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U professor Bill Doherty works to help families recapture the deeper spirit of the holidays
In the midst of what has become the season of American hyper-consumption, Bill Doherty is helping people say, "Enough is enough."
Doherty's research and public engagement efforts at the University of Minnesota, where he's a family social science professor in the College of Education and Human Development, focus on making families stronger and making society's culture more family-friendly. Some of his past work has involved helping families slow down and simplifying birthday parties. This time, he's leading a group to challenge the frantic pace of life as the nation and world rev up for the holiday season.
"We are all bombarded with messages to buy more and bigger, and we run ourselves ragged during the holidays," says Doherty. "This group is a laboratory for seeking more balance in all of our lives—something that our society sorely needs in the midst of today's challenges."
"This [initiative] is a vanguard to reclaim the season ... [and] ... an effort to address the cultural challenges we face," says Doherty. "A lot of people I talk to don't feel like the season is fully consistent with their core values. They end up getting their kids more, or grandparents get kids more, and their kids become little customers, and entitled customers, at this time."
Watch avideo of Bill Doherty talking about how to take back what is important about the holidays and find alternatives to the culture of consumerism.
The group is staging a "countercultural event" (see details below) on what Doherty calls the "'holy day' of our consuming culture." That day, of course, is Black Friday—a day of mad shopping (retailers hope), and the one that follows the still relatively uncommercialized celebration of Thanksgiving.
Doherty says research shows that most people value their relationships, a sense of inner harmony between their actions and their behavior, and their communities far more than material things. "But you don't see that advertised very much.
"[During this season] it's a good idea to ask what your values are, not necessarily what you feel driven to do," Doherty says. "And maybe to take advantage of the fact that this year the economy isn't that good. Instead of apologizing to your children [for not getting enough presents], use this year, and this day of Black Friday, to [explore] what's most important about this season ... Most of us who grew up with Christmas don't remember a single present we ever got, but we remember the lights, the sounds, we remember the meals, we remember driving through the neighborhood and seeing the lights. Try to emphasize what is really magical ..."
Doherty doesn't recommend cutting out presents, especially for children, but to open a family conversation about what this special time means and how best to celebrate.
From: http://www1.umn.edu/news/features/UR_CONTENT_059143.html
I'm pasting an interesting idea I found from the U of M Women's Center. They posted an announcement of a NWSA Journal call for articles. It seems that lately (or always?) the definition of what science is has been open for interpretation, and has been manipulated for politics. I think the questions (highlighted in blue, below) are really valid and necessary. Especially as resources for funding scientific research dry up.... I hope that the economic pinch will force people and institutions to be more critical of where dollars are going, and in turn the quality of science will be improved.
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It is no secret that there is a national crisis in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), particularly in terms of the involvement of women and people of color. A great deal of effort has been exerted in the past few years to patch the “leaky pipeline” – the educational and experiential pathway which leads to careers in the sciences. However, critics of science, often feminists, have pointed out that “it’s not just enough to add women [or people of color] and stir” (C. Bunch, adapted) – we must look at how science and scientists are portrayed, who gets to ask the questions, what questions are asked, what methods are used, and how data are interpreted and used. We must also teach all of our students, particularly women and those in under-represented groups, that the process of science is open to all and that, in fact, without a diversity of investigators and approaches, our sciences are incomplete. To this end, we convened a national conference this summer at the College of St. Catherine to address these issues which are critical to the success of Science, Mathematics, and Technology programs across the country. The conference brought together keynote speakers: Dr. Marlene Zuk, Dr. Sue Rosser, and Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum along with scholars in and of STEM and Women’s Studies who shared their knowledge and ideas in the areas of theory, pedagogy and activism.
To encourage dissemination of these and other ideas to a broad audience, we call for papers for a special cluster in the National Women’s Studies Association Journal with the theme: “Inclusive Science: Articulating Theory, Practice, and Action”. We will specifically consider articles which address the following intersections of science and feminism:
Guest Editors: Cynthia G. Norton and Deborah D. Wygal, Department of Biology and Women’s Studies, College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN
My conscience approved of voting, my mind trusts God's sovereignty, and my heart lives in the tension of the NOW but NOT YET kingdom, listening to Derek Webb's Mockingbird on repeat.
RZ: I came to know Christ at the age of 17 while living in New Delhi, India, where I was reared. My father worked for the Indian government. Growing up in India, I faced many struggles, not the least of which was academic competition in a highly stratified culture. One day I realized that I really didn’t have any meaning in life. So, at the age of 17, I attempted to take my own life by poisoning myself.
Then, when I was recovering in a hospital, a friend brought me a New Testament. Because my body was dehydrated, I was receiving fluids and I could not hold the New Testament in my hands. The Scripture read to me was John 14, where Jesus said to His apostles, “Because I live, ye shall live also.”[16]
I knew that whatever else that Scripture meant, it meant more than physical life. I said, “This is the life that I have yearned for.” I made my commitment to Jesus Christ and have never looked back, except to remember how He rescued me and put a new song in my heart—new hungers, new desires, new life. He put a new hunger into my heart, a hunger for God Himself. Prior to that I was more concerned about success, good grades, good jobs. I was constantly thinking about what others thought about me. God refocused my attention on Himself.
I knew that this was not some kind of motivational therapy but a new kind of relationship. There is a difference between a person who hungers for love and one who has found love. God put in my heart that great hunger for Him, even as I knew that in Him I had already begun the process of being filled. Before I heard those Scriptures I was completely empty. Now I had found through the Person of Christ how I could be filled.