Greetings! Session Four will have three tracks that will run parallel at times, and intersect at others. Our range will include inquiry into the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, a cross-cultural comparison of poverty through self-selected readings, and a personal narrative on poverty as seen through the movie, City of God. Descriptions for each is below.
Self Selected Readings
To facilitate the cross-cultural comparison of poverty we ask that you participate in the THIS POLL and select the reading that you would like to complete for November 13. You will be responsible for contributing to a “discussion” (we are still working on how we would like to frame this) based on your reading. Please select your reading by this Friday (10/30) so we have time to scan and send them to each of you.
City of God Viewing
As an attempt to infuse personal narrative into our discussions, we selected (based on feedback) City of God as an initial entry into this dimension of poverty. From the Miramax description:
“The streets of the world’s most notorious slum, Rio de Janeiro’s ‘City of God,’ are a place where combat photographers fear to tread, police rarely go, and residents are lucky if they live to the age of 20. In the midst of the oppressive crime and violence, a frail and scared young boy will grow up to discover that he can view the harsh realities of his surroundings with a different eye: the eye of an artist. In the face of impossible odds, his brave ambition to become a professional photographer becomes a window into his world … and ultimately his way out!”
We are all busy people, but we thought that watching this together would be a powerful common experience. Please visit THIS PAGE and select all of the dates that would work for you as a time to gather and watch City of God. For those with no available time, we can arrange to get you a copy to view on your own. As with the reading selection, please mark your availability by this Friday (10/30) so we have advanced notice.
One Laptop Per Child Readings and Videos
We have two supplied articles for next week that are short, but give insight into the OLPC initiative (links below). Before reading, we recommend that you watch the short videos below to get a sense of history for the program.
- The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Project and Its Applicability to Ghana
- One Laptop Per Child: Vision vs. Reality
Video #1
“Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the MIT Media Laboratory, describes how the One Laptop Per Child project will build and distribute the ‘$100 laptop.”‘
Video #2
“Nicholas Negroponte talks about how One Laptop per Child is doing, two years in. Speaking at the EG conference while the first XO laptops roll off the production line, he recaps the controversies and recommits to the goals of this far-reaching project.”
Video #3
“TED follows Nicholas Negroponte to Colombia as he delivers laptops inside territory once controlled by guerrillas. His partner? Colombia’s Defense Department, who see One Laptop per Child as an investment in the region. (And you too can get involved.)”
We look forward to seeing you all on 11/13 and before to view City of God!
-Heather & Matthew