Scholars’ Circle -Fritjof Capra-the-systems-view-of-life-:a-unifying-vision-Aug. 31st, 2014

We spend the hour with Fritjof Capra about his book The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision. He is also the author of, The Tao of Physics, The Turning Point, The Web of Life, The Hidden Connections, The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the Renaissance, and Learning from Leonardo: Decoding the Notebooks of a Genius. [ dur: 60 mins. ]

Fritjof Capra, physicist, system theorist, and science writer, founding director of Center of Ecoliteracy.

  • http://www.fritjofcapra.net – Blog

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Scholars’ Circle – Indonesia Election / Ferguson Missouri – Aug. 24th, 2014

First, Indonesia’s new political era–What the Court’s decision for Wiwodo really means. [ dur: 20 mins. ]

  • Dr. Chris Wilson, Lecturer at University of Auckland, New Zealand. Author of Ethno-Religious Violence in Indonesia: From Soil to God

Then, we look at the hidden structural problems that led to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.  [ dur: 20 mins. ]

  • Clarissa Rile Hayward, is Professor of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Author of How Americans Make Race: Stories, Institutions, Spaces.
  • Delores Jones-Brown, is Professor of Law, Police Science,Criminal Justice, City University of New York . Author of  Race, Crime and Punishment

Finally, how can education prevent another Ferguson? [ dur: 18 mins. ]

  • Garrett Albert Duncan is Associate Professor of Education in Arts & Sciences. He also teaches African&African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. His publications listed here.

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Scholars’ Circle – Human and Animal Health / Human Rights Intervention? – Aug. 17th, 2014

First, do animals get depression, eating disorders, alcoholism, or diabetes? What can we learn from animals about healing? We explore the surprising common grounds between animals and us with the authors of ZOOBIQUITY: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Dr. Barbara Netttern-Herowitz, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA;
  • Kathryn Bowers, journalist. 

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel,as violent conflict and human rights abuses continue throughout so many parts of the world, we’ll look at the politics and ethics of humanitarian intervention. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Frank Chalk, Professor of History and Director of Montreal Institute for Genocide  and human rights Studies (Will to intervene project website) at Concordia University. Author of The History and Sociology of Genocide: Analyses and Case Studies. Co-author of  Mobilizing the will to intervene. Associate editor of 3 volume encyclopedia of  Genocide and crimes against humanity.
  • Jeff Holzgrefe, adjunct Professor  of Law at Emory University School of Law; Co-editor of Humanitarian intervention, legal, ethical and political dilemmas.
  • Fernando Teson, Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar, Florida State University; College of Law.  Author of Humanitarian intervention and inquiry into law and morality and philosophy of international law.

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Scholars’ Circle – Partisan Congress/ US Penal System – Aug. 10th, 2014

First, is the US House Speaker Newt Gingrich responsible for damaging the culture and productivity of the US Senate? An interview with Sean Theriault, author of,The Gingrich Senators: The Roots of Partisan Warfare in Congress. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Sean Theriault is a Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of, The Power of the People: Congressional Competition, Public Attention, and Voter Retribution, Party Polarization in Congress, and The Gingrich Senators: The Roots of Partisan Warfare in Congress.

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel,how did a country born of freedom come to have the largest penal system in the world and lock up so many of its citizens? What is the cost of this system on society in terms of human lives, and sociopolitical and economic well-being? [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Marie Gottschalk is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of, The Prison and the Gallows: The Politics of Mass Incarceration in America and The Shadow Welfare State: Labor, Business, and the Politics of Health Care in the United States.
  • Robert Perkinson is an Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is the author of, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire.
  • David Garland is a Professor of Law and Professor of Sociology at New York University. He is the author of, Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition, The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society, and Punishment and Modern Society: A Study in Social Theory.

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Scholars’ Circle – Philanthropic Colonialism / Politics of Emotions – Aug. 3rd, 2014

First, has our society created a “charitable industrial complex?” We speak with Peter Buffet about “philanthropic colonialism” and “conscious laundering.” Buffet is Emmy winning musician, author and philanthropist. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Peter Buffett has an acclaimed career that spans more than 30 years as an Emmy Award winning musician, composer, philanthropist and author. Buffett’s inspiring book, “Life Is What You Make It,” has been translated into over 15 languages. He co-chairs the NoVo Foundation, one of three foundations founded by his father Warren Buffet. His NY Times op-ed titled, The Charitable Industrial Complex.

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, we look at the politics of emotions. How do emotions drive outcomes like ethnic violence, wars and genocide? What roles to fear, anger, resentment and entitlement play in conflict? [ dur: 28 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Roger Petersen is a Professor of Political Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is the author of, “Resistance and Rebellion: Lessons from Eastern Europe,” “Understanding Ethnic Violence: Fear, Hatred, Resentment in Twentieth Century Eastern Europe,” and “Western Intervention in the Balkans: The Strategic Use of Emotion in Conflict.”
  • David Altheide is Emeritus Regents’ Professor in the School of Justice and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University. He is the author of, “Terrorism and the Politics of Fear,” “Creating Fear: News and the Construction of Crisis,” and “An Ecology of Communication: Cultural Formats of Control.”
  • Jeff Birkenstein is an Associate Professor in, and chair of, the Department of English at Saint Martin’s University. He is the author of, “Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the War on Terror.”

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