Scheduling with Students: youcanbook.me

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I have used a number of different websites over the years to streamline appointment scheduling with students. Unfortunately, whenever I find something that seems to work (Tungle.me or “Google Appointments”) they end up going out of business.

So, my current implementation involves yet another niche website that I hope will last a bit longer. It also involves a set of instructions which, though lengthy, provide for a very effective synchronization with my Google Calendar.

Here is the service: http://youcanbook.me/

Here are the instructions: http://commons.trincoll.edu/jackdougherty/2012/12/16/youcanbookme/

And here is my current implementation (this is active so don’t set-up an appointment with me unless you need to!): http://michaelbnelson.youcanbook.me/

The ICC’s impacts

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There is an interesting discussion at the Monkey Cage on the impacts of the ICC. This should interest some of my International Law and Africa in World Politics students.

“How is the ICC supposed to work?” (James Fearon)

To me it looks like a well-intentioned but not fully thought out institutional experiment that will tend to be used primarily as a way to make rich countries feel better about cases whether they aren’t willing to intervene, while the institution itself sometimes has consequences that contradict its avowed purpose.

“The ICC, Deterrence, and Amnesty” (Erik Voeten)

My own tentative view is that the ICC likely has little meaningful effect on deterring or encouraging the worst forms of human rights abuses but may have a marginally positive effect at reducing abuses in countries where “mid-level” human rights abuses occur; not unlike the international human rights regime more generally.

Office Hours

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My office hours on Thursday will be cut short. I will finish them at 2:10 pm.

African Feminisms – March 1 – An African Studies Cluster Event

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African Feminisms
The African Studies cluster symposium
March 1st, 2013, Allbritton 311

1:30pm: Welcome remarks
1:40pm: Ousseina Alidou, Associate Professor, Department of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures, and Director of the Center for African Studies, Rutgers University. “African Muslim Women’s Agency, Leadership and Contribution to Social Change.”
Followed by ten minutes Q&A

2:30pm: Tsitsi Jaji, Assistant Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania, Mary I. Bunting Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2012 – 2013). “Nokutela Dube and Charlotte Manye Maxeke: Towards a Feminist Geneaology of pan-Africanism in South Africa and beyond.”
Followed by ten minutes Q&A

3:15pm: SUYA: Wesleyan Student African Dance Team performance (including spoken introduction)

3: 45pm: Coffee break

4:00pm: Clemantine Wamariya, Yale 2013, board member, US Holocaust Museum
Followed by ten minutes Q&A4:45pm: Discussant comments
4:55pm: Final open discussion

Honors Theses | Michael Nelson

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I have just posted my own requirements for students who wish to work with me on an Honors Thesis. Please note that I strongly recommend you contact me PRIOR to Spring Break.

Go this page for more information:

Honors Theses | Michael Nelson.

Apply Now! International Human Rights Conference in Storrs

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International Human Rights Leadership Conference Announcement – Call for Applications 2013:

The UNESCO Chair & Institute of Comparative Human Rights at the University of Connecticut invites applications for the ninth annual International Leadership Training Programme: A Global Intergenerational Forum, to be held August 9 – 18, 2013 in Storrs, Connecticut. Applications must be received by March 8, 2013.

The Forum seeks to empower young leaders by involving them in finding solutions to emerging human rights problems, and nurturing individuals to be effective leaders in the field of human rights. To this end, the Forum will:
· Introduce participants to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
· Build a network of solidarity among human rights leaders
· Expand the knowledge relevant to human rights practice
· Provide tools and a platform for open debates
· Provide programmes, activities and processes necessary for human rights leadership
· Promote the sharing of experiences and understanding
· Showcase speakers on such topics as: health and human rights, education, the environment, the plight of child soldiers, the use of media, fundraising, conflict resolution and transformation; litigation and advocacy
· Emerging human rights issues

The UNESCO Chair will provide all conference participants with dormitory housing, meals, ground transportation in Connecticut, resource materials and a certificate of participation. Participants will be responsible for providing their own airfare to Connecticut upon acceptance.

Young people between the ages of 18-30, with community service experience, and with demonstrated ability to work on solutions to human rights problems, should apply. Relevant issues include, but are not limited to, human trafficking, the plight of children, refugees, hunger, HIV/AIDs, gender discrimination, racism, classism, the environment and peace education.

Conference will be held in English only. Fluency in English is required. Applicants will be selected based on the strength of their application essay, demonstrated commitment to human rights (practical/hands-on experience), potential impact on the individual and their potential contribution to the Forum, regional and gender representation.

Programme details and application material can be accessed by linking to http://www.unescochair.uconn.edu/upspecialevents.htm

For Juniors: Information on Government Honors

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If you are serious about this, NOW is the time to begin thinking about it. Information on our honors program can be found here:

http://www.wesleyan.edu/gov/honors.html

Here is the relevant information about eligibility:

To be eligible for Honors in Government you must (1) be a Government major on track to complete the major requirements in a timely fashion; (2) achieve a university grade point average of 90.00 or above, calculated at the end of the spring semester of the junior year; and (3) have completed Stage I of the General Education Expectations.

To become a candidate for Honors in Government, you must meet the three eligibility conditions and also seek out a Government faculty member (tenured, tenure-track, or full-time visitor) to become your thesis tutor. The optimal time to try to find a faculty tutor is the spring semester of your junior year. Each Government faculty member decides for whom he or she will serve as a thesis tutor. In some years some students who meet the eligibility requirements will not be able to stand for Honors in Government because they will not be able to find a full-time Government faculty member to tutor the thesis.

Latest from the “UCSD School of biopolitics”: “Red Brain, Blue Brain”

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More evidence our politics may be biologically determined. I personally find this to be a fascinating area of research. My favorite line from the abstract:

conservatives show greater sensitivity to threatening stimuli.

PLOS ONE: Red Brain, Blue Brain: Evaluative Processes Differ in Democrats and Republicans.

Undergraduate Research Opportunity

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Summer 2013 Research Experience For Undergraduates (REU) in Conflict Management and Peace Science

Call for Applications

 

The University of North Texas

 

 Contact:  Dr. John Ishiyama, PhD (John.Ishiyama@unt.edu)
Opportunity:  Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates
Theme:  Civil Conflict Management and Peace Science
Dates:  June 3 through July 26
Benefits:  $4000 stipend, housing and board
 
Program Information
The aim of this program is to provide research experiences for undergraduate students from all majors with an introduction to research in the broad area of civil conflict management and peace science. The program is headquartered at the Department of Political Science at UNT , a nationally and internationally recognized center for conflict management studies and peace science. It is home to the only Peace Science degree program in the Southwestern United States. This is also the only Peace Studies Program in the region to have an endowed professorship “the Johnie Christian Family Peace Professorship” that provides guidance and administration for this rapidly growing program. The team of REU investigators represents a group of top researchers in political science and international relations who are undertaking cutting edge research on civil wars, terrorism,  and other forms of civil conflict and peace building.
 
Application Information
This opportunity is available to  Sophomore, Junior, and Senior undergraduate students from all  majors. REU Fellowships will be awarded to qualified students on a competitive basis. Each Fellowship will include a $4,000 stipend as well as support for room and board and travel for conference presentation.  Undergraduate student participants supported with NSF funds in either REU Supplements or REU Sites must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions (for additional eligibility requirements see http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09598/nsf09598.htm#elig). All applicants are welcome-students from groups underrepresented in higher education and/or from first generation college, low income backgrounds  are especially encouraged to apply.[1] To be considered, applicants should complete the online application form available at the link (http://untconflictmgmtreu.wordpress.com/), and should arrange to have two letters of recommendation uploaded into the system
 
Questions can be directed to
Dr. John Ishiyama,Ph.D.
Department of Political Science
1155 Union Circle #305340
Denton, TX 76203-5017
940.565.4326 or Fax: 940.565.4818
John.Ishiyama@unt.edu