is it march that comes in like a lion?
so, i meant to type more random notes here rather than waiting to post something each month... but anyways... here it is.
its been cold and rainy here, with some sunshine interspersed... some really random days that are really warm and sunny and then really cold and rainy... berkeley spring.
classes are good... i love the topics i am studying now - sociology - both foundational social theories and a class called "church, power and justice", ecumenism and globalization/empire issues. we have been reading some really interesting books - i updated my books page (and also added two papers i have written this semester... i should maybe include some more from last semester too...) we read foucault's discipline and punish which i really enjoyed and am seeing its applications everywhere to how power works through social institutions... i should post some more coherent thoughts but one of my paper's is on that topic. another book i just read is god, sex, and politics by dawne moon - a sociologist at uc berkeley. she studied a "conservative" suburban/rural united methodist congregation and an "liberal" urban united methodist congregation in the chicago area and discusses how each is facing and discussing the issue of homosexuality. she shows how everyone uses the term "politics" to refer to everything negative that they find antithetical from church and how people desire church to be a haven where there is no division and tension. she also shows how emotional language, especially of pain, is used in the discussion of homosexuality and how at times this undermines a real discussion on the issue at hand. it was a really interesting look at the topic and she was able to come to our class for a discussion and then we also had two professors from pacific school of religion come to speak on the same topic - one is a lesbian united methodist pastor with a phd in sociology who has been active in the united methodist church on gay and lesbian issues. the other also has a phd in sociology and has faced the issue of homosexuality as a gay african american pastor in the baptist church. it was interesting to see how they each also shared their painful stories with a lot of emotional language.
our "trees" (theological roundtable on ecological ethics and spirituality) student group at gtu has been hosting a series of films and discussions on water and justice. mostly they have been depressing and eye-opening... it seems that soon wars will be fought over water as we are running out of clean/potable water and there is no legal framework for its protection. one of the films was about some world bank funded dam projects in lesotho and south africa that seems to be completely un-necessary and has moved many farmers out of fertile valleys into un-farmable land and has not provided them with sufficient renumeration. the water behind the dams isn't even needed yet there is no way to allow the water to flow back into the valley to allow for farming. crazy. another film was on the water systems in some of the largest cities in the world - lagos, nigeria, mexico city, mexico, jakarta, indonesia and las vegas, u.s. - none of these cities can maintain their use of water for much longer and there are already so many problems with contamination, leaking and misuse. and another film we watched was on water for profit and the privatization of water systems and bottled water... really insane. but this week we are having a hopeful film on possible solutions and a woman working with photovoltaic water purification projects in the congo is coming to share about her project. so there will be some possibilities for justice and hope!
i'm trying to practice cello some more... my friend who plays flute and i have been practicing some taize music for possibly playing along with a group of musicians that play at a weekly taize service... i'm also trying to run... the bay to breakers is coming up again soon and i'd like to run in it again. my friend lara got me addicted to knitting again... i am working on a bag to be felted. and i want to start a baby sweater for some other friends who are expecting very soon - maybe i can finish it before next winter! ; ) its a terribly exciting life of a student...
its been cold and rainy here, with some sunshine interspersed... some really random days that are really warm and sunny and then really cold and rainy... berkeley spring.
classes are good... i love the topics i am studying now - sociology - both foundational social theories and a class called "church, power and justice", ecumenism and globalization/empire issues. we have been reading some really interesting books - i updated my books page (and also added two papers i have written this semester... i should maybe include some more from last semester too...) we read foucault's discipline and punish which i really enjoyed and am seeing its applications everywhere to how power works through social institutions... i should post some more coherent thoughts but one of my paper's is on that topic. another book i just read is god, sex, and politics by dawne moon - a sociologist at uc berkeley. she studied a "conservative" suburban/rural united methodist congregation and an "liberal" urban united methodist congregation in the chicago area and discusses how each is facing and discussing the issue of homosexuality. she shows how everyone uses the term "politics" to refer to everything negative that they find antithetical from church and how people desire church to be a haven where there is no division and tension. she also shows how emotional language, especially of pain, is used in the discussion of homosexuality and how at times this undermines a real discussion on the issue at hand. it was a really interesting look at the topic and she was able to come to our class for a discussion and then we also had two professors from pacific school of religion come to speak on the same topic - one is a lesbian united methodist pastor with a phd in sociology who has been active in the united methodist church on gay and lesbian issues. the other also has a phd in sociology and has faced the issue of homosexuality as a gay african american pastor in the baptist church. it was interesting to see how they each also shared their painful stories with a lot of emotional language.
our "trees" (theological roundtable on ecological ethics and spirituality) student group at gtu has been hosting a series of films and discussions on water and justice. mostly they have been depressing and eye-opening... it seems that soon wars will be fought over water as we are running out of clean/potable water and there is no legal framework for its protection. one of the films was about some world bank funded dam projects in lesotho and south africa that seems to be completely un-necessary and has moved many farmers out of fertile valleys into un-farmable land and has not provided them with sufficient renumeration. the water behind the dams isn't even needed yet there is no way to allow the water to flow back into the valley to allow for farming. crazy. another film was on the water systems in some of the largest cities in the world - lagos, nigeria, mexico city, mexico, jakarta, indonesia and las vegas, u.s. - none of these cities can maintain their use of water for much longer and there are already so many problems with contamination, leaking and misuse. and another film we watched was on water for profit and the privatization of water systems and bottled water... really insane. but this week we are having a hopeful film on possible solutions and a woman working with photovoltaic water purification projects in the congo is coming to share about her project. so there will be some possibilities for justice and hope!
i'm trying to practice cello some more... my friend who plays flute and i have been practicing some taize music for possibly playing along with a group of musicians that play at a weekly taize service... i'm also trying to run... the bay to breakers is coming up again soon and i'd like to run in it again. my friend lara got me addicted to knitting again... i am working on a bag to be felted. and i want to start a baby sweater for some other friends who are expecting very soon - maybe i can finish it before next winter! ; ) its a terribly exciting life of a student...