19th June 2014: Fostering Vandalism of the Earth or Stewardship? Towards Education for Sustainability by Susan Brown

Yangtze River Turned Red
Yangtze River Turned Red

Come along to The Castle Hotel at 7pm to listen to Susan’s thoughts. Share a crust of bread, and hear the talk she has to share…

 

Title:

Fostering Vandalism of the Earth or Stewardship?: Towards Education for Sustainability
by Susan Brown
 

Bullet points:

I’ll explore with the audience:

  • What we mean by the term ‘sustainability’ ;
  • The rationale for the development of curricula with a focus on sustainability;
  • What understandings and skills we are trying to foster through sustainability education and why?
  • What curriculum with a focus on sustainability might look like?
  • As a group we’ll have a go at devising a potential curriculum for sustainability 😉

Read more…

19th June 2014: Give And Ye Shall Receive by Joel White

give

Come along to The Castle Hotel at 7pm to listen to Joel’s talk. Share a crust of bread, and hear the talk he has to share…

 

Title of talk:

Give and ye shall receive
Joel White
 

Bullet points of what you would like to talk about:

 
In my talk I will explore, with the audience, the following:

  • What is giving? I’ll explore various notions of giving, derived from relevant sources;
  • I’ll look at the act of giving and different types of giving, drawing on examples from well-known people. Do come along with your own examples;
  • I’ll look at what I consider to be a few myths misconceptions about giving, exploring some of the following with this aim:
  1. ‘We already spend a vast amount on foreign aid’;
  2. ‘The money we have spent has had little or no effect’;
  3. Giving is all about money;
  4. Giving and Instant gratification;
  5. When I give what do I receive in return?
  • I’ll engage you in a final activity based on the giving and receiving of positive written comments from others to take away and remember. Read more…

Preface: A Social and Environmental Philosophy by Kenneth Wilson

The negative aspect of the idea of change moves us to sadness. It oppresses us to think that the richest forms and the finest manifestations of life must perish in history, and that we walk amidst the ruins of excellence. History cuts us off from the noblest of our interests: the passions have destroyed them for they are transient.

It seems that all must perish and nothing endures. Every traveller has experienced this melancholy. Who has stood among the ruins of Carthage, Palmyra, Persepolis, or Rome without being moved to reflect on the transience of empires and men, to mourn the loss of the rich and vigorous life of bygone ages? It is not a sorrow like that which we experience at the graves of those dear to us, when we lament our personal losses and the transience of our own aspirations: it is rather a disinterested sorrow at the downfall of the brilliant cultures of the past. (Hegel)[1] Read more…

Piyush Roy Brings Together A Panel On Indian Politics

On 12th May, 2014, India completed a six-week long voting process that mark a culmination of the ‘Biggest Elections in Human History’ involving 814 million voters casting their vote in 9,30,000 polling booths.

As the Exit Polls define the headlines in India, a day-long review of the 16TH Indian Lok Sabha Elections is being organised by the Centre for South Asian Studies through discussions, film screenings, and debates led by staff and students from University of Edinburgh, Heriot Watt, Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University.
 

Read more…

What Are Futures and Derivatives

A ‘Future’ is an agreed contract for the sale or purchase of an asset, currency or commodity at a future date. This financial instrument came about to provide a kind of insurance to the producers so that they did not go out of business when there might be a poor harvest, for example. After intense lobbying, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission relaxed the rules surrounding the market in 1999. Read more…

Music: We Are Kin

We Are Kin are a collective of artists who have a collective vision; to create works which move the soul. Pandora is their debut album deep in melody and sound. The album is a journey, a story following a character through the decisions he makes that affects others lives in tandem with a being created with the sole purpose of protecting humanity itself. Read more…