Theoretical Musings for Us by Us

• Modern Social Theory: Advanced

  • On "Knowing:
    

    Strings and Branes: So What Do We Know?

    • May 23, 2003: Don't miss the reference to branes and gravity slithering off the brane into the bulk in this week's painting. I've left up last week's reference to Knowing for you. jeanne

    • May 17, 2003: Strings and Branes: So What Do We Know? I am a physicist. So it always bothers me a little when social scientists spout standards of positivism about "hard data." In Saturday's Los Angeles Times, the physicists of the world restored my faith in the need to tolerate ambiguity.

    • May 17, 2003: A New Slice on Physics By K.C. Cole, Times Staff Writer. Los Angeles Times. P A 1. "Is the world we see trapped on a thin membrane separating us from vast other realms? Some scientists say that would explain a lot." Backup.

    • May 20, 2003: The Story of the Superstitious Pigeon

• Ethics and Integrity:

  • May 23, 2003: Hard to Find Truth in a Story of Lies By Tim Rutten. Los Angeles Times. May 24, 2003. This story raises a lot of the issues around affirmative action. Backup

• Health:

  • May 28, 2003: Important backgound knowledge. Rise of a Virus: Global Collaboration on SARS Bears Fruit By Denise Grady and Lawrence K. Altman. New York Times. May 26, 2003. Backup. Well done article that gives a sense of how science is handling the SARS outbreak, and, at the same time, gives a sense of the working space of the scientists.

    "The next step was to process the contents of that flask so that they could be looked at with an electron microscope. On Friday morning, March 21, an electron microscopist named Cynthia Goldsmith examined a type of sample, called a thin section, of infected cells that were magnified about 14,000 times.

    Almost immediately, telltale features stood out: black, beadlike dots of genetic material inside spherical viruses, the distinctive way the viruses lined up along the cell surface and the region where they clustered inside the cells, a structure called the endoplasmic reticulum.

    "My first reaction was coronavirus," Ms. Goldsmith said.

    It took her by surprise, she said. Although coronaviruses made animals very sick, in people they were known to cause only colds and gut trouble, not serious diseases like pneumonia. They had not even been mentioned as a possible culprit in SARS. And most did not even grow in Vero cells.

    Ms. Goldsmith spent the next 20 or 30 minutes examining more cells, thinking about whether she might be mistaken and looking at images of other coronaviruses for comparison.

    At 12:11 p.m., she sent her supervisor, Dr. Sherif R. Zaki, an e-mail message saying that she could not believe it herself but she was looking at a coronavirus.

    From the article.

  • Poverty and Social Justice:

    • May 29. 2003: Water Tap Often Shut to South Africa's Poor By Ginger Thompson, New York Times, p. A 1. May 29, 2003. Backup. When I return I'll get up notes and discussion questions on the privatization of water world-wide. Meanwhile I suggest you read this poignant story. jeanne

      The photos I selected for our discussion indicate two different perspectives: the situatedness of those who cannot afford the cost of the clean water, and the situatedness of those who can. Do the photos help give you a feel for that? Do you think the photos will give you a better sense of understanding of water for sale?

    • May 26, 2003: Keynes and Hayek PDF file on comparative economic philosophies of Keynes and Hayek. This is at the foundation of whether markets should be free or controlled by government. We'll need this in Fall 2003, particularly as we speak of the privatization of water. jeanne

    • Last week to respond to World Bank.

      May 20, 2003: World Development Report, 2004 Presently open for general discussion on the World Bank Site. Discussion run by Public World. Continues until May 30, 2003.

      May 22, 2003: Making Services Work for Poor People: Is the GATS a Help or Hindrance? By Aaditya Mattoo, January, 2003. Through the gracious sharing of Brendan Martin, Director, Public World.

  • Power and War:

    Please notice comments in answer to your e-mail.

    • May 20, 2003: I am still confused on why we went into Iraq. Comment and discussion by Burdel L. Alcorn.

  • Book Reviews and Online Resources:

    • Book Reviews in Sociology by Danny Yee, Australia
    • UR-List: Web Resources for Visual Anthropology

  • Visual Sociology:

    • May 26, 2003: Contemporary Art designed to bring you back to the real world after exams
      From Toronto Museum.

    • May 26, 2003: Smithsonian photo by MacDuff Everton This one too is for recovering from the Spring semester. Can you give a sociological interpretation to the icons present in the photograph? How does it make you feel? What contributes to that feeling? Backup.

    • May 26, 2003: Want to see how other people study and work? This website gives new meaning to "workspace."

      True DeskTop Project

      Visit the site. Then see if you can use these simple photos to develop some illocutionary understanding of the folks who work in these spaces. Maybe the butterfly is a hot clue here? Then check out your own workspace. None of the photos I saw begins to capture the chaos of my world. jeanne

    * * * * *

    Lived Experience: Narratives

    • May 28, 2003: Good Background Knowledge Rise of a Virus: Global Collaboration on SARS Bears Fruit By Denise Grady and Lawrence K. Altman. New York Times. May 26, 2003. Backup. Well done article that gives a sense of how science is handling the SARS outbreak, and, at the same time, gives a sense of the working space of the scientists.

    • May 28, 2003: Funny as well as poignant. Core Curriculum By Yoni Applebaum. New York Times. Editorial Section at p. A 22. Backup

    • May 27, 2003: Persepolis: Days of our lives - A memoir in comic strips By Marjane Satrapi. November 1, 2002. The Iranian. Backup

    • May 25, 2003: The Rules on Bosses' Pay Seem Written With Pencil By Gretchen Morgenson. New York Times. Business Section. Sunday, May 25, 2003. Backup Sometimes we need to read the lived experiences of others to get a better take on our own. This article points out that no matter how well or how poorly Chief Executives perform, they still get raises and bonuses.

    KIDS' Stuff

    May 28, 2003: Smithsonian Kid's Castle

    May 3, 2003:Helping Your Student Get the Most Out of Homework National PTA. National Education Association. Link added April 13, 2003.

    May 3, 2003: Educational Resources for Teachers at K - 12 Levels Center for Diseease Control. Free curriculum on health and public health. Link added May 3, 2003.

    May 26, 2003: Mister Rogers' Neighborhood A memorial to Mr. Rogers from the Smithsonian. The Object at Hand: Comfort Zone By Victoria Dawson.

    New for Kids this Week:
    

    Patriotic Envelope
    from the Bessie L. Cullen Collection at the National Postal Museum.
    • May 28, 2003: History Civil War at the Smithsonian

      
      Susan Moss, "Blue Terrain", oil on linen, 7 x 5', 1998
      Don O'Melveny Gallery,

    • May 25, 2003: Isn't it wonderful what you can do with lines and pastel colors? This painting reminded me of an Easter Egg Hunt.

      You could do one of your own, on the computer, or on paper. Send me a copy, on e-mail, please, but not till after June 15. I'm on vacation. jeanne

    Art Shenanigans

    • May 25, 2003: ArtsEdge Teaching Curriculum For those of you who teach.

    • May 29, 2003: Niki de Saint Phalle Opening of her last works (She died in 2002.) at the Herbert Palmer Gallery on Melrose. Arnold and jeanne will miss the opening, but some of you might want to make it. Niki de Saint Phalle is a wonderful artist who populated the world with some delightful and preposterous images. Two of my favorites:

      . . . . . . . . . .
      Niki de Saint Phalle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Niki de Saint Phalle
      Justice [Tarot Card VIII], 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth, 1995
      Lithograph, Versailles Ed. 2/5 . . . . . . . . . . . . Lithograph, Bon A Tirer
      29 1/2" x 22 1/4", 74.9 cm x 56.5 cm . . . . . . . 23" x 18 3/4", 58.4 cm x 47.6 cm

      I find her images of justice and motherhood trigger my own imagination. Could they trigger you to record a sociologicl story about the world in which Niki de Saint Phalle lived?

    • May 25, 2003: Prospecting for Gold Among the Photo Blogs by Sarah Boxer. New York Times. Arts and Leisure. Sunday, May 25, 2003. Backup We'll be discussing this in the Fall. It's a good source, with links to other sources, on the photography that people are posting on the net. Bits of their lives they want to share. Mundane stuff, but a search for some illocutionary understanding of local narratives. Public art? More on this soon. jeanne
      
      Photo by Todd Gross from May 25, 2003.
      Think you could give a sociological interpretation?

    • May 25, 2003: This painting of Michael Goldberg reminded me of String Theory and the Brane and gravity slithering off the edge into the Bulk. See how helpful art is sometimes at pulling together an idea that just defies imagination:

      
      Michael Goldberg, "Untitled", 2002,oil on canvas, 73 1/4 x 55 1/2", Signed & dated verso.
      At the Manny Silverman Gallery.

    • At the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard, CA., you'll find one of my favorite works by Gronk:

      
      "Enter Tormenta", acrylic on canvas by Gronk, 84 x 96”, 2001

      May 25, 2003:Do you know who Gronk is? Link to Gronk for two other versions of La Tormenta. Can you interpret this work in terms of good and evil; war, violence, and peace?

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