What’s going on…

“Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really think”

A Documentary film based on the Gallup poll of worldwide Muslim public opinion

Followed by a Keynote Address from Dr. John Esposito
Professor of Religion & International Affairs, Georgetown University

4pm  Saturday, Feb. 20
ICCNC, 1433 Madison Street, Oakland

Presale tickets $12 at http://ca.cair.com/sfba/

WOMS 10 – Perspectives on Sex and Gender Roles
(Meets Gen Ed: D1)
Sec 01     Reg for #25609    MW 1330-1445    T Bakhru
Sec 02     Reg for #26335    WED 1800-2045    S Gallardo
Sec 03     Reg for # 25593     ONLINE    S Gerami

WOMS 20 – Women of Color in the US **JUST ADDED!
Sec 01     Reg for # 29853    MW 1030-1145    V Rue

WOMS 101- The Study of Women (Meets Gen Ed: S)
Sec 01     Reg for # 25611    MW 1030-1145     M Ochoa
Sec 02     Reg for # 23343    MW 1330-1445     M Ochoa
Sec 03    Reg for # 29891    TTH 0900-1015    S Gallardo **JUST ADDED

WOMS 102 – Global Women (Meets Gen Ed: V)
Sec 01     Reg for # 27744    MW 1200-1315     T Bakhru

WOMS 180 – Individual Studies
Sec 1     Reg for #42992    TBA     S Gerami

WOMS 189 – Islam & Gender
Sec 1     Reg for # 28900    TTH 1030-11455     S Gerami

WOMS 190 – Internship
Sec 1     Reg for # 22198    TBA     S Gerami

Great article in the New York Times on the changing American family…

Based on a study of Census data, Pew found that in nearly a third of marriages, the wife is better educated than her husband. And though men, over all, still earn more than women, wives are now the primary breadwinner in 22 percent of couples, up from 7 percent in 1970.

While the changing economic roles of husbands and wives may take some getting used to, the shift has had a surprising effect on marital stability. Over all, the evidence shows that the shifts within marriages — men taking on more housework and women earning more outside the home — have had a positive effect, contributing to lower divorce rates and happier unions.

Story continues here

The Education Trust nonprofit research institute has released a new analysis of federal data concluding that 50 public flagships, one in each state, “continue to enroll students who are far richer and far whiter” than most in their states, says Director Kati Haycock.

“The report also reveals a grievous imbalance in the way many of these institutions distribute financial aid to students. Public flagship and research universities spend millions of dollars every year subsidizing wealthy students who don’t need aid, while providing inadequate support to low-income and minority students who do.  Although low-income students receive higher grant awards than wealthy students on average, flagships spend almost exactly the same amount to aid students in the top two quintiles of family income as they do to aid students in the bottom two quintiles.

In fact, the typical low-income student at these institutions is left with an “unmet” financial need equivalent to about 70 percent of his or her family’s annual income. Meanwhile, students at our leading public universities are looking less and less like the state populations these institutions were founded to serve.”

See news release here (or download complete report)

Happy New Year, everyone!

For a thoroughly random moment, check out this film taken from a streetcar traveling down Market Street in San Francisco in 1905, before the earthquake/fire destroyed the area. It’s worth taking 7 minutes of your life to watch…no paved roads, no driving rules, no traffic lights, no pedestrian crosswalks. But it all works because the pace is slower.

Following is the transcript of President Obama’s speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday, as released by the White House:

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world:

I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations — that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.

And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. (Laughter.) In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage. Compared to some of the giants of history who’ve received this prize — Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela — my accomplishments are slight. And then there are the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice; those who toil in humanitarian organizations to relieve suffering; the unrecognized millions whose quiet acts of courage and compassion inspire even the most hardened cynics. I cannot argue with those who find these men and women — some known, some obscure to all but those they help — to be far more deserving of this honor than I.

But perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of the military of a nation in the midst of two wars. One of these wars is winding down. The other is a conflict that America did not seek; one in which we are joined by 42 other countries — including Norway — in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks.

Continues here

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to draw your attention to a joint hearing happening today (Monday) to discuss updating the master plan, and issues relating to public higher education in California. I found the story on a KQED Report. I think this is something we all really need to be aware of and listen carefully to what is being said at this meeting. It might also be a good time to finally send that letter or make that phone call to our legislator about the budget cuts and how it is impacting our experiences at SJSU. I am personally committed to public education not only because I work for a CSU but because I firmly believe that quality public education is a bastion of democracy and something we must fight to maintain.

Challenging Power and Privilege in Schools:
Un Encuentro in Applied Chicana/o Studies
Featuring the Work of MAS Graduate Students at SJSU

Monday, December 14, 2009  -  6pm
Cultural Heritage Center ­ Room 525
MLK Library (5th Floor) -  San José State University

This event is the culmination of the Applied Seminar in Chicana/o Studies in the SJSU Master¹s Program in Mexican American Studies.  The students in this class will share our efforts to bring Chicana/o Studies to life in our communities.  In several distinct projects, we focused on developing Chicana/o Studies Methods for Social Justice.  We will share our preliminary insights from individual projects, as well as the collective lessons we have developed together.  Our goals are to share specific strategies that may be applied to other communities and issues, and to dialog about what this work means and where it can go next.  You are invited to join us for the presentations and to share in the dialog.

Students in the class and their projects include:

• Lupe M. Allen, ­ Finding Voice & Creating Safe Spaces: An Analysis of the Experiences of Undocumented University Students
• Elizabeth Caldera, ­ The Impact of Teacher Expectations on the Academic Achievement of Latina/o Students
• Alicia Casas, ­ Understanding the School Disengagement of Fifth Grade Chicano Boys
• Claire González, ­ Latina/o Student Voices: High School Students¹ Insights on the Latina/o Achievement Gap
• Yanira I. Madrigal, ­ Responding to the Internalization and Normalization of Violence in Oakland: Listening to the Voices of Chicana/o Youth
• Margarita Ortiz, ­ Where is Osvaldo?: Confronting the Absence of Latinas/os in US History Textbooks
• Robert Unzueta, ­ Debunking Meritocracy: Understanding Intergenerational Chicano School Experiences

Here’s a great article about $1 million Opus Prize winner Aicha Ech Channa, founder of the Association for Women’s Solidarity in Casablanca, Morocco, to help unwed mothers become self-sufficient. She is the first Muslim to win the Opus award, an annual humanitarian award which goes to “unsung heroes for their faith-based acts of compassion….”

In the 1980s, she was working for the Moroccan Ministry of Social Affairs, where unwed mothers came seeking help, even though little help was available. Under [local] law, the women were considered prostitutes, and many had their babies taken away over their objections.

Considering that unacceptable, Ech Channa launched her program in 1985. It offers women legal counseling, job training and medical and psychological support with a goal of making them self-sufficient so they can raise their children….

Despite criticism from Muslim clerics, she is committed to her faith, which she approaches from a humanist standpoint.

Humanism is about individuals and the love they have for one another,” she said. “Every human being has a flame [of love] inside them that must be fanned.”

Found this article via Muslimah Media Watch, a terrific blog worth checking out further….

I’m re-posting this entry because Ms. Martin followed up with some terrific responses she got from a host of men’s groups.  Check out the second part here.

And the original post:

Courtney Martin of the American Prospect writes about a new generation of men rejecting “traditional and toxic notions of masculinity…but they’re still figuring out what should replace it.”

While it’s thrilling that there is also a movement of young men all who want to tear down the patriarchy right alongside women, it’s dangerous that they don’t have a clear picture of what they want to build in its place. At the conference, one young man spoke up against the notion of a new “feminist masculinity,” explaining that he feared it would be one more box that young men felt they had to fit into. There’s a lot of validity to his argument, but I fear that the old adage is true: We can’t be what we can’t see. Models help us try on various identities and find one that is truly authentic. The more publicly feminist-aligned men we have, the more opportunities the next generation has to find a positive, masculine gender identity that actually fits.

Continues at What’s the Alternative to Tucker Max? | The American Prospect.