Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Preservation Houston


As part of the continuing Art Lecture Series of the Art Department, we cordially invite you to join us Wednesday, November 14, 2012 from Noon – 1:00 pm in the Teaching Theater (A126) for a fascinating presentation by Jim Parsons, Director of Special Projects at Preservation Houston. Founded in 1978, Preservation Houston promotes the preservation and appreciation of Houston's architectural and cultural historic resources through education, advocacy and committed action, thereby creating economic value and developing a stronger sense of community.

LSC-North Harris International Students


The End of White Man's Democracy

2012 Presidential Election Demographics
Electorate (by Gender): Women: (54%) Men: (46%)
For Barack Obama 55% 46%
For Mitt Romney 44% 53%

Candidates Barack Obama Mitt Romney
White Voters 39% 59%
African –American Voters 93% 6%
Hispanic Voters 71% 27%
Other (e.g. Asian, Pacific Islander) 73% 26%

Electorate (Age) Barack Obama Mitt Romney
18-29 (19%) 60% 37%
30-44 (27%) 52% 45%
45-64 (38%) 47% 51%
65 & Older (16%) 44% 56%
The Triumph of White Man's Democracy (1828-2012)

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Peking University

 Peking University’s recruiting/scholarship session next Monday.  11:00-12: 00 in the courtyard; 12:00-1:100 in A126, with refreshments

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Monday, October 29, 2012

Email Ettiquette

Nothing says, "don't take me seriously" like an email in all lower case. Learn how to send an effective email.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Mayans' Doomsday Calendar

The doomsday predictions based on the Mayan Long Calendar are nonsense.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Take-home Online Unit 3 Exam

The Unit 3 exam will be a take-home, online exam. The exam will become available Wednesday, November 14, at 8 PM. The exam will close at 9 AM Monday, November 26. We will not meet in class November 19 or November 21.

To take the exam:

  1. Log onto Angel, and open  the course.
  2. Open the Unit 3 folder.
  3. Click on the Unit 3 exam 
  4. Begin the exam.

Parking Permits

Order you parking permit online here. The authorities will be cracking down soon, and tickets might be expensive.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Monday, October 15, 2012

Contact Information--Why?

At the beginning of each semester, I stress the importance of getting contact information from other students. Most students ignore this suggestion. Then, something happens. That student is unable to get to class, and he/she has no one to call. If you get contact information, and that happens, you can call your contact to find out what happened in class. Also, if your car breaks down, you can call someone for a ride. If you do not exchange contact information, you will be on your own. You will have no one to call for information and no one to call for a ride. Exchange contact information. Some of the friends you make in college, will become lifelong friends.

Monday, October 8, 2012

The Reform-Assessment Complex


>http://www.aftlonestar.org/

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Monday, September 17, 2012

What Makes Generational Poverty Different from Middle CLass?



On Sept. 25, 10 a.m. to approximately 3 p.m., in SSB Conference Center, the Texas Legislature Joint Committee on Human Trafficking will having their meeting here on the LSC-North Harris campus. Rep. Sefronia Thompson and Sen. Leticia Van de Putte are the co-chairs. Approximately 16-18 elected officials including both State Representatives and State Senators will attend this meeting as well as the media. Milda Mora, Rep. Thompson’s Chief of Staff has said that our students are welcome to sit in to see a joint committee in action. She felt it was an unique opportunity for our students to see their State government at work. The meeting runs very long, so students may come in and out, but very quietly. Of course they shouldn’t be texting, or calling on cells phones or playing on laptops. Below is the synopsis of what the committee is discussing. The committee will discuss the following interim charge: Study the services available for victims of human trafficking provided by federal, state, and local agencies and non-governmental organizations, including the long range need for safe houses and shelters and the best practices for public/private partnerships providing services to victims. Review procedures and services available for youth that have been identified as sex trafficking victims, including analysis of the appropriate criminal penalties associated with prostitution.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

EVAAS, Value-Added and Teacher Branding

International Day of Action for Peace in Mexico




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-haase/javier-sicilia-peace-caravan_b_1765797.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Scholarships Available


Income-based Repayment

Introduced in 2009, income-based repayment was supposed to help change that by allowing borrowers with high levels of debt but modest incomes to make relatively small payments over a long term. But many borrowers were never told about the income-based option, and many others have been frustrated by the onerous requirements. So far, 1.6 million borrowers have applied for income-based repayment; 920,000 are active participants and another 412,000 applications are pending.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Travel to Saudi Arabia

We are happy to announce the next Student Study Visit for Model Arab League students – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia! As many of you know, these study visits are expense-paid, 10-day, cultural immersion travel experiences for students who have participated in the MAL program. The National Council is thrilled to be able to offer this program to students who excel in the MAL. The dates for this visit are December 27, 2012 – January 7, 2013, though these are subject to change slightly. A nominal program fee may be assessed to reduce attrition.

We are asking for your personal and professional recommendations for student participants. If any of your students fit the following criteria, please send us their name, email, phone number, and brief paragraph outlining the reasons for your recommendation. Each school may recommend two students. Participants must:
1.      Be Model Arab League alumni;
2.      Not graduate before December 2013, preferably of Junior status;
3.      Not have travelled to the Gulf region previously;
4.      Be in good academic standing;
5.      Be good representatives of their institution, the National Council, and the United States.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

Extra Credit Opportunity

Susan Boardman-Russ, former senatorial Chief of Staff for James Jeffords, former independent from Vermont, will be presenting on campus in A126 on September 19th at 12:30pm.   She will detail the chaos brought on by Jeffords switching political parties and give us a behind the scenes look into the halls of power in Washington, lobbying [she is a lobbyist], the power of influence and voting blocks, and the anthrax incident.

Neither dry nor boring, Russ will enthrall our students with her stories of intrigue.  She has agreed to spend a couple hours with us, so that students will have the opportunity to ask the questions and get the answers that often are casualties of time constraints.

Her discussion will cross the various disciplines of our department from politics to history to sociology to psychology.  I’d like to suggest that your students be encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity while they perhaps generating a point or two of additional credit in the process. 

She has also offered to counsel our students that participate in our political intern program overseen by Prof. Marie Morrison, to inform them of how best to approach and create opportunities.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Chinese Language Class at LSC-North Harris

As registration for the fall semester starting, could you please help us promote our very young Chinese program? Chinese 1411 will be offered in the fall on Tue. and Thur. from 2:00-4:20. The course will carry four credit hours for LSCS students as well as dual credit students, and community members can join the class for personal enrichment as well.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Thursday, April 12, 2012

What is an Abstract

An abstract is how you tell your peers what your research is about and what you think your paper will be about. Imagine you are telling your fellow honors students what you have been researching. Typically, an abstract should do the following:

  1. Introduce your topic (what are you going to do?)
  2. Briefly identify your sources (what are you going to do it with).
  3. Briefly describe your methodology (how are you going to do it).
  4. So What? (why are you doing it?)
Writing an abstract is a process of sharpening your thinking about your research and writing project. Remember, it is common for researchers to alter their point of view in the process of doing the research and writing. You are not required to stick with your abstract. In fact, you will revise the abstract after you write the paper. Your abstract and paper can then become a writing sample for a scholarship award or entrance application. It can also become the first draft of a senior thesis.

Begin your topic sentence with a subject (noun), followed by a verb and a direct object. Any time you are stuck in writing, follow that format. Watch the video below, and you'll see what I mean:



 

Monday, April 9, 2012

Personality Traints--PSYCH 2301

  • Allport
  • Cattell
  • Freud
    • Psychoanalytic
      • Free thinker
      • Atheist
  • Jung
    • Personality Theory
    • collective consciousness
  • Myers-Briggs Indicator
  • Victorian period
    • Darwin
    • Control of Impulses
      •  Sex
      • Aggression
        • Historical Analogue
          • Suppression of Bigamy (Mormons)
          • Suppression of free love
  • Id (Freud's Structure of the Personality)
    • Dominates unconscious
      • Unfulfilled or inappropriately fulfilled wishes
      • Wish fulfillment
      • Pleasure principle
      • Id is "I want" part of personality
  • Superego
    • Oedipus or Electra complex 
      • Penis envy
      • castration complex

    Monday, March 26, 2012

    Early Migrations

    Learning Community HIST 1302 PSYCH 2301-Ch 10

    Motivation: Initiate, sustain, direct, and terminate actions.
    • need
    • drive
    Freud's theory of drive reduction (reduces anxiety)

    Assignment: Munzert IQ Test

    Sexuality
    • Women apply makeup to simulate a state of sexual arousal
    • In Nazi concentration camps, women pinched their cheeks or applied blood to make themselves appear more vital, hoping they would not be killed.
    •  
    Ford's Assembly line
    • mass production of cars
      • add historical context
        • Frederick Taylor
        • 5 dollar day
      • Americanization
      • Standardization
      • Consolidation
      •  
    Abraham Maslow (Motivation)

    • hierarchy of needs
      • self actualization: a belief in the possibility that you can fulfill your potential
      • if needs at the lower level are not met, needs at the higher level cannot be adequately addressed (prepotent)
        • motivation for immigration (pre-potent needs)
          • Work into discussion of "Deciding to be Legal"

    Tuesday, March 20, 2012

    Wednesday, March 14, 2012

    Summer Intensive Arabic Program in Morocco


    Summer 2012 Opportunity for Students:

    Summer Intensive Language Program at
    The Arab-American Language Institute in Morocco

    The Arab-American Language Institute in Morocco
    The National Council, in collaboration with The Arab-American Language Institute in Morocco (AALIM) for the summer of 2012, is pleased to announce its Summer Language program in the Kingdom of Morocco. Students will spend six weeks in historic Meknes, Morocco taking part in an intensive Arabic language program. Students at all levels of Arabic proficiency are encouraged to apply.

    Students will spend four (4) hours each weekday in formal Modern Standard Arabic classes, as well as complete out-of-the-classroom assignments. The AALIM center is host to a community of Arabic learners throughout the summer, providing for a fully immersive program. Students may choose to take an additional three (3) hours of Moroccan darija dialect classes.

    Those selected will also gain direct personal experience in Moroccan culture, history, and society through a variety of day excursions, local outings, workshops and demonstrations. Meknes is an ideal setting for students to focus on learning Arabic while exploring ancient and modern Morocco. The main AALIM center is located inside the traditional walled old city, called the Medina, an area which features heavily in the Western popular imagination of Morocco. Meknes is also a thriving modern metropolis of over one million residents. The AALIM center is just a short walk from the bustling town center in the New City.

    Friday, March 9, 2012

    Amid Finger-Pointing, Hurricane Relief Lags

    This is the story Kevin Marshall was telling us about. It looks like Rick Perry turned over management of the recovery funds to a private contractor that paid its lowest-paid employees (interns) $60 an hour. Get the full story here.

    Thursday, March 8, 2012

    Extra Credit Opportunity--The Dream Act

    Did you see the part about, "lunch provided?"


    Historical Maps

    http://www.edmaps.com/html/united_states.html

    Extra Credit Opportunity

    "Older Women's Legacy--Telling Our Stories."

    Wednesday, March 21, Women's Resource Center, 12:00-1:00.

    Women from this community will read stories from their lives. Not only are the stories representative of women’s lives in the 1940’s and 1950’s but they are stories that model narrative writing. The class is comprised of women from all walks of life. They are your grandmothers and great grandmothers, and they write with compelling authenticity.

    Women's Resource Center, March Events


    Monday, February 27, 2012

    Kevin Marshall, Community Organizing

    Kevin Marshall will visit our class Wednesday, Feb. 29, to talk about community organizing and an upcoming event for black history month.

    Janice's Class, International Education Conference

    International Education Conference. There are 40 free tickets remaining for students. Register now!

    • Consciousness/altered states of consciousness
      • History of illegal drug use in the U.S.A.
    • Sleep
    • REM
    • Night Terrors

    Tuesday, February 21, 2012

    Monday, February 20, 2012

    Monday, February 13, 2012

    Janice, class -- piaget, sense, perception

    • Piaget's stages of cognitive development
      • Development stages applied to theories of race
      • Kohlberg's theory of development
        • Preconventional--punishment, rewards
        • Conventional--other people, law and order
        • Postconventional--morality--social contract, self-chosen principles
          • Levels or development in argument
            • Veitnam war
            • principle vs law 
            •  
            •  
      • Sensation 
        • The brain creates reality from the information it gets
            • Anglo-Saxon and Nordics as fully developed race
            • African Americans and others, seen as adolescent, in need of guidance and development. A metaphor is an Anglo-Saxon carrying the Olypic torch and everyone else running to catch up.
        •  
        • Note: there was some discussion of women as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. There are 12.

      Monday, February 6, 2012

      Dating and Car Care--Women's Resource Center



      Janice's class, Monday

      Heredity
      • Nature vs. Nurtchure
      • Biological foundations of race
      William Kelley:

      Article in Houston Chronicle
      • Post-Civil War
      • Kelley was a former slave owner, who took as wife an ex-slave
      • Descendents dedicated a historical marker
      • Recessive traits (blue eyes)

       Sickle Cell anemia
      • Started in Africa
        • Presence in South America
      • 1 in 500 African Americans has the alliel
      • 1 in 10 is a carrier
        • Resistance to Malaria
        • Host in red blood cell
        • Cannot mature in a sickle cell
      • Historical
        • Biological foundation of race
        • Interior of Africa, "white man's grave"
      Introduction to Woody Guthrie
      • Huntington's
      • Biography
      • Context
      • Great Depression
        • "This Land is your Land"--video
        • I can relate this to class conflict: Woody Guthrie is responding to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America."
      • Arlo Guthrie
        • "Alice's Restaurant"
        • "Deporte"
        • "City of New Orleans"

        Tuesday, January 31, 2012

        Monday, January 30, 2012

        Learning Community Redemption Songs

        Last Wednesday, we watched Lauryn Hill and Ziggy Marley's Redemption songs and discussed the ways the lyrics of the song interact with Caribbean history. This was our introduction to IS History II. We had a lot of good discussion about mental slavery, Freud, Marx, and the role of free will in history. On reflection, I think the class could have been more focused if I had made a presentation or put my lecture outline up to guide the discussion.

        Janices's class:

        • There are two assessement centers, one in Student Services, and one in Academic 102. We use the one in Academic 102. Check hours here.
        • Slavery

        Tuesday, January 24, 2012

        Monday, January 23, 2012

        Introduction to US History to 1877, International Studies


        ToI basically introduced the class to American studies through deconstructing the lyrics to Bob Marley's, "Redemption Song," as performed by Lauren Hill and Ziggy Marley.


        Lyrics:

        Old pirates, yes, they rob I
        Sold I to the merchant ships,
        Minutes after they took I
        From the bottomless pit.
        But my hand was made strong
        By the hand of the Almighty.
        We forward in this generation
        Triumphantly.
        Won't you help to sing
        These songs of freedom
        'Cause all I ever have:
        Redemption songs,
        Redemption songs.

        Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
        None but ourselves can free our minds.
        Have no fear for atomic energy,
        'Cause none of them can stop the time.
        How long shall they kill our prophets,
        While we stand aside and look? Ooh!
        Some say it's just a part of it:
        We've got to fulfill the Book.

        Won't you help to sing
        These songs of freedom?
        'Cause all I ever have:
        Redemption songs,
        Redemption songs,
        Redemption songs.

        (Guitar break)

        Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
        None but ourselves can free our mind.
        Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,
        'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
        How long shall they kill our prophets,
        While we stand aside and look?
        Yes, some say it's just a part of it:
        We've got to fulfill the book.
        Won't you have to sing
        These songs of freedom? -
        'Cause all I ever had:
        Redemption songs -
        All I ever had:
        Redemption songs:
        These songs of freedom,
        Songs of freedom.
          


        Lauryn's freestyle lyrics:

        Lauryn:
        Yo, If they can stop this fruit
        They would pop this route
        Chop this fruit
        Treat us like a prostitute
        Knock this youth
        See me in my cocky suit
        God's recruit
        From fallin even God's salute
        Tribal truth
        Ja people can't be mute
        Share my youth to Babylon can't regroup
        Sing, to Babylon can't regroup
        Sing, to Babylon can't regroup

        Historical Topics Covered
        • Atlantic Slave Trade
          • Banking and insurance industry
          • Humans as capital assets
        • de las Casas
        • Enslavement of the Indians
          • Brutal treatement
          • Civilizing mission
          • Christian mission
        • Synchretic culture
          • Myal
          • Obeah
        To Ilustrate Myal and Obeah, I will play "Mi Friends", the Victor Essiet version of Bob Marley's Duppy Conqueror. We mentioned Marcus Garvey, who Marley [loosely] quotes in the second verse: Emancipation yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.

        Interestingly a student from Ireland pointed out to me after class some similarities between Irish and Jamaican history, a point illustrated by the Chiefains' version of the same song, also played with Ziggy Marley.



        Ireland and Jamaica were both British plantation colonies. Indeed, many scholars suggest that if you want to understand English attitudes toward Africans, look at English attitudes toward the Irish, during British conquest of that island.










        Learning Community HIST 1302 PSYCH 2301

        Today was Janice's day to teach. She covered the basic theoretical approaches to Psychology and also covered the historical development of psychology from William James through Latane and Darley. Wednesday, I will
        • Introduce professor to the class
        • Have class introduce each other

        Overlapping topics: History and Psychology
        1. Latane and Darley--bystander apathy (1970-ish)
          1. Dissent
        2. Roll of free will in history
          1. Marx
            1. Structure determines the infrastructure
            2. Ideological hegemony
          2. Freud
            1. Return of the Repressed
          3.  Human Agency
        Janice gave us a learning tip:
          Let the name help you remember the term or concept. Many times the meaning of a term will lie within the roots of the term itself.

          Sunday, January 22, 2012

          Introduction to History 1301, U.S History to 1877

          Last Wednesday, Dr. Davis welcomed new students to the start of the spring semester History 1301 class. He explained his narration of American history may not be the one many know, and the class can expect an eye opening account of genocide, slavery, and civil war. Through the semester, Dr Davis will unveil clues from America's past, which will help students understand how many troubling events of today came to fruition. As a class we will seek to understand, through gaining an understanding of U.S. history, such things as why so few Americans vote, why the U.S. has one of the largest incarceration percentages in the world, and why the U.S took five days to reach its own impacted citizens in New Orleans following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

          Dr. Davis gave some direction on how to obtain a passing grade:

          • Attend class at the scheduled time.
          • Listen actively in class and take notes. Some of the exam questions will come directly from in-class lectures and may not be found in the text book.
          • To be prepared for class, read the text book and follow the chapter schedule listed in the syllabus.
          • Pursue extra credit. Extra credit opportunities will be discussed in class, as they arise, and can be found through this blog.

          During this class we took part in a lively and interesting debate into the question of "What is America?" We will be discussing numerous topics in the future, which students will have different views upon, so Dr Davis gives these guidelines to help us all get the most out of these intellectual debates:

          • Discuss respectfully.
          • Summarize the point of view you to which you are responding.
          • Offer your point of view.
          • project your voice to the whole classroom so everyone can hear what you have to say.

          I also discussed the Supplemental Instruction (S.I.) program,which I will be leading for this semester. We will have sessions twice weekly (times and dates will be confirmed next week). S.I. is free, fun, and improve students' grades. All History 1301 students are welcome to join us.