Thank you for participating in this project with an open mind and levels of commitment. For your final post to this blog, please do the following:
(1) Write a brief recommendation or review of the primary text you've used throughout the course of this project. What positive qualities did it contain? What difficulties might it pose for readers? For whom should the text be recommended?
(2) Comment on your personal contribution to the final project presentation in the Library Media Center. Assess the success of your group in addressing a focus issue for this project and your presentation effectiveness.
(3) Share an anecdote that best illustrates your experience throughout the last few weeks working on the "Genocide Project." What event, moment, or discussion is the best example of what this project has meant to you?
(4) Respond to the following focus question: "What responbility, if any, must I take for these events in history?" Explain your response.
(5) Would you recommend that this project be continued or used with other classes/students at King/Drew? Why or why not?
We look forward to your responses, which must be posted no later than Sunday, June 14, 2009. There are multiple points to address, so consider crafting your response prior to publishing this at our blogsite.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Second-to-Last Prompt
"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope." -Robert F. Kennedy
Describe someone (or perhaps a group of people) you've read about in your primary text who embodies Kennedy's statement. What did they do to "send forth a tiny ripple of hope"? Was their contribution unique to the event or can it be replicated by others -- by those living today?
NOTE: All posts must be completed by this SUNDAY, June 7th (be POSTED BEFORE SCHOOL on MONDAY). So take care of it before prom/after prom/Laker game, or any other lame excuse you may come up with.
With Love,
The Management
Describe someone (or perhaps a group of people) you've read about in your primary text who embodies Kennedy's statement. What did they do to "send forth a tiny ripple of hope"? Was their contribution unique to the event or can it be replicated by others -- by those living today?
NOTE: All posts must be completed by this SUNDAY, June 7th (be POSTED BEFORE SCHOOL on MONDAY). So take care of it before prom/after prom/Laker game, or any other lame excuse you may come up with.
With Love,
The Management
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Consider the following:
"I don't know what it is about hate and violence that people like so much. Whenever there is a fight at my school hundreds of kids run to see someone get beat up. I've seen kids climb trees to get a better view. No one tries to break it up until a teacher or security guard comes around. Who knows what makes people like violence. Maybe it's television, maybe it's the violence in the streets, maybe it's human nature." (Ali Carter)
What makes people like violence? Refer to what you may have gained from the Museum of Tolerance visit; use your own experience; make specific and insightful reference to your primary text.
(NOTE: Due to the computer issues at K/D, you will have until 5pm on Monday, June 1st to post your response to this blog.)
"I don't know what it is about hate and violence that people like so much. Whenever there is a fight at my school hundreds of kids run to see someone get beat up. I've seen kids climb trees to get a better view. No one tries to break it up until a teacher or security guard comes around. Who knows what makes people like violence. Maybe it's television, maybe it's the violence in the streets, maybe it's human nature." (Ali Carter)
What makes people like violence? Refer to what you may have gained from the Museum of Tolerance visit; use your own experience; make specific and insightful reference to your primary text.
(NOTE: Due to the computer issues at K/D, you will have until 5pm on Monday, June 1st to post your response to this blog.)
Friday, May 15, 2009
From an article called "Some Things We Know About Genocide - 10 Years, 10 Lessons" by Gerald Canter (website at http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?id=20739):
"#7 - Most ordinary people will be bystanders. Acting righteously in a dangerous situation is more than we have the right to expect from most people.
Activists too easily scorn ordinary people who simply want to live their own lives. NOT being involved in the crises of others is the default position for most of the world, and nothing else can be expected. It is no doubt gratifying to look down on the majority as ignorant, indifferent or self-absorbed. It is more accurate to think of them as unaware, busy trying to cope with life's adversities, and having their own perfectly reasonable priorities. For most, coping with everyday life is hard enough. We should give praise to the minority who always emerge to join a campaign rather than being disappointed about and scornful of the majority who don't.
As for the righteous, the surprising thing is not how few there are but invariably how many. The gentile who saved Jews, the Hutu who saved Tutsi, the Congolese women who stand up to their rapists, the Zimbabwean human rights activists—these few show a courage unimaginable to most ordinary people. How many among us would risk "doing the right thing" if it meant risking imprisonment, excruciating torture, or even death? How many would give their lives to save another's? It helps nothing to have unreasonable expectations of others when most of us would not act any differently in the same circumstances."
Why does Caplan say most people are bystanders? How does Caplan's assertion (#7 in his list of things we know about genocide) follow David Shoem's ideas about our lack of knowledge of each other? Would the result of better knowledge of each other be fewer bystanders? Why or why not?
"#7 - Most ordinary people will be bystanders. Acting righteously in a dangerous situation is more than we have the right to expect from most people.
Activists too easily scorn ordinary people who simply want to live their own lives. NOT being involved in the crises of others is the default position for most of the world, and nothing else can be expected. It is no doubt gratifying to look down on the majority as ignorant, indifferent or self-absorbed. It is more accurate to think of them as unaware, busy trying to cope with life's adversities, and having their own perfectly reasonable priorities. For most, coping with everyday life is hard enough. We should give praise to the minority who always emerge to join a campaign rather than being disappointed about and scornful of the majority who don't.
As for the righteous, the surprising thing is not how few there are but invariably how many. The gentile who saved Jews, the Hutu who saved Tutsi, the Congolese women who stand up to their rapists, the Zimbabwean human rights activists—these few show a courage unimaginable to most ordinary people. How many among us would risk "doing the right thing" if it meant risking imprisonment, excruciating torture, or even death? How many would give their lives to save another's? It helps nothing to have unreasonable expectations of others when most of us would not act any differently in the same circumstances."
Why does Caplan say most people are bystanders? How does Caplan's assertion (#7 in his list of things we know about genocide) follow David Shoem's ideas about our lack of knowledge of each other? Would the result of better knowledge of each other be fewer bystanders? Why or why not?
Monday, March 16, 2009
Globalization
Respond to the following:
"The effort it takes for us to know so little about one another across racial and ethnic groups is truly remarkable. That we can live so closely together, that our lives can be so intertwined socially, economically, and politically, and that we can spend so many years of study in grade school and even in higher education and yet still manage to be ignorant of one another is clear testimony to the deep-seated roots of this human and national tragedy. What we do learn along the way is to place heavy reliance on stereotypes, gossip, rumor, and fear to shape our lack of knowledge." - David Shoem
To what extent do you agree or disagree with Shoem's ideas? (How ignorant are we of one another? How much do we rely on stereotypes, gossip, rumor and fear to make our way through the world?)
"The effort it takes for us to know so little about one another across racial and ethnic groups is truly remarkable. That we can live so closely together, that our lives can be so intertwined socially, economically, and politically, and that we can spend so many years of study in grade school and even in higher education and yet still manage to be ignorant of one another is clear testimony to the deep-seated roots of this human and national tragedy. What we do learn along the way is to place heavy reliance on stereotypes, gossip, rumor, and fear to shape our lack of knowledge." - David Shoem
To what extent do you agree or disagree with Shoem's ideas? (How ignorant are we of one another? How much do we rely on stereotypes, gossip, rumor and fear to make our way through the world?)
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