Civil Liberties -- Can They Survive 9/11?
Nancy Murray ACLU of Massachusetts
Mon Jan 24, 03-05:00pm, 1-190
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
What has happened to the Constitution and civil liberties in the aftermath of 9/11? How are students affected? How are people organizing to fight back? Come to a screening of Robert Greenwald's new film, UNCONSTITUTIONAL: The War on Our Civil Liberties. It will be followed by a discussion of the issues with Dr. Nancy Murray, the founder and director of the Bill of Rights Education Project at the ACLU of Massachusetts. Robert Greenwald's previous films include UNPRECEDENTED: The Battle for the Presidency in Florida and UNCOVERED: The War on Iraq.
Contact: Jake Beal, 32-392, x3-8581, jakebeal@mit.edu
Sponsor: Jacob S Beal, 32-392, 617 253-8581, jakebeal@mit.edu
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Contemporary Marijuana & Psychedelic Research: Science, Politics, Propaganda and Potential
Rich Doblin, Daniel Taub
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
A discussion of contemporary issues surrounding clinical research into the therapeutic potential of cannibis, MDMA, LSD and other psychedelics in 2 sessions coordinated by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.
Web: http://maps-mit.mit.edu/
Contact: Daniel Taub, mdan@mit.edu
Sponsor: Political Science
Science, Politics and Propaganda: Medical Marijuana & Psychedelic Research
Rick Doblin Graduate, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Founder MAPS
We will focus on the political and social challenges faced in researching marijuana and psychedelics, opposition, and present legal and educational means of regaining territory.
Tue Jan 18, 04-05:30pm, 4-153
Therapeutic Applications & Psychedelic Emergency Services: From Clinical Research to Burning Man
Rick Doblin Graduate, Harvard Kennedy School, Founder of MAPS
This session involves clinical design, elaboration on therapy - both clinically and as emergency services in places such as the yearly Burning Man festival -- and details about current research.
Thu Jan 20, 04-05:30pm, 4-153
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Crisis Action Planning
Lt. Col. D.H. Wilkinson, USMC
Wed Jan 26, Thu Jan 27, Fri Jan 28, 09am-04:00pm, E38-714, will meet for two days total
No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
This course looks at how the US Marine Corps plans its operations in a changing strategic and operational environment. Topics include the Marine Corps Planning System and crisis action procedures. We end with a practical application that allows students to assume key leadership roles as they work through Mission Analysis and preparation of Courses of Action.
The course is designed for students of strategic studies, international relations, political science, and those associated with the military. However, it has easy transportability to the business community.
Participation in "Organization and Capabilities of the Nation's Military Forces" is highly encouraged.
Presented by CIS's Security Studies Program.
Contact: Lt. Col. D.H. Wilkinson, USMC, E38-670, 258-9440, dhwilk@mit.edu
Sponsor: Center for International Studies
Cosponsor: Political Science
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Globalization: Environment, Labor, and Fair Trade
David Wirth
Mon Jan 24, 10am-03:00pm, 2-132, Break from 12-1pm
No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Single session event
Troubled about the social policy impacts of globalization--on environmental quality, labor standards, human dignity--but puzzled about the underlying reasons for all the controversy? This workshop will address these and other issues of globalization in a hands-on but analytical manner, treating real-world concerns that have been identified by activitsts and the public. Advance sign-up recommended for distribution of background reading.
Contact: David Wirth, 9-314, x2-2248, wirthd@mit.edu
Sponsor: Urban Studies and Planning
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How Baseball, Poker, and Fermat Teach Us the Best Way to Elect the President
Alan Natapoff
Wed Jan 19, 04-05:30pm, 37-212
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
The great paradox of presidential voting is that the Electoral College is democratic, and simple popular voting is not: The Electoral College delivers massive voting power to individual voters in closely-contested states, but raw voting delivers none, anywhere. The Electoral College's only major vice is that it gives individual voters in poorly-contested states (i.e., 80 million or more out of 100 million in 2000)no power at all. The cure is to base a state's Electoral vote count on the actual number of popular votes it cast--not on its population. That would force candidates to campaign beyond the battleground states. We trace the paradoxes, the delicious oddities, and Fermat's solution to the problem of Florida 2000.
Web: http://natapoff@space.mit.edu
Contact: Alan Natapoff, 37-219, 253-7757, natapoff@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Alan Natapoff, 37-147, 617 253-7757, natapoff@space.mit.edu
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Intelligence Reform
Robert Vickers, Senior Intelligence Officer - CIA
Thu Jan 20, 01-03:00pm, 4-153
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
What are the implications of the new intelligence reform bill and what are the prospects for the future? Join us for a lecture and discussion on intelligence reform.
Contact: Tobie Weiner, iguanatw@mit.edu
Sponsor: Political Science
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Introduction to Data Services
Katherine McNeill-Harman
Wed Jan 26, 03:30-04:30pm, 14N-132
Thu Jan 27, 10-11:00am, E53-220
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Repeating event. Participants welcome at any session
Come learn how you can find and use numeric and statistical data in the MIT Libraries. This workshop will provide an overview of the new Data Services web site, major sources for data, and resources on campus to help you in your research process. Stay after the workshop for hands-on use of the resources!
Web: http://libraries.mit.edu/dewey/data/
Contact: Katherine McNeill-Harman, E53-100, x3-0787, mcneillh@mit.edu
Sponsor: Libraries
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Israel: Looking At the Facts through the Media
Miri Eisen, former Colonel to the Israel Defense Force
Thu Jan 27, 07-08:30pm, 4-145
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Do you wonder how to get a balanced point of view about Israel through the media? Interpreting the media especially with relation to Israel is an ongoing challenge. Attend this hands-on workshop and learn from Miri Eisen, a retired Colonel from the IDF intelligence corps, one of the few women colonels in the IDF. For the last two years Miri has been at the forefront of presenting Israel’s case to the media, appearing on national and international stations world-wide. Following a lecture on the past few weeks of current events, we will break down the events and learn what to look for when finding a balanced point of view. This program is sponsored with the assistance of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Boston.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/hillel/www
Contact: Rachel Shiffrin, W11, (617) 253-2982, shiffrin@mit.edu
Sponsor: Hillel
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MIT Washington Summer Internship Program Information Sessions
Charles Stewart, Tobie Weiner
Tue Jan 11, 02-03:00pm, 2-143
Wed Jan 19, 10-11:00am, 2-143
Thu Jan 27, 04-05:00pm, 2-143
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Repeating event. Participants welcome at any session
Come to an information session and find out about the MIT Washington Summer Internship Program. The program was founded in 1995 to give selected MIT undergraduates the opportunity to explore science and engineering policymaking at the national level, through study and practical experience. The interns have worked in the offices of government agencies, the private sector, and advocacy groups. Complementing the summer internships are a trip to Washington, DC, during spring break and a 12-unit HASS subject designed to give students an introduction to policymaking. All sessions are the same; come to any one.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/summerwash/www
Contact: Tobie Weiner, E53-484, x3-3649, iguanatw@mit.edu
Sponsor: Political Science
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Marxism Today
Felix Kreisel
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: Read the World Socialist Web Site at http://www.wsws.org/
Following the collapse of the "socialist bloc" world politics is characterized by instability and successive crises. US imperialism drives for world domination, old alliances shatter and re-form, advanced capitalist countries suffer economic stagnation and social polarization, the Third World reels from famine and wars, the former "socialist" states show social and cultural regression. Despite huge scientific and technological progress humanity is suffering from a fatal illness - capitalism.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/fjk/Public/iap/
Contact: Felix Kreisel, x3-8625, fjk@mit.edu
Sponsor: Felix Kreisel, NW21-207, 617 253-8625, fjk@mit.edu
The State of Capitalist Russia and other successor states
Felix Kreisel
What is the balance sheet of twelve years of capitalist restoration in the former Soviet Union? Economic and social collapse, ethnic wars and a drift to dictatorship in most of the successor states.
Tue Jan 4, 06-08:00pm, 1-246
The 1917 Russian Revolution: Was Socialism Doomed?
Felix Kreisel
We shall look at the Russian Revolution of 1917 within the context of world capitalism in crisis. Suggested reading: Trotsky's "History of the Russian Revolution" and "Permanent Revolution."
Tue Jan 11, 06-08:00pm, 1-246
The 2004 Elections and Crisis of American Democracy
Bill Van Auken, Socialist Equality Party candidate for President in 2004
The election of 2004 exposed the sick state of American "democracy" and the crisis of the two party system. Underlying the political crisis is the unprecedented social and economic polarization of American society. Suggested reading: http://www.wsws.org/
Tue Jan 18, 06-08:00pm, 1-246
What Was Soviet "Communism?" What Kind of Socialism Do We Need?
Felix Kreisel
We shall examine the class content of the mature Soviet state, look at the reasons for its collapse and suggest the historic lessons learned from it. Suggested reading: Trotsky's "The Revolution Betrayed."
Tue Jan 25, 06-08:00pm, 1-246
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Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
Anna Jaffe
Mon, Wed, Fri, Jan 10, 12, 14, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 12:30-02:00pm, 24-619
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Signup by: 28-Jan-2005
Repeating event. Participants welcome at any session
Prereq: a passion for clairvoyance and common sense
We will examine how our own mental models limit our capacity to see problems as the opportunity they may be. We will begin by examining a series of questons believed to stand without answer, and then work our way through the four principles of natural capitalism. We will then discuss recent application of similar ideas. The series will end with a vision of where and how we hope to inspire change and how this passion can be passed on to others. Class structure is designed to integrate everyone interested in this topic from those deeply engrossed to those taking a look for the first time. Meeting times may be adjusted if necessary to accommodate participant needs.
Web: http://www.natcap.org
Contact: Anna Jaffe, EC Wat 412, (609) 273-5914, ajaffe@mit.edu
Sponsor: Experimental Study Group
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Organization and Capabilities of the Nation's Military Forces
LtCol D.H. Wilkinson, USMC
Tue Jan 25, 09am-04:00pm, E38-714
No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Single session event
This one-day course consists of a series of lectures on the organization, capabilities and future structure of the U.S. Military. Topics include: national security structure & organization, capabilities & limitations of the Armed Services to include: U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard and the Special Operations community.
This course is designed for students of strategic studies, international relations, political science, and those associated with the military.
Presented by CIS’s Security Studies Program.
Contact: LtCol D.H. Wilkinson, USMC, E38-670, 258-9440, dhwilk@mit.edu
Sponsor: Center for International Studies
Cosponsor: Political Science
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Planning, Funding, and Implementing Transportation Projects in the Real World (or How It Really Works)
Kate Fichter, Eric Plosky
Fri Jan 21, 09:30am-12:30pm, 3-401
No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Single session event
As a vital and complex element of any urban or regional environment, transportation infrastructure both affects and is affected by land use patterns, economic development policies, political power-brokering and environmental resources, and so offers a lens through which to study many of the choices and constraints available to today's planners. This seminar will offer a practice-oriented overview of the issues, players and trends most relevant to contemporary transportation planning, as taught by two MIT/DUSP alumni currently working in the field.
Contact: Kathleen Hoag, 9-547, x3-7692, hoag@mit.edu
Sponsor: Urban Studies and Planning
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Run the World for a Month: Systems and Decision Making
James Rising
Mon Jan 10, Wed Jan 26, 07-08:00pm, 24-619
No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 09-Jan-2005
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Live a year in the life of the President of the United States, or the owner of a small retail store, a producer of a medical device, or an editor for a national newspaper-- this IAP! Individually choose your role in society and make the day-to-day decisions of your position. Along with your peers, you will craft the world to which you react, addressing both practical concerns and challenges spawning from system dynamics, philosophy, ethics, organization, and management. If you are interested, this activity can continue in the spring term for those who sign up for SP.252 Systems and Decision Making. Email jrising@mit.edu to choose your position-- first come, first served! The first meeting is not mandatory to be involved.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/esg
Contact: James Rising, 24-612, x3-7787, jrising@mit.edu
Sponsor: Experimental Study Group
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The 2004 Election
James Snyder, Stephen Ansolabehere, Adam Berinsky, Charles Stewart
Fri Jan 21, 01-02:30pm, E51-376
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
On January 21st, a new president will just have been inaugurated, or an old one re-inaugurated. Four professors from Political Science and Economics will discuss what they found most interesting about the 2004 election and what the next four years will bring.
Contact: Theresa Benevento, E52-274, x3-8883, theresa@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics
Cosponsor: Political Science
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The Future of the Global War on Terror: A Discussion
Stephen Van Evera
Tue Jan 11, 03-05:00pm, 1-190
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Does the United States have a plausible strategy for victory in the global war on terror? If not, what should it be? Martin Rees and other scientists warn that the progress of science, especially biological science, is democratizing the power to destroy. (See Martin Rees, Our Final Hour, 2003). What implications follow for the future of terrorism and counter-terror? A talk will be presented, followed by discussion. Ree's book, chapters 1, 4 and 6 will be discussed. Copies of Martin Rees' book are on Reserve at the Dewey Library.
Contact: Tobie Weiner, E53-484, x3-3649, iguanatw@mit.edu
Sponsor: Political Science
Cosponsor: Center for International Studies
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The Politics & Economics of Technological Innovation: Why Are Some Countries More Innovative Than Others?
Zak Taylor
Wed Jan 12, 01-02:00pm, 2-105
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
National differences in innovatin rates defy common sense. Innovation is the driving force behind economic growth, relative industrial power, and military might. In recognition of this, every industrialized nation expends a significant share of its resources on the pursuit of technological progress. Yet, despite the random nature of innovation, and the seemingly clear policy of fiscal requirements for promoting innovative behavior, some countries are consistently more successful than others at technological progress, even amongst the industrialized democracies. This talk will examine our current understanding of national innovation rates, look at some evidence, and highlight some interesting trends in search of answers to this puzzle.
Contact: Zak Taylor, mzak@mit.edu
Sponsor: Political Science
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