Communicating in a networked world
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| Nipun Mehta as pictured
on his blog |
I can’t believe that I’ve been blogging so long, and have never blogged Nipun Mehta. It’s time to start making amends…
I’m going to start by pointing you at an audio interview that Michael Lerner of The New School conducted with Nipun earlier this year.
In April 1999, Nipun and three friends started Charity Focus as an “experiment in generosity.”
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| The first Dalai Lama scholars… with the 14th Dalai Lama |
The Dalai Lama Scholars program was envisioned by Vice Chancellor Manuel Gomez of the University of California at Irvine, and formed as an honorarium to His Holiness in conjunction with his appearance there in 2004. The Dalai Lama does not receive any payment for his appearances – instead, all net proceeds from tickets and other sales (after expenses) go to benefit appropriate causes and organizations. [UCI Juniors Rajiv Ramdeo and Aswathi Sreedharan, recipients of the inaugural scholarship 2006, are pictured here with the Dalai Lama.]
Lori Warmington was instrumental in the creation of the scholarships, and in this interview, she describes for us how they came about as well as what they’re about.
| Click the arrow to hear the interview: | |
The Dalai Lama Foundation featured the scholars in its March 2007 newsletter. The University describes the endowed scholarships on its web site. His Holiness gave two talks at the University of California Irvine, both of which are archived online (video/RealPlayer).
Amy Krantz is a special education teacher who studied at Bank Street College of Education. She taught for almost 30 years in New York City schools. Her Master’s thesis dealt with her experience teaching young severely-language-impaired children, using a method that utilized reflection and self-expression thru writing and poetry.
I met Amy Krantz almost by accident about two years ago. Introduced by a Buddhist nun in Pasadena. Amy was looking for someone to share a cab from the airport. We have had occasional conversations ever since – somehow karmically connected as we seem to just “run into” each other from time to time in places like Dharamsala (India) and San Francisco (California). Amy has an adopted daughter who lives in Dharamsala and spends a lot of time there.
A couple of months ago, I suggested to Amy that we sit down and discuss learning and teaching. She is one of those people who has a special approach, and that’s always worth paying attention to. In this interview, we focus a lot on the relationship of “listening” to “expression” and learning. I intend to expand this into a series of interviews with educators who have special messages to share.
| Play the interview: | |
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| The $100 laptop @ ISDE5 |
The International Symposium on Digital Earth was an opportunity for a few hundred experts and other interested individuals to get together, see and discuss ways in which online information systems are making it possible to explore our planet.
The most obvious, to me, being Google Earth. But there are lots and lots of others.
As I walked into UC Berkeley to register, I stumbled across Ed Cherlin, who I’ve known for a few years as a knowledgeable and good-hearted promoter of the Simputer (Simple Computer). This time he was wearing a volunteer staff shirt for ISDE5 and carrying an XO (the “$100 computer”) in his hand. Hmm, an XO. Time to talk to Ed I think! [Read more…]
On June 6th, several of us from the Foundation met with Professor Abelardo Brenes of University for Peace (headquartered in San José, Costa Rica) to discuss the Earth Charter and the principle of universal responsibility.
Brenes described the Earth Charter in a 30-minute monologue which you may play (below).
University for Peace (UPEACE) is a UN initiative which operates independent of, but was mandated by the UN. “Headquartered in Costa Rica, the United Nations-mandated University for Peace was established in December 1980 as a Treaty Organization by the UN General Assembly. As determined in the Charter of the University and endorsed by the UPEACE Council, the mission of the University for Peace is: “to provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace with the aim of promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate cooperation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress, in keeping with the noble aspirations proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations.”
In a 2003 online “paper,” Brenes describes (in Spanish) the initiative.
And in a 2003 print interview, as well (on irenees.net, A Website of Resources for Peace).
UPDATE: Abelardo Brenes faculty page at University for Peace
| Play the interview: | |