Japanese Culture after this event and their response.

I think this is a super interesting article and thought some of you may enjoy it as well. In the wake of everything gone/going wrong over there, the Japanese people have stayed close together remaining in community rather than in "Crisis! I need to save myself!" mode.

 Article on Japan and their citizens response.

"If your home was hit by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, a tsunami, and radiation from a nuclear power plant, you'd be forgiven for not remaining calm. Yet that's what many Japanese quake victims appear to be doing. People are forming lines outside supermarkets. Life is "particularly orderly," according to PBS. "Japanese discipline rules despite disaster," says a columnist for The Philippine Star."

NEW Leadership Institute Applications Are Due March 28th!

INFO ON LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN AT UW BELOW.  IF YOU WANT US TO FORWARD THE EMAIL ABOUT THIS TO YOU, SEND JANE OR MARGOT AND EMAIL TO ASK. THIS WOULD BE AN AWESOME RESUME BUILDER...

The UW Women’s Center seeks your assistance in spreading the word about NEW Leadership Puget Sound. NEW (National Education for Women’s) Leadership is an award-winning women’s leadership program developed by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University over a decade ago.  NEW Leadership strives to increase the number of women in the “leadership pipeline,” thereby enhancing the prospects for inclusive representation, participation and leadership in contemporary political and civic life. Because women continue to be under-represented in the leadership ranks of political and civic organizations and institutions in the United States, programs like NEW Leadership remain essential to the project of supporting and strengthening participatory democratic citizenship.

We are now gearing up for the 2011 institute, scheduled for June 20-25 at the UW Women’s Center on the University of Washington campus.  In order to recruit and attract a diverse student body, NEW Leadership is a tuition-free program, supported by private funding, the Center for Women & Democracy, and generous assistance from several units at the University of Washington.  The only expense to students is a $150 registration fee.  Scholarship support for students who cannot afford the registration fee is also available.  Undergraduate students enrolled in a 2- or 4-year college or university in the Puget Sound area, or who graduated during the 2009 – 2010 academic year, are eligible to apply.

Your assistance in bringing NEW Leadership Puget Sound to the attention of students is greatly appreciated. We seek undergraduates who are interested in women, politics, and leadership and who demonstrate leadership potential, whether or not they are currently practicing leaders.  Please bear in mind that we intentionally recruit a mix of all students, not all of whom have achieved leadership “stardom” on their campuses and in their communities.  Some of our very best students never would have applied to the program without the encouragement of mentors, advisors and instructors.  Furthermore, our students are drawn from a diverse mix of majors, including arts and humanities, and of college majors, class years and standings, and economic and personal backgrounds.  For students who do not live within daily commuting distance to Seattle, we are committed to assisting them with securing safe and affordable lodging in town and close to the UW Campus.

Students who would like to learn more about NEW Leadership Puget Sound are encouraged to visit our website: http://depts.washington.edu/womenctr. We have an application that is easy to fill out and submit via email to NEWLeadPS@gmail.com or mail to the UW Women’s Center.  Applications for the 2011 institute are due by March 28^th.  We are also happy to answer questions via email: NEWLeadPS@gmail.com.

Moving Beyond the Automobile

http://www.streetfilms.org/moving-beyond-the-automobile/

This is something I think is pretty cool. Thought some of you may enjoy it too...

It is a series of videos that offer solutions and examples around the US that are changing the thought urban spaces, mass transit and the use of cars. Maybe eradicating the need of using a car for commuting, where possible...

Streetfilms

Documenting Livable Streets Worldwide

Finishing Reading "Dialogue: The Art of Thinking Together"

Hi everyone,
I hope you are able to spend a little time outdoors this weekend as the weather has been beautiful!

I know that you don't have a seminar prep paper due on the last chapters in William Isaacs' "Dialogue" (which means that many of you probably won't read it!), but I want to encourage those of you who are serious about helping to bring about change in this country and through your own personal and evolving sphere of influence to finish this book, if not this week, then before the end of the quarter.  Isaacs has much yet to say to us about leadership and how the types of dialogic experiences we have been practicing in our class are important and vitally critical to a world that yet does not know how to be in dialogue together to imagine and bring about a sustainable future.

See you Monday night!  Jane

Please take 10 minutes to complete our College Dropout Survey

"Can you spare a moment to take a quick 10 question survey to help the College Dropout's swamp group collect data? The survey should only take a few minutes to complete. Your responses are greatly appreciated.
 http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/72SBPNM

The College Drop Out Swamp Group

Student Retention Questionnaire

As part of our 'Swamp Issue' exploring ways to improve student retention, we'd like to hear from you about your college experiences! The link below is to a very brief questionnaire (it should take you no more than 10 minutes to complete it).

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/72SBPNM

Your input can help us provide feedback and make a meaningful contribution toward ensuring every student's success at our school.

Thanks!!

Tomorrow: Library plus LeGuin presentations

Eagle-eyed students have pointed out that the schedule says the leguin presentations are Wednesday, while the assignment sheet says Monday (tomorrow, 2/28).  The presentations should really happen tomorrow; the idea is that you learn about the part of of the book you haven't read before writing the seminar prep due on Wednesday. 

At 5:30, we'll meet up in class and then walk to the LIBRARY computer room together to develop our research skills.  If you come late, join us. (Enter library, take a left, and another left past reference desk.)

Your Swamp Project

Hi Everyone,
I hope you're all staying warm on this cold weekend!
Just a reminder about this week's upcoming class.  We'll be going to the library on Monday to meet with Elinor Appel, one of our librarians, to talk about research methods and support your group's efforts to find additional information about your project. Ultimately each group's researcher will be responsible for typing up and including in the project notebook an annotated bibliography, but you'll all participate in the research process (a good skill to learn and practice as an adult learner)!

Remember by next Friday (3/4), I want to hear from EACH group about your group's plans to address the swamp issue you've chosen.  This means addressing the "surveying the current landscape" question (which means to decide on what data you are going to include -- both "soft" and "hard" data; who in your group is going to do what; and what deadlines you've established to stay on track). 

We'll talk more this week about the project notebook, final presentation, and your individual paper, but for now, your group should be deep into the investigative process of learning as much as possible about your swamp issue and in particular whose voice is not usually included in this process (since these issues are usually addressed from a mechanistic perspective).

Please email me with any questions.  In the meantime, enjoy Isaacs' chapters 10-13 and the completion of your 2nd essay (now due on Wednesday rather than Monday).

Take good care,
Jane

Schedule Change; More time for Essay 2

We decided in class last night to change the due date on Essay 2 to Wednesday, March 2. 
I hope everyone made it home safe and is able to avoid snowy roads today.  It's VERY snowy on Vashon with more coming down right now.

Extra Credit Opportunity: Barbara Love, March 2

Attend this event; write up what you learned and how it relates to our class, about two pages, for Extra Credit.  Due By March 19.

 

Bending the Arc of the Universe:

Understanding and Eliminating the Oppression of Young People

 Date: Wednesday, March 2, 12:30-2:00p

Location: Baxter Event’s Center

 

Society’s suspicious attitudes toward youth perpetuate our treatment of youth as criminals or potential criminals and undesirables whose behavior must be watched, controlled and regulated – particularly among youth of color.   Chronological age is a physical reality and the behaviors that are deemed appropriate for young people is societally determined. The roles, behaviors, and expectations of young people varies across societies and within societies across time.  What contemporary society determines to be appropriate for young people corresponds directly with current economic and technological developments.

“Youth” is a socially constructed identity, and serves as the basis for the organization of the oppression of young people. 

This discussion will examine the ways our society oppresses young people, how schools play a role in maintaining that oppression and how the oppression of young people ultimately maintains the manifestations of all forms of oppression.  Together we will imagine an alternate viewpoint of empowered youth and how that might change our society.

Monday's (2/21) Posting regarding the Power of Collective Wisdom text

Hi everyone,
As we continue on our shared journey of investigating complexity, living systems, and our role as adaptive leaders , we also must journey into a new realm of understanding what we share together -- our connection to a collective wisdom that is available to each of us as we participate in our "swamp" groups.  Each "swamp" group is a collective experience; each "swamp" group provides you with the opportunity to work collectively and learn what it means to harness new thought and creative solutions.

For Monday (2/21), I invite you to read chapters 7 & 8 in the Power of Collective Wisdom text. Select one passage per chapter to write out.  Here are the specific directions:
1. Select one passage or key sentences per chapter.
2. Copy it exactly into the blog making sure to cite the page.
3. Write about what you believe the author is saying in the passage (what does the author mean?).
4. Next, write about why this particular passage is important to you as you begin to work collectively as a "swamp" group. 
5. Finally, I invite you to not post and run, but to come back to visit the "shared journey" site -- read your peers' comments and reflections and comment, if you wish, on what is unfolding.

We've got a world to change together -- by learning to work collectively we have greater abilities and tools  needed for this good work.

I look forward to reading your posts!
Jane

I Am - Documentary

I thought this might interest some of you...

I Am - Movie Website

From the Sustainable Seattle Blog:

Special Appearance at the Varsity Theatre (Seattle, WA):
Director Tom Shadyac will appear In Person Friday, February 25 for a Q&A after the 7:10pm show and to introduce the 9:30pm show.

Agent/Target

I interviewed my sister Zoe who is a Target in the Rank Machine she is 11 years old and way to smart for her own good, below is a link to a short of our hour long conversation I conducted at my parents house this past week. (It's only 11 mins)

-Special Thanks to Zoe for doing this while she was sick :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTzVwBju8BY

swamp issues (class white board)

Hey everyone, here's the picture of the board that i took.

Here are all the swamp issues we went over in class.

The picture is high resolution, so if you can't see it clearly try zooming in and you should have no problems.

"Swamp" Issue Suggestions

Hi everyone,
Here's the list of "swamp" issues that were generated in Wednesday's class -- some really great "swampy" ideas!

1. Community College Completion -- why do so many students drop before completing? (Jane)
2. Communicating with students about sustainability projects as well as engaging them in the community? (Irene from our class and Christian Rugsby, Sustainability Coordinator)
3. Spay & Neutering Pets among low-income people
4. Barnes & Noble's bookstore on our campus
5. Sustainability - composting & recycling
6. Homeless youth in the U district
7. Sustainability of social security
8. Stigma of mental illness
9. Budget cuts facing colleges
10. Parking lot (mandated by Metro, not NSCC, so this may not be changeable- but who knows!)
11. Class schedule not friendly to working students
12. School nutrition

Please come on Monday with a sense of a "swamp" issue you'd like to work on.  This choice will determine the initial group formation.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions: jreis@sccd.ctc.edu
Jane

Extra Credit Opportunity

Diversity Speaker Series: "I Can Fix Facism" by Damali Ayo

12:30pm - 2:00pm

Description: Do you want to change racism in the world? Guess what? You have to start with yourself! Cause you know what? If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem! Damali Ayo will share a simple 10-point plan to take the progress of our culture forward, with humor, honesty, sincerity, and spirit.

Location: Baxter Events Center


Assignment: Attend the discussion and complete a 2 page informal essay about what you learned and how it relates to what you've learned in the class.

Message from NSCC's Educational Fund about scholarship opportunities

Please let your students know that the Education Fund Scholarship application will be available this week, and direct them to northseattle.edu/education-fund to apply!  The application deadline is April 29, 2011, but we will be reviewing applications over the summer and will award during August.  We appreciate your assistance in this process.  Please let me know if I can answer any questions you (or your students) have. 

 

Good luck!

Jane

 

ReCentering Skills: June Jordan

A couple of people asked for more on Recentering skills and we'll talk about it on Monday. For now, a favorite quote that reflects this particular skill set.  June Jordan was an American writer, poet, teacher, and social activist, who wrote from the perspective of a bisexual, Black, female, New Yorker.

She writes, "Freedom is indivisible or it is nothing at all besides sloganeering and temporary, short-sighted, and short-lived advancement for a few. Freedom is indivisible, and either we are working for freedom or you are working for the sake of your self-interests and I am working for mine" (133).

(From her essay "A New Politics of Sexuality," in the book Some of Us Did Not Die, Basic Books, 2002.)

Systems Thinking? Adaptive Leadership?

Hi everyone,
I'd like to hear from each of you about where you are in your thinking about living systems (versus mechanistic systems) and adaptive leadership. 

We had an amazing synthesis seminar last night (1/27/11). There were some wonderful connections made between and among our texts.

Now I'd like to have you think even more deeply about this concept of living systems and its relationship to Heifetz's concept of adaptive leadership.

What makes a living system different than a mechanistic one?  When is it appropriate to use a mechanistic design in problem solving?  What concepts or terms did you read about that fascinated you re living systems or helped you better understand mechanistic designs? How do these different concepts apply to adaptive leadership?

Lastly, I'd like you to explore the relevance of systems thinking in your own lives.  Are any of you currently a part of an organization or group that views itself as a living system? If so, how are you organized?  How is power shared, communication flow understood, problems addressed?

Let's talk!  Let's listen!

Looking forward to your postings.  Jane

Yay, Now I am An Author to this Blog Too!

Jane and I figured out the technical glitches and now I can post too.  Is good.  Technical features abound.  Is possible to teach a class just with blogs?

Friends, Romans, Countrymen: lend me yr ears!

For You! College Transfer Fair on campus this week

Hi Everyone,

The information below is from our advising center re this week'sTransfer Fair. Please take advantage of this service if you are planning to transfer to a 4-year college or university! There will be more colleges coming throughout the quarter.  Jane

Wednesday, Jan19

The Evergreen State College Information Table

9:00 am-1:00 pm, Hallway, 1^st floor, College Center

Write a Winning Personal Statement Workshop
1-2:30 pm, Club Room, CC 1360, south end of cafeteriaYour admissions essay is a very important part of the 4-year transfer application process. Join Loft Director, Daniel Tarker, for this interactive workshop, and learn how to create and write an effective admissions essay.

       

Thursday, Jan. 20

UW Bothell Individual Advising Appointments

Call 527-3658 or drop by advising to make an appointment
For more information or to make an appointment with an advisor:    https://northseattle.edu/advising  North Seattle CC Advising       206-527-3658     CC2346A

½ hour appointments are still available to meet with a UW Bothell admissions advisor! Students who plan to take apply to UW-B should  be sure to take advantage of this opportunity.

Cultural Interview Synthesis and Pictures

Hi Everyone,
Please post your synthesis of your cultural interview below by clicking on the comment box below.
Don't forget to email me your pictures. I've decided to post them on our website rather than the blog. See the schedule and follow the link to the pictures page to view the photos of the cultural interviews.
Jane

Cultural Interview and Posting to the Blog

Greetings from a very cold and snowy New York,
Margot has already emailed me about what you all did at last night's class.  It sounds like a great learning experience!

Margot also said that there were some questions about the cultural interview.  Some of you were correct when you said that there are slightly different iterations of the assignment.  I did update the assignment and repost onto the website (and redistribute the assignment in class), but I thought I just strengthened the assignment for you and didn't change any real variables. I should have told you to throw out the earlier assignment.  My apologies.

So to be clear:
1) you are to set up an interview with one person in our class.

2) since Monday is a federal holiday (Martin Luther King day), I have asked you to post a synthesis of your interview experience on this blog.  This synthesis can be one paragraph in length covering the "gems" of your experience -- what you learned, what surprised you, etc.  I also asked you, if you can, to send me (jreis@sccd.ctc.edu) a pix of you and your interview partner so I can post the pictures on our blog. 

3) I'd love it if you all would spend a little time reading each other's postings because even though this assignment seems simplistic, I assure you that its focus on the practice of listening can have profound effects on each one of us.  We begin to learn that if we can only slow down and listen, we can learn a great deal about ourselves and each other.

4) Bring your whole paper on Wednesday of next week with two extra copies to share in class.

Any questions?  Again, my apologies if I confused you in any way.

See you all next week. And please, if you have ANY questions about this assignment, please email me at jreis@sccd.ctc.edu

Jane

Dialogue, Seminars and New Thoughts

Hi Everyone,
I thought before I left for New York (if I am still going -- massive snow storm in New York), I'd create a new blog posting site for everyone to share their thoughts about what's been interesting so far in our class.  For example, what has stood out for you as really important as you read the first four chapters of Isaacs book? What about what we've talked about in class -- the concept of power (Margot), listening skills (Jane), and dimensions of culture (Jane)? What about Machiavelli's book, The Prince? What are you thinking about as you complete your reading in preparation for tomorrow's seminar?

Also, an FYI:  don't forget to send me (jreis@sccd.ctc.edu) your photos of you and your interviewee.  I will post them on our blog site.  Should be fun!

I also wanted you to know that I posted a sample cultural interview paper on the web site.  Look for it in tomorrow's section.

Hopefully I will see you tomorrow night, but if not feel free to email me with any questions. My emails come to my phone so I'm easy to reach!

Jane