The path to energy futures: the long march with pitfalls
There is an obvious connection between energy and economic growth: cheap fuel means lower production costs. As energy consumption is on an upward trajectory -with growth in the Far East and Latin America outpacing the industrialised countries in the near term - the key to prosperity is to develop cheaper and sustainable sources of fuel to replace fossil fuels and curtail the environmentally-unfriendly carbon footprint.
"The Fifteen-Woman Lawsuit Opposing the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq"
A talk by lawyer Michiko Nakajima. In the course of the Iraq War, citizens in Japan, singly or in groups, have been taking the state to court alleging violation of the "no war" clause of the Constitution in deploying Self-Defense Force troops. Feminist labor lawyer Michiko Nakajima led a group of 15 women plaintiffs in one such suit. This
“The Heuristic Potential of the Dream Register of Tipu Sultan of Mysore (r.1782-99)”
A talk by Kate Brittlebank, Senior Lecturer, School of History and Classics, University of Tasmania. From the South Asia Seminar.
James M. Lang, ON COURSE: A Week-by-Week Guide to Your First Semester of College Teaching
"Briskly moving through the basics, [Lang] tackles the hard questions...with humor and insight...'On Course' is a vital resource for educators, even those who don't fit the first-year college-teaching market. My copy is dotted with notes about new ideas to try out in my lecture class this fall. Happily though, I took away from Lang's guidebook much more than techniques."
-Barbara J. King, Bookslut.com
For more on the book, visit http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674047419
The Facebook Effect with Mark Zuckerberg
[Recorded: July 21, 2010]
The growth and impact of Facebook is mind blowing, even for an industry that considers "overnight success" to be a long-range goal. Founded in a Harvard dorm room on February 4th 2004 by 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook announced in July 2010 that had it reached the milestone of 500 million registered users. Facebook isn't just an American success story, most users are outside of the United States and half of them log on every day.
Facebook has already made an irr
Not Your Father's Internet
[Recorded: August 19, 2010]
In 1998 Americans represented nearly three quarters of all Internet users; today they are less than fifteen percent. The complexion of the Web - its users, their desires, their languages, points of entry and experiences - has subtly and not-so-subtly changed. All these new online participants bring with them different values, social norms, and styles of expression. Today's Internet is increasingly a reflection of the world's cultures and its governments, which often h
Family conflict: trial by jury
Last October, US real estate investment company Meritex Enterprises, owned by the McNeely family, was named family business of the year by Minnesota Business Magazine.
Innovation: Using externally-oriented or 'X' teams can prove a winning strategy
Good teams can often fail when it comes to innovation. That’s the message from a new book by INSEAD Assistant Professor Henrik Bresman and MIT Professor Deborah Ancona. The reason such teams fail is not because of a lack of talent or they can’t work together, but because they don’t take into account external stakeholders and conditions.
What Ancients Did For Us - East Indians 1/6
The amazing inventions and extraordinary ideas by East Indians that are still useful today, such as plastic surgery, the number system, wax, yoga, water clock, etc. Suitable for middle school and high school students. run time 9:58
Lost Treasures of the Ancient world - East Indians 3/5
The amazing inventions and extraordinary ideas by East Indians that are still useful today, such as plastic surgery, the number system, wax, yoga, water clock, etc. Suitable for middle school and high school students.
Lost treasures of the ancient world - East Indians 4/5
The amazing inventions and extraordinary ideas by East Indians that are still useful today, such as plastic surgery, the number system, wax, yoga, water clock, etc. Suitable for middle school and high school students. Run time 9:59
"Poverty and Income Inequality in Brazil" (video)
A presentation by Ricardo Paes de Barros, University of Chicago Tinker Visiting Professor, and Researcher at the Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (IPEA), a public foundation linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management. This lecture stems from a 2006 IPEA report on the "Recent Fall in Income Inequality in Brazil". This report sought to consolid
"New Writing from the Balkans" (video)
Readings of original poetry and fiction by two leading South Slavic authors, Igor Štiks from Croatia and Aleš Debeljak from Slovenia, both of whom currently reside in Chicago. The readings are followed by a discussion of the creative atmosphere and trends in contemporary literature in Southeast Europe, with time devoted to the experience of writing away from one’s home country. Sp
"Reading 'Legitimation Crisis' in Tehran" (video)
A talk by Danny Postel, Senior Editor of openDemocracy, an online global magazine of politics & culture. The Iran depicted in the headlines is a rogue state ruled by ever-more-defiant Islamic fundamentalists. Yet inside the borders, an unheralded transformation of a wholly different political bent is occurring. A "liberal renaissance," as one Iranian thinker terms it, is emerging in Iran, a
"Why I Went to Iraq…Three Years Later"
A talk by Noriaki Imai, student environmental and peace activist. At 18 years of age, Noriaki Imai traveled to Iraq to study the effects of depleted uranium on Iraqi children. While in Iraq, he was taken hostage and threatened to be killed unless Japan withdrew its troops from Iraq. Fortunately, he was released alive, but when he returned
"Q&A with Director Hitomi Kamanaka" (video)
A discussion with the director of the film Rokkashomura Rhapsody: A Plutonium Plant Comes to Northern Japan. Part of the Japan at Chicago Lecture Series: Celebrating Protest. Sponsored by the Japan Committee of the Center for East Asian Studies, the Human Rights Program, the Center for International Studies, the Committee on Cinema and Med
"The Fifteen-Woman Lawsuit Opposing the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq" (video)
A talk by lawyer Michiko Nakajima. In the course of the Iraq War, citizens in Japan, singly or in groups, have been taking the state to court alleging violation of the "no war" clause of the Constitution in deploying Self-Defense Force troops. Feminist labor lawyer Michiko Nakajima led a group of 15 women plaintiffs in one such suit. This
"U.S.-Cuban Academic Relations Part I: The Politics of U.S.-Cuban Exchanges" (video)
Wayne Smith, Center for International Policy and Louis Pérez, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
U.S. and Cuban scholars involved in academic, scientific, and cultural research face significant difficulties in maintaining open and thorough dialogue with each other due to restrictions governing travel between the two countries. Such
"Petroleum Technology Presentation" (video)
A talk by Brian C. Gahan, Energy Consultant; Chair of the Chicago Section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; former Senior Scientist and Manager of E&P Technology Development at the Gas Technology Institute.
Session 4 of the conference "Petroleum: Prospects and Politics." Sponsored by the Chicago Society. Co-sponsored by the Student Government of the Universi
"The Mind of the Market" (video)
Author and psychologist Michael Shermer explains how evolution shaped the modern economy-and why people are so irrational about money. How did we make the leap from ancient hunter-gatherers to modern consumers and traders? Why do people get so emotional and irrational about bottom-line financial and business decisions? Is the capitalist marketplace a sort of Darwinian orga
