Letter from Birmingham Jail

Please read Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" for next class.

Links for 1/29

King on nonviolent resistance

Malcolm X on King

Martin Luther King Jr. on Henry David Thoreau

During my early college days I read Thoreau's essay on civil disobedience for the first time. Fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system, I was so deeply moved that I re-read the work several times. I became convinced then that non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest. It goes without saying that the teachings of Thoreau are alive today, indeed, they are more alive today than ever before. Whether expressed in a sit-in at lunch counters, a freedom ride into Mississippi, a peaceful protest in Albany, Georgia, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, it is an outgrowth of Thoreau's insistence that evil must be resisted and no moral man can patiently adjust to injustice.

Mark Ruffalo reads Thoreau

People's mic 

Cornel West arrested

Protest at Apple

USUncut's video of Apple protest

Bullfighting protest

Chile "Thriller"

Violent Chile protest

List of self-immolation

Thich Quang Duc

Kingsley as Gandhi

It Gets Better--Colbert

It Gets Better--Pixar

For 1/29

Sorry, guys, I forgot to post the instructions for the assignment I gave in class.  Here it is:

1. Read the "Differences Between Violence and Nonviolence" handout.  Pay particular attention to the idea that nonviolence is an active technique to resolve conflict.
2. Read the Martin Luther King handout and consider his thoughts about the risks associated with nonviolence.
3. Choose a current news article that describes a violent response to conflict.  Use your imagination to rewrite the article as if nonviolent techniques had been used instead.  Be realistic in imagining what would have happened.  Don't assume that nonviolence is a magic solution that will easily and completely resolve all conflict.
4. Also take a look at both sides of the "How Do You Handle Conflict" worksheet.  We will discuss this informally in class.
5. As we have decided to read Mother Night please obtain a copy and begin reading at a pace that will allow you to finish by week six or seven.

Links to use in class on 1/22

"The Line Is Hot" by Steve Featherstone

Article about Ivan Fernandez Anaya

Video of Anaya

A very traditional view of civilization. 

Scilla Elworthy on nonviolence.

Pie in the face--Bryant

Murdock

Gates

One More Reminder

Don't forget to begin paying a bit more attention to current events.  I'd like to have a conversation soon about what issues you all find most compelling; we will try to agree on what we want to focus on later in the term.

Instructions for January 22

To prepare for next week's class, please read or complete the following:

• Follow the links (you will need to go to the bottom of the page and click on "older posts") to examine Lysistrata, Slaughterhouse Five, and Mother Night to decide which book you would most like to read.  If some other book comes to mind, please email me to suggest it.
• Think about a film you would like include in the course.  Past classes have used or considered Gandhi, Gran Torino, Dr. Strangelove, Mother Night, Precious, and others.  Almost any film could qualify as long as you can make a case that it examines conflict and/or responses to conflict.
• Look at the Sociocultural Evolution chart detailing the historical periods outlined by Gerhard Lenski.  Try to get a general understanding of ways in which technology impacts society.
• Read "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," "The Nymph's Reply," and the lyrics to the song "Apeman."  Think about what these works are saying about living in a technologically advanced society.
• Complete following short writing assignment:

1. Finish the following sentence to create a definition of what non-physical violence means to you: "Violence to me is..."
2. Provide a hypothetical example of the violence you are describing.

Sample assignment:

1. Violence to me is when people go out of their way to express disrespect for me and that there is nothing I can do about it.
2. Example: When I am bicycling and cars intentionally miss me by inches even when several lanes of room are available to pass me.  This feels to me like drivers are saying, "I don't approve of bicycles using public roads and expressing that to you is more important than your safety." 

If you have any questions, please email me at jfox@muskingum.edu.

Have a good week!

Sociocultural Evolution