After decades of decline, farming in the Northeast is growing. But the news is not all good. New England’s traditional dairy industry is in crisis. All farming, even farm sectors that are doing well, whether in the Northeast or elsewhere in America, are threatened by major economic and demographic forces. Farming in America is both poised for growth and severely threatened. The future depends on the actions we take.
Can an octopus have a mind and feelings, much less a soul?
Can a business be a positive force for social good and still be successful?
The exodus of millions of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe has created challenges of unprecedented proportions. Civil wars, the violence of ISIL, failing states, and economic misery constantly produce new waves of refugees. How can we end the suffering of huge numbers of people, culturally integrate them into European societies, stem the rise of anti-immigrant right wing movements, and preserve Europe's greatest post war achievement in overcoming the conflicts of the past, the European Union?
The lives of Joseph and Rose Kennedy's children and grandchildren have been extensively examined in the media. The “Camelot” years of JFK and Jackie, John's and Bobby's assassinations and Ted's personal and political life are part of our history. However, there is one Kennedy about whom we've known little, until now. Kate Larson’s latest work reveals the central role the tragic life of the Kennedys’ eldest daughter played in shaping one of our nation’s most famous families.
How does one become an effective leader in a diverse world? Working with various groups is not merely a “diversity” issue; it is a key success factor for all organizations and the leaders who steer them. Dr. Renee Richardson Gosline will help us toward a better understanding of how the decisions we make as leaders are affected by labels and their associations, and how that understanding can in turn make leaders more mindful of diversity – to build inclusive environments and maximize performance.
Americans have always believed in equality of opportunity: the idea that all children, regardless of their family background, should have a decent chance to improve their lives. Dr. Robert Putnam argues that this central aspect of the American dream is being threatened and may no longer be attainable. In the last twenty-five years, we have seen a disturbing “opportunity gap” emerge. Factors such as two parent homes, good test scores, physical health, and school quality predict our kids’ success in life, and we can no longer take these for granted.
With a charge in life to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, Keith Magee is an internationally sought after non-profit leader, speaker, and preacher. He is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of Social Justice and Poverty, University of Birmingham, England, and Visiting Scholar at Boston University.
Education reform today focuses on quantifiable measures of student learning, which are then used to rate teacher and school quality. Reform of pedagogy concentrates on its technical aspects, and attempts to enumerate and catalogue the most minute features of teaching behaviors. Test results are used to punish and threaten educators, and to obscure the humanity of both teachers and students, ignoring local contexts, as well as the powerful social and economic factors that affect our students’ lives and shape their futures. One of the most pernicious myths of curricular refo
Daniel Weeks, the executive director of Open Democracy (a non-partisan advocacy organization founded by Doris “Granny D” Haddock), maintains that democracy is in default.
