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Human rights and social justice/Reading assignments/Global politics

The bigger picture
This section is meant to give you the answer to "WHY are we doing the reading assignment and how does it fit into the course structure?". Also, this can serve as an introductory text to the assignment or as a "popular text" (?) to get familiar with the contents of the assignment. Class discussions after the assignment may tread into news stories and other parts of the layman's domain and they may serve as the source of this section.

Outline of the assignment
This is a rough outline of the given reading assignment. Please note that this is NOT a collection of the subtitles that have been used in the article/chapter. The sole purpose of the outline is to summarize the discussion and present it with a logical flow to take the reader one step closer towards understanding the article/chapter fully.

Introduction to global politics

 * Terms like NGO/IGO are introduced.
 * The law of nations is introduced.
 * It is pointed out that the law of nations (the international law) is different from domestic law
 * There's no one to make, enforce and interpret international law.
 * Realists/Liberals/Constructivists are introduced.
 * Sources of international law are discussed.
 * This is logical. The laws that a citizen has to abide by in a state have been developed/evolved from the natural law. What, then, is the source for the international law? (This is a personal note by the contributor)
 * Custom and treaties are introduced and some examples have been cited. These are introduced as the sources of the international law.
 * The Geneva conventions are mentioned in this regard as well. This is noteworthy because Geneva conventions are oft-mentioned in news stories.
 * Most of the examples cited till now were related to international law regarding wars. The 1982 Law of the Sea convention is the first example to justify that war related treaties are just a subset of the international law.
 * It is clarified that the international law does not give birth to a body superior to the states.
 * Sovereignty itself is a cornerstone of international law...
 * Indeed, the emergence of the state system and international law are inseparable.
 * Discussion on "What were the rulers constrained by?"
 * Natural law? The natural law would be imposed on the rulers from above by God.
 * Contrasting to this, the law between states is voluntary : Legal poitivism
 * The discussion on Thirty Years' War, Hugo Grotius and his book On the Law of War and Peace. Grotius' views are as follows: -
 * Men go to wars even without any major cause and once the war starts, there is no respect for any law, human or divine (the natural law.)
 * The customs that the nations adhere to have the force of law.
 * International law would allow the states to form stable expectations of one another's obligations and would be less likely to go to war. (This assertion comes from the view that states have their own interests. ???)
 * Supporters of Grotius are people who support/reinforce the idea that the international law is between rather than above states.
 * The concept of a Just war is introduced.

Introduction

 * Introduction
 * Human rights are frequently abused.
 * Even though every human being has the same rights - by virtue of being a human - women often do not get the same realization of their rights.
 * It's ironic that the Declaration of Independence declares that "All men are born equal" when the declaration is meant to assert the equality of all human beings.
 * Few thinkers or politicians thought that people had rights apart from those granted to them by their sovereigns.
 * Are states required to treat their citizens humanely?
 * States may do as they please!
 * States are sovereign and within their territory they have unlimited power. Hence they may do as they please.
 * They have no legal superiors. this furthers the argument above.
 * The international law dictates that no one can interfere in the domestic affairs of a country.
 * States HAVE done as they pleased in the past.
 * Forcing people to follow a particular religion, ideology or political view.
 * Many rulers arbitrarily jail prisoners, torture political prisoners to extract information and so on.
 * US soldiers in Iraq have violated human rights and this serves as a very modern example for the above statement.
 * Dictators like Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, Josef Stalin and others have ordered genocides - the most extreme form of human rights violation.
 * The spread of democracy also spread the belief that law/government requires the consent of the governed. This is a direct answer to the question posed in the beginning of this nested outline.
 * Liberals, constructivists, realists are introduced with their views.
 * International law has mostly dealt with the sovereignty of states in the last three centuries. However, human rights are acquiring an increasing status in international law.
 * Humanitarian intervention in extreme abuses of human rights attack the very idea of the sovereignty of a state.
 * Sovereignty of the states is a priority in the UN charter but as Kofi Annan says, "Sovereignty is not an excuse for the inexcusable".

The Holocaust

 * Genocides date back to WWII
 * However, anti-semitism for the jews had existed in Europe for centuries.
 * Pogroms of Jews were common during the crusades.
 * Hitler had anti-semitism at the core of his ideology, mainly from the belief that Jews (mainly, apart from others)


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Ethics/Nonkilling/Sociology

Introduction

 * This Course is based mainly on "Nonkilling Sociology", chapter prepared by Professor Kathryn Feltey (University of Akron) for Toward a Nonkilling Paradigm (Honolulu: Center for Global Nonkilling, 2009). The Course is part of the Interdisciplinary Program on Nonkilling Studies at the School of Nonkilling Studies.

The question of what society is like, what is has been, and what it might become is the subject of sociology. In this essay, I explore the possibility of a nonkilling society from the perspective of sociologists who have addressed violence in their scholarship and/or activism. I begin with the description of a nonkilling society offered by Paige (2009:22): “…a nonkilling society is characterized by no killing of humans and no threats to kill, neither technologies nor justifications for killing, and no social conditions that depend upon threat or use of lethal force.”

It is challenging to imagine a world that does not exist. As Paige (2009) demonstrates, responses to the possibility of a killing-free society are tempered by what we believe to be true about human behavior, social organization, power, and survival. How have sociologists theorized about violence in human society? What sociological tools can be used to conceptualize and enact nonkilling relationships, communities, and societies? How can sociology contribute to the development of a nonkilling research agenda?

Sociological Theories and Violence
Auguste Comte, who coined the term “sociology,” viewed society as an integrated system, moving through an evolutionary process towards positivism which would bring order and progress to 18th century Europe. An idealist, he thought scientific positivism would make war and violence unnecessary, a process he termed the “modifiable character of fatality” (Aron, 1998: 17). Emile Durkheim, synthesizing sociological theory and empirical methods, conducted research on the relationship between social structure and suicide rates in the population. In this classic study, he found that the structural changes of industrialization and urbanization produced anomie, defined as a loosening of external constraint or regulation, putting people at higher risk of suicide (Thompson, 1982). According to Durkheim, reducing or alleviating anomie required “that we be thoughtful to our fellows and that we be just.” (1964[1983]: 407)

Other early contributors to sociological thought saw force and violence as the necessary means for maintaining or challenging and changing the social order. Max Weber (1918) argued, for example, that without violence, the state/government would be eliminated, resulting in anarchy. He went on to explain that while “force is certainly not the normal or the only means of the state…the relation between the state and violence is an especially intimate one.” Karl Marx’s theory of social change was rooted in violent revolution, an armed struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie used lethal force to maintain control of the working masses. Thus, for Marx, freedom for the workers could only “be attained by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.” (Marx, 1848[1988]: 86).

Broadly speaking, as the 20th century progressed, the discipline of sociology developed different trajectories–sociology as science in the positivist tradition and sociology as a vehicle for social change using applied and/or activist methods. The life work of Jane Addams is representative of the latter. Addams was excluded from academic sociology despite her numerous contributions to the scholarly literature. Instead, she applied sociology in the “real world,” establishing Hull House, the first settlement residence in the U.S. In Europe, the settlement house movement was a method of addressing problems generated by urbanization, industrialization, and immigration. The forerunner to modern-day social work, Hull House provided services (e.g., child care and employment assistance) and resources (e.g., meeting space for trade union groups) to Chicago neighborhoods of poor immigrant families. Through legal and political advocacy, the reformers of Hull House linked the local to the state and national-levels with the passage of legislation and establishment of government-sponsored programs.

Addams, active in the international peace movement, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. Not only was she opposed to war, but as the quote above indicates, she defined peace as the nurturance of life, an orientation that would ultimately eliminate war as social practice. In her groundbreaking work, New Ideals of Peace (1907[2007]), she claimed that a new social order based on peace and justice would emerge from those at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The urban neighborhoods of poor immigrants from around the globe would be the source of the “altruistic and egoistic impulse” (p.13) that would lead to a peace-based society that “would nurture all into a full and varied life (p.118). Her optimism about this possibility was bolstered by the collaborative relationships formed and sustained across national differences in Chicago neighborhoods and the labor organizations of the early 20th century.

Another early sociologist, W.E.B. DuBois, described by Martin Luther King, Jr. as “a tireless explorer and a gifted discoverer of social truths,” was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1896 (Hynes, n.d.). DuBois taught at several U.S. universities and co-founded the NAACP, serving as its director of research and founding editor of its publication, The Crisis until 1934. Believing that social science could provide answers to the problems of racism and inequality, his scholarship focused on the lives of Black Americans in the early 20th century.

At the same time, he felt that social activism was the way to create social change and was a leader in the international peace movement. At the controversial 1949 Cultural and Scientific Conference for World Peace in New York City, DuBose defended the presenters and participants, saying, “We know and the saner nations know that we are not traitors nor conspirators; and far from plotting force and violence it is precisely force and violence that we bitterly oppose. This conference was not called to defend communism nor socialism nor the American way of life. It was called to promote peace! It was called to say and say again that no matter how right or wrong differing systems of beliefs in religion, industry, or government may be, war is not the method by which their differences can successfully be settled for the good of mankind” (DuBois, 1968).

Pitrim Sorokin is perhaps the best example of an academic sociologist (he was the Chair of the newly formed Department of Sociology at Harvard, 1930-1942) who tackled the question of whether a peaceful world was possible. He argued that “only unselfish, creative love (as ideally formulated in the Sermon on the Mount)… in overt behavior, in social institutions and culture” would result in lasting peace (42). According to Sorokin, it is through love in all human relations that we become altruistic, our actions becoming more pro-social and cooperative. Amitology, the science through which humans can develop their capacity for care and cooperation, became the focus of Sorokin’s work.

Mid-20th century, C. Wright Mills made a lasting contribution to sociology with the introduction of the “sociological imagination,” a perspective that links individual experience/agency, history, politics, and the social structure. Mills is also known for the “power-elite” model, the ruling relations of power comprised of leaders in industry, the military, and the executive branch of the government. Bringing together the power elite model and the sociological imagination, Mills argued that structural changes in the world meant that politics “has to do with the willful making of history... (making it) sociologically realistic, morally fair, and politically imperative to make demands upon men of power and to hold them responsible” for events occurring in at the national and international level (1958[1985]:100).

In a contemporary application of Mills work, Brewer (2003) examined the peace processes taking place in Northern Ireland and South Africa. He found that changes in the structural and social context affect individuals who realize a broader array of choices such that they are able to become agents of social change (e.g. demanding peaceful alternatives to violence and bloodshed). Key to the agency of individuals is the “emergence of local spaces in which traditional lines of social differentiation are blurred” such that former group loyalties and identities (e.g. race or religion) are rendered less meaningful as different alliances and interests shape the social order (2003: 173).

The theoretical foundations of and developments in sociology can contribute to our understanding of the possibility and promise of a nonkilling society. What are these tools, and how have they been used to conceptualize peace and nonviolence? How can they be applied to further a nonkilling agenda in the world today?

Sociological Tools for a Nonkilling Society
In the second opening quote, the 13th Chief Justice of the United States used what sociologists call a social constructionist perspective in observing that human beings create social institutions and organize the social order. As sociologist W.I. Thomas observed, a socially constructed definition of a situation, if defined as real, is real in its consequences (Thomas and Thomas 1928). Thus a society organized on the basis of militaristic principles, defining war and killing as inevitable, will produce and support what is necessary for people to kill one another, including weapons and ideology. However, a constructionist perspective allows the understanding that society can be re-organized on the basis of nonkilling, anti-war principles, and that this reconstruction will produce real consequences related to the new definition of the situation.

Elise Boulding, a sociologist and futurist, cautions that “we can’t work for what we can’t imagine,” so we cannot have a peaceful future if we cannot envision what it would look like (Boulding, 1995: 204). Using a model developed by Dutch historian and sociologist Fred Polak, Boulding organized workshops on “Imaging a World without Weapons” for 30 years. What does society look like when people are asked to imagine a future without weapons, killing, and war? Results with groups of people in countries around the globe reveals that their imagined futures share some common elements: communities are more rural than urban; life-long education is valued; there is no spectator-leisure industry; nation-states become less significant; peace-keeping brigades replace military armies; and living in harmony with the environment is a priority (Bakker, 1993). When Boulding took the workshop into a men’s prison in 1999, the themes that emerged included:

 * To be at peace with ourselves and one another and the world in which we live. To recognize, understand, communicate what is going on.
 * There should be a peaceful environment for all mankind: no wars, hunger, homelessness, disease, violence, racism, no TV commercials and no pollution.
 * People listen to and respect one another. There is equality, just laws and freedom from fear.
 * Life is local; families are peaceful. There is strong community feeling and conflict resolution. People help each other and have fun together.

While Boulding was initially surprised by their responses, she observed that their ability to “not only visualize a positive future for the society which has in so many ways rejected them, but have the inner resources and moral integrity to consider concrete personal actions that could help bring about such a future” should give hope for the “capacities and potentials of our fellow human beings” to work together for a peaceful future.

In a similar vein, futurist sociologist Wendell Bell (2004) claims that societies across the globe are already working together to achieve common goals. At the same time modernization has disrupted traditional social structures, leaving anomic people searching for new sources of identity, community, and moral guidance. However technological advances in communication have contributed to an emerging global culture “from tens of thousands–possibly hundreds of thousands–of individual networks of communication, influence, and exchange that link people and organizations across civilizational boundaries.” (2004: 31)

For Bell, and other futurist scholars, there is an identifiable set of shared global values that promote the future health of all societies: individual responsibility; treating others as we wish them to treat us; respect for life; economic and social justice; nature-friendly ways of life; honesty; moderation; freedom (expressed in ways that do not harm others), and tolerance for diversity. Given that similar values have been found by researchers using different methodologies in different societies, Bell proposes three principles for a peaceful world: inclusion, skepticism, and social control. Exclusion of “others” defined as outsiders leads to aggression and violence. Global interdependence requires that people begin to see themselves as belonging to the human race rather than emphasizing nationalism and in-group/out-group sentiments. Skepticism can be practiced through “critical realism” which challenges the “delusion of certainty.” (2004: 34) Without the ability and willingness to change with new information and ideas, society is unable to plan and move forward to a desired future. The principle of social control is central to international peacekeeping with the goal of preventing “killing and violence” while promoting “peaceful negotiation and compromise.” (2004: 35) The tools that can be gleaned from sociology and used towards the goal of a nonkilling society include theoretical concepts such as the sociological imagination, the social construction of reality, verstehen (empathetic understanding from Weber), and intergroup relations. Key to creating a nonkilling society is understanding the relationship between individual agency, structural realities and constraints (and how these are socially constructed and maintained), historical legacies, and politics (power), as demonstrated by Brewer (2003).

Sociology, with its roots in human behavior, and in particular the contributions of Sorokin, puts sociologists in a unique position to “study creative altruism and develop the methodologies to put it into practice” (Weinstein; Pozo, 2004:111). Throughout the work of sociologists grappling with the possibilities for a peaceful future is the question of divisions between people on the basis of group membership (nation, ethnicity, religion, and so on). Addams saw the cooperation of different immigrant groups in early 20th century Chicago as evidence of the possibility of an international peace. Similarly, DuBois’ saw political divisions as fostering enmity and war between nations. Weinstein and Pozo note that the sociological enterprise is based on the premise that humanity is one and the divisions and differences between people are the product of socialization.

A sense of shared humanity, a way to see past the (socially created) divisions separating and alienating people from one another, is central to the agenda of creating a nonkilling world. Where can sociologists address this perspective? Certainly in research that directly addresses questions of altruism and pro-social behavior, such as James Vela-McConnell’s study of social affinity in the modern world (1999) and the Flame of Love Project (Lee; Poloma, 2009) which applies scientific methods to the study of the Godly love and altruistic, service-oriented life-choices. Also, as Addams and DuBois modeled, sociologists can contribute their expertise and knowledge to activist organizations and movements. There are sociological professional organizations focused on how sociologists can make a difference in this regard. For example, the Association for Humanist Sociology is a “community of sociologists, educators, scholars, and activists who share a commitment to using sociology to promote peace, equality, and social justice.” The international organization, Sociologists without Borders / Sociólogos Sin Fronteras (SSF), embraces its partisan position “in favor of human rights, participatory democracy, equitable economies, peace, and sustainable ecosystems.”

Perhaps the setting most conducive to passing on sociology as a way to create social change is in the classroom. As I have written elsewhere, the most important goal of teaching for me is to create a space for students to explore the ways they can apply sociology in their own lives, communities, and the larger society (Feltey 2005). In his presidential address to the American Sociological Association in 2000, Joe Feagin called for a recommitment to social justice in the ideals and practices of the discipline. To teachers of sociology, he advised that “we should make clear to the coming generations of sociologists not only that there is plenty of room for idealism and activism in the field but that these qualities might be required for humanity to survive the next century or so.” (2001) Making room for idealism and activism and applying the tools of sociology in the context of organized movements for social change, can help shape an agenda for a future nonkilling world.

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title: Ethics/Nonkilling/Sociology


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User:CQ/Portal0

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Portal:Ethnology/Library/Famous ethnologists

Famous ethnologists
Listed alphabetically, links to the relevant Wikipedia article
 * Boas, Franz
 * Bourdieu, Pierre
 * Dixon, Roland Burrage
 * Cushing, Frank Hamilton
 * Dawson, George M.
 * Descola, Philippe
 * Douglas, Mary
 * Durkheim, Émile
 * Firth, Raymond
 * Fortes, Meyer
 * Frazer, James G.
 * Godelier, Maurice
 * Griaule, Marcel
 * Héritier, Françoise
 * Hertz, Robert
 * Hubert, Henri
 * Kroeber, Alfred L.
 * Leach, Edmund
 * Leiris, Michel
 * Lévi-Strauss, Claude
 * Mair, Lucy
 * Malinowski, Bronisław
 * Mauss, Marcel
 * Morgan, Lewis Henry
 * Powell, John Wesley
 * Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred
 * Richards, Audrey
 * Rivers, W.H.R.
 * Rivet, Paul
 * Seligman, Charles Gabriel
 * Tylor, Edward Burnett
 * Yalman, Nur


text: Category:School of Ethnology library

title: Category:School of Ethnology library


text: Category:School of Ethnology library bookshelves


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Portal:Ethnology/Directory

 category = Ethnology count= 100 order = ascending

title: Portal:Ethnology/Directory


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User:Jesselargent

A Post-Human Approach to composition
To live in western society today is to live as part of a complex and multi-leveled network. People have become more aware over time of their placement within the various physical and social systems of the world, but have also become aware of the degree to which they themselves are a complex network of systems: The nervous system interacting with the circulatory system interacting with organs. However, instead of becoming a homogenous society of unimaginative clones, we are opened up by the diverse possibilities of being Post-Human. The idea of a privileged human consciousness as the seat of control of the personslips away, and makes room for other ways of viewing our interaction with the world to come into the picture. So what does being Post-Human mean for composition? For one it means a conscious placement of our writing within a conversation. We do not exist as solitary beings, writing in the dark for ourselves. Other people’s voices influence and are connected to our writing just as our writing engages with various systems itself. Writing itself is part of a system but is also a system in itself. As writers we engage in a diverse range of practices, and no one process of writing is necessarily the same as the other. The key is to recognize that writing, to borrow a term from Guiles and Guttari, is like a Rhizome, growing out in many directions. Writing is becoming, not ever in a fully perfect and finished state. Our essays do not suddenly just appear as a finished product. Each writer must engage in the process of writing and discover for themselves what systems allow for their expression to grow. Because of this, it is important for instructors of composition to approach writing as multi faceted process and make students aware of not just the ways they as writers will be interacting, but the ways that their writing with interact within network as well. The teacher should provide many different ways for the student to approach their integration within the writing networks that they place themselves in and not limit the class to any one process or approach proposed as the best way to write. As writing is a process and a system it is through examination and practice that writing is best allowed to develop. Students should be given an ample amount of diverse reading material that provides examples of the various networks and how other writers have chosen to interact with them. This will also show them the various voices that are used and will allow them to begin to produce their own voice as a writer. This expressive voice will also be developed by giving them ample opportunities to write. A composition teacher should have students write in every class period, in some form or another. These daily writing exercises should include, but not be limited to, things like brainstorming, journaling, formal responses and creative work. Because writing does not simply exist in a vacuum it is important for the instructor to develop the student’s understanding of the system of the class as a discourse community. This can be done in several ways and while peer reviews and group work are the most likely choice there are other options such as individual conferencing with the teacher (so as to develop the writers understanding of that particular system [Teacher – student circuit]) or having them go out into the community and do service learning projects.

Noise versus Pattern
While any writing is able to transmit some sort of information and for some the most simple message may be the best, it is the messages ability to integrate the patterns of writing most relevant to the network it is involved with that make it good writing. To do this a writer has to take several different things into consideration, as there are many different levels of systems and form found within writing. While some are more crucial to good writing then others, an understanding of all of these systems and how the interact with each other in a larger network is necessary. Just because you know how to put the key in the ignition and start a car, doesn’t mean that you know how to drive. At the most basic level, composition teachers must make sure that the understanding of the linguistic code of the system that the writing is created with (The language we choose to write in) is good enough that other participants in that system can understand what is being said. This is essentially having a working sense of the grammar of a language but it should be noted that this is just a basic understanding. At this level, the code of the system undergoes an almost constant change and is highly malleable between discourse communities. Using the examples of the English language, we find that any sort of definition of “good English” is extremely hard to pin down. Composition teachers need to recognize that they are using a particular form that is held up by most Academics and that it differs and can even be jarring or cryptic to the general public. Most common forms of writing (novels, letters, articles and more) use a simple form of grammar that allows for a focus on information and tries to not be distracted by what are often seen as arbitrary rules and encryptions. These various levels of code or grammar should be acknowledged in the classroom and assignments should reflect the diversity of potential tones. It is ridiculous for composition teachers to assume that every student who takes a composition class is going to become an academic. Many students will go on to become writers in a much more public sphere with a very different grammatical system to its discourse community. Once this basic set of codes is understood, an understanding of the structure of words and sentences within a language system can be developed. This ranges from how word choice affects a sentence to how sentences interact with each other in a sequence, to the overarching structure of their argument and paragraphs. Most students are familiar with the 5 paragraph essay and find it hard to escape from its comfortably simple pattern. Being stuck in this pattern or any one particular pattern will inhibit an ability to communicate and interact with different networks. The 5 paragraph essay may be great for a basic essay in a high school or college writing course but it may fall short when applied to complex arguments or mediums such as newspaper and magazine articles. This concept can be applied to word choice as well, as certain dialects and Jargon, even if very formal, are not always appropriate and can be detrimental to an argument. The teacher needs to develop a sense of how the argument of the paper and its organization directly affect each other and show how multiple options are available to the writer. While it may be tempting to teach specific formats for specific arguments, they should be presented as just one out of many possible choices. Within the same vein of argument, the format or layout of the page is another system that is important to consider when writing. While there are the traditional views of what the page of an essay should look like, these views do not take into account the writings placement within a discourse community besides an academic one and often fail to take other helpful forms of media into consideration. It is important to open the doors to diversity and show how the student’s writing interfaces with the page and the technology that creates it. This consideration exists in the simple aspects of writing as well as the more complex network interactions within writing. The simple side of this includes things such as teaching students the various tools at their disposal when writing with a word processing program or how certain styles of headings may help a reader navigate the information on their paper. On the complex side, composition teachers should encourage students to consider what strategies they are using depending on the medium they are presenting their work in, whether it is a paper, a web page, a PowerPoint or some other form of technologically mediated discourse. From here the writer is able to place their work into the network in a way that allows for their message to be clearly received by potential readers. Considering how writing interacts with the social systems of the world is a crucial step in examining the process of writing. Composition teachers can do this by making students aware of the various discourse communities that exist and how the various ways they may interact with them via their writing. The teacher may present themselves as an audience but should also point out the academic setting that the teacher is placed within. They should then include other potential audiences and have the students consider what sort of systems (cultural, economic, gendered, political) these audiences find themselves in. Even the term audience warrants examination in the composition class as it may imply that only a specific group of people may be viewing our writing. What sort of over-arching conversation is their writing being placed within? How is the audience going to be receiving their paper and what forms of reading will they consider. Audience is a part of what comprises the network of a discourse community but is only some of what needs to be considered by a writer.

The Network of the Classroom
It is important to not forget the very concepts we have applied to writing when we are looking at the classroom itself. The networks of classroom are as diverse and varied as the networks of writing. There are the interactions between the teacher and students, students to students, and even students to the physical location of the class and students/teacher to their larger college setting. These various interactions create the environment of learning and thus it is important to make sure that these channels of communication are open and explored. What place respective roles do teachers and students play in the class? Keeping in mind that we are part of a network of learning, the teacher should act as a resource, whose information has been compiled from experience and their own research. The temptation to say “Truths” about writing, and demand that the classroom network focus on the teacher at the front of the classroom is to re-enact the Liberal Humanist perception of identity being somehow separate from the world around it and privileged even when it does interact. Teachers do not simply impart knowledge from their mind to the mind of the student. The exchange is one that goes back and forth between teachers and students and for the teacher to be the sole example speaker or expresser in a writing classroom is to ignore the vast and vivid breadth of the potential forms of expression within the students. It would be misleading to suggest that this philosophy suggests that anything having to do with the individual is bad. While writing and learning is placed within a network and is not an island to its self, this does not make the parts of the system somehow homogonous. There are gears, sprockets, levers, electrodes, diodes and much more to be found in this organic machine. There is something to be said for the expressive approach to writing. We must know our self before we can hope to be honest in our interactions with the world. When we ask our students to write and find their voice we are asking them to find their particular placement within the system of the class and within writing.

Technology in Composition
As technology develops, our culture and the ways we navigate our lives change. Communication and how we deal with information are a large part of this. Technology and writing are thus intrinsically linked. While many students may not have computers at home, the campus area they are a part of will have computers and they will undoubtedly have an email address that the school uses to send them information. As much as they might think they are not affected or can avoid the ever changing world of technology, they have entered it by writing and even by enrolling in post secondary education. In a composition class it is important to address issues of technology and bring the students up to a competent level in their use of various communication technologies. In many ways, this use of technology will give them practice for professional settings. Papers will be turned in electronically and when possible writing exercises will be done in computer media classrooms where work can be written, explored and manipulated electronically. The use of PowerPoint and other media for presentations will be encouraged as a way of expanding their strategies for persuasion. As new forms of media develop along side acts of composition, what we traditionally think of as writing and the essay will change. Internet blogs have become an extremely popular form of writing and a community of writers has begun to spring up around it. Text messaging has effects both the speech and writing patterns of many younger students and the internet has had quiet in impact in issues surrounding composition (such as plagiarism). To ignore the effects of technology in the networks of writing is to leave our students effectively writing with a stone tablet and chisel.tutrles:Example.ogg

title: User:Jesselargent


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Votian/Second Person Imperative

The second person (direct order)

 * The morpheme -k is pronounced as -G in Eastern Votic dialect. All the other dialects both in Ingria and Estonia have lost the phoneme *k in the end of words e.g. tširje̮taG ~ tširjota (~ Alutaguse: kirjotta ~ kirjutta) ('Write!').
 * The morpheme -ka'a
 * Pronunciation of Ingria
 * depends in consonant gradation of suffixes
 * -gā after unstressed syllables of vowel stems e.g. tširjottagā ('Write!').
 * otherwise it is pronounced -kā e.g. e̮лkā ('Be!').
 * The vowel of any imperative suffix remains always the same regardless to vowel harmony rules  e.g. jättägā ('Leave (it)!').
 * Lüganuse dialect of Alutaguse
 * All the long vowels without primary stress  have been shortened (influenced by  Mid Estonian dialect).
 * The counterpart of g is semi-voiced G e.g. paluGa ('Beg!').
 * G has finally replaced even k in voiced environment (influenced by Mid Estonian dialect) e.g. e̮lGa ('Be!').
 * The vowel a alternates with ä in Lüganuse (and Kodavere) according to vowel harmony rules e.g. jättäGä ('Leave (it)!') vs. tuoGa ('Bring (it)!').

Morphophonology
In all dialects both in Ingria and Estonia:
 * Plural of the second person imperative takes a consonant stem if possible e.g. e̮лkā ('Be!').
 * Singular of the second person imperative never follows any consonant stem e.g. e̮лe̮G ('Be!').

 * Plural and singular of the second person imperative are always in opposite grades caused by consonant gradation in stems e.g.  jättä-gā vs. jätä ('Leave (it)!') or  page̮t-kā vs. pake̮ne̮  ('Escape!').

Phonological history

 * Plural of the 2. person's imperative -ka'a (< -*kata) is probably composed of imperative component -k + plural 2. person's ta.
 * 1) t was lost due to the consonant gradation in suffixes.
 * 2) a of the subsequent syllables melt into ā.
 * 3) Long vowels disappeared in the dialects of Estonia.

=== Other Finnic dialects ===

 * Singular
 * Standard Finnish : lue (~ lue-k in some dialects) ('Read!')
 * Vesjegonski Karelian dialects : luve ('Read!')
 * Vepsian dialects : luge ('Read!')
 * Hevaha Ingrian : lue-G ('Read!')
 * Standard Estonian : loe ('Read!')
 * Võro dialects : ann̆a-ʔ ('Give!')
 * Livonian dialects : lu ̉-G ('Read!')

 * Plural
 * Standard Finnish : luke-kaa ('Read!')
 * Savo dialects : anto-a < *anta-k̆at̆a ('Give!') (due to the consonant gradation in suffixes)
 * Vesjegonski Karelian dialects : luge-kki̮a ('Read!')
 * Lude Karelian dialects : luge-gat̄ ('Read!')
 * Vepsian dialects : luge-gat ('Read!')
 * Ingrian dialects : luGe-Gā(n) ('Read!')
 * Standard Estonian : luge-ge ('Read!')
 * Old scriptures in Tartu dialect : wöt-ket ('Take!') (by Joachim Rossihnius)
 * Livonian dialects : lu ̉ggi-giD ('Read!')

title: Votian/Second Person Imperative


text:
Portal:Social Sciences/Learn/Quotes

 * "Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defense of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all." - Adam Smith
 * The pursuit of science seems to me to demand particular courage in this respect. It deals in knowledge procured through doubt. Creating knowledge for all about all, it aims to turn all of us into doubters. - from Life of Galileo by Bertold Brecht

title: Portal:Social Sciences/Learn/Quotes


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Portal:Social Sciences/Quick Fact

25 August 2010

What is Cognitive science?
"The domain of cognitive science occupies the intersection of philosophy, neuroscience, linguistics, cognitive psychology, and computer science (artificial intelligence)."

title: Portal:Social Sciences/Quick Fact


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Portal:Social Sciences/Upcoming Events

Portal - Wide
We are waiting for proposals that will bring the Social Sciences together. Please put suggestions on Comment page.

School of History
August 2010: Upgrade of the page School of History

School of Psychology
29 August 2010 Motivation and emotion The cohort for 2010 is just starting this course. With over forty members, it promises to be a very active course. All the participants have E-portfolios which constitutes 30% of their assessment.

This course has strong links to the University of Canberra and is convened by James Neill, a member of staff there.

title: Portal:Social Sciences/Upcoming Events


text:
User talk:Mikk

 Hello Mikk, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
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And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! --mikeu talk 10:49, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Thank's! I shall follow your recommendations. --Mikk 11:09, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Question - suorce
Dear Mikk! I am just puzzled about your resources regarding Votian language. As far as I found out, this is nearly extinct, spoken just by very few people in Russia. So the question is: How do you know so much about it? --Gbaor 09:41, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

Answer
Hi!

Well ... my resources should be found in the lower end of every page:

E.g.

http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Votian_Potential#References

References
 * ↑ Ariste, Paul Vadja keele grammatika. Tartu, 1948. p. 82
 * ↑ Ahlqvist A. Wotisk grammatik jemte språkprof och ordförteckning. — Helsinki, 1856. p.
 * ↑ Laanest, Arvo: Sissejuhatus läänemeresoome keeltesse, Tallinn 1975. p.155
 * ↑ Ariste, Paul Vadja keele grammatika. Tartu, 1948. p. 84

Quoting http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Grammar_of_Votian_dialects :

Votic language is a Finnic language spoken only by few people in Russian Kingissepp district. However there are significant collections of folklore kept mainly in Russia, Finland and Estonia.

Moreover Votic songs are still sung by some Estonians [1] and there are people trying to revitalize [2] North-Eastern dialects of Estonia, which have been interpreted as Estonian dialects of strong Votic influence or even entirely independent Finnic dialects [3].

Mikk 14:58, 14 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I've heard this Votic like dialect of North-Eastern Estonia spoken by my relatives. So actually it's not so foreign language for me. Besides that I've studied other Finnic languages and Runic songs in Uni and elsewhere.
 * Interesting! I just asked, because I assumed that you are not one of those cca. 20 people, that the articles speak about, and wanted to know what leads somebody to study (and in fact very much in detail) such an unspoken language. But I really appreciate it. This way there will be some easy-to-access source for all! Great work, keep going!

--Gbaor 08:43, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks! I might be the 21. one, if I had more motivation.

Yes, learning Votic doesn't seem very useful for a Chinese or Zulu, but it gives a slight idea how a Finnic language works.

It should be quite exotic for other Europeans. E.g.:

http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Votian_consonant_gradation

http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Votian_main_cases

http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Votian_verb_moods,_voices_and_tenses

Mikk 18:02, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

On Completedness
Hey Mikk, I was wondering if you're still working on your series of lessons, I've found them very useful so far. Also, thanks for making them!

- Frzzl 11:45, 23 August 2021 (UTX)

title: User talk:Mikk


text:
User talk:Jesselargent

 Hello Jesselargent, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! --mikeu talk 11:08, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Jesselargent


text:
Votian/Consonant Gradation

Consonant gradation
Consonant gradation is a remnant of sound changes, which have occurred in past, but still act as morphophonologic rules in the modern grammar, even though their conditions are difficult to see in the present phonetic structure of words. See the examples below.

Consonant gradation of suffixes
Obstruents are weakened after unstressed syllables.

E.g. for the plural 2. person of imperative the suffixes are:
 * -kā after a stressed syllable e.g. e̮лkā ('Be!').
 * -gā after an unstressed syllable e.g. tširjottagā ('Write!').

Consonant gradation of stems
Obstruents were weakened in the beginning of closed syllables with short vowels.

Plural and singular of the second person imperative are always in opposite grades e.g. :
 * Plural: jättägā < *jättä-ka'a ('Leave (it)!'). The last syllable of the stem (tä) was open.
 * Singular: jätä < *jättä-k (jätäG in Eastern Votic dialect). The last syllable of the stem (täk) was closed by an imperative suffix k.

Singular nominative is usually in a grade opposite to plural nominative e.g.  seppä ('a blacksmith') vs. sepäD ('blacksmiths'),  ammaz ('a tooth') vs. ampāD ('teeth').

=== Possible phonetic changes ===

title: Votian/Consonant Gradation


text: Discovery learning

title: Discovery learning


text:
User:Johannes~enwikiversity

Johannes

title: User:Johannes~enwikiversity


text:
User talk:Mu301Bot/Requests for unblock

This page is for discussing the requests for unblock watcher bot that is being run by User:Mu301.

User:Mu301Bot uses category.py to get the pages in Category:Requests for unblock and then updates User:Mu301Bot/Requests for unblock so that it contains links to the pages that are currently in that category. The bots checks at 7 minutes past the hour. Custodians are asked to watchlist the page so that they can be alerted to new requests. Here is an example from my watchlist:

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The (0 entries) above indicate that a page has been removed from the category since the last time that the bot checked. This could indicates that a custodian has reviewed the request and accepted or declined it. It could also indicate that someone has manually removed a page from the cat. An entry that includes an edit summary of (# entries) where # is greater than 0 indicates that there are pages in the cat, and custodians should check for outstanding requests.

See here for an example of what the page looks like when there is a request.

Please note that the bot only checks once per hour. If an Unblock request were to be added to a talk page, and then Unblock denied between checks, the bot would not notice and there would be no edits to the page. The bot is not able to continuously monitor the cat and this is not a substitute for other means of noticing unblock requests.

We also need to make sure that blocked users are aware of how to use Unblock so we should review the templates and instructions.

Feel free to ask questions here or contact me on my talk page if you have any suggestions about the request watcher. --mikeu talk 16:02, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

 * Slight update. There are now two subcategories which causes the default to be (2 entries) if there are no outstanding requests. --mikeu talk 18:50, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Mu301Bot/Requests for unblock