Blogs

Prison Program Turns Inmates into Intellectuals (NYTimes, May 30, 2014)

Here is a little slide show of the Bundt Cakes that Ava took over the few days they were on display--some of them with us and a few other people interacting with the pieces; some with the bundt cakes alone. Enjoy them all....

Digital Humanities Initiative: American Prison Writing Archive-->
a place where incarcerated people can bear witness to the conditions in which they live, to what is working and what is not inside American prisons, and where they can contribute to public debate about the American prison crisis.

...also open to contributions by correctional officers, prison staff, and prison administrators, thus creating a true meeting place and venue for comparative expression by and study of all of those who live and work inside American prisons.

I’ve finally gotten around to the last of the tasks I’d set myself during the ENVS Faculty Workshop in May—reading a couple of social psychology books that Benjamin Le recommended to me re: changing people’s attitudes. Neither one taught me too much, but here (for the record) is a brief summary of each--

Haddock, Geoffrey and Gregory Maio, Eds, Contemporary Perspectives on the Psychology of Attitudes. Psychology Press, 2004: (pretty useless, from my p.o.v) collection of essays by different authors, concluding with Haddock and Maio’s overview of the research: that there are “three witches” in this brew—attitude content, structure, and function--that need to be better integrated.

I just wanted you all to know that I was hit by a wall of overwhelming gratitude when I read your (Sara and Sasha's) reflections. Though I certainly, (and after reading yours, thought it was maybe to a fault) put lots of emphasis on the "self" part of this reflection, I want you both to know that it was absolutely because of you -- the brilliant, inspiring, motivational lights that shine from you in everything you do -- that I felt brave enough to let myself love our work this semester. As Sara said, we are so different, and yet I feel like this year I've developed a new part of myself, and part that can only be translated and nurtured and understood by you two. Your friendship and your beautful minds are essential to me now, and always. Thank you for being all you are to me. I hope I can be the same for you. 

Welcoming Our Asian Students (Anne Dalke)
Session IV @ the 2014 Tri-Co Environmental Studies Workshop

Finding the Path in Praxis (Jody Cohen and Anne Dalke)
Session II @ the 2014 Tri-Co Environmental Studies Workshop

"Muddy-ing the Waters": Doing Justice To Race, Class,
Gender and Environment (Jody Cohen and Anne Dalke)
Session I @ the 2014 Tri-Co Environmental Studies Workshop

I had a hard time starting this reflection because I feel as though my participation/engagement constantly fluctuated throughout the semester, the whole year really, but definitely more this semester. I think that for the most part I took a lot of steps back this semester, in terms of speaking less and listening more; I found myself not wanting to take ‘leadership roles’ as much as I would have any other time. At times I felt as though I wasn’t putting in as much effort or working as hard as I should have, and it really bothers(ed) me because this is my favorite class of the week and is the one thing I look forward to every week. I think I missed about two of the prep-meetings. The weeks I would miss the meetings, I would feel a little lost that Friday. We put so much thought into every activity, not being there to plan for it makes me nervous because I am not sure which “direction” we aimed to take the conversations; because of this, not being 100% prepared did not scare me that much. Overall, this was a very difficult semester for me; between my mother being injured and my friend going to jail (and all of the in-between), I had way too much going on towards the end of the semester and it was hard for me to focus on my life on campus.

Here is a link to my self-evaluation: /exchange/book/standing-wall/self-evaluation

As always, it has been a pleasure, and I cannot wait to work with you all again!