GraniteGrok

to depict the way society socially constructs racial prejudice

workshop featuring a panel of students will describe their perceptions of the campus climate and describe challenges faced by many GLBTQ students. In addition, the presentation will discuss how advisors, whether GLBTQ or straight, can partner with GLBTQ students to make the campus a more inclusive and affirming environment.

“Cutting-Edge Biotechnology in Old-World Cuba”. Dr. Marshall Feldman, Associate Professor, Community Planning. During the 1980’s, the Cuban government diverted millions of its meager dollars into applied research in the human, animal, and agricultural sciences to promote economic development. Today Cuba is the largest exporter of human biotechnological products in South America and the Caribbean, with over 50 nations, including China, India, Malaysia, and Iran, among its clients and research partners. Yet Cuba faces major obstacles in integrating its industry into world markets: the stifling US-led trade embargo; the domination of world markets by transnational companies that control access to production, marketing, and distribution; the need to comply with intellectual property rights; and the need to attain credibility in industrialized countries. This workshop provides an opportunity to learn about the history and importance of the industry, and to review the national and international circumstances that prohibit free interaction between US and Cuban scientists and consumers.

Multicultural Science Quiz. Dr. Padma Venkatraman, Coordinator, Graduate Diversity Affairs. Since Europeans began to write it in the late 18th century, the history of science has meant the history of Western science, reflecting the hegemony of Western culture. While the importance of Western science to human progress should not be minimized, the scientific achievements and perspectives of women, people of color, non-Westerners, the disabled, and GLBT persons should not be marginalized. In support of the emerging campaign to globalize science, this workshop will increase awareness of contributions to science and science history from diverse and underrepresented groups.

Race and Class in the Reconstruction of New Orleans. Dr. John Logan, Professor, Sociology, Brown University. Unique among US cities because it is a confluence of French, Spanish, African, Anglo, and Native American cultures, New Orleans is also central to the nation’s economy. It is the nation’s largest port complex, accounting for 16% of US cargo traffic. It is home to ¼ of the nation’s oil and gas production, and 1/3 of the nation’s seafood processing. After the flooding and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina displaced thousands of residents, mostly African-American and poor, power elites - local, state, and federal – are exploiting the unprecedented opportunity to reduce the socioeconomic footprint of black poverty (and black political power), insuring that the new New Orleans will be whiter, richer, more Republican, and less populous. This workshop will describe the dramatic impact of Katrina on the city and its populations; and discuss federal, state, and local governmental and corporate policy responses to enhance flood protection, provide emergency bridge loans and homeowners insurance, build affordable housing, and offer incentives for lowincome communities to rebuild in higher-lying areas.

There Is No ‘Clash of Civilizations’: Islam and Christianity. Dr. Nasser Zawia, Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences. Colorfully restating a theory in international relations that advocates the superiority and dominance of Western culture and values over those of the East, Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations?” (Foreign Affairs, Summer, 1993) provided a rationale that has influenced current American foreign policy, resulting in the perception that conflict between a “unified” West and a “militant” Islam is inevitable, absolving Western militarism and notions of empire from responsibility. Utilizing photographs from recent Fulbright-sponsored research in the Middle East, this workshop comments on crosscultural collaborations between Western and Muslim academicians, and Muslim and non-Muslim governments.