Battling the Hydra: The Al Anbar Insurgency from the Perspective of a U.S. Marine
Colonel G. H. Bristol
Mon Jan 30, 10am-02:00pm, E38-714
Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Limited to 20 participants.
Single session event
Operation IRAQI FREEDOM is one of the most complex operations faced by US Armed Forces. The Al Anbar Province is the most volatile area in Iraq. Facing Sunni disenfranchisement, a kaleidoscopic insurgency, and triple border incursions and tension, the Marine Corps battles a "three block war" daily.
The class details the 2004-2005 year in a combat zone of the 1st Marine Division. Topics include organization for combat, intelligence architecture and collection, tactical success and failure, insurgency analysis, effects-based targeting, and combined operations with Iraqi Security Forces.
Col. George H. Bristol, USMC is Commandant of the Marine Corps Fellow at SSP. A 30-year Marine Corps officer, he was the G-2 for 1st Marine Division during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM II.
Contact: Colonel G. H. Bristol, E38-670, x8-9440, gbristol@mit.edu
Sponsor: Center for International Studies
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How Baseball, Poker, and Fermat Teach Us the Best Way to Elect the President
Alan Natapoff
Wed Jan 18, 04-05:30pm, 37-212
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
The paradox of presidential voting is that the Electoral College is more democratic than raw popular voting: It delivers massive power to individual voters in closely-contested states, but raw voting delivers none to anyone, anywhere. We can empower the 80 million impotent voters in poorly-contested states by basing a state's Electoral vote count on its total popular vote, not its population. If the opposition despises the state's dominant candidate--or greatly prefers its own--it can cast blank ballots that will not count for him: Dominant candidates must earn the acquiescence of their opposition, underdog candidates must contest states they are likely to lose, and both must campaign beyond the battleground states. We trace the paradoxes, the delicious oddities, and the resolution of Florida's deadlock in 2000 by Fermat's Rule.
Web: http://natapoff@space.mit.edu
Contact: Alan Natapoff, 37-219, 253-7757, natapoff@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Political Science
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Intelligence, Iraq and the War on Terror: An Insider's View
Robert Vickers
Wed Jan 11, 01-02:30pm, 4-370
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Robert Vickers, a senior intelligence officer and visiting lecturer in the Security Studies Program, will discuss the role of intelligence in Iraq and the War on Terror, including controversial issues such as the Rove-Plame affair, the 16 words, and the use of rendition and secret prisons for captured terrorist leaders.
Contact: Robert Vickers, rvickers@mit.edu
Sponsor: Political Science
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Is it the Economy, the Media or What? Electing a Mexican President in 2006
Alejandro Poiré Visiting Professor, Kennedy School of Government, MIT Professor Chappell Lawson
Wed Jan 25, 12-01:00pm, E51-095
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
In July 06, Mexico will choose a President to succeed Vicente Fox, in office since 2000. Favorable economic conditions suggest that the incumbent party’s candidate, Felipe Calderón, has a chance of victory. Yet, unemployment, inequality & poverty suggest that voters will lean to former mayor of Mexico City Andrés Manuel López Obrador & his leftist Party, the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Further, voter disillusionment with Fox’s performance, marked by legislative deadlock on structural reform may sway voters back to the former hegemonic Partido Revolucionario Institucional’s (PRI) reputation for effective governance under traditional politician Roberto Madrazo. We will discuss the meaning & likely outcome of the 2006 race, using data from a major study of voter perceptions, opinions & attitudes.
Poli Sci Dept & Clubmex cosponsors.
Contact: Amy Kirkcaldy, kirkcald@mit.edu
Sponsor: Center for International Studies
Cosponsor: MIT Mexico Program
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MIT Washington Summer Internship Program Information Sessions
Charles Stewart, Tobie Weiner
Thu Jan 19, 11am-12:00pm, 1-135
Tue Jan 31, 01-02:00pm, 1-135
Wed Feb 1, 03-04:00pm, 1-135
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/
Our "New World Order" is characterized by instability and successive crises. American imperialist drive for world domination is stuck in the Iraqi quagmire, 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
American Drive for World Empire
Peter Daniels, World Socialist Web Site reporter
Quagmire in Afghanistan and Iraq and abject failure in New Orleans. American drive for world domination requires an attack on civil rights and social services at home. Does the Democratic Party present an alternative?
Tue Jan 10, 05:30-07:00pm, 1-135
Capitalist Russia Today
Vladimir Volkov, WSWS reporter, St. Petersburg, Russia
What is the balance sheet of capitalist restoration in the former Soviet Union? Economic and social collapse, ethnic wars and a drift to dictatorship in Russia and other successor states.
Tue Jan 17, 05:30-07:00pm, 1-135
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 24, 05:30-07:00pm, 1-135
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 31, 05:30-07:00pm, 1-135
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Multilevel Statistical Models
Bob Smith
Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Limited to 25 participants.
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: some knowledge of statistics, survey analysis
This course explicates basic principles for assessing causal effects in multilevel linear statistical models (synonyms: hierarchical linear models or mixed models) used to model hierarchical data structures and clustered data. The 1st session of each week will present an example from research practice and the 2nd session of that week will replicate the analysis. Although each weekly session builds on the knowledge gained from learning the material presented in earlier sessions, participants are welcome to drop in or drop out at their discretion.
Contact: Bob Smith, 8-403, x3-5122, rbsmith@mit.edu
Sponsor: Cambridge-MIT Institute
Week 1
Bob Smith
First week topics cover meta-analysis of studies of health care evaluation research.
Mon Jan 9, Thu Jan 12, 11am-12:00pm, 8-404
Week 2
Bob Smith
Second week topics cover the effects of computerization on employee discontent
Tue Jan 17, Thu Jan 19, 11am-12:00pm, 8-404
Week 3
Bob Smith
Third week topics cover sources of global human development.
Mon Jan 23, Thu Jan 26, 11am-12:00pm, 8-404
Week 4
Bob Smith
Fourth week topics cover assessments of comprehensive reform of elementary schools.
Mon Jan 30, Thu Feb 2, 11am-12:00pm, 8-404
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Risky Business
The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP)
Mon Jan 30, 10am-06:00pm, N52-390
Tue Jan 31, 10am-02:00pm, N52-390
Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Limited to 5 participants.
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: no prerequisites
What risks do individuals face on an everyday basis? What risks do we face as a society? What are the similarities and differences between all these risks and how do we deal with them? Join researchers and designers from the Center for Urban Pedagogy a non-profit that creates educational projects about power, politics, and place, as they investigate how MIT economists, political scientists, and business strategists are trying to understand this thing called risk. The group will discuss the nature and role of risk in everyday life; conduct a series of three video interviews with specialists in economic, financial, health, and environmental risk; and brainstorm about how these innovations in risk can be made accessible to a broader audience using the tools of art and design. Interviewees to be determined.
Web: http://cavs.mit.edu/
Contact: Meg Rotzel, N52-390, x3-4415, mrotzel@mit.edu
Sponsor: Center for Advanced Visual Studies
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The First Families in Space - Presentation & Discussion
Joseph Palaia 4Frontiers Corporation, Mars Foundation, Mars Society, Bruce Mackenzie, Martha Adams
Mon Jan 30, 01-02:00pm, 33-116
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Audience discussion of the raising of the first children on Mars or elsewhere in space. What ethical questions arise from proposing to raise children in a (possibly) unsafe environment? What physical support is needed? What kind of robotics and remote assistance will be needed from Earth? What is the minimum satisfactory number of adults and children? Is a nuclear family the best family model? Finally - what impact will this have on our society here on Earth?
Web: http://www.MarsHome.org
Contact: Joseph Palaia, (508) 561-2232, jpalaia@mit.edu
Sponsor: Mars Society
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The Future of Power
Ali Wyne
Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Limited to 20 participants.
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
What structure of power will emerge after the United States' reign as superpower concludes? This question may appear to exhibit ignorance of the current distribution of global power, for the United States' preponderance does not appear to be immediately imperiled. However, it recognizes an outcome that may well prevail in the forthcoming centuries, if not by the conclusion of the 21st. After examining the interrelated challenges to America's exercise of power in the global theater, these sessions will discuss possible answers to the above question.
Contact: Ali Wyne, awyne@mit.edu
Sponsor: Political Science
Cosponsor: Center for International Studies
Stephen Van Evera
This session centers on the challenges that "global issues" -- for example, the proliferation of nuclear weapons of mass destruction and the decentralization of global terrorist networks - pose to the exercise of American leadership.
Wed Jan 11, 07:30-09:00pm, 1-135
TBA
This session examines the utility and relevance of military prowess and armed force in the 21st century.
Wed Jan 18, 07:30-09:00pm, 1-135
TBA
This session documents the growing challenges that the global community pose to the United States' economic and intellectual clout.
Wed Jan 25, 07:30-09:00pm, 1-135
TBA
This final session discusses some international orders that might arise in a world in which the United States is no longer the predominant power.
Wed Feb 1, 07:30-09:00pm, 1-135
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The Road to 9/11
Ken Morse
Thu Jan 26, 04-06:30pm, E51-335
No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Single session event
Road to 9/11 is a detailed look at the forces that have shaped the modern Middle East, crafted to provided a sensitive context and better understanding of the current situation. Viewers are taken on a narrative journey of the Middle East Region beginning after World War I -- a chronicle of rising nationalism, worsening social, political and economic conditions, the growing role of religion as a political force in some countries, and the increasing problems of frustration, ineffective development, and corruption by local and foreign powers.
Contact: Pat Fuligni, pfuligni@mit.edu
Sponsor: Sloan School of Management
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Travels to North Korea
James Geraci
Wed Jan 18, 07:30-09:00pm, 56-114
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
North Korea is one of the world's most closed societies. Americans have rarely been allowed entry into the country. James Geraci has been there 3 times. Come hear about his travels to North Korea and how they compare with his impressions of the South.
Contact: James Geraci, 36-844D, (617) 230-2314, jrgeraci@mit.edu
Sponsor: James R Geraci, 10-082, 617 452-4001, jrgeraci@mit.edu
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U.S. Special Operations Forces Roles and Missions
Lieutenant Colonel Chris Conner
Tue Jan 31, 09am-04:00pm, E38-714
Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Limited to 20 participants.
Single session event
The use of U.S. Special Operations Forces has figured prominently in the response to the 9-11 attacks and in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Consequently, much has been written regarding their roles, training, and recent operations.
This class is designed to familiarize you with the actual charter of these unconventional warriors as well as to dispel some myth, rumor and innuendo.
Colonel Conner is the US Army Senior Service College Fellow at CIS's Security Studies Program. He is a Special Forces Officer and was in command of Special Forces units during three combat rotations in Iraq, the first as Special Forces A Team Leader during Operation Desert Storm, and twice as a Special Forces Battalion Commander during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Contact: Lieutenant Colonel Chris Conner, E38-670, 258-9440, cconner@mit.edu
Sponsor: Center for International Studies
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