Faculty Updates

Over the summer, Professor Maria Green has been working on research and on bringing new courses to the SID curriculum. In 2005-2006, she added "Health and Human Rights;" in 2006-2007 she will add a public international law sequence in two modules: "International Law for Development Professionals," and "Seminar in International Law." She and Prof. Attila Klein are collaborating to create an innovative interdisciplinary course called "Right to Water" that they will introduce this fall. Her research work lately has focused on process rights and development.

Professor Eric Olson continues to teach his core course "Principles of Ecology for Development Planners" each fall, but this past spring he added two new courses to his repertoire. The first, Ecotourism, examines best practices in the nature tourism industry. This course emphasizes the importance of creative communication and interpretation in the nature and culture tourism market. "Many visitors to a national park or participants on a natural history tour are intellectually hungry people, eager for detailed information about how unique habitats and organisms work. A successful national park or tour company will have guides and interpreters on staff who really know their stuff andequally importanttake delight in sharing this information with laypersons," states Olson. The second course he created this year was "Environmental Impact Assessment." Here he used the siting of a wind turbine on the Brandeis campus as an experiential learning opportunity. The class presented their draft environmental impact findings to an actual panel consisting of a wind turbine owner and to Brandeis' energy engineer. Now, the Environmental Studies group at Brandeis is carrying forward this idea, and will be asking for government aid in assessing the local potential for wind power.

In addition to his course development, Olson has initiated a research project examining the training of natural history and cultural history guides in diverse regions of the world, starting with the Galapagos and Costa Rica. Olson has already discovered that "While these two areas are renowned for the quality of their guides, preparation and certification for this profession continues to evolve." Alums and friends of SID in general are encouraged to contact Olson with any suggestions and information about guide training and certification in their home regions (eolson@brandeis.edu).

Professor Joe Short is experiencing, as well as thinking about, civil society and civil society organizations (CSOs) this summer. He recently hiked in several Utah canyons under the auspices of the educational CSO called Elderhostel. Since March, he has worked with several advocacy NGOs to lobby the Massachusetts legislature for desperately needed funds for the Southwest Corridor Park in Boston and other MA State Parks. Short's advisees for the coming year have selected NGO internships and paper topics concerning the roles of several NGOs in combining peace and development action, in balancing humanitarian and development assistance, and in protecting chimpanzees through human development. He has signed on for his fourth year as a SID adjunct professor and will teach two sections of Development Management, and NGOs: Structure and Governance, in 2006-07. His summer reading includes David Korten's The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, Kumarian, 2006.

Professor David Gil has mainly been involved with several dissertation defenses. He has also used the summer to write essays for several publications: "Sibling Abuse in Nature and Culture" for Contemporary Justice Review, Vol. 9, No. 3, September 2006; "In Pursuit of Social Justice" for the poverty and Social Justice Section of NASW, July 2006; Comments on "Challenging Injustice and Oppression" for the 100th Anniversary Volume of the University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy and Practice; and "Social Welfare and social Justice" for Taiwan Social Work Journal.

Finally, his book, "Confronting Injustice and Oppression" has been published in a German translation by a school of social work in Hamburg, Germany.

Professor Sarita Bhalotra traveled with thirteen other faculty members from several different institutions in the US to take part in the "China Access Faculty Trip" this summer. Designed to educate US faculty about the philosophy and practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the program is funded by the Freeman Foundation and implemented through the School for International Training. The goal is to bring TCM knowledge back to colleagues and classrooms in the US. She learned about the classic approach of preserving the yin-yang balance, acupuncture, moxibustion, pulse and tongue diagnostic methods, herbal medicine, therapeutic massage, cupping, tai-chi, Tibetan medicine, Dao influences on TCM, and shamanistic practices still retained by certain minority groups. Many of these traditional techniques were taught to us by faculty and practitioners at Kunming TCM Hospital, as well as other practitioners.

Bhalotra observed the various modalities of TCM being delivered to patients, and actually practiced some techniques. She was also able to visit and meet with colleagues at Beijing University Medical Center, through arrangements kindly made by Wu Zeng (MS 05) and Zhu Junya (MS 06). In Beijing, the manner in which TCM is integrated with the Western model of bio-medical practice was more visible. Bhalotra came away with intriguing observations about patient, physician and systemic triage policies that encouraged patients to lean towards using one or the other model, and in many cases, using a combination. She comments that, "There are useful lessons to be learned about the manner in which complementary and alternative medicine can safely and effectively enhance the impact of modern medicine, especially in the management of chronic, relapsing, and progressive conditions, as also those with unclear etiologies at the present time, and more importantly, when it cannot."

This Spring SID had to bid farewell to a devoted and beloved faculty. Dessima Williams has decided to return to Grenada to concentrate her efforts on the NGO she founded, GRENED. Prof. Williams made an invaluable contribution to SID when she taught the first course in Gender and Development (and to many other programs in the university including Sociology, Women's Studies, and Latin American and Latino Studies). Her experience and networks made her extremely helpful to SID students looking for internships, and she advised numerous students during their second year. She has been a steadfast advocate of further integrating a gender perspective into the MA Program and her efforts have been rewarded with the addition of a gender requirement to the program this year. Prof. Williams has made an indelible mark on the program and we will miss her deeply. Best wishes to her and we look forward to keeping in contact and hosting her during future visits.

As expected, Professor Ricardo Godoy could not be reached as he is in the Bolivian jungle until the end of summer.