It has indeed been a busy couple of weeks here in the Far East and state side. I am glad to hear that Congress and the administration has acted to (hopefully?) stabilize the markets and stop the bleeding that is affecting all of us. It has been very interesting to watch this all happen from afar and amongst such a diverse group of people at my school who seem to all have an opinion about our U.S. economic crisis. I have been having some interesting conversations in and outside of classes about the economic crisis, the perception of our government's action, and the implications for those actions in other countries. It has been very challenging defending our American values, no matter how hypocritical they may seem at times. But as anyone who knows me, I thrive in situations I can engage people's minds, even if arguing for a side in which I don't have 100% faith in. I just hope that the government rescue will stop the hemorrhaging. And if you are as interested in learning more about how all of this got from Wall Street to Main Street, check out this podcast from NPR's This American Life that tries to learn more about the root causes of this fiasco. Don't forget to listen to the first one of this series too. I swear I learned so much from it!
Like I said before, I have also been keeping busy with classes. Last week I really felt like a graduate school student, as I presented my first lecture on our readings to my Public Policy class. I gave a short lecture on the role of institutions, i.e. government/state bodies, and their influence on forming public policy. It took a lot of preparation, but it was worth it, as I think I was able to make the dense readings more approachable to my other classmates and spur a good discussion after. In this class on public policy, it has been interesting to make connections between all of the different theories that attempt to explain the formation of public policy and finding real-world examples I know of in the states. Just as I would have guessed, it is full of many actors playing very complex roles!
Last Friday I also gave another presentation - this time in my Ideas on Peace course - on Immanuel Kant's essay To Perpetual Peace. As you can imagine, Kant is pretty heavy stuff to read and understand; he includes so many layers in his meanings that it seems you can never get to the bottom of what he is really communicating. In my preparation for this presentation, I did learn some good background information on Kant and the factors that influenced him to write this piece, such as the French Revolutionary Wars and the philosophical debates surrounding peace at that time. What is really interesting about this writing from Kant is how revolutionary and progressive his prescriptions for peace are. Not only did he have a very cosmopolitan idea of man and his connectedness to others in the world that put him at the forefront of human rights advocates, but he also advocated states to suspend its armies and to stop trying to take other's lands. It would definitely be difficult to get today's states to implement Kant's formula for peace!
I'm sure that from reading this you have certainly learned more about my nerdy side than you could have ever wanted! I promise to make my next entry more interesting, especially since the season is beginning to change - the leaves are finally changing colors and falling from the trees. This next week I hope to get some good pictures to post on my next entry. In the meantime, I'll keep reading and studying!
JRG
Like I said before, I have also been keeping busy with classes. Last week I really felt like a graduate school student, as I presented my first lecture on our readings to my Public Policy class. I gave a short lecture on the role of institutions, i.e. government/state bodies, and their influence on forming public policy. It took a lot of preparation, but it was worth it, as I think I was able to make the dense readings more approachable to my other classmates and spur a good discussion after. In this class on public policy, it has been interesting to make connections between all of the different theories that attempt to explain the formation of public policy and finding real-world examples I know of in the states. Just as I would have guessed, it is full of many actors playing very complex roles!
Last Friday I also gave another presentation - this time in my Ideas on Peace course - on Immanuel Kant's essay To Perpetual Peace. As you can imagine, Kant is pretty heavy stuff to read and understand; he includes so many layers in his meanings that it seems you can never get to the bottom of what he is really communicating. In my preparation for this presentation, I did learn some good background information on Kant and the factors that influenced him to write this piece, such as the French Revolutionary Wars and the philosophical debates surrounding peace at that time. What is really interesting about this writing from Kant is how revolutionary and progressive his prescriptions for peace are. Not only did he have a very cosmopolitan idea of man and his connectedness to others in the world that put him at the forefront of human rights advocates, but he also advocated states to suspend its armies and to stop trying to take other's lands. It would definitely be difficult to get today's states to implement Kant's formula for peace!
I'm sure that from reading this you have certainly learned more about my nerdy side than you could have ever wanted! I promise to make my next entry more interesting, especially since the season is beginning to change - the leaves are finally changing colors and falling from the trees. This next week I hope to get some good pictures to post on my next entry. In the meantime, I'll keep reading and studying!
JRG
I say, "Bring on the nerdy!" There are enough Marlboro Men in the world. (Well, on THIS side of the Pacific rim, anyway...) Keep it up, Jay!! Love, Chuck
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