right, displacing people it doesn't
like in acts of ethnic cleansing, making people 'non-people,'
and acting as if 'might is right?' This class aims to look
at a number of these cases, focusing on the presence of
Guantanamo. What might this mean for the American people?
What might this signal to the rest of the world?
The Coming Flu Pandemic
Rance LeFebvre
Executive
Summary
In the two year span of 1918 - 1919 a flu pandemic killed
approximately 40 million people. There has been much in
the news lately about the threat or even the probability
of a similar worldwide, deadly, flu pandemic that is incubating
in Asia. The virus is incubated in and carried by birds.
Are we really at risk or is this merely a media hype by
alarmists similar to that of West Nile Virus? If this flu
is truly a threat to humans, can we develop a way to prevent
it? What capacity do we have to respond? The seminar will
investigate the facts and the fictions of the potential
flu pandemic as we consider biological, social and public
health implications related to this latest medical enigma.
Is the world at risk or is this the latest in America's
fetish with paranoia?
Childhood obesity: Staring a 300 lb future straight
in the face.
Jim Millam
Executive
Summary
Childhood obesity threatens the future health and well-being
of a growing number of children, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Reasons why are not hard to find: Too much TV? Coke machines
in the schools? Our car culture? The economics of corn syrup?
Supersized servings? Curricula favoring preparation for
standardized testing over physical education? Bodies adapted
for starvation but economies geared for consumption?
The consequences of childhood obesity present immediate
problems, e.g., overweight children are often teased and
ridiculed. But that's not all, there is a looming medical
crisis, as well. An epidemic of type II diabetes is predicted,
not to mention increases in heart disease and hypertension.
What are the dimensions of childhood obesity? Is it only
occurring in developed countries? Do genetics play a role?
In this seminar we will explore the medical, cultural, social,
and economic components of childhood obesity. What should
be done? What can be done?
Spring Seminars
