November 2009

Carolyne Ali Khan's picture

Demonized and disposable youth...yet more on this. Runaways and resistance.

Posted Tue, 11/03/2009 - 00:08 by Carolyne Ali Khan

Working with "at risk" Urban Youth in schools I am constantly struck by the amount of strength they display in a world that so often (and so deeply) abandons them. For one thing love and compassion are not easy to hold on to, particularly in difficult times, yet I have seen so many youth who have been pushed so far yet retain dignity and care as core values. As Giroux, Joe, Shirley and many others note this is not the story of teens we see in the press. In the media they seem to exist as only victims or victimizers or recipients of someones saving. These two links (one from this weeks NYT ) speak of so much more, of quiet bodily harm and quiet strength.

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Shirley Steinberg's picture

Documents, Docudrama, Documentary: Film as Truth and Text

Posted Tue, 11/03/2009 - 00:14 by Shirley Steinberg

I don't think I could have predicted that at the mainstream AMC Cinema in Montreal, on a given day, that three (count em), three documentaries are being shown.  Along with the new romantic comedy tripe, the blood and guts scream screens, and the trivial kid stuff, we are able to screen Taqwacore:  The Birth of Punk Islam, It Might Get Loud, and The September Issue.

Shirley Steinberg's picture

Claude Levi Strauss Dies at 100

Posted Wed, 11/04/2009 - 11:17 by Shirley Steinberg

 

Joe and I were so informed by Claude's work, what a intellectual heritage he has left us.

Laura's picture

Richmond High Rape

Posted Wed, 11/04/2009 - 22:50 by Laura

Please read the case or watch the clip before reading this entry. http://xenophilius.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/richmond-high-school-20-peop... As I am writing the topic tags for this blog entry, I think about this girl who was raped. The rape that took place in the suburbs of San Francisco, beyond the horrific fact that this fifteen years old girl had been raped by a group of teens; this case is beyond troubling because there is a very public component to it, an indifference fact that makes it standout.

Giuliana's picture

Missing women: 520 aboriginal women missing or murdered

Posted Wed, 11/04/2009 - 23:01 by Giuliana

I don't normally post or advertise my students' work- but I am very proud of this short piece produced by Aaron Lakoff , an  undergraduate student in my sound production class at Concordia University.

Aaron decided to create a one minute verbal piece on the 520 aboriginal women missing in Canada. You can read more about the missing aboriginal women by clicking here.

Click here to listen to Aaron Lakoff's project.

 

Tolu's picture

Does Nigeria Value Its Youth?

Posted Thu, 11/05/2009 - 22:56 by Tolu

“Africa will only remain when it realizes that the future remains with the youths.”—Oby Ezekwesili

Throughout our near-50 years as a free country, all indications that Youth play a part in sustaining and safeguarding the fundamental foundations of our democratic experiment have been validated time and time again. And there’s little doubt that the concern for the future of young people is of top priority with elected officials.

Barbie

Posted Fri, 11/06/2009 - 08:24 by koreilly

Good Morning Class

I must say that I was facinated by last night presentation on Barbie.  I knew about Barbie and I did own a couple of Barbies when I was a child but I must say that I was quite shock on the way Barbie was being over analyzed. 

My question to many of you is:  Why is Barbie not permitted to be perfect or stereotyping?  Is it really wrong to let young children play with Barbie and to allow them to be part of a fantasy world? 

When I was a child I did play with Barbies and did it make me insecure? No

Was Barbie detrimental to my self esteem? No

Did I become sexist, jugemental or always striving for perfection? No

Am I racist because no black Barbies existed? No

Henry Giroux's picture

Neoliberal capitalism has reached a stage where it will contribute to afflicting children with life threatening diseases just to

Posted Wed, 11/11/2009 - 09:43 by Henry Giroux

 

Neoliberal capitalism has reached a stage where it will contribute to afflicting children with life threatening diseases just to make a profit. This is a mode of capitalism that is on the side of death in the name of capital accumulation.

Read more.

 

adarder's picture

The United States and Somalia see eye to eye on children

Posted Wed, 11/11/2009 - 09:57 by adarder

Again I repeat friends, as a nation, this country is wretched when it comes to children! The United States and Somalia are the only two nations in the world who have not ratified Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children, which bans participants from sentencing children to life in prison. Here's a conne...ction we can make then with the earlier post about Sarah Kruzan, the 16 year old who was sentenced to life in prison.

Arlo Kempf's picture

Lest we Forget, Sort of.

Posted Wed, 11/11/2009 - 15:45 by Arlo Kempf

November 11, 2009

At the park this morning with my son, five bright yellow WWII era planes flew over head in a skilful aerial display. I pointed them out to a friend of mine and his daughters, and we all watched for a moment. This was a little after 11am – right about the time designated for our prescribed Jungian moment of reflection on war, peace and memory. This piece of airborne public pedagogy drew the attention of everyone at the park. A German woman on the swing next to us joked that they were coming for her and that she better take cover. In a joke that went over poorly, my friend inquired, with interest “oh, are you a Nazi?” The woman replied with a simple and inexpressive “no.” Our little conversation was over. The planes were gone and all eyes were back on the children. Despite a little disagreement about what constitutes funny, almost everybody at the park had known what the planes were supposed to signify.