I don't have time to write a whole post right now, but my mind has been thoroughly blown by Prof. Reisner's lecture responding to President Obama's recent speech.
I will update later in the weekend.
Shabbat Shalom!
Showing posts with label Adventures in Academia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adventures in Academia. Show all posts
Friday, May 20, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Family in Herzliya
I had the pleasure of seeing my uncle and aunt from England.
They are visiting because my uncle is teaching at my school for a couple of weeks. I sat in on his International Law class and enjoyed it immensely!
They are visiting because my uncle is teaching at my school for a couple of weeks. I sat in on his International Law class and enjoyed it immensely!
Family!
To UNDOF We Go: What's up Syria and Lebanon
FIY: I took this trip more than a week ago and haven't been able to post the pictures. I am not up there right now with all the craziness going on for Nakba Day.
My school organized a trip for us to visit the UNDOF headquarters in the Golan Heights. Technically in Syria. So, yeah, I went to Syria.
We started out early. Too early. 7:30 is really early for grad students.
Our tour guide works for an eco/green non-profit so in addition to learning about the Golan Heights' political and military history, we learned about the environment. Like how Syria wants a little corner of the Kinneret Lake (Sea of Galilee) as a precondition to negotiation, though now the lake has receded so much so they wouldn't actually get access to Israel's only water source. Just the sources of it in the Golan Heights. Awesome.
Lots of sleeping going on.
Here is the view from the bridge over the MIGHTY RIVER JORDAN.
That's right. You can walk across it. Without a bridge, even.
We drove up through the Golan Heights to get to Mount Bental to meet the representatives of the UN Disengagement Observer Force. You can see the main sites of the Golan Heights including Mount Hermon (called Mount Herman by the Austrian UN guy), Kunetra on the Syria side, the Valley of Tears. On a clear day you can see the sea.
Tour guide telling us about volcanoes. I totally know this.
A very handy sign that shows the distances to various places.
The Washington DC arrow points the wrong way.
Just saying.
Just saying.
What's up Syria?
Trenches at the top of Mount Bental.
Trenches and our group trying to ignore the loud Israeli school groups.
Tour guide making a really Israeli gesture.
E. and D. looking lovely as usual!
Austrian UNDOF guys. The photographer was the object of admiration of many of the ladies on the trip.
He's married, though. Sorry ladies.
This is the best photo I managed of the beautiful wildflowers of the Golan Heights. This is across from the UNDOF base. You can see the apple orchards too. I finally had good apples!
UNDOF Base!
The location of the best Indian food in Israel. Or Syria for that matter.
There are Indian, Japanese, Philippine, and Austrian troop stationed there. But the Indians have the best food.
There are Indian, Japanese, Philippine, and Austrian troop stationed there. But the Indians have the best food.
You can just about see the soldiers at the other tables.
Shortly after this picture was taken, the soldiers came over to us to have pictures with us. My camera died then, but I snagged a picture from a classmate's facebook page:
After lunch and a UNDOF presentation, we piled back into the bus and headed West to the Lebanese border, picking up Mitch, the IDF spokesman for the North.
We got scary-close to the border.
"Please turn around. You are not allowed to be here.
Thanks! Bye now!"
Thanks! Bye now!"
We went to a look out after that to see what Hizbollah has been up to.
They've been building that fake village behind me! It's completely empty and brand new. The IDF has been monitoring the construction and notes that the buildings have no livable interior spaces, just reinforced concrete. Not really residential. More like bunkers, I think.
It was a great time and I had a nice chat with my classmates and one of our guests (the brother of a classmate). A fantastic time was had by all!
Just so you know, these are the borders that have been breached by protesters in the Nakba day protests.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
What a day!
I went to a marvelous lecture today at school about Religion and Peace-building efforts in the region. The rabbi giving the lecture was amazing. Intelligent, cultured, with an international perspective and he was so passionate about his work. His emphasis on the authenticity of Judaism including concern for human rights and equality was inspirational. He is part of the Council of Religious Institutions in the Holy Land and does work around the world. He talked about moderate Muslims having a tough time being heard over the fanatic clamor.
My socks have been rocked!
Then we had a class with the marvelous D.A. He is so knowledgeable and has a wonderfully interconnected way of thinking. I even gathered the courage to answer a question that I didn't really know the answer to, but I did my best. I'm pretty sure I bombed the midterm for that class, though, because D.A. remembered my answers and said that I can come to his office hours to discuss it. Oy.
We talked about the 1983 War Crisis and the 50th anniversary of a man sent into space (which is today!).
After class I went for hot cocoa with E. and MayBell. MayBell and I preceded to debate the recent French law forbidding the wearing of the burka and niqab in public. We talked about propriety, assimilation, minority rights, integration, the Democratic Dilemma (the title of one of my courses!), and European versus American culture. It was lovely!
A good day for YGirl in academic heaven!
My socks have been rocked!
Then we had a class with the marvelous D.A. He is so knowledgeable and has a wonderfully interconnected way of thinking. I even gathered the courage to answer a question that I didn't really know the answer to, but I did my best. I'm pretty sure I bombed the midterm for that class, though, because D.A. remembered my answers and said that I can come to his office hours to discuss it. Oy.
We talked about the 1983 War Crisis and the 50th anniversary of a man sent into space (which is today!).
After class I went for hot cocoa with E. and MayBell. MayBell and I preceded to debate the recent French law forbidding the wearing of the burka and niqab in public. We talked about propriety, assimilation, minority rights, integration, the Democratic Dilemma (the title of one of my courses!), and European versus American culture. It was lovely!
A good day for YGirl in academic heaven!
Friday, March 18, 2011
This is what a feminist looks like!
The Fashionable Academics had a lovely idea to have their readers send in photos of "What a feminist looks like."
I missed out on their deadline, but I am so inspired by their project as well as other feminist bloggers.
Recently, I have met several young women who claim not to be feminists. Feminism is seen as radical, extreme, man-hating, and out of date. Now, I can understand rejecting that image of feminism, but I don't understand rejecting the precepts of feminism entirely.
Some of these women stated that they are not equal to men.
Not as smart.
Not as strong.
Not as intelligent.
Not as capable.
"If I work really really hard, I can do as well as a man, but they are generally smarter than women."
These are educated women with bright futures in their chosen professions. Women that generally respect themselves and hold strong opinions. They argue with men, they discuss things with men, and somehow they have come to believe that they are, by their own nature, lesser.
It is times like this that bring to mind what my mother told me about feminism when I was an angsty, grumpy, self-righteous teenager with a blossoming interest in feminism and religious and social equality.
"I am not the same as a man. But I should get equal treatment."
At the time, I rejected femininity as part of my Feminism.
Religiously, I wanted the same as men. I rejected the aspects of my religion that treasure femininity and women's commandments. Why should I do this "lesser" commandments when there are all of these active, public male commandments. Now, I am always skeptical of my motivations in choosing to take part in a traditionally male-dominated religious observance because the intention is one of one up man-ship rather than religious devotion.
Socially, I strove to be tough as a boy. I saw liking loud, angry, "masculine" music as the feminist choice rather than the "girly" choice of melodic, emotional, introspective music. Now I listen to a little bit of everything and in accordance with my mood or my emotional need.
Essentially, I saw "traditionally female" characteristics as oppressive or undesirable and rejected them.
I strive for balance. I try to appreciate toughness and tenderness, public and private, sassy and sweet. I think that my Feminism is embracing and incorporating all that I am.
This is what a feminist looks like:
I missed out on their deadline, but I am so inspired by their project as well as other feminist bloggers.
Recently, I have met several young women who claim not to be feminists. Feminism is seen as radical, extreme, man-hating, and out of date. Now, I can understand rejecting that image of feminism, but I don't understand rejecting the precepts of feminism entirely.
Some of these women stated that they are not equal to men.
Not as smart.
Not as strong.
Not as intelligent.
Not as capable.
"If I work really really hard, I can do as well as a man, but they are generally smarter than women."
These are educated women with bright futures in their chosen professions. Women that generally respect themselves and hold strong opinions. They argue with men, they discuss things with men, and somehow they have come to believe that they are, by their own nature, lesser.
It is times like this that bring to mind what my mother told me about feminism when I was an angsty, grumpy, self-righteous teenager with a blossoming interest in feminism and religious and social equality.
"I am not the same as a man. But I should get equal treatment."
At the time, I rejected femininity as part of my Feminism.
Religiously, I wanted the same as men. I rejected the aspects of my religion that treasure femininity and women's commandments. Why should I do this "lesser" commandments when there are all of these active, public male commandments. Now, I am always skeptical of my motivations in choosing to take part in a traditionally male-dominated religious observance because the intention is one of one up man-ship rather than religious devotion.
Socially, I strove to be tough as a boy. I saw liking loud, angry, "masculine" music as the feminist choice rather than the "girly" choice of melodic, emotional, introspective music. Now I listen to a little bit of everything and in accordance with my mood or my emotional need.
Essentially, I saw "traditionally female" characteristics as oppressive or undesirable and rejected them.
I strive for balance. I try to appreciate toughness and tenderness, public and private, sassy and sweet. I think that my Feminism is embracing and incorporating all that I am.
This is what a feminist looks like:
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Technical Difficulties
I apologize for not posting much recently. I am having trouble uploading pictures and let's be honest - we all love the pictures!
In the mean time, please enjoy the video from the Herzliya Conference. It's really important in Israel and in policy making fields that are concerned with Israeli issues. And it's held at my school!
Ladies and Gents, the Secretary General of NATO.
The Governor of Mississippi.
In the mean time, please enjoy the video from the Herzliya Conference. It's really important in Israel and in policy making fields that are concerned with Israeli issues. And it's held at my school!
Ladies and Gents, the Secretary General of NATO.
The Governor of Mississippi.
One of the panels I attended!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Wow, Finals are brutal.
I haven't been posting much because I don't really know what to post about my life right now.
It all just seems dreadfully dull. For example:
Today I procrastinated all day! I haven't done any of my reading but I did buy some yarn and walk around town with E!
In any case, yesterday we had our Adamsky final. This professor is my very favorite. He is jaw-droppingly smart and handsome. We all adore him! He emphasized that the final wasn't going to be difficult because the course is for our "intellectual pleasure." Apart from being an exceeding pleasurable experience (with lots of swooning on the part of at least 60% of the class), it was informative a interesting. E. and I agreed that we are both going to miss him and his course over our break. The final was fairly easy and the professor stopped by at the end, looking dashing and marvelous. He really is a pleasure.
E. and I walked back to the center with our friend Diana to have early dinner and then took the bus to the MAX BRENNER for our reward. We have been trying to reward ourselves for studying because our motivation has been so low. After that I had a drink with a new friend who is fascinating and very engaging. We talked about music and spirituality and my impressive procrastination!
Tonight I am going for dinner at a friend's house. She's an exchange student from India and is truly delightful! She makes wonderful curries too! Yummy!
It all just seems dreadfully dull. For example:
Today I procrastinated all day! I haven't done any of my reading but I did buy some yarn and walk around town with E!
In any case, yesterday we had our Adamsky final. This professor is my very favorite. He is jaw-droppingly smart and handsome. We all adore him! He emphasized that the final wasn't going to be difficult because the course is for our "intellectual pleasure." Apart from being an exceeding pleasurable experience (with lots of swooning on the part of at least 60% of the class), it was informative a interesting. E. and I agreed that we are both going to miss him and his course over our break. The final was fairly easy and the professor stopped by at the end, looking dashing and marvelous. He really is a pleasure.
E. and I walked back to the center with our friend Diana to have early dinner and then took the bus to the MAX BRENNER for our reward. We have been trying to reward ourselves for studying because our motivation has been so low. After that I had a drink with a new friend who is fascinating and very engaging. We talked about music and spirituality and my impressive procrastination!
Tonight I am going for dinner at a friend's house. She's an exchange student from India and is truly delightful! She makes wonderful curries too! Yummy!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
My socks have been rocked!
By this guy:
He came to speak to us today. He was wonderful. He was delightful. He was totally awesome.
I am going to read his book.
It was really refreshing to have an American style lecturer.
I'm practically swooning.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Back to Regular Programming
Wow. I did a lot on that cruise.
I'm kind of depressed by blogging about it all week. It is a reminder of how that was just a quick vacation and now it is back to the real world.
E and I went to Bar Ilan University yesterday for a conference on Women in National Security. We went with another girl in our program who is organizing an Israeli chapter of WIIS.
The day started out as a comedy of errors. We waited for the bus just outside our awesome apartment. Buses came and buses went, but we kept waiting for a bus to the train station. At long last, the bus came and we darted off the the train station. I said to myself "Golly, I wonder when the next train will arrive. I hope it won't be too long a wait." The next train was almost an hour later.
After buying our tickets, E and I walked to the mall to find some food and buy some deodorant. First, it took us about fifteen minutes to find the deodorant. Then we waited in line to order food. They didn't have a menu in English so we just ordered sandwiches (as they are less messy than salads.)
We ended up with the messiest sandwiches known to woman.
We met Julia in Tel Aviv and waited for about three quarters of an hour for the bus that is supposed to come every twenty minutes (the bus isn't late, it's just Israel!). We got to Bar Ilan and decided to find this marvelous bakery. We walked all over the campus and surrounding streets and finally found it (after calling Julia's boyfriend three times). We gorged ourselves on doughnuts and cookies and headed off to the conference...
Where all hell broke loose.
The first speaker on Women in the Military was fine, boring, but fine.
The second speaker was the biggest chauvinist ever. He called women "the gnats on the neck of the rhinoceros" but quickly corrected himself: "women are the PESTS on the neck of the rhinoceros." The audience was getting noisy and angry. One woman (in military uniform)shouted out "don't call us pests!" Oy.
It's not sexist, non-intellectual, anti-feminist, chauvinism, it's just Israeli academia.
The next speaker was the head of Sociology at Bar Ilan and she gave the previous speaker a verbal spanking, thank god. Then, someone in the audience started to argue with her about her political views.
"You are a peacenik, why do you care about the military so much?!?"
She responded: "I care because I don't like institutionalized discrimination anywhere - schools, synagogues, social security, healthcare etc!"
It was like an all-out war. T'was intense.
We returned home to collapse.
But we went to Cafe Cafe with lovely MayBell instead. We talked about dating and boys and how depressing life is. We ended up looking very glum.
Then we went to home and collapsed.
Whew!
I'm kind of depressed by blogging about it all week. It is a reminder of how that was just a quick vacation and now it is back to the real world.
E and I went to Bar Ilan University yesterday for a conference on Women in National Security. We went with another girl in our program who is organizing an Israeli chapter of WIIS.
The day started out as a comedy of errors. We waited for the bus just outside our awesome apartment. Buses came and buses went, but we kept waiting for a bus to the train station. At long last, the bus came and we darted off the the train station. I said to myself "Golly, I wonder when the next train will arrive. I hope it won't be too long a wait." The next train was almost an hour later.
After buying our tickets, E and I walked to the mall to find some food and buy some deodorant. First, it took us about fifteen minutes to find the deodorant. Then we waited in line to order food. They didn't have a menu in English so we just ordered sandwiches (as they are less messy than salads.)
We ended up with the messiest sandwiches known to woman.
We met Julia in Tel Aviv and waited for about three quarters of an hour for the bus that is supposed to come every twenty minutes (the bus isn't late, it's just Israel!). We got to Bar Ilan and decided to find this marvelous bakery. We walked all over the campus and surrounding streets and finally found it (after calling Julia's boyfriend three times). We gorged ourselves on doughnuts and cookies and headed off to the conference...
Where all hell broke loose.
The first speaker on Women in the Military was fine, boring, but fine.
The second speaker was the biggest chauvinist ever. He called women "the gnats on the neck of the rhinoceros" but quickly corrected himself: "women are the PESTS on the neck of the rhinoceros." The audience was getting noisy and angry. One woman (in military uniform)shouted out "don't call us pests!" Oy.
It's not sexist, non-intellectual, anti-feminist, chauvinism, it's just Israeli academia.
The next speaker was the head of Sociology at Bar Ilan and she gave the previous speaker a verbal spanking, thank god. Then, someone in the audience started to argue with her about her political views.
"You are a peacenik, why do you care about the military so much?!?"
She responded: "I care because I don't like institutionalized discrimination anywhere - schools, synagogues, social security, healthcare etc!"
It was like an all-out war. T'was intense.
We returned home to collapse.
But we went to Cafe Cafe with lovely MayBell instead. We talked about dating and boys and how depressing life is. We ended up looking very glum.
Then we went to home and collapsed.
Whew!
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