Politics

Lecture: “Natural Resource Policy-Making in Thailand” 9/20, 4:30 p.m.

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Professor Danny Unger of Northern Illinois University will be speaking this Thursday, September 20, on “Tackling Tough Decisions in a Democracy: Natural Resource Policy-Making in Thailand.” The lecture is at 4:30 PM in the Freeman Center for East Asian Studies.

Democracy is sometimes said to be associated with stronger protections against environmental degradation. Thailand’s environmental regime has become stronger since 1990, and its policy processes have become generally more participatory since the year 2000. The accompanying environmental gains have been uneven, however, and in some cases have been associated with authoritarian interludes rather than with democratic politics. What can the case of Thailand tell us about the conditions under which democracy contributes to preserving the environment.

You are cordially invited to attend Professor Unger’s talk.

Last Day to Vote for WSA Elections — 5/4!

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Class of 2013, 2014, or 2015, vote for your representatives NOW. Ensure that your voice is heard! Vote at wsa.wesleyan.edu/voting

Also, take our semester survey: it’s only 15 short questions, and your input informs the issues that the WSA takes up next year. All class years can take the survey.

Lastly, we have our WSA Constitution up for approval along with a description of the changes we have made. You can also read about the changes here. Again, everyone is able to vote on changes.

As always, let us know if you have any questions.

Best, The Elections Committee

Meet the Mayor of Middletown! 5/2, noon

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Have questions for the mayor of Middletown? Interested in discussing the relationship between Wesleyan and the rest of Middletown? Curious about city government and ways to get involved? The WSA will be hosting an open conversation with the Mayor of Middletown Dan Drew on Wednesday, May 2nd at noon in Usdan 108. 

 See you there, Zachary Malter, WSA President

Film Screening: “My Neighbor, My Killer” with director Anne Aghion — 5/1, 5 p.m.

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Screening of “My Neighbor, My Killer”

& Discussion with Filmmaker Anne Aghion

Tuesday, May 1, 5:00pm Center for Film Studies

Gacaca (Ga-CHA-cha), which literally means “justice on the grass,” is a form of citizen-based justice which Rwandans decided to put into place in an attempt to deal with the crimes of the 1994 genocide. Filming for over a decade in a tiny rural hamlet, director Anne Aghion has charted the impact this experiment in transitional justice has had on survivors and perpetrators alike. Through their fear and anger, accusations and defenses, blurry truths, inconsolable sadness, and hope for life renewed, she captures the emotional journey to coexistence.

As a filmmaker, Anne Aghion has been drawn to places as far-ranging as rural Rwanda, the ice fields of Antarctica and the slums of Managua. She has been praised by critics, both as a director of unique and poetic vision, and a documentarian who conveys a strong sense of the people and places she covers. Her work has also earned her, among other honors, a UNESCO Fellini Prize, a Guggenheim fellowship, an Emmy, and the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival’s Nestor Almendros Award for courage in Filmmaking.

Panel Discussion on Political Action for Students 2012 Election — 4/26, 4:30 p.m.

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Panel Discussion: “Breaking the Mold in 2012: New Tactics for Young People’s Political Action”

Thursday, April 26, 4:30pm  PAC 001

The panel will be about new ways of organizing and the influence of young people’s participation on the election of 2012, as well as the benefits of working with and outside the two-party system.

Participants:  Dan Fischer  ’12, Occupy Wesleyan    Szelena Gray, Rootstrikers    Nathan Kleinman, Occupy Philadelphia and Congressional Candidate (PA-13)     Alex Levin ’12, College Republican National Committee     David Thompson ‘11, Citizens’ Congress    Liz Valentin ‘11, Citizens’ Congress

 

WSA Presidential Debate — 4/23, 6:30 p.m.

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As we draw closer to the Presidential and Vice Presidential race this spring, we are pleased to announce that the Presidential Debate will take place at 6:30 PM on Monday, April 23rd on the 1st floor of Usdan. Come hear what the candidates have to say; you can submit your questions here.

Best, The Elections Committee–Meherazade Sumariwalla ’12 (Chair), Syed Ali ’13 and Maeve Russell ’14

Lecture on Jewish Approaches to Islam 4/19, 4:30 p.m.

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A Lecture by Elisha Russ-Fishbane, Princeton University

 Judaism and Islam: Between History and Polemics

 The talk will address Jewish approaches to Islam from a historical and modern perspective.

Elisha Russ-Fishbane received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations in 2009.  His dissertation, Between Politics and Piety: Abraham Maimonides and His Times, is a historical investigation into Egyptian Jewish society in the thirteenth century.   Elisha Russ-Fishbane is now a Tikvah Postdoctoral Fellow in Jewish Thought at Princeton University and will be joining Wesleyan’s Religion Department and Jewish and Israel Studies in July.

Thursday, April 19, PAC 004, 4:30 pm

Shasha Seminar: The Political Economy of Oil — 4/19 and 4/20

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You are cordially invited to the 10th Annual Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns

The Political Economy of Oil with keynote address

“Protecting Our Environment in Turbulent Times”

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Daniel C. Esty

Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection

Thursday, April 19, 2012

8:00 p.m.

Memorial Chapel

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Steve LeVine

Author, The Oil and the Glory

Friday, April 20, 2012

1 p.m.

Beckham Hall

 

Endowed by James Shasha ’50 P’82, the Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns supports lifelong learning and encourages participants to expand their knowledge and perspectives on significant issues.

Check the following link for additional information, http://wesconnect.wesleyan.edu/shasha

Prof. Elvin Lim: Tea Party Talk – 4/10, 5 p.m.

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The Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences (CAAS) is presenting a talk today at 5:00 pm in Usdan University Center, Room 108:

Why the Tea Party of 1773 Achieved More Than the Tea Party of 2012, by Elvin Lim, Associate Professor of Government
  
The talk is free to all.

The Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1799 and is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States.  The Academy sponsors several lectures a year, including an annual lecture at Wesleyan.

Lecture: Organ Transplants, Islam, and the Struggle for Human Dignity in Egypt — Prof. S. Hamdy, 4/10, 4:30 p.m.

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On Tuesday April 10 at 4:30pm in PAC 002, Prof. Sherine Hamdy, a current member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University and an Assistant Professor of Anthropology of Brown University, will be giving a talk entitled: “Organ Transplants, Islam, and the Struggle for Human Dignity in Egypt”.  Prof Hamdy’s talk is being funded by the Middle East Studies Program and the Feminism, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program. 

Brief description of the talk:
This talk will analyze the national debate over organ transplantation in Egypt as it has unfolded during a time of major social and political transformation—including mounting dissent against a brutal regime, the privatization of health care, advances in science, the growing gap between rich and poor, and the Islamization of public space.

Brief bio:
Sherine Hamdy is an assistant professor of anthropology and social sciences at Brown University who focuses on cross-cultural approaches to medicine, health, and authoritative knowledge about the body. She is currently a member at the School of Social sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, where she is working on a new project about reproductive health and gender in Egypt.