jody and brené (fall 2008)

The end of the fall semester has finally arrived. It's been a long, tough road. We just really never recovered from Hurricane Ike. The lights came back on and the streets were cleared, but the anxiety and stress lingered. It's tough for anyone to lose one month in a three-month semester, but it grueling for graduate students trying to manage their classes, their lives, and their mandatory internships.

Jody Williams and I teach a course on Global Justice every fall. In 1997, Jody won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with The International Campaign to Ban Landmines and is now working for peace with justice through the Nobel Women's Initiative. She flies in from DC (where she lives) during the semester so we can meet with the students.

Earlier this year, I asked my students in Shame Resilience to create blogs as part of their group projects. I was blown away. We borrowed that idea and had the Global Justice students create blogs to track and report their advocacy projects. They did an amazing job - check them out!

This group put a curriculum together based the book written by Jen Lemen and Odette Umurerwa. For those of you looking for classroom projects, mother-daughter book club ideas or girl scout activities - this rocks! It offers everything from math problems that teach the concept of microlending and geography lessons to African recipes that kids make together. You can buy Jen and Odette's book here!

If you haven't seen Born into Brothels - you should. It's an amazing story of resilience and hope. This group held a campus-wide screening of the film and raised money for Kids with Cameras - an organization that believes that photography is an effective tool in igniting children's imagination and building self-esteem. This group exceeded their fund-raising goals and changed some lives. Check out their blog.

Jody and I were both "schooled on corn" by this group. Everyone has heard of the big push for using corn for a fuel source, but did you know that the implication for using corn for fuel is dangerously affecting the world food market? In fact, we learned that the corn used to fill one SUV tank with ethanol could feed an adult for 365 days! 

Last, if you're looking for a way to teach peace or integrate peace and justice ideas into your parenting or teaching - this is an incredible resource. I've already send this link to several teachers and the response has been fantastic.

Here's to all of the UH GCSW students who survived Ike and Fall '08! Thanks for being the change!