UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler interviews author David Rieff who talks about his new book A Bed for the Night which analyzes the evolution of humanitarian work in international affairs focusing especially on its relations with the human rights movement and political leaders. (58 min)

On this edition of Conversations with History, UC BerkeleyŐs Harry Kreisler welcomes social theorist Manuel Castells, Professor of Sociology and Professor of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, to discuss identity and change in the network society. (58 min)

Host Harry Kreisler is joined by John Shattuck, CEO of the Kennedy Library and former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, Labor for discussion of the constraints and opportunities for advancing human rights issues during the decade of the nineties. (59 min)

UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler welcomes UCLA sociologist Michael Mann for a conversation on how comparative historical sociology can help in our understanding of U.S. foreign policy. (56 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes His Excellency Kenneth D. Kaunda, the First President of Zambia (1964-1991). President Kaunda discusses the national and international challenges he confronted as a national leader. He also reflects on his current work with NGOs in the global fight to fight disease, poverty and inequality. (54 minutes)

On this episode, UC BerkeleyŐs Harry Kreisler talks with Perry Anderson Professor of History and Sociology at UCLA about his intellectual journey and the status of the left. 58 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes historian John Heilbron, the 2007 Hitchcock Lecturer, for a discussion of the history of science. He reflects on his contributions to the field, analyzes the challenges of studying science as a historian, and offers insight into the value of science history for society. John Heilbron also discusses his years as Vice Chancellor of the Berkeley campus. (51 minutes)

In this edition, UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler talks with Ira Michael Heyman, former Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley and former Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Chancellor Heyman discusses leadership, the challenges facing higher education and the problems of managing public museums. (58 min)

Classicist and columnist Victor Davis Hanson talks with UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler about the classics, war, and what we stand for in the post-9/11 world. (56 min)

While this module was developed when we followed the federal criminal case around WR Grace and asbestos exposure in a small Montana mining town, it can be adapted for a range of learning experiences regarding environmental justice, argumentation, strategizing, remediation and sustainability.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This is a unit plan for studying Culture, based and framed around OER resources, specifically the OpenStax textbook for Sociology.

Cleaning, reshaping, and transforming data for analysis and visualization, with R and the Tidyverse

Word Count: 3515

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

This lesson uses the "1984" Macintosh Commercial to introduce students to dystopian characteristics. Students analyze techniques used in the commercial and identify the comments that it makes about contemporary society.

Demography is the science of populations. Demographers seek to understand population dynamics by investigating three main demographic processes: birth, migration, and aging (including death). All three of these processes contribute to changes in populations, including how people inhabit the earth, form nations and societies, and develop culture. While most of the discipline’s research focuses on humans, the MPIDR is also committed to the specialized field of biodemography.

An 8 Week Course to Develop Information Literacy Influencers

Short Description:
This course was developed as part of a grant project aimed at addressing the disinformation that contributes to extremist beliefs and the deterioration of our democracy. It is intended to help adult learners understand the complexities underlying the problem, and develop the skills needed to act as information literacy influencers in their communities.

Word Count: 8229

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

This set of lessons looks at a variety of natural disasters from the Black Death of the Middle Ages to Hurricane Katrina in our too-recent memory, to fears of avian flu pandemics that haunt the future through the lens of economic analysis. The contexts were chosen to facilitate the teaching of economic reasoning principles not only in economics courses, but also in history and the other social studies disciplines. Each lesson addresses a question that reflects people's compassionate reaction to news of disaster and develops one or two key tools of economic analysis in answering that question. Case studies of past disasters provide real-world illustrations. Mandated content standards and testing have kicked 'current events' days from the social studies classroom calendar, transforming disasters from 'teachable moments' to curricular inconvenience. Using the economic way of thinking to sift through the chaos of natural disasters, however, reveals threads of uniformity running through the litany of horrors and devastation unique to each event. Once identified, the common features of past disasters form a template for analyzing 'the next one,' allowing teachers to quickly incorporate today's unexpected news into the planned curriculum outline.

In this individual research project, a senior thesis student conducts a regression analysis that investigates the effects of race, ethnicity, and poverty on high school graduation rates in Florida. The data are easily obtainable from the Florida Department of Education. The project can be modified to be a group research project in a Research Methods Class or a Special Topics Upper Level Economics class.

Word Count: 20993

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Faculty and students of politics inevitably engage with contentious debates about global inequality and development, conflict, and environmental sustainability. Teaching and learning outcomes in politics tend to emphasize critical and analytical thinking, but have paid less attention to emotion and feeling in considering how to navigate current issues. How can contemplative practices help instructors and students not only intellectually consider, but also emotionally hold difficult and often divisive and unsettling issues? In what ways can such practices both create space for honest, compassionate discussion and encourage engaged citizenship? By using a guided exercise of self-reflection and dialogue, students will develop self-awareness of their emotional responses and of their peers to contentious political issues, and recognize the importance of open listening and dialogue for gaining a deeper appreciation of contrasting views.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)