From Tolerance and Diversity to Inclusion and Celebration; New Horizons for Infusing Queer Theory into Communities

Tolerance and diversity are at times lauded as the essential terms for modern social justice movements. From school to community settings teachers, public figures, and political leaders throw these terms around to great applaud and acclaim. And yet who are we trying to serve by using these terms, and whose humanity is preserved through tolerance and diversity? In the following article I address the difference between the simplicity and shortcomings posed by tolerating and diversifying spaces to the more radical movements of inclusion and celebration. I unpack these frameworks through personal narratives concerning my field work and experiences as well as touching on aspects of my research on inclusion. My work and research focuses on the intentional efforts needed to “queer” spaces through dialogue, discourse, and moving through uncomfortable conversations around these topics. I offer a list of steps toward revolutionary inclusion that respects the dignity and humanity of students, teachers, and community members, who may or may not feel convinced of the importance of inclusion and celebration

Black Life Mater: Debunked!

The Black Lives Matter movement emerged in 2012 to combat racial targeting after the death of Trayvon Martin. The purpose of the movement, according to the Black Lives Matter Guiding Principles, is to serve as “an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise” and “an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.” From meetings with Democratic National Convention leaders, to attending a meeting at the White House at the invitation of the President, the Black Lives Matter movement is making strides in eliminating racial profiling in our society

The One Savior Paradigm

The one savior paradigm is discussed not only as doctrinal aspect of religious teachings but as one of mostly manifested aspect of our psychic that should be adequately investigated. We suggest simple idea that could serve as starting cognitive model for the one savior paradigm, that might give effect in considering global aspects of humanity, e.g., such as global economy and exact sciences in more friendly connection with religious thinking.religion, theology, science, art, cognition, society, global economy, noosphere, accessibility to information

The Shared Concerns of Nietzsche and Rumi on Humanity

Nietzsche and Rumi belong to two different time and spaces: one a Germen Post-modern Philosopher, the other an Afghani Middle Ages Sufi. After an introduction about both figures and methodology used here, this paper presents a detailed discussion on commonalities between Nietzsche and Rumi. The first section illustrates on the shared methodology of writings which are the rousing language, hidden ideas amid simple points, and the paradoxical teachings. The second part studies the shared fundamental concepts among these philosophers. These concepts are Anti-idolism, the intuitional knowledge, and the authenticity of person. The last section of this paper called “inspirations” explains how those shared methodology and ideas serve two aims: mutual understanding between two different philosophies as well as enhancing our comprehension of humanity

Shifting realities: Tron cyberspace and the “New” consciousness in 21st Century technoscapes

The existing direction of the (mis)use of information technologies founded on the deceptively secular rationalised heritage of scientism, arguably spells the increasing proximity to a dystopian nightmare that is far from mere fiction and imbued with the eternal religious symbolic of the battle between good and evil, as depicted in the 2010 science fiction film Tron: Legacy . The historical contextualisation of events in the film reveals the promise of the unfolding of an advanced sensibility alongside these concerns, in which fantasy and science converge to liberate humanity from an increasingly limiting worldview, and information and images serve as conduits to the sacred. The critical role information stands to play in humanity’s conscious evolution is outlined in the proposed development of a “dream systems theory”, where dreams capes are defined as interconnected systems of imaginal data

Mining the Common Heritage of Our DNA: Lessons Learned From Grotius and Pardo

The Human Genome Project generated oceans of DNA sequence data and spurred a multinational race to grab the bounties of these oceans. In response to these DNA property grabs, UNESCO, drawing upon international law precedents addressing analogous grabs in the past, declared the Human Genome the heritage of humanity. The UNESCO Declaration provided, first, that the heritage shall not, in its natural state, give rise to financial gains and, second, that countries establish an international framework to make the benefits from genome research available to all. This iBrief will first examine Grotius’s Mare Liberum to determine whether international law precedent indeed bars the private appropriation of a common heritage. Second, the iBrief will revisit the framework developed by Pardo for the exploitation of the mineral resources of the ocean floor and analyze whether it could serve as a model for an international framework for sharing the benefits of current genome research

Lunar and Near-Earth Development

We investigated the social and technological aspects and requirements of colonizing the moon and its impacts on humanity. To this end we considered various visionary technologies for the establishment of a successful lunar base. In depth studies were performed regarding the commercial motivations, laws and consumer applications involved in a lunar base. Such a base will serve as a focal point for helium-3 mining, the detection and observation of near-Earth objects and will serve as a spaceport to the planets

In the Group Home: Disenfranchised Youth and the Creative Writing Workshop as Intervention

Nationwide, creative writing outreach programs serve marginalized groups in the community, empowering participants to regain a sense of control through non-verbal creative outlets. In striving to maintain the humanity and dignity of participants, pedagogies for underserved groups call for workshop facilitators to accompany rather than instruct. Using the group home adolescent population as an example, this article advocates for future alliances between the academy and the community to serve local at-risk populations. This collaboration will foster interdisciplinary cooperation and develop service learning coursework opportunities for positive social change