Tag Archives: Society and Culture

Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ circle & Insighters Radio- Jan. 6th, 2013

Last year brought many vital issues out into the open. Storms such as Hurricane Sandy for example heightened awareness of climate change. What might we see develop in 2013?

  • Sarah Von Gelder, Yes Magazine;

Then we spend the rest of the hour discussing a disturbing trend of increasing numbers of school children being conditioned for the criminal justice system, often referred to, as the school to prison-pipeline. What might it mean for society? And how should this situation be addressed?

  • Dr. Kim Socha, Regional Dir., Save the Kids;
  • Jon Vang ,  mentor , community activist.
  • Prof. Anthony Nocella, Dispute resolution, Hamline Univ;
  • Daniel Losen, Dir., of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies, UCLA;
  • Prof. Damien Schnyder, African studies, Scripps College

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Dec. 2nd, 2012

First we explore the politics of Palestine in relation to the region and in light of its new status of statehood. We began a discussion with Mark Perry about the politics of Palestine and statehood. We continue now to make sense of the new dynamics inside and outside of Palestine. Author of  Talking with Terrorists: Why America must engage with its enimies. [ Dur. 16 mins. ]

Finally on Scholars’ Circle: With more than 130 votes in the United Nations, Palestine has attained statehood, a move that is thought to empower President Mahmood Abbas’s position both inside Palestine and in future legal battles with its neighbor, Israel. This change in status along with other developments within Palestine and the region may have more ripple effects.

  • Ervin Staub, Prof. of Phycology, University of Massachusetts , Amherst. Author or  Roots of Evil : Origins of  Genocide and other Group Violence.
  • Sami Adwan, Prof. of Education, Bethlehem University , Editor of Peace Research Institute in Middle East and Author of Side by Side: Parallel history of Israel-Palestine
  • Sarai Aharoni, Prof. of Political Science, Hebrew University,  Jerusalem.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Aug. 5th, 2012

This week, in honor of the late Gore Vidal, we bring a 2008 interview we did at his Hollywood Hills home where he reflected on the state of politics and education.

Then on the Scholars’ Circle, with one of the most negative presidential campaigns upon us, and with the Swiftboat Veterans and Willie Horton ads in our rearview mirror, we talk with three top political communication scholars about “going negative,” and what it might mean, especially in this post-Citizens United world.

  • Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Univ. of Penn. – Dir. Annenberg Public Policy Center, Flackcheck.org & FactCheck.org . Author: Packaging the Presidency.
  • Michael Franz, Bowdoin College – Prof. Government Studies & Legal Studies. Author: Interest Groups in American Campaigns.
  • John Geer, Vanderbilt Univ. – Prof. / Chair of Political Science. Author: From Tea Leaves to Opinion Polls.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle June 17th, 2012

Seg. one: Secret heroes. We look at lesser known people who have shaped the world. With Paul Martin, author of Secret Heros ; journalist. [ dur. 16 mins.]

Seg. two: A lock down in Tibet continues, with six more monks burning themselves as acts of protests. We speak with a scholar who just returned from Tibet and China. With Lori Brand, professor, USC; [ dur. 15 mins. ]

On the Scholars’ Circle, we look at root causes of the China – Tibet conflict, and how it might be resolved. [ dur. 28 mins. ]

  • Prof. Robbi Barnett, Colombia, Director of Modern Tibet Studies Program and author of numerous books on Tibet;;
  • Prof. Perry Link, UC Riverside.  Author: Evening Chats in Beijing  co-translated the Tianamen Papers.
  • Prof. Emily Yeh, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – March 18th, 2012

Seg. 1. Massive vacancies on the federal bench and justices with conflicts of interest. What is the state of the independent judiciary? with Nan Aaron, Dir. of Alliance for Justice
Seg. 2. Should people who have committed crimes as teenagers face life in prison with no chance for parole? A look at the laws and the 2500 people who are serving those sentences; with Elizabeth Calvin, Senior Advocate, Human Rights Watch
Seg. 3. Scholars’ Circle. The effect of war on laws, society, governance, and democracy itself. How are these affected as the lines of war-time are increasingly blurred.

  • Mary Dudziak is Judge Edward J. and Ruey Guirado Professor of Law, History and Political Science at the University of Southern California Law School. She is the author of several books including her latest, War-Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences.
  • Patrick James is Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Southern California.
    He is the author of numerous publications including, Religion, Identity and Global Governance: Theory, Evidence and Practice. And he has co-authored, Rethinking Realism in International Relations: Between Tradition and Innovation.
  • Christopher McKnight Nichols is Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow in U.S. History at the University of Pennsylvania. He will be Assistant Professor in the History of the U.S. and the World at Oregon State University starting in the summer of 2012. Nichols specializes in the intellectual history of the U.S. role in the world from 1865 to present. He is the author of many publications including his latest, Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age (Harvard University Press, April 2011)

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – March 11th, 2012

1) When might gas prices come back down? Some experts say never. We’ll explore the realities of fuel prices with  Tyson Slocum.
2) Then, from broken heart to suicide bomber. We explore the various drives that fuel deadly terror with Ken Ballen .
3) On the Scholars’ Circle, what the Putin and rising widespread protests mean for Russia and the world.

  • Professor Daniel Treisman
  • Professor Robert English
  • Professor Katherine Stoner-Weiss

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Feb 9th, 2012

Segment 1: How did society develop from bands of hunter and gatherers to our current political system? Where did the concepts of accountability come from? And why was a swell of democracy followed by a decline in democratic gain? What is behind political decay? Francis Fukuyama poses these questions in his latest book, The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution.

Francis Fukuyama is Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford. He is the author of numerous publications and books including, America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy, and The End of History.

Segment 2: The Scholars’ Circle. Topic: How the new billionaire class is shaping North American society.

Panel members: David Callahan is author, journalist and founder of Demos. He is the author of, Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking of America. Linda McQuuiag is author, journalist and columnist. She is the author of, The Trouble with Billionaires. Taki Oldham is filmmaker and journalist. He went undercover to make the documentary, The Billionaires’ Tea Party.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Feb. 5th, 2012

Seg. 1: What does the trial of international human rights Judge Baltasar Garzon mean for human rights law? With Reed Brody, Human Rights Watch.

Seg.2: How is international law changing for human rights and war? We speak with Ruthie Titel, Prof. of Law, NY University author of her new book, Humanity’s Law.

Seg. 3: Scholars’ Circle. In light of Mitt Romney’s comments about the very poor, we look at poverty, inequality, and social mobility both here in the U.S. and worldwide.

Lane Kenworthy, Prof. of Sociology & Political Science, Univ. of AZ
David A. Smith, Prof. Sociology, U.C. Irvine
Gregory Clark, Prof. & Chair, Dept. of Economics, UC Davis

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