Cheers, Bill

~

Humanimalia: A Journal of Human/Animal Interface Studies (http://www.depauw.edu/humanimalia ) is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal published by DePauw University and edited by Ralph Acampora, Lynda Birke, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., Joan Gordon, Tora Holmberg, Susan McHugh, and Sherryl Vint.

Humanimalia has three aims: to explore and advance the vast range of scholarship on human/animal relations, to encourage exchange among scholarship working from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, and to promote dialogue between the academic community and those working closely with animals in non-academic fields.

If you need to bone up on the basics of history and geography, I recommend Geoffrey Barraclough’s The Times Atlas of World History (1993), as well as Patrick O’Brien’s Concise Atlas of World History (2002). The combination of text, charts, graphs and maps is dangerously absorbing.

There are also two atlases of environmental affairs I recommend. The first is by Joni Seager, New State of the Earth Atlas (1995). The second is John Allen’s Student Atlas of Environmental Issues (1997).

In terms of understanding nature — what it is and how it works — I suggest you look to physical geography. As a student, I found Robert Christopherson’s Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography (2008) to be one of the better texts. To see how environmental scientists link up physical geography with today’s pressing environmental issues, look to William Cunningham and Mary Ann Cunningham’s Environmental Science: A Global Concern (2008).

There are several great online resource. The Encyclopedia of the Earth, http://www.eoearth.org is a comprehensive encyclopedia of environmental studies. PhysicalGeography.net is a wonderful website with many illustrations and maps, at http://www.physicalgeography.net/home.html. I also use Google Earth with increasing frequency: http://earth.google.com/.

A central concept in environmental studies is that of ecology. A superb introduction to ecological principles applied to both human and non-human organisms is offered by Gerald Marten in Human Ecology: Basic Concepts for Sustainable Development (2001). You can also find this book on the web at http://www.gerrymarten.com/human-ecology/tableofcontents.html.

If you are interested in the intellectual history of ecology — its development as both an explanatory science and a moral-political sensibility — then there is no better text than Donald Worster’s Nature’s Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas (1994).

In terms of study aids, I offer a few that are available for download at Glow (http://williams.edu/glow/). These include pdfs on Annotating Text (its better than underlining) as well as Study and Testing Tips.

Finally, for a comprehensive source of information and tutoring, please look into Peer Tutoring, a programme of Academic Resources at Williams College, http://www.williams.edu/resources/acad_resources/peer_tutoring/.

These books, websites and study aids are not the only resources out there, but I hope they are of help to you as you search for those that best meet your needs. If you come across others you would like to share, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment to the post.

Cheers, Bill

So it is especially pleasing that Duke University is sponsoring postdocs focused on the interdisciplinary connections between feminist studies and animal studies. For details, see below.

Cheers, Bill

~

The Duke University Program in Women’s Studies invites applications for two postdoctoral fellows in Interdisciplinary Feminist Studies with a research focus in Human Animal Studies and the Question of Species. We seek candidates with interdisciplinary experience in Women’s Studies. We welcome empirical, textual, and theoretical specialization from a diverse array of academic fields, political and cultural contexts, and historical periods. Postdoctoral fellows will participate in a faculty-graduate seminar on these themes and are expected to be in residence for the academic year. Fellows will teach one course related to their scholarship. The fellowship includes a stipend, health insurance, and office space. Applicants should have the PhD in hand by May 2010.

Applications (including all letters of recommendations) must be received by November 17, 2009. Send C.V., 5-page project proposal, writing sample (25 pages), 1-page course proposal (undergraduate), and 3 letters of recommendation to:

Ranjana Khanna, Director, Women’s Studies, Box 90760, 210 East Duke Building, Durham NC, 27708. Our program information is available at www.duke.edu/womstud. Duke University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

I am frequently asked to provide recommendations for academic fellowships, scholarships, or graduate school applications. Because these recommendations are important, I take writing them seriously. So I have a few rules and requirements that you should keep in mind before requesting that I do so.

1. Your first step is to contact me by email to see if I would be interested in writing you a recommendation. You must contact me at least two weeks before the deadline for which a recommendation is due.

2. Assuming I do, your next step is to provide me with a complete package of information regarding your application. You must do this before I write the recommendation.

This package should includes a pdf of your unofficial transcript, a pdf of your letter of application, and any other material you believe I should know about. Send this package to me as a set of attachments to one email.

Please do not send me a link to a website where you believe the information is found. Instead, extract and organize all the relevant information and place it in the body of your email. Such information includes the fellowship or scholarship title you are applying for, contact information, and description of the opportunity.

3. Note that I always write anonymous recommendations. This ensures the recommendation is taken seriously. You must therefore provide me with the name, title, affiliation and address of the person(s) I am writing to. Include this information in the email you send with your attachments.

4. All recommendations are sent via email, not post. Please make sure you include the correct destination email.

5. The kind of recommendation you receive will reflect your performance in my classes, your overall success in college, and my impressions of you. If you are a poor student who is hostile to learning and lacks initiative, or an average student that is indifferent to theoretical and methodological inquiry, then I’m not the best person to ask. I mean no personal disrespect, but I strive to write excellent recommendations, and I want these to carry the appropriate weight for those that deserve high praise.

Finally, please note that I do not provide written recommendations for non-academic internships or job applications. It is the job of prospective employers to vet their own applications. I am happy, however, to provide verbal recommendations. So with my prior permission, you are welcome to pass on my contact information to potential employers.

Cheers!

When Angelo realized he was about to become homeless, he was determined not to let his cat Simon suffer the same fate. Angelo was heartbroken to imagine being separated from his best friend, but in an unexpected turn of events, and with the help of the Boston-based organization Phinney’s Friends, Angelo has worked out an unusual arrangement — one that enables him to focus on his own needs, while ensuring the very best care for his cat.

To find out more about Phinney’s Friends, or to make a donation, email Carmine Dicenso at: cdicenso@mspca.org

For additional episodes and more information, visit the Animal Inventory TV website.

This past November the journal Nature unveiled its special edition entitled Darwin 200 (November 20, 2008, issue 256) in celebration of Darwin’s 200th birthday.  In this issue Miller et al. reported on successful reconstruction of most of the genome sequence of the extinct woolly mammoth (2008, 256, 387-390). The Miller et al finding is being heralded by some as a potential solution to the problem of extinction – resurrecting long-gone groups of animals like the mammoth, the dinosaurs, or the myriad of others, like orangutans, who are sliding precipitously down the extinction slope. In the same issue, science writer Henry Nicholls considered the scientific complexities of cloning a mammoth in his commentary “Let’s make a mammoth”, asking whether the dream of doing so is now within reach (2008,256, 310-314) and pondering wistfully that “By 2059, who knows what may be returned rebooted to walk the earth?” (2008, 314). And, calling the Miller et al. achievement a “breathtaking” measure of progress, evolutionary anthropologist Michael Hofreiter presaged that the next genome to be sequenced will be that of our close relatives, neanderthals (2008, 256, 330 – 331).

The viewpoints expressed by these authors support the notion that scientific know-how will allow us to skirt the issue of vanishing species under the false confidence that we can bring them back into the world when we deem it worthwhile to do so. This peculiar form of ”conservation” manifests itself in cloning efforts like the one above but also in efforts to collect, preserve and store DNA and viable cells from animals in danger of extinction such as The Frozen Ark Project by the University of Nottingham, Natural History Museum, Zoological Society of London.  Moreover, zoos and aquaria have squarely situated themselves in the middle of this effort by branding themselves as bastions of protection and preservation for the animals they hold captive.  Through their captive breeding programs they claim to be in the business of safe-keeping those species who are bound for extinction in the natural setting.

How realistic are these efforts? More importantly, what do they tell us about our regard for members of other species and, ultimately, their success?  Turning to the practical matter, all life forms, and especially animals, are complex organisms that thrive in a highly intricate dynamic milieu with each other and the planet’s ecosystems. Although DNA preserves the genetic template of any given species it does not preserve the way these genetic instructions unfold in the physical, social and psychological context to yield the whole animal in all of his or her essence. Moreover, it is the disappearance of natural habitats that is the major cause of most of these extinctions. These realities make it highly unlikely that individuals will be able to be restored in their original form in their natural environment to lead natural lives.  Even if some semblance of extinct life forms could be made to survive, there will be no place for them to go. Although this issue is given lip-service, it is taken in stride by cloning enthusiasts.

Beyond these critical pragmatic and scientific issues, I argue that these efforts are representative of a mindset that has contributed greatly to the extinction trend in the first place. I also argue that these kinds of efforts tell us something about the stunning disregard we have for the other animals we share the planet with. This dangerous viewpoint is part of a cultural ill I call “recreational conservation”, societal beliefs and practices that superficially resemble genuine conservation efforts but, instead, reflect and promote a demeaning commoditization of other animals for the purposes of our entertainment and edification.  Zoos, marine parks, captive breeding programs, frozen DNA banks, and extinct species cloning programs all promote themselves as modern-day Noah’s Arks.  But the danger is that these human-created contexts of cement and steel, test tubes, and incubators are all sending the message that natural habitats are irrelevant. And if the animals’ natural context is implicitly presented as unimportant, then these institutions are actually contradicting the message they claim to affirm.  Moreover, these types of efforts palliate people’s anxieties about a disappearing natural world, instead of forcing us to confront the imminent dangers to animals.  In this way they create a false sense of security about the survival and welfare of other animals. Hence the notion that species can be reconstituted or “rebooted” sometime in the future.  Zoos and marine parks, especially, often explicitly convey to the visitor that by patronizing their facility they are contributing to conservation. Visitors, in turn, are not only entertained but exit the zoo with a sense of self-satisfaction that they have “done their part”.  The opportunity loss for real conservation efforts is obvious. Instead of doing the real work of conservation, “recreational conservation” entertains under the guise of education and leads us to look forward to the day when we can be “conservationists” once again by gawking at even more exotic commodities such as the woolly mammoth, tyrannosaurus rex, the saber-toothed tiger, and neanderthals. Recreational conservation ensures failure because it is a continuation of the same mindset that brought other animals to this precipice in the first place. What is needed is the hard work of real conservation – shifting to a non-anthropocentric view that takes seriously the inherent value of the other animals on this planet.

As I read about these touted efforts to bring back extinct species I envision a dystopic future that repeats the ignorance and abuses of the past. In 1902 the Bronx zoo featured an abducted pygmy man, Ota Benga, in the primate display. Mr. Benga eventually committed suicide. In addition to all the other animals trying to eek out a life in confinement, this is a particularly tragic reminder of the sordid past of our institutions of captivity. Now we are closing in on the cusp of further perversions of entertainment – “rebooted” displaced beings, e.g., mammoths and Neanderthals, to keep us mired in the diversionary past and ensuring a future wiped bare by entitlement and disregard. But all is not lost.  Tickets will be half-price on holidays and children under two are admitted free.

Click on the links below to watch the first two episodes.

Episode 1: May & Nebraska

In 2006, May woke up one morning to find that her dog Nebraska couldn’t move his back legs. Two years later, Nebraska is still paralyzed from the waist down, and May has turned her life upside down to accommodate her best friend’s special needs.

Episode 2: Christine & Kelsey and Zoe

In 1992, Christine was struck by two above-ground trains while walking her dog Kelsey in Boston. At the last possible moment, Kelsey pulled Christine out of the direct path of the oncoming trains. Christine was badly injured, but Kelsey’s heroic action likely saved her life. During her lengthy recovery process, Christine decided to devote her life to the welfare of dogs, and co-founded the organization Grey2k. Now, with the help of her greyhound Zoe, Christine is campaigning to end greyhound racing in the state of Massachusetts

Check back in mid-December for episode 3, Angelo & Simon: When Angelo realized he was about to become homeless, he was determined not to let his cat Simon suffer the same fate. With the help of the Boston-based organization Phinney’s Friends, Angelo is able to focus on his own needs, while knowing that Simon is in good hands…

Episodes are available on Animal Inventory TV’s Youtube channel and the show’s website. For more information about the show and upcoming episodes, visit Animal Inventory TV.

When students and professors really care about education and educating, course evaluations can be very helpful.

The most obvious advantage is identifying elements of a course to keep, jettison or improve upon. As importantly, course evaluations are an opportunity for students and professors to dialogue about the meaning and significance of education. Course evaluations can help a department or program monitor its quality, and identify areas needing collective improvement. Sometimes evaluations are a flag that alerts the community to a professor in personal difficulty, making it possible to intervene in helpful and respectful ways.

Speaking for myself, I take course evaluations very seriously. I use student comments to triangulate on improvements to syllabi, lectures, discussions, assignments and tests. As a matter of best practice, I do this in every course each and every year. I also expressly designed my evaluations to elicit a range of quantitative and qualitative data that is germane to each course.

I gently suggest that before students complete an evaluation, they dig out the syllabus to remind themselves of the course’s intentions and content. This helps them write as specific and relevant feedback as possible.

I am especially interested in students thoughts on the following.

* The order of topics and readings (e.g. Should the readings I assign on ethics come before or after those I assign on public policy?)

* The time devoted to particular topics and readings (e.g. Would you like more time reading a particular author, or a particular subject?)

* Additional topics and readings (e.g. What other topics and/or readings would you like to have incorporated into the course?)

* The integration of courses (e.g. If you’ve taken several of my courses, does this courses inform and clarify other courses I teach? Is there a web of knowledge that is emerging?)

* The integration of program (e.g. What are you thoughts on how this course informs other courses in the program?)

When my students fill out course evaluations completely and seriously, it is of substantial help to me and to future students. So a big thank you to those who take the time to do so!

If course evaluations can be so helpful, why then are many faculty and students cynical about them? To understand why, some straight talk about academic politics is in order.

There are many studies on course evaluations. They tend to show a strong correlation between a student’s evaluation’s of a course or professor, and their anticipated grade irrespective of the effort they put forth in the course. This situation is exacerbated by the increasing commodification of education. When higher education is approached as a commodity to be bought, it minimizes student’s participation in their own learning, and detracts from education as an apprenticeship to knowledge, a prerequisite for informed citizenship, and a forge of character.

Administrators frequently talk-up evaluations as a mechanism of quality control exemplifying an institution’s undying commitment to teaching. A rather odd claim given that there are few rewards in many of these same institutions for teaching well. The reality is that many professors are evaluated primarily (often solely) in terms of the scholarship they produce. If they take time away from producing the next research article to teach or advise well, they pay a price in job security or compensation.

For example, I know of one institution where all professors were ranked according to their teaching quality. This was determined by an absurdly short and irrelevant questionnaire in what amounted to a popularity contest. Unfortunately, it had dire results — the lowest ranking professors were fired. Not surprisingly, this approach drove down the quality of teaching. Students figured this out rather quickly, and would punish faculty for hard courses or low grades. And you can imagine what other professors thought when it came time to assign challenging reading, assignments or tests in their courses.

There are also many institutions where teaching is prized. In my own experience, Green Mountain College, Vassar College and Williams College stand out in this respect. These institutions have excellent faculty, along with administrators and institutional incentives that support one’s teaching effort. In a similar vein, my students have been great — striving for their personal best and excelling in the face of rigourous demands. Its no exaggeration to say I have been fortunate to work with great colleagues and students.

What then is the take-home message? I think the task for faculty and students is to approach course evaluations with mutual respect and responsibility. An open mind on the part of faculty, and fair contributions on the part of students, can take us a long way together.

Cheers, Bill

I’ll be teaching one course entitled ‘Understanding Policy’ and the ‘Senior Seminar’. I’ve included a brief description of the courses below. Both are in the Environmental Studies program, but students from other majors are welcome to register. I think you will find both of value.

If you find that the course is over-enrolled, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Please note that the schedule for these courses has changed. The new schedule is as follows.

Envi 309 Understanding Policy: Ethics, Science and Politics will be held from 11:20-12:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays

Envi 402 Senior Seminar: Ethics and the Environment will be held from 19:00-21:45 on Mondays.

cheers, Bill

~

Envi 309. Understanding Policy: Ethics, Science, and Politics.
This course looks at environmental (and other) policies in light of the critical, interpretive and ethical turns in the social sciences. These turns emphasize the role of agency, meaning, power, discourse, and justice in the policy process, and are indispensable to understanding what policy is and how it works. We shall look at the theory, method and practice of this broadly ‘critical’ approach to policy, and apply its insights and tools to a set of empirical cases where the well-being of people, animals and nature is at stake.

The format is lecture and discussion. Evaluation is based on tests, a research paper (in lieu of a final exam), and active participation in class. Enrolment is limited to 20, or with the permission of the instructor.

This course satisfies one semester of the Division II requirement for Williams, and one semester of the environmental policy requirement for Environmental Studies.

Envi 402. Senior Seminar: Ethics and the Environment.
This seminar focuses on the ethical and conceptual dimensions of environmental studies. It does so to facilitate our individual reflection and collective deliberation about humanity’s relationship to nature, the framing of environmental issues in scientific, political and moral debate, and the implications this has for the resolution of environmental problems. Students integrate what they learn in this seminar with their prior coursework and experience, and produce a policy-relevant research paper on an environmental issue of their choice. Environmental Studies and Maritime Studies provide students with an opportunity to explore nature-society relations from local to global scales, and with particular emphasis on terrestrial and aquatic contexts. The possible topics that one might research in this course are boundless.

The format is seminar-based. Evaluation is based on tests, a research paper (in lieu of a final exam), and active participation in class. Enrolment is limited to Envi or MAST students, whose prerequisites are Envi 302 or MAST 351. Other students may enrol with the permission of the instructor.

This course satisfies a required course for the Environmental Studies or Maritime Studies concentrations.

Colleagues, friends and students have contacted me about the courses I will teach at Williams College. A brief description of each course follows below. I’ll update this list and repost it as needed.

If you would like to see the other courses in the Environmental Studies program visit the Williams College Course Catalogue.

cheers, Bill

~

Envi 101 (F) Humans and the Biosphere: An Introduction to Environmental Studies
This course introduces environmental studies as an interdisciplinary field drawing from the natural and social sciences, as well as the arts and humanities. We will look at the root topics of the field — what nature is, how it works, and how humans interact with nature for better or for worse. We will also read from core ethical, political and scientific texts that have informed environmental studies over the years. By the end of the semester, students should be able to recognize and investigate the causes, consequences and responses to humanity’s impact on the environment. This interdisciplinary understanding is indispensable to developing sustainable societies that promote the well-being of people, animals and their habitats.

The format is lecture and discussion. Evaluation is based on tests, a final exam, and active participation in class. There is no enrolment limit.

The course satisfies one semester of the Division II requirement for Williams, and a required core course for Environmental Studies.

Envi 306 (F) Interpreting Nature: Meaning and Method in Environmental Studies
This course is not about interpreting the natural world as a work of art or literature. Rather we will learn to interpret how people think about and act towards nature. Nature is not simply a set of facts to be measured and modeled. It is a domain of ideas and relationships whose meaning for people must be understood. We cannot explain or resolve environmental problems without exploring the values and worldviews that inform how individuals and communities relate to nature. Qualitative research is indispensable in this exploration. We will examine a range of qualitative theories and methods, use examples that emphasize environmental issues, and learn how to identify, collect and analyze qualitative data.

The format is lecture and discussion. Evaluation is based on tests, a research paper (in lieu of a final exam), and active participation in class. Enrolment is limited to 20, or with the permission of the instructor.

The course satisfies one semester of the Division II requirement for Williams, and one semester of the humanities, arts and social science requirement for Environmental Studies.

Envi 309 (S) Understanding Policy: Science, Politics and Ethics
This course looks at environmental (and other) policies in light of the critical, interpretive and ethical turns in the social sciences. These turns emphasize the role of agency, meaning, power, discourse, and justice in the policy process, and are indispensable to understanding what policy is and how it works. We shall look at the theory, method and practice of this broadly ‘critical’ approach to policy, and apply its insights and tools to a set of empirical cases where the well-being of people, animals and nature is at stake.

The format is lecture and discussion. Evaluation is based on tests, a research paper (in lieu of a final exam), and active participation in class. Enrolment is limited to 20, or with the permission of the instructor.

This course satisfies one semester of the Division II requirement for Williams, and one semester of the environmental policy requirement for Environmental Studies.

Envi 402 (S) Senior Seminar
(Same as Maritime Studies 402)
This seminar focuses on the ethical and conceptual dimensions of environmental studies. It does so to facilitate our individual reflection and collective deliberation about humanity’s relationship to nature, the framing of environmental issues in scientific, political and moral debate, and the implications this has for the resolution of environmental problems. Students integrate what they learn in this seminar with their prior coursework and experience, and produce a policy-relevant research paper on an environmental issue of their choice. Environmental Studies and Maritime Studies provide students with an opportunity to explore nature-society relations from local to global scales, and with particular emphasis on terrestrial and aquatic contexts. The possible topics that one might research in this course are boundless.

The format is seminar-based. Evaluation is based on tests, a research paper (in lieu of a final exam), and active participation in class. Enrolment is limited to Envi or MAST students, or with the permission of the instructor. Prerequisites are Envi 302 or MAST 351.

This course satisfies a required course for the Environmental Studies or Maritime Studies concentrations.

Hello,

As the summer ends, many of your are completing your final course requirements. It might be an internship, a thesis or dissertation, or some other kind of project. And as the prospect of finishing your education gets closer and closer, you will begin to worry more and more about finding a job and establishing your career. Below are some helpful steps you can take to set you on the right path.

First, if this is a rather new endeavour, start by scheduling an appointment with your institution’s Career Service Centre. They will have a set of resources for those of you new to curriculum vitae and resume building, networking, career counselling, etc.

Second, sign-up for job search engines that are applicable to you. These engines deliver job ads via email. Set your default to receive a digest of job adds each day or week. For example, www.idealist.org is a well-known job and networking website with a progressive and environmental cast. If you are looking for this sort of work, then checking Idealist daily is a wise move.

Third, bookmark the Employment Opportunities web pages for organizations you would like to work for. Check these pages weekly. For example, if you wanted to work for the Mass. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), you would consistently check their Job Opportunities page at www.mspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aboutus_Job_Opportunities.

Fourth, if you have not already done so, seek out paid, stipend or volunteer internships. The right internship offers not only experience, but excellent networking possibilities as well. Non-profits and government agencies are particularly prone to using internships to vet candidates for jobs that are not yet advertised. See for example the Defenders of Wildlife web page with information on internships, www.defenders.org/about/interns.html.

Fifth, a job-search is full-time work. Don’t put yourself between a rock and a hard place by plunging into a full-time job search before you get your ducks in a row. Prioritize finishing the degree, and organize your life for a full-time search. As soon as your degree requirements are completed, then plunge into the job search with vigour!

Cheers, Bill

Question: What computer should I buy?

Choosing the right computer platform is a personal and institutional decision. The machine and its software has to work for you, as well as integrate into the network of hardware and software applications of your department and institution.

I cannot tell you what is right for your particular circumstance. I will, however, share with you my personal experience.

I was forced to switch from Mac to Windows when I took my first job in the academy. And over the last ten years, I navigated the minefield of Windows software and hardware with some success, as well as much frustration. I have also watched my students struggle with similar issues.

A couple of years ago I began writing about my disappointments with Windows software and hardware. I grew tired of crashes, hangs, bad design and endless clicks. The recent comments of Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s Chief Executive, that people buying the Vista OS can downgrade to XP ‘for free’ underscores my point.

So I recently made a switch back to Apple and bought a MacBook Pro with OS X Leopard. I’m extremely pleased I did. I chose a 15″ screen, a 1/2 terabyte time capsule. I supplemented this with a widescreen monitor, as well as a wireless keyboard and mouse. I also had 4 GB of memory installed.

The current iteration of OS X is vastly superior to XP — from the GUI, to the program architecture, to the interoperability with the web. Indeed, I am a bit astonished at the difference. I have not used Vista, but what I hear and see from my students (and Ballmer) does not reassure me. Indeed even Microsofts’ flagship software — Office — works better on a Mac.

If you are or will be a university student or professor, you may be thinking about switching from Windows to Apple. If you do, here are a few resources that may be of help along the way.

Apple’s overview on moving from Windows to OS X. Great place to start.
www.apple.com/getamac/movetomac

Even better, Apple’s Switch 101
www.apple.com/support/switch101

Little Machine’s O2M (Outlook to Mac) software. Before you give it a whirl, make sure you set your dates and times to American standard. World time and Canadian date formats gum up the works.
www.littlemachines.com

Once you’ve accomplished the basics, ThinkMac has a switching guide that takes you to the next step.
ThinkMac.net

For a list of the best open source Mac software, try:
OpenSourceMac.org.

For a complementary list of the best Mac software (open source or not), try:
BestMacSoftware.org.

For a list of portable applications you can use on a usb key with your mac, try:
FreewareOSX.com.

Version Tracker and MacUpdates will help you find other applications, plugins, scripts, etc.
VersionTracker.com
MacUpdate.com

And if you like to keep up with Apple innovations and gossip, look to Apple Insider.

Finally, if you prefer a paper guide, try David Pogue’s Switching to Mac (2008).

If you will be studying in a windows environment, you can install Parallels desktop or use Apple’s BootCamp to run XP and windows programs. Since OS X is built on an open source core, many open source programs made for Unix or Linux will also work on the Apple through the use of the X11 emulator that comes with your Apple. Both Parallels and X11 are easy to use.

If it is of help to you, here’s a taste of what I’m running on my MacBookPro today. I’ve tried to build on a bundle of native Apple software, supplemented with other open source and proprietary software.

OS X Leopard
Coda (Dreamweaver alternative)
Cyberduck (ftp client)
Firefox and Safari (browsers & IE alternatives)
Address Book, iCal and Mail (Outlook alternative)
Google Earth
Inkscape (photoshop alternative)
iPhoto (Picassa alternative)
iTunes (of courese)
KeePassX
Kompozer (Dreamweaver alternative)
MarsEdit (blog editor)
NeoOffice (Microsoft Office alternative)
iWork (Microsoft Office alternative)
Sente (Endnote alternative)
Skype and iChat
SyncDifferent (usb syncronization)
UnArchiver (WinZip alternative)
VLC (Windows Media Player alternative)
Xee (image browser)

I hope my experience is of some help to you, and good luck with your computer purchase

cheers, Bill

A short note to say that as of this Fall, I am joining Williams College as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies. Williams is a terrific liberal arts college located in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. I could not be happier with this wonderful opportunity.

I hope you will keep in touch. My email and other contact information will remain the same, as will the Practical Ethics website (www.practicalethics.net) and Ethos blog (www.practicalethics.net/blog/).

cheers, Bill

From July 17 to July 23, 2008, I took part in a six-day “Whole Thinking Retreat” sponsored by the Center for Whole Communities at Knoll Farm in Fayston, Vermont. The twenty-plus participants and facilitators were a multi-racial group of environmental leaders from across the country trying to move beyond the limited thinking so often embedded within each of our particular sectors of the movement. My cohort now joins over 700 other alumni of similar Center retreats. The reflections below are adapted from some journal writing I did upon returning home. For more information about the Center for Whole Communities, please go to http://www.wholecommunities.org/.

Steve Chase

Driving home from Knoll Farm reminded me of the last scene in My Dinner With Andre. In that movie, Wally Shawn is driving home in a cab through the streets of New York City–something he’s done countless times before–and he is staring out the window transfixed, seeing everything again for the first time and with appropriate awe. All of life was sacramental to him after his amazing dinner with his friend.

That was also true for me during my quiet trip home through the sometimes cloud-hidden and rainy Green Mountains and hills of Vermont. I drove in silence (without my usual talk radio jabbering on and on) at 55 miles per hour–ten miles an hour less than the speed limit, and twenty-five miles an hour less than I usually drive. Not changing lanes, not passing anyone, and burning far less gas on this trip, I had time to look out the window more, to notice my breathing, to think deeply about my time at Knoll Farm and about all of my companions on the retreat journey, including the luminous green humming bird I saw in one of the flower gardens during one of the few sunny moments in the week.

In Jewish Scripture, the word for “sin” literally translates to the phrase “missing the mark.” At the Farm, I tasted “the mark” with unusual vividness. I tasted being a part of a diverse, inspiring, and intentional community working to create a more environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet. I tasted what Jesus called faithfulness–being both smart as a serpent and as open-hearted as a dove.

For five of our days together, we walked up and down Bragg Hill—or rode in the “sun buggy”–though the Farm’s gardens, grasslands, and woods. At the top of the hill, we sat in a circle in a giant yurt and shared our core visions and values and—very blessedly—took the time to talk honestly about race, power, and privilege in our lives and in our organizations. We did this even when it was painful, incomplete, and raw. All of us experienced moments of anger, hurt feelings, and misunderstanding in that yurt—as we sometimes did during the rest of our time together at Knoll Farm. Yet, we also shared many moments of profound forgiveness, repentance, and insight. We became imperfect, but powerful, allies during those six days.

Our time together also fed my tattered, middle-aged, Quaker soul. We spent from ten at night to ten in the morning in silence. We even meditated together several times during the “talking” part of our day. We told stories about our lives and about our work back home to help heal the world. There was one night of ecstatic dancing and chores everyday, as well as hot, outdoor, solar-heated showers early in the morning, sometimes taken in the rain. I mulched and picked blueberries, sorted wool, or shucked peas most afternoons. There was singing sometimes while we worked or did spoon carving–and some people read poetry before dinner. Don’t even get me started about the food! There were also giant orange moons coming up over the mountains at least partially visible through the clouds to the southeast most every night. These moons were most frequently viewed from a fire circle where several people sat a while before heading off to sleep in their tents.

I found it hard to say goodbye to everyone at the Farm and drive home on our last morning. Yet, as well as one can driving alone in a car powered by gas and lubricated by oil, I came much closer to the mark than normal on that journey home. Inside that car, I drank water from the Farm that I carried in the metal bottle that I now usually keep clipped to my belt loop. On such a trip in the past, I would have stopped along the way and purchased six or seven plastic bottles of diet soda.

I also got hungry for lunch near Randolph and took the town’s exit off Interstate 89 and drove right past the MacDonald’s at the end of the ramp. Usually, driving alone and with no one looking, I would have turned into that parking lot and indulged in some childhood/teenage comfort food, one of my private guilty pleasures that has had a huge addictive pull on me for decades. On this afternoon, however, MacDonald’s did not hold any allure or offer any pleasure to me. It was not just far from the mark, it was also far from my heart.

Instead, I drove into town and looked for a little, locally-owned restaurant that served me a handmade salad with a bit of chicken, a hard boiled egg, and some diced black olives on top of a mix of greens, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and carrots all lightly dressed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The Depot Restaurant owner brought it to me with a smile, along with a slice of homemade bread, and all of it in a glass bowl!
I ate slowly thinking of the single wooden bowl that I had eaten out of every meal for a week, the very bowl that was now sitting cock-eyed on the front seat of my borrowed car. I also thought of Helen and Jay, two long-time organic farmers that I now knew personally. I silently lifted my glass of local tap water and toasted them for their love of our soil and their ability to help the earth say beans or squash or blueberries.

I only wished that the owner had stood by the table before I ate and told me what farm every ingredient in the salad had come from. I also fantasized about someone standing up at the next booth and reading a poem by Rumi out loud and then another customer on the other side of the room offering a few passages from Wendy Johnson’s Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate. Gently letting go of that sweet image, I offered a silent prayer before I ate my lunch. “Stealth meditating” Wendy would call it.

Driving homeward again, I felt Dunking Donuts, Burger King, even the Olive Garden slipping away from me. As I munched one-handed on Knoll Farm organic blueberries for my dessert, I felt myself drawing closer toward the mark–closer toward farmers markets, roadside produce stands, locally-owned restaurants, and the organic section of my big chain supermarket until those precious folks in Keene, who are working on establishing a food coop in our town, succeed. And, yes, I thought I should send them a little money and a thank you note, right after I send a thank you poem to all the dear ones from my retreat week at Knoll Farm.

When I finally arrived in Keene, I picked up my computer from work and drove straight to my house, unlocked my backdoor—I hadn’t had keys in my pocket for five days, let alone a computer nearby—and I began to put my stuff away. I laughed at a week’s worth of unread newspapers dutifully piled on the dining room table by my partner Katy and I checked to see if there was any mail for me that had arrived while I was gone. I only opened one piece—the invitation to the upcoming September weekend celebration of the Center for Whole Communities’ fifth year anniversary at Knoll Farm.

I drank some water from my own kitchen sink faucet and got back in my borrowed car to fill up its tank at a Citgo station—whose profits at least help some of the poor in Venezuela. I then returned the car to my friend and, by way of a small thank you, gave her my last unmolested box of Knoll Farm blueberries. She was thrilled. We hugged, chatted a bit, and then she offered me a ride home. Even with it threatening rain again, I said no.

Like my four hour drive home, I walked this final bit as Wally Shawn rode home in his cab—in my case, wide-eyed and delighted while walking by our Town Common, which sits across from City Hall and the big white United Church of Christ, then on down our Main Street dotted with small businesses on either side, past the Colonial Theater (an amazing nonprofit arts organization), and up the hill on Water Street to my little house surrounded by Katy’s flowers. Walking through my community, I felt more committed than ever to fostering creative citizen action for climate protection, ecological sustainability, social justice, and the democratic control of corporations.

Still, on this day, I just sat quietly looking forward to Katy returning from work and hearing all about her week. I imagined her as a double rainbow over the Mad River Valley and waited.

Steve Chase is the founding director of the Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program at Antioch University New England in Keene, New Hampshire. He is also the editor of “The Well-Trained Activist” blog (http://eaop-blog.blogspot.com).

cheers, Bill

~

Lori Marino is a senior lecturer in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Emory University and a faculty affiliate of the Living Links Center for the Advanced Study of Ape and Human Evolution in Atlanta.

Lori received her doctorate degree in biopsychology from The State University of New York at Albany in 1995, where she began her work on comparative brain size evolution in cetaceans and primates. Her research expertise includes the evolution of brain size and intelligence in other species, cognitive ethology, and self-awareness, as well as human-nonhuman relationships and welfare issues.

Lori is the author of over eighty scientific papers, book chapters, and popular articles. In 2001 she and Diana Reiss published the first definitive evidence for mirror self-recognition in a non-primate species – the bottlenose dolphin. She also publishes and speaks extensively on ending exploitation of dolphins and whales around the world in the dolphin-assisted therapy (DAT) and marine park industries. She has developed and teaches courses in animal welfare and non-invasive approaches to neuroscience, including Brain Imaging, and is interested in not only training students to be critical thinkers and scientists but also in providing an academic context for the study of non-invasive models of science, animal welfare, advocacy, and ethics.

Lori is the co-founder of the Atlanta Animal Studies Group (http://atlantaanimalstudiesgroup.blogspot.com/), which is focused on exploring the cultural and ethical relationship between humans and non-humans, and is also a staff member at The Kerulos Center (http://www.kerulos.org/) dedicated to the prevention and treatment of human-caused suffering of other animals.

You can contact her at:

Lori Marino, PhD
Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology Program
Emory University
1462 Clifton Road Suite 304
Atlanta, Georgia 30322
(404) 727-7582lmarino@emory.edu

Selected Publications

Marino L, Lilienfeld S (2007) Dolphin assisted therapy: More flawed data, more flawed conclusions. Anthrozoos. 20: 239 – 249.

Marino L (2007) Animal consciousness. In The Encyclopedia of human-animal relationships, M Bekoff, ed. Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 1297-1301.

Marino L (2007) Dolphin mythology. In The Encyclopedia of human-animal relationships, M Bekoff, ed. Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 491-495

Marino L (2007) Scala natura. In The Encyclopedia of human-animal relationships. M Bekoff, ed. Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 220-224.

Bradshaw G and Marino L (2007) Minds of their own: The exciting new field of trans-species psychology. Best Friends Magazine, November/December: 24-26.

Marino L, Connor RC, Fordyce, RE, Herman LM, Hof PR, Lefebvre L, Lusseau, McCowan B, Nimchinsky EA, Pack AA, Rendell L, Reidenberg JS, Reiss D, Uhen MD ,Van der Gucht E, Whitehead H. (2007) Cetaceans have complex brains for complex cognition. Public Library of Science (PLOS) Biology, 5(5): e139.

Reiss D, Marino L (2001) Self-recognition in the bottlenose dolphin: A case of cognitive convergence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 98 (10): 5937-5942.

Marino L, Lilienfeld S (1998) Dolphin-assisted therapy: flawed data, flawed conclusions. Anthrozoos, 11(4): 194-199.

Many of the readers of this blog are spending the summer writing their research project, thesis or dissertation.

One way of implementing her advice is to form a writing support group. Here are a few suggestions that I’ve accumulated over time.

1. Meet every two or three weeks. Weekly is too often, once a month is too long.

2. Take turns providing a writing sample for the group to read and critique. The sample must not be too long, and should be distributed well ahead of your meeting time.

3. Feedback on the clarity and content of your writing is an obvious benefit. Less appreciated is how reading and critiquing the work of another sparks new ideas about your own interpretation and expression.

4. Distinguish between questions of expression (e.g. how to say something) and conception (e.g. theory, method, data sources).

5. Get an experienced writer to attend some of your meetings. This can be a professor, editor, senior grad student, etc. The trick is getting the right person with the right experience for the topic under consideration.

6. Someone (or two) must take responsibility for planning and organizing the meetings. Great ideas and meetings can fizzle out for lack of organization and preparation.

7. Meet in a venue that facilitates your dialogue and has a minimum of disruptions.

I hope these suggestions are of some help, and good luck in writing up your research!

cheers, Bill

cheers, Bill

~

Marc Bekoff is Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and is a Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society and a former Guggenheim Fellow. In 2000 he was awarded the Exemplar Award from the Animal Behavior Society for major long-term contributions to the field of animal behavior.

Marc is also regional coordinator for Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots program, in which he works with students of all ages, senior citizens and prisoners, and also is a member of the Ethics Committee of the Jane Goodall Institute. He and Jane co-founded the organization Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals: Citizens for Responsible Animal Behavior Studies in 2000. Marc is on the Board of Directors of The Fauna Sanctuary and The Cougar Fund and on the advisory board for Animal Defenders, the Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group, and the conservation organization WildEarth Guardians (also see SINAPU). He has been part of the international program, Science and the Spiritual Quest II and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) program on Science, Ethics, and Religion. Marc is also an honorary member of Animalisti Italiani and Fundacion Altarriba, and on the Scientific Review Board of the Great Ape Trust. In 2006 Marc was named a Fellow of the Dancing Star Foundation, an honorary board member of Captive Animals’ Protection Society. In 2005 Marc was presented with The Bank One Faculty Community Service Award for the work he has done with children, senior citizens, and prisoners.

Marc’s main areas of research include animal behavior, cognitive ethology (the study of animal minds), and behavioral ecology, and he has also published extensively on animal issues. He has published more than 200 papers and 18 books, including Species of mind: The philosophy and biology of cognitive ethology (with Colin Allen, MIT Press, 1997); Nature’s purposes: Analyses of function and design in biology (edited with Colin Allen and George Lauder, MIT Press, 1998), Animal play: Evolutionary, comparative, and ecological perspectives (edited with John Byers, Cambridge University Press, 1998), Encyclopedia of animal rights and animal welfare (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998), and a book on the lighter side, Nature’s life lessons: Everyday truths from nature (with Jim Carrier, Fulcrum, 1996). His children’s book, Strolling with our kin was published in Fall 2000 (AAVS/Lantern Books) as was The smile of a dolphin: Remarkable accounts of animal emotions (Random House/Discovery Books). The cognitive animal: Empirical and theoretical perspectives on animal cognition (edited by Marc, Colin Allen, and Gordon Burghardt) appeared in 2002 (MIT Press), as did Minding animals: Awareness, emotions, and heart (Oxford University Press) and Jane Goodall and Marc’s The Ten Trusts: What we must do to care for the animals we love (HarperCollins). Marc has edited a three volume Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004), and a collection of his essays titled Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues: Reflections on Redecorating Nature was published by Temple University Press (2006).

A summary of Marc’s research on animal emotions titled The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy and Why They Matter was published in March 2007 by New World Library and he is currently completing a book on the evolution of moral behavior with Jessica Pierce titled Wild Justice: Reflections on Empathy, Fair Play, and Morality in Animals for the University of Chicago Press. Marc has also edited a four-volume Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships: A Global Exploration of our Connections with Animals for Greenwood Publishing Group (2007) and he and Cara Blessley Lowe have edited a book of readings on cougars titled Listening to Cougar (University Press of Colorado, 2007). Marc’s book Animals Matter: A Biologist Explains Why We Should Treat Animals with Compassion and Respect was also published in 2007 (Shambhala Publications) and Temple University Press will publish Marc’s children’s book, Animals at Play: Rules of the Game in 2008. He is currently working on a new book titled The Animals’ Manifesto: Ten Reasons Why Animals Are Asking Us To Treat Them Better Or Leave Them Alone (for New World Library) and revising his 1998 Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare (for Greenwood Press, 2009).

Marc’s work has been featured on 48 Hours, in Time Magazine, Life Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, The New York Times, New Scientist, BBC Wildlife, Orion, Scientific American, Ranger Rick, National Geographic Kids, on NPR, BBC, Fox, Natur GEO, in a National Geographic Society television special (’Play: The Nature of the Game’), in Discovery TV’s ‘Why Dogs Smile and Chimpanzees Cry’, and in Animal Planet’s ‘The Power of Play’ and National Geographic Society’s ‘Hunting in America’. Marc has also appeared on CNN, Good Morning America, and 20/20.

In 1986 Marc became the first American to win his age-class at the Tour du Var bicycle race (also called the Master’s/age-graded Tour de France). Among Marc’s hobbies are cycling, skiing, hiking, and reading spy novels.

Compassion is the key for bettering animal and human lives. People all over the globe are talking about ways to lighten our carbon footprint and accrue carbon credits. But what about our compassion footprint and compassion credits?

A good way to make the world a more compassionate and peaceful place for all animals, to increase our compassionate footprint, is to “mind” them. “Minding” animals means that we must “mind” them by recognizing that they have active minds and feelings. We must also “mind” them as their caretakers in a human dominated world in which their interests are continually trumped in deference to ours.

To mind animals it’s essential for people with varied expertise and interests to talk to one another, to share what we know about animals and use this knowledge for bettering their and our lives. There are many ways of knowing and figuring out how science and the humanities, including those interested in animal protection, conservation, and environmentalism (with concerns ranging from individuals to populations, species, and ecosystems), can learn from one another is essential.

You can read the entire essay at www.dailycamera.com.

cheers, Bill

Harvard students too are feeling the pull of doing good or doing well. You can read about it here:

Big Paycheck or Service? Students Are Put to the Test

Letters to the editor in response to the article further reveal the frustrations around this issue.

Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

You can read more about the decision at Reuters.

cheers, Bill

I thought this issue addressed an interesting nexus between ethics, science, culture, and public policy, so I wanted to share it with you. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Best -

Jared Milrad

Our Common Concern.com

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Sometimes it seems that blood drives are everywhere — at school, work, you name it. If seems that way, it’s because the need for them couldn’t be greater: of the 37% of adults eligible to give blood in this country, only 5-10% actually do. In fact, 2007 was reportedly one of worst years on record for blood availability. Most hospitals only have half a day’s supply of blood on hand, when experts say they should have at least a 3-5 day reserve.

Not only does this shortage mean extended waits for patients with non-life threatening diagnoses, but it may mean a potentially dangerous situation for those in need of immediate care.

Ready to help? If you’re eligible, go for it. If you’re gay, well, think again.

That’s because since 1983, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has had a blanket policy banning all potential gay male donors who have had sex with another man after 1977 (when HIV was first identified in the U.S. population).

The FDA cites significantly higher rates of HIV and Hepatitis B and C in the gay male population as its justification, saying blood reserves should not be unnecessarily compromised. Fair enough. But some experts and lay persons call the policy — which is replicated in Canada and some European countries — blatantly discriminatory.

For example, blood tests can now identify HIV-positive blood in as little as 10 days, making the process of screening blood much more efficient and accurate than it was in 1983. Others argue that gay men in committed, monogamous, and long-term relationships should be not excluded from donating blood simply simply because of their sexual orientation. And major blood banks such as America’s Blood Centers have revised their policy on the issue in light of new tests.

In California, activists have boycotted some blood drives and/or started their own. Most recently, the FDA rejected a request to amend the policy by allowing gay men who have not had sexual contact within the past twelve months to donate.

And so the debate rages on, albeit quietly (and gay blood-free, of course).

Our Common Concern
:: a socially conscious blog ::

For example, should we kill sea lions to save salmon, coyotes to protect sheep, wolves to safeguard cattle, or cats to preserve song-birds? These are the kinds of questions we addressed.

Hosted by Emily Harris and David Miller, ‘Playing God?’ was an episode of Think Out Loud, a fascinating programme of Oregon Public Broadcasting.

You can visit the ‘Playing God?‘ webpage to listen to the show, as well as add your comments to the interactive blog.

cheers, Bill

Jared was born in New York City and raised both in New York and central New Jersey. Vegan since the age of 14, Jared has been intensely interested in animal welfare for most of his life, rescuing everything from finches to feral cats as a teenager. While a freshman at North Carolina State University in 2002, Jared became the first student in the school’s history to publicly challenge its policy on animal dissections, leading to a national outcry of support for his beliefs and a significant revision of the school’s Student Choice policy.

Jared later graduated from N.C. State with a B.S. in Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences and, most recently, from Tufts University with a M.S. in Animals and Public Policy. His thesis at Tufts, entitled A Fundamental Nexus: Animals and Genocide From An International Policy Perspective, advocated for revised genocide prevention and response policies that account for the many complex roles of animals during such crises.

Beyond human-animal studies, Jared has long been interested in finding common ground among people. Having visited four continents and advocated for a variety of groups, Jared is a strong believer in the intersections between social causes. He is the Founder and Editor of a socially conscious blog, Our Common Concern (http://ourcommonconcern.com), which highlights pressing social issues — from human rights to environmental justice to animal protection — in hopes of inspiring a dialogue for change.

Jared is also a long-time organizer for the Obama Campaign, and part of the team organizing New Hampshire for the presidential election in 2008.

You can contact Jared at ourcommonconcern@gmail.com.

In “The dumbing down of voters” (Op-ed, June 15) Rick Shenkman attributes Americans’ political ignorance to television and the collapse of labor unions. I think there is a deeper problem: The United States tends to raise employees, not citizens.

Our culture emphasizes so-called practical skills, while we thumb our noses at theory, as if theory had no practical effect. Education is being reduced to job training. The humanities suggest pleasant ways to spend our “free time,” as if literature, art, philosophy, and religion had nothing to teach us about how we ought to live.

Work is supposed to be hard, or it’s not work. To commit your life to service means taking a vow of poverty, as if one cannot do good and do well. In short, we are encouraged to act without deep reflection, to toil away without questioning. And, sadly, I suspect that’s how politicians like it.

Karin Lauria

Source: www.boston.com

I am not one to criticize the actions of county officials who, according to their own best judgment, made a difficult decision in an emergency situation. After all, animals are killed in these situations all the time — including a bear who recently strayed into a populated area in Boston. And as one official points out, pigs are killed in slaughterhouses everyday — particularly in Iowa, where there were 15.5 million pigs on over 10,000 farms in 2002.

But the question must be asked: would we have had the same reaction to these animals if they were dogs instead of pigs? What about wolves instead of pigs?

For example, when family pets are shot, county officials often have a different reaction: offer up a reward for the killer. A $4,000 reward is being offered for a dog who was shot to death in Maryland.

In the case of the flooded pigs, what was the true motivation for shooting them? Was it, as one official argued, fear for people’s property? Or was it simply that we value different animals differently?

Some or all of the above may be true. But I for one believe that we should think very, very critically before we take a life, and minimize harm whenever possible. Moreover, while we may value different animals differently, each is still a sentient being who deserves our utmost respect.

We would ask nothing more for our dog, so why not for our pigs?

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Our Common Concern :: a socially conscious blog