Theory, Knowledge and Science Commons^™

Mother Earth "Speaks": Change Yourself, Change The World, Use The Archetypal Energy "Harmony" As A Guide, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

In relation to the Cosmos, we all, as human beings, live on this tiny planet we call Earth, a planet that supports and sustains life, as we know it. There are many different kinds of people, plants, and animals functioning in harmony with soil, air, and water--all linked to one another in a complex web of life to form one Earth community. Unfortunately, we often take this miracle and ecosystem of life for granted. When, however, we take the ecosystem of life too much for granted, Mother Earth "speaks," reflecting imbalances and dis-harmonies. When Mother Earth "speaks," her message is …

Archetypal Energies, "Psychic Politics", And The Transformative Potential Of The Health Care Debate, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

In a previous message, I spoke of “Archetypal Energies, The Emergence of Obama As A Practical Idealist, and Global Transformation” (February/March 2009). I suggested that at issue is what I called “psychic politics for global transformation, nurtured by practical idealism and the Archetypal Energies.” To reiterate, I have described Archetypal Energies as Higher Vibrational Energies, operating deep within our individual and collective psyches, which have their own transcendent value, purpose, quality, and “voice” unique to the individual. We experience them as “creative urges” to move us toward our Highest Good or Optimal Realities. I use easily recognized terms to evoke …

What Makes A Meaningful Universe?, Todd Duncan, James Butler

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

A common line of thinking says that although we feel subjectively that our thoughts and actions matter in some way, this perception is an illusion. According to this view, an honest look around at the universe shatters this myth and reveals that our lives are ultimately meaningless. If we are to be hard-nosed realists, limiting ourselves to scientific, evidence-based reasoning, then we must accept that human existence is an inconsequential accident of no ultimate significance in the grand scheme of things. Is this attitude really justified by the evidence? We'll explore this question by taking a step back and asking …

Holism And Human History, Martin Zwick

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

This paper uses a systems-theoretic model to structure an account of human history. According to the model, a process, after its beginning and early development, often reaches a critical stage where it encounters some limitation. If the limitation is overcome, development does not face a comparable challenge until a second critical juncture is reached, where obstacles to further advance are more severe. At the first juncture, continued development requires some complexity-managing innovation; at the second, it needs some event of systemic integration in which the old organizing principle of the process is replaced by a new principle. Overcoming the first …

If These Men Could Still Talk, Rebecca Damphousse

Academic Symposium of Undergraduate Scholarship

For this assignment, two theorists in psychology were selected to engage in conversation. Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget were chosen and their theories of human development were researched. Erikson was asked how his experiences as a child impacted the formation of his theories. The question for Piaget was directed at the permanence, relevancy and universality of his theory into the 21st century. While a large amount of research was conducted, the questions and answers were pure conjecture.

Reconstructability Analysis Of Elementary Cellular Automata, Martin Zwick, Hui Shi

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Reconstructability analysis is a method to determine whether a multivariate relation, defined set- or information-theoretically, is decomposable with or without loss (reduction in constraint) into lower ordinality relations. Set-theoretic reconstructability analysis (SRA) is used to characterize the mappings of elementary cellular automata. The degree of lossless decomposition possible for each mapping is more effective than the λ parameter (Walker & Ashby, Langton) as a predictor of chaotic dynamics.

Complete SRA yields not only the simplest lossless structure but also a vector of losses of all decomposed structures, indexed by parameter, τ. This vector subsumes λ, Wuensche’s Z parameter, and Walker …

Learning Sustainable Development: Chimeneas De La Esperanza, Miriam V. Mollan Gundersen

Social Sciences

Social inequality and environmental degradation are motivating informed young people into action and connecting impoverished regions of the world with students in more developed nations. This Social Sciences senior project is to analyze an alternative development model designed by a group of Californian university students. The project, named Chimeneas de la Esperanza, is designed to help impoverished Nicaraguan women start a ceramics business. The major hurdle of this mission is to establish a market for the ceramics product. Energy efficient ceramic stoves and smoke ventilating chimneys would benefit the community and avoid an impacted crafts market. The project encompasses ideas …

El Totalitarismo De Los Medios De Comunicación, Fernando Villaseñor Rodríguez

Fernando Villaseñor Rodríguez

No abstract provided.

Criticisms Of Systems Science, Joshua Hughes

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

A new year often begins with a sense of optimism, but we (ever the contrarians) will begin it with a healthy dose of pessimism. This week's seminar will be a discussion about criticisms of systems science. As Winston Churchill said, "Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things." Is the systems project in an unhealthy state? Since its emergence in the 1940s and 1950s, a number of people have believed that to be the case, and a few have …

Traitor In Our Midst: Cultural Variations In Japanese Vs. Oklahoman Public Discourse On Domestic Terrorism In The Spring Of 1995, Carl W. Roberts, Yong Wang

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

When “one of our own” commits mass murder, mechanisms that sustain our social order are opened to question. Based on two samples of newspaper editorials written in 1995 ‐ either after the poison gas attack in the Tokyo subway or after the Oklahoma City bombing ‐ evidence is provided that Japanese editorialists advised strategies for retaining order, whereas Oklahoman authors endorsed ones for reestablishing it. In accordance with Simmel’s distinction between faithfulness and gratitude as social forms, Japanese advised faithful continuation of wholesome interactions with their terrorists, whereas Oklahomans expressed gratitude for rescue workers’ assistance. We apply modality analysis to …

Open Secrets, Michael J. Madison

Book Chapters

The law of trade secrets is often conceptualized in bilateral terms, as creating and enforcing rights between trade secret owners, on the one hand, and misappropriators on the other hand. This paper, a chapter in a forthcoming collection on the law of trade secrets, argues that trade secrets and the law that guards them can serve structural and institutional roles as well. Somewhat surprisingly, given the law’s focus on secrecy, among the institutional products of trade secrets law are commons, or managed openness: environments designed to facilitate the structured sharing of information. The paper illustrates with examples drawn from existing …

An Entrepreneurial Approach To Career Development, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

This article explains how people can use an entrepreneurial approach to career development in and effort to advance their careers and employment opportunities.

Creativity And Craft, Michael J. Madison

Book Chapters

I revisit the distinction between intangible works of authorship and tangible objects, which is a fundamental proposition of modern copyright law. I suggest that reconsidering that distinction, at least in part, may expand the range of possibilities for aligning modern copyright as an economic construct with the historical roots of copyright and with ethical claims about authorial expression. Revisiting that distinction also may provide contemporary lawyers and policymakers with a much-needed tool for managing challenges posed by digital technology.

Organizacje Komercyjne I Niekomercyjne Wobec Wzmożonej Konkurencji Oraz Wzrastających Wymagań Konsumentów (Tom 9), Anna Ujwary-Gil

Anna Ujwary-Gil

Obszary tematyczne obejmują: • organizacje komercyjne i niekomercyjne jako obiekt badań naukowych, • organizacje komercyjne i niekomercyjne w gospodarce rynkowej, • organizacje komercyjne i niekomercyjne w kreowaniu rozwoju regionalnego, • finansowe aspekty zarządzania organizacjami komercyjnymi i niekomercyjnymi.

‘El Central Volumen De La Fuerza’ (The Hegemonic Global Pattern In The Reorganization Of Elite Higher Education And Research), Simon Marginson, Imanol Ordorika

Imanol Ordorika

No abstract provided.

Fear Of Arabness, Henriette Dahan Kalev

henriette dahan kalev

In this paper I discuss the fear of Arabness of the Jews of European and American origin, often called in Hebrew Ashkenazim, and its impact on the Jews of Arab and origin and Moslem countries who live in Israel and often called Mizrahim. I shall explore the Mizrahim's reaction to fear of Arabness directed towards them and the Moslem Arabs who remained in Israel after the establishment of the state. I shall examine the fear of Arabness as it was discussed in post Zionist and postcolonial critic of Arab-Jewishness.

Bargaining With Spiritual Patriarchy: The Women In The Shas Movement In Israel, Henriette Dahan Kalev

henriette dahan kalev

In this article the strategies of gender bargaining with the spiritual and political patriarchy will be explored through the case study of the women in Shas Movement. Shas is a Jewish ultra orthodox Sephardic patriarchal community in Israel. Shas's community life, beliefs and culture are rooted in the Jewish religion. Patriarchal codes of behavior whose legitimacy rests on the religious legacy and the Bible, the Halakha and the writings of the Sages. The rules and the gender relations are translated into codes of behavior that are implemented by forces of patriarchy which work through social network that function similar to …

The Neoliberal University And Agricultural Biotechnology: Reports From The Field, Wilhelm Peekhaus

Wilhelm Peekhaus

Following in the footsteps of a variety of previous research that elaborates on the current state of affairs in academia, this article sets out the argument that neoliberalism and its corresponding iterations of science and technology and research funding policies in this country have implications for the types of knowledge that can be generated within and communicated without contemporary institutions of higher education. Using agricultural biotechnology as the lens through which to focus analysis, the article outlines a number of empirical examples that illustrate how the free flow of knowledge either critical of or not readily appropriated by capital is …

Diversity And Its Discontents: Ambivalence In Neighborhood Policy And Racial Attitudes In The Obama Era, Meghan Burke

Scholarship

This article examines the ways that members of three adjoining stably racially diverse urban communities conceptualize and engage diversity, and the ways in which their discourse and actions are cohesive with federal policies. Making use of interviews with 41 active residents in these communities, I argue that even in liberal, pro-Obama, racially diverse communities, a considerable amount of ambivalence exists in both thought and action connected to diversity, an ambivalence which is cohesive with Obama’s own federal policies that impact neighborhoods like these. The community members define diversity broadly beyond race, are ambivalent about its presence in their community, and …

Reply: The Complexity Of Commons, Michael J. Madison, Brett M. Frischmann, Katherine J. Strandburg

Articles

Constructing Commons in the Cultural Environment, and responses to that article by Professors Thráinn Eggertsson, Wendy Gordon, Gregg Macey, Robert Merges, Elinor Ostrom, and Lawrence Solum. This short Reply comments briefly on each of those responses.

Some Optimism About Fair Use And Copyright Law, Michael J. Madison

Articles

This short paper reflects on the emergence of codes of best practices in fair use, highlighting both the relationship between the best practices approach and an institutional perspective on copyright and the relationship between the best practices approach and social processes of innovation and creativity.

Constructing Commons In The Cultural Environment, Michael J. Madison, Brett M. Frischmann, Katherine J. Strandburg

Articles

This Essay considers the problem of understanding intellectual sharing/pooling arrangements and the construction of cultural commons arrangements. We argue that an adaptation of the approach pioneered by Elinor Ostrom and collaborators to commons arrangements in the natural environment may provide a template for the examination of constructed commons in the cultural environment. The approach promises to lead to a better understanding of how participants in commons and pooling arrangements structure their interactions in relation to the environment(s) within which they are embedded and with which they share interdependent relationships. Such an improved understanding is critical for obtaining a more complete …

Beyond Creativity: Copyright As Knowledge Law, Michael J. Madison

Articles

The Supreme Court’s copyright jurisprudence of the last 100 years has embraced the creativity trope. Spurred in part by themes associated with the story of “romantic authorship” in the 19th and 20th centuries, copyright critiques likewise ask, “Who is creative?” “How should creativity be protected (or not) and encouraged (or not)?” and “ Why protect creativity?” Policy debates and scholarship in recent years have focused on the concept of creativity in framing copyright disputes, transactions, and institutions, reinforcing the notion that these are the central copyright questions. I suggest that this focus on the creativity trope is unhelpful. I argue …

Diversity And Its Discontents: Ambivalence In Neighborhood Policy And Racial Attitudes In The Obama Era, Meghan Burke

Meghan A. Burke

This article examines the ways that members of three adjoining stably racially diverse urban communities conceptualize and engage diversity, and the ways in which their discourse and actions are cohesive with federal policies. Making use of interviews with 41 active residents in these communities, I argue that even in liberal, pro-Obama, racially diverse communities, a considerable amount of ambivalence exists in both thought and action connected to diversity, an ambivalence which is cohesive with Obama’s own federal policies that impact neighborhoods like these. The community members define diversity broadly beyond race, are ambivalent about its presence in their community, and …

Migration, Membership, And The Modern Nation-State: Internal And External Dimensions Of The Politics Of Belonging Migration And Membership, Rogers Brubaker

Rogers Brubaker

No abstract provided.

Charles Tilly As A Theorist Of Nationalism, Rogers Brubaker

Rogers Brubaker

This paper considers Charles Tilly as an important but underappreciated theorist of nationalism. Tilly’s theory of nationalism emerged from the “bellicist” strand of his earlier work on state-formation and later incorporated a concern with performance, stories, and cultural modeling. Yet despite the turn to culture in Tilly’s later work, his theory of nationalism remained state-centered, materialist, and instrumentalist—a source of both its power and its limitations.

Evaluación Institucional En La Unam: Primer Volumen (2009), Imanol Ordorika, Roberto Rodríguez Gómez

Imanol Ordorika

No abstract provided.

Hegemonía En La Era Del Conocimiento: Competencia Global En La Educación Superior Y La Investigación Científica, Simon Marginson, Imanol Ordorika, Martin Carnoy

Imanol Ordorika

Hegemonía en la era del conocimiento analiza el ámbito global de la educación superior y la investigación como un campo de poder caracterizado por la desigualdad y la estratificación, en el que las universidades de investigación de Estados Unidos ejercen un predominio hegemónico. Además de su gran concentración de prestigio, recursos económicos, talento humano, infraestructura de investigación y producción de conocimientos, las universidades de investigación de élite ejercen poder sobre otras instituciones y sistemas debido a su influencia en el diseño de las políticas y agendas de la educación superior y a su cercanía con los centros de poder financiero …

Gay And Lesbian Elders: History, Law, And Identity Politics In The United States, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

The approximately two million gay and lesbian elders in the United States are an underserved and understudied population. At a time when gay men and lesbians enjoy an unprecedented degree of social acceptance and legal protection, many elders face the daily challenges of aging isolated from family, detached from the larger gay and lesbian community, and ignored by mainstream aging initiatives. Drawing on materials from law, history, and social theory, this book integrates practical proposals for reform with larger issues of sexuality and identity. Beginning with a summary of existing demographic data and offering a historical overview of pre-Stonewall views …

Demystifying Authenticity In The Sociology Of Culture, David Grazian

David Grazian

No abstract provided.