2014-15 Honors in Action Project – IDEAS
· Frontiers & the Spirit of Exploration
· academic exploration
Theme #1: Nature of the QUEST
Why do we seek & explore frontiers?
· psychology – why do we seek
Theme #2: IDEAS & IDEOLOGIES
What frontiers of thought shape the world?
· GOOGLE DOCS:
o “democratization of information”
o sharing info, no ownership of ideas
o Foucault (good)
o Napster (bad)
Theme #3: Quest of HUMAN EXPRESSIONS
How do we express discoveries when we explore?
· cultures
· TECHNICAL forms of expression:
o Google
o text
o social media
· TATTOOS :
o frontiers of personal expression
o Causes & Effects of getting tattoo/s
o dangers
o action = PA laws
o action = colloquium
1. C&E, subtext, dangers, awareness
Theme #4: Exploring the NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
What frontiers of the natural world inspire exploration?
· invasive species
· FRACKING:
o health, economy, laws, regulations
o action = fight for regulations
· * ORGANIC GARDEN :
o organic = frontier of horticulture
1. on campus, volunteer, staff & students
2. feeds Food Pantry, stocks salad island in cafeteria
3. health & economic benefits
o community garden = no frontier of ownership
THEME 5: CELESTIAL FRONTIERS
What are the risks & rewards of exploring the frontiers of outer space ?
· 50th anniversary of NASA
· exhibit of the products, gadgets, technologies we use everyday that we got from space exploration
· pros & cons of public space exploration
· pros & cons of private space exploration
· Mars explorer
· Voyager I
· Viking
· Hubble Telescope
· history of the telescope (@ ECC @ night, w/telescopes)
THEME 6: temporal & spatial physics
How can the exploration of mathematics help us understand & explain the dimensions of the universe?
· models of the universe
· string theory – the Unified Theory of Everything
· *Lost (TV show) & the moving through time backwards, forwards, & sideways
THEME 7: Health & Medicine
What are the physical & ethical boundaries to the frontiers of health & medicine?
· living to 100
· performance-enhancing drugs
· what are the limits of human performance & the ethical debate re: how we meet/exceed them
· designer babies
· human engineering
· * Dan Brown’s Inferno
o overpopulation
o transhumanism
o designer babies
o medical advancements that extend human life span
§ the C&E of extending the human life span
· drain on natural resources, food
· hunger
· poverty
· health services
· social services
§ recent article: Economists refute claims
§ recent article: Species going extinct faster
· * Alzheimer’s disease
o frontiers of medicine, of psychology
o gerontocracy, Baby Boomers
o action = Walk/Race for Memory
o action = seminar
§ information, awareness
§ Caring For The Caretakers
§ make connections – victims, families, caretakers, professionals, social workers, doctors, psychologists, financial,….
· * Poor, Hunger Awareness
o on the frontiers of society
o “term”? @ food
o action = Hunger Banquet
· insurance companies that pay for genome research
· Gattica
· ObamaCare
· holistic medicine
· DSM-V
· overdiagnosis
· pills for everything: hyper-pharmacology
· advance directives
THEME 8: Political Economy
What role do politics & economics play in the discovery & exploration of new frontiers?
· Game Theory & competing groups for limited resources/power determine most beneficial course of action
· economic interests à affect form of government
· political gov’t à affects allocation of limited resources (through laws, policies)
· technological advancements à affect everyday life (economic growth, political process)
o Arab spring (social media in Egypt)
o NSA leaks (Snowden, Wikileaks)
· Utopian ideals
· global financial crisis (economic system that caused it)
· Freakonomics
· Obama Care
THEME 9: Borders & Boundaries
What motivated or motivates explorers to transcend assumed frontiers?
· World of Warcraft MMORPG
· online Games for Change
· game PeaceMaker
· work w/the Gaming Club
· *Borders & Boundaries & Game of Thrones
· look at the ways borders contribute to conflicts among nations –
o Israel & Palestine (Pope’s recent visit)
o Syria
o Egypt
o India, Pakistan
o Ukraine, Russia
· 70th anniversary of D-Day
· look at the ways borders contribute to conflicts within a nations
o Hatfields, McCoys
o how the states got their shapes
o *Yankee-Pennamite wars
o Carolinas
o California
o Texas
o Louisiana Purchase
o Go West
o land grab
o Indian treaties