Tag Archives: Development

Pro Bytes: Jeff Dayton-Johnson

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On Tuesday, April 1st I had the pleasure of interviewing Jeff Dayton-Johnson, Program Chair for the IPS department and IPS/MPA professor. Jeff is a MIIS gem! Well known not just in his department, but around campus as well for comfortably stopping on the street to have a chat with a colleague or to arrange coffee with a student. He worked formerly as a university professor in Canada and then at the OECD, where the bulk of his economics knowledge derives from. But it’s Jeff’s well rounded personality that made him such a pleasure to interview. His dry wit and respectful demeanor turned our fall semester Policy Analysis classroom into an engaging place to work learn and it transferred seamlessly into our podcast.

To be honest though, it’s Jeff’s hobbies and skills that make him really interesting and impressive. Jeff runs a radio station in the midnight hours out of Santa Cruz called All About Jazz and his love for music extends into much of who he is on campus. In addition to the radio show, Jeff is infamous for his podcast lecture series, wherein each segment is produced using sampled clips from his favorite musics, of which there are many, and they feature some of the most eclectic pieces you’ve ever heard, ranging from Kendrick Lamar to Dave Brubeck. Jeff’s even guest deejays for MIIS events, including the Open Mic Nights hosted in the DLC occasionally! Give the man credit for being involved in student life.

Enjoy the clip!

 

Africa Chatter: Pilot Webisode

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“Listen, reflect, share.”

Welcome to Africa Chatter. This segment is dedicated to reproducing the voices of the African Nations Club (ANC) for the sake of everyone in the MIIS community. This is a way for the ANC to spread its message, reassure the community that we are open to everyone, update the community on its proceedings, and educate people on what truly affects students interculturally.

In the pilot webisode we hear from ANC members Jessica Yoo, Josefina Lara, and Jarod Hightower-Mills. This particular conversation occurred before spring break, so most of our examples and references were from the J-Term trips to Peru and Rwanda and events and sentiments from the Fall term. Our discussion revolved around developmental enlightenment, specializing in exotic peoples, the relativity of the struggle, competitive voluntourism, the implication of development workers in the problems they intend to solve, and our peculiar intimacy with colonization.

Enjoy the clip and feel free to attend upcoming Let’s talk Africa gatherings.

The Sustainability Cast: Organizational Sustainability for Social Change Embracing Complexity for Mission Sustainability

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Organizational “sustainability” is a term frequently associated with moments of crisis in the lives of development organizations – moments which threaten an organization’s ability to operate and be “sustainable” over time.  Alfredo Ortiz’s spring 2012 Organizational Sustainability class worked with two youth arts organizations to explore how organizations can hold different definitions of sustainability and how those definitions shape their work.

In this 17-minute final podcast, class members explore the more complicated issues of sustainability they uncovered during semester long action research projects.  Through interviews with team members, discussions of topics covered in class sessions, and creative recreations of class discoveries, the podcast presents the ups and downs, confusions and triumphs of the two teams’ experiences along with the lessons they learned on the way.  Follow along to the podcast on their class website for more information!

Winona LaDuke speaks at CSUMB

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CSU Monterey Bay hosted an evening with activist and writer Winona LaDuke on the topic Environmental Justice from an Indigenous Perspective. LaDuke is a member of the Mississippi Band Anishanaabekwe who lives and works on the White Earth Reservations in Northern Minnesota and the executive director of Honor the Earth, a native-lead organization concerned with the environmental movement. A forerunner in speaking out for environmental action, social justice and indigenous rights, her sixth book, The Militarization of Indian Country, released last April, addresses issues such as affronts taken when Osama Bin Laden was revealed as target “Geronimo”, and the United States’ uranium mining in the Grand Canyon in the wake of possible nuclear contamination in Japan. Her talk focused on American Indian economic and environmental concerns.

Energy and Security in East Asia After Fukushima

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Peter Hayes, Executive Director of the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development, talks about the implications of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for the rest of East Asia. He also addresses security linkages such as early warning, rapid response, spent fuel relocation, and the role of civil society networks. The lecture took place at the Monterey Institute of International Studies on September 21, 2011. Continue reading →

Tom Philpott Speaks at EcoFarm

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Tom Philpott is the Food and Ag blogger for Mother Jones, and the former editor of the online environmental news site Grist. He spoke at the closing plenary of the 2012 EcoFarm Conference at Asilomar Conference Center. Listen to his compelling treatment of America’s regulatory regimes and biotech agribusiness companies versus organic and sustainable agriculture. He also discusses the plight of farm workers and alternatives to current institutionalized oppression many experience.

MIIS Radio Producer Jessy Bradish recorded Philpott’s talk. Listen to her feature on the EcoFarm Conference: Organic Ag-tivists Gather at EcoFarm.

Hear additional talks on the EcoFarm Conference website, along with their annual programming.