Wed, May 31, 2006
Sixth Annual Media the Matters Film Festival
The Media that Matters Film Festival offers up 16 inspiring short films on significant social topics. And they are all viewable on the web! As described by the project leaders: “From gay rights to global warming, the jury-selected collection represents the work of a diverse group of independent filmmakers, many of whom are under 21. The films are equally diverse in style and content, with documentaries, music videos, animations, experimental work and everything else in between. What all the films have in common is that they spark debate and action in 8 minutes or less.”
FILMS IN THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL
SLIP OF THE TONGUE - 4:06 min
Youth Slam
“What’s your ethnic make up?” A young man makes a pass at a beautiful stranger and gets an eye-opening schooling on race and gender.
A GIRL LIKE ME - 7:08 min
Youth Documentary
Color is more than skin deep for young African-American women struggling to define themselves.
IN TRANSIT - 5:51 min
Documentary
War may be over in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but many Congolese women continue to battle for their reproductive health.
WATER WARRIORS - 6:17 min
Documentary
When water costs soar, residents of Highland Park, Michigan demand to know who will foot the bill.
HOW WAL-MART CAME TO HASLETT - 3:16 min
Expose
Michigan youth investigate the dubious circumstances under which a Wal-Mart appeared on a wetland in their small town.
THE RULES OF THE GAME - 8:24 min
Documentary
A Native American tribe’s dreams of prosperity clash with small town values in Rohnert Park, California.
PERMISSION - 1:00 min
Public Service Announcement
Whose permission would you need to get married to the person you love?
EYES ON THE FAIR USE OF THE PRIZE - 2:11 min
Advocacy Short
Copyright abuse or Fair Use? Learn how much is at stake when vital films are pulled from public discourse.
BOOK ‘EM: UNDEREDUCATED, OVERINCARCERATED - 3:03 min
Youth Documentary
In New Haven, Connecticut the pipeline from school to prison is shorter than you might think.
(HATE) MACHINE - 4:45 min
Satire
When media messages are constructed, sometimes truth hits the cutting room floor.
IN THE MORNING - 4:25 min
Dramatic Narrative
When a young Turkish woman is raped, there is nothing honorable about revenge.
BREAD - 4:56 min
Documentary
Guatemalan brothers Edwin and Edson crush rocks with their father so their family has enough to eat.
ASPARAGUS! (A STALK-UMENTARY) - 5:57 min
Documentary
Journey to the “Asparagus Capital of the World” to discover why one little vegetable is so important.
RECYCLE - 6:00 min
Documentary
Poet Miguel Diaz transforms poverty into cultivation in the middle of a Los Angeles street.
NIGHT VISIONS - 7:07 min
Documentary
Individuals enlist in the U.S. military for different reasons, but they all return from war, changed.
NO CHILD - 8:19 min
Youth Documentary
Minneapolis hip-hoppers Shakademic and Glenn Scott get the inside scoop on military recruiting tactics.
Sat, May 27, 2006
College-based Mediation Services Locator (a new Yahoo Maps “Mashup”)
Today I cobbled together my first “mashup” using data from the Conflict Management in Higher Education Resource Center and Yahoo Maps. You can use the new College-based Mediation Services Locator to find more than 200 different campus-based mediation projects by location. By clicking on a map marker you can visit the program’s webpage or go on to the campus-adr.org database to search for more details. It is loading a large dataset, so please be patient.
Yahoo’s stock presentation of the same dataset can be seen here (with Yahoo-added content and ads) if you want to see how Yahoo does it. Perhaps as I learn more my version will improve and include more features.
Thu, May 25, 2006
Careers in International Arbitration Podcast (and others) from Washington College of Law
Law students are engaging more and more with alternative forms of dispute resolution as part of their training. Students (law or otherwise) breaking into the ADR field might be interested in this podcast on Careers in International Arbitration available at no cost from Washington College of Law. With the arrival of the 2005 class, American University Washington College of Law launched into Podcasting. By May of 2006, the 200+ episodes available were downloaded almost 65,000 times. Because WCL generates so much content, users can now create a custom podcast using keywords. By entering in a few search terms, a custom podcast link is created and can be copied to the user’s podcast software. Once done, only current and future content related to those search terms will be delivered. Here’s a link to Podcasts on Dispute Resolution Topics. If you wanted to subscribe to this topic area, you can grab the rss feed link visible in the upper right of the webpage show the results of this search.
Wed, May 24, 2006
Online Roleplays Podcast featuring DRALE and The Campaign
As instructional technologist Matthew Riddle explains in his introduction to this podcast entitled Online Roleplays in Tertiary Education, “Role-play has long been used as an educational tool to provide learners with a way to understand the real world. Since the advent of the World Wide Web, online role-plays have become widely used in Australian tertiary institutions to provide students with authentic learning opportunities. This presentation profiles two examples of online role-plays developed at the University of Melbourne: DRALE Online, in which final year law students form legal teams in a dispute resolution process, and The Campaign, a role-play about journalists and political advisors following a political campaign.”
The podcast was produced using a relatively new enhanced podcasting tool designed for Mac users known as Profcast that automates the production of chaptered and illustrated podcasts using Keynote or Powerpoint. I’d recommend viewing this podcast within iTunes for the best experience, as the online version took a long time to load and stalled once or twice. Also, when in iTunes, you can click on the current slide to see a larger version.
Sun, May 21, 2006
Polly Glotto - Talking SitePal Does Text-to-Speech Foreign Language Translation
Polly Glotto is a very interesting combination of a flash site avatar from SitePal, text-to-speech technology, and foreign language translation. You just type in the phrase you want translated, indicate which of the available 11 languages you are working with, and then sit back and listen to “Polly” as she pronounces your translated results. Polly Glotto was put together by Eric Iverson for The Newledge Group. According to the creator, it is currently the only talking translator on the web.
Sat, May 20, 2006
Paul Rogers: The War on Terror, Four Years On (Video)
Paul Rogers, Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, presents a 30-minute overview of the U.S. led War on Terror in this speech entitled The War on Terror, Four Years On. The talk was given on November 16, 2005 and is available in Windows Media and Real Player formats. It follows the recent publication of Rogers’ new book, “Iraq and The War on Terror, Twelve Months of Insurgency”. The talk provides a concise review of progress made and prospects for a change in policy in the future.
Fri, May 19, 2006
The Peace Museum, Bradford - A Vision Shared Exhibit Panels
The Peace Museum in Bradford (UK) provides a variety of interactive online materials. One of particular interest is the online version of their traveling exhibit A Vision Shared that explores the history of the peace movement. The 24 panels, presented as pdfs, provide a great overview of the work of people interested in peacemaking and conflict resolution since 1899. The direct link above is typically seen within the larger Peace Museum site as part of a set of frames (see Exhibitions > Travelling Exhibitions). People might also enjoy and learn from the Peace Puzzle. How much do you know about peacework? The Peace Museum is affiliated with the University of Bradford, home to a fine Peace Studies academic program as well.
Wed, May 17, 2006
Women Nobel Prize Winners (A presentation made with Pachyderm)
This online presentation entitled Women Nobel Prize Winners introduces 10 female Nobel Prize winners. We learn about their life journeys and their work leading up to their receipt of a Nobel Prize. The presentation was built using the new open source learning object development platform known as Pachyderm. Pachyderm is being developed by a partnership led by NMC: The New Media Consortium and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), and funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The project brings software development teams and digital library experts from six NMC universities together with counterparts from five major museums to create a new, open source authoring environment for creators of web-based and multimedia learning experiences. A showcase of example presentations made with Pachyderm is available here.
Mon, May 15, 2006
May 15: International Conscientious Objectors’ Day
Since 1985, May 15th has been designated as International Conscientious Objectors’ Day. The event is closely linked to the International Conscientious Objectors’ Meeting (ICOM). Between 1981 and 1997, ICOM was organised every year by groups affiliated to War Resisters’ International. It was held in the Netherlands, Spain, France, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Turkey, Colombia, and Chad, among others. While in the first years the focus was on the exchange of ideas and international networking among active conscientious objectors, later an additional objective was added. In countries where the situation of conscientious objectors was particulary difficult (and in some cases still is), the international presence of activists lead to a strengthening of the COs living in the country and their initiatives. Not only the strategy of conscientious objection was developed, but on a very practical level the importance of the group in the country itself was increased. Focus countries have included Greece (1986), Yugoslavia (1987), Poland (1988), South Africa (1989), Spain (1990), Turkey (1992), former Yugoslavia (1993), Colombia (1995). There were thematic focuses too: forced service for women (1991), and asylum for women and men who refused military service or deserted from the army (1993).
Although the full ICOM hasn’t met for years, 15 May is firmly established as a joint day of action. In many places groups refer to 15 May in their work on conscientious objection. At the same time public meetings, vigils, demonstrations, actions, seminars, campaigns and many other activities are taking place in many parts of the world. Although nowadays many groups use the day for their own specific issue on conscientious objection, and there may be more limited joint focus, it is still a day which highlights that the issue of conscientious objection is not a national, but an international issue, and that international networking provides the special strength of the conscientious objectors’ movement.
Sun, May 14, 2006
Collaborative Decision Making Activity: NASA’s Deep Impact Mission
This Collaborative Decision Making learning module from NASA is designed to engage students in grades 7-12 in activities that focus on collaboration and communication strategies. It focuses on the early stages of a NASA mission, in this case the Deep Impact Mission exploring beneath the surface of a Comet.
The activities are designed to strengthen student understanding of and ability to use collaborative processes and communication practices to clarify, conceptualize, and make decisions. Students compare the risks of varying courses of action that confront scientists and engineers. After the risks are identified, they gather and convey evidence supporting and refuting the viability of these actions, and reach consensus. The module strategies rely primarily on student investigation into the background information that is necessary to support arguments; make quantitative risk analyses; engage in debate, role-playing, and persuasive writing/communication processes; and practice group decision-making procedures.
The Module Planning Guide provides a quick overview of the overall process. The full version of the package (1.2 mb pdf) can be downloaded here. Collaborative Decision Making: NASA’s Deep Impact Mission was developed by educators at Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.
Sat, May 13, 2006
Podcasting Legal Guide and Wiki
A new brief entitled the Podcasting Legal Guide - Rules for the Revolution (38 pages, PDF) has been produced by Colette Vogel and Mia Garlick. The guide is published under a Creative Commons license, and includes an accompanying wiki. As the authors explain, “The purpose of this Guide is to provide you with a general roadmap of some of the legal issues specific to podcasting…and covers only US-based legal questions.”
Fri, May 12, 2006
Informal Conflict Management System (ICMS) Resource Guide
The Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada is promoting Informal Conflict Management Systems (ICMS) as part of their Public Service Modernization Act of November 2004. By the Spring of 2005, Core public administration organizations must have implemented a system to deal with conflicts informally and must have informed their employees of its existence. The ICMS must be established in accordance with the ICMS Directive which lists 10 minimum requirements. The expectation is that effective ICMS will help departments and agencies to:
* Build strong relationships
* Improve morale
* Improve communication
* Increase productivity
* Build confidence in management
* Provide both tangible and intangible savings
* Provide a fair, flexible, fast and effective way of handling employee disputes
To support this effort, an Informal Conflict Management System (ICMS) Resource Guide has been posted online. The guide reviews current best practices and provides a number of sample agreements to mediate and various evaluation forms.
Thu, May 11, 2006
One Hill,Two Villages: the IIMHC in Israel (video)
This 12 minute documentary entitled One Hill,Two Villages: the IIMHC in Israel, available via Google Video, provides a look into a peacemaking mediation conducted in 2004 by the International Institute for Mediation & Historical Conciliation (IIMHC). The case involves a dispute over land involving Israeli Jews and Palestinians in the Galil. IIMHC uses discussions of history as a tool to build understanding and new possibilities for the future.
Wed, May 10, 2006
Self-Help Reading Materials from the University of Colorado Ombuds Office
The University of Colorado’s Ombuds Office works to support constructive conflict resolution on their campus. One way that they support this is by providing thoughtful reading materials for patrons to help them resolve their own conflicts in effective and non-escalatory ways. Lots of good stuff here. Materials in the Self-Help Reading Materials collection include the following:
Apologies
Avoiding Roommate Disputes (link currently broken)
Cooperation or Resistance
Do’s and Don’ts for Responding to Complaints About Your Behavior
Informal Strategies for Responding to Sexual Harassment
Ombuds Recommended Reading List
Options for Creating a Record of a Complaint
Do’s and Don’ts for Responding to Complaints
Talking With Your Professor About a Grade
Preparing For Your Mediation
Writing a Letter
American Left Ephemera Collection
This collection of American Left Ephemera available from the University of Pittsburgh reflects the personal collection of Richard J. Oestreicher, Associate Professor within the History department at the University of Pittsburgh. The material primarily documents three of the largest and most influential left-wing organizations in the twentieth century in the U.S.: Socialist Party of America (SPUSA), Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA), and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Digitized items include flyers, leaflets, pamphlets, posters, postcards, illustrations, photographs, pins, ribbons, and miscellaneous objects.
