Unit II. Discrimination

WORKSHOP 1

Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State. December 2010 (12:59)

1. Pre-watching notes. Did you know that

• Madeleine Albright was the first woman to become the United States Secretary of State?

• Albright, born Marie Jana Korbelová, is the daughter of the Czechoslovak career diplomat?

• Her first diplomatic post was Ambassador to the United Nations?

2. Which of the following topics haven’t been broached during the conversation?

• a collection of pins

• too much attention given to high-ranking women’s attire

• women’s lobby

• pay parity

• women’s solidarity

• women’s empowerment

• harassment

3. For questions a-f decide whether the statements are true or false (if false, explain why):

1. Madeleine Albright started collecting pins for fun, the snake pin being a gift from Saddam Hussein.

2. She recalls that it might have been much easier to achieve her political aims, if she was a man.

3. What imbued her with confidence in her work at the UN was the fact that she was to speak for the nation.

4. From her point of view women are better at empathy and understanding and the international community would benefit from having more of them in power.

5. Women’s empowerment is of profound significance to the well-being of society at large.

6. The world would be better if it were run by women.

4. Give the gist/summary of the talk.

WORKSHOP 2

Samantha Power, political scientist and journalist. February 2008. (23:09).

Episode A (0:00 – 10:40)

1. Identify the topic of Episode a.

2. For questions 1-9 choose the best answer:

1. The Rwandan genocide exterminated

1. 800,000 people

2. 8 000 people

3. 18,000 people

2. The Rwandan genocide media coverage was similar to that of the Holocaust in being

1. inaccurate

2. low-profile

3. biased and politicized

3. The anti-genocide movement grew up in response to the atrocities in

1. Rwanda

2. Darfur

3. Kosovo

4. The anti-genocide movement is comprised of

1. students, religious groups and journalists

2. academics, politicians and evangelicals

3. Jewish and Evangelical groups, college and school students, common people who learnt about the Rwandan genocide from films

5. The number of anti-genocide chapters on college campuses is around

1. 30

2. 3000

3. 300

6. The movement has managed to persuade around

1. 55 universities in 23 states

2. 52 universities in 25 states

3. 55 universities in 22 states

to divest their holdings of stocks with regard to companies doing business in Sudan.

7. To stop the Darfur genocide the movement used the following methods

1. economic pressure and political accountability

2. bottom-up pressure and international public opinion

8. The Bush administration had to commit itself to

1. having Darfur crimes referred to the ICC

2. providing 3 mln dollars for refugee camps

3. deploying 26,000 American troops in Darfur

9. So far the movement has had a limited effect on the world’s atrocities because

1. it is mainly American

2. it encountered resistance on the part of American politicians and administration

3. it lacks financial resources

3. Identify the thesis of Episode A.

4. Give the gist/summary of the episode.

5. Discuss in pairs/groups:

How can you account for the fact that despite the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide³ the Rwandan genocide was not seen as newsworthy at first? How can the Convention be made to work in order to prevent mass atrocities in the future?

WORKSHOP 3

Nate Silver, statistician. February 2009. (9:16)

1. Identify the topic of the talk given by Nate Silver.

2. For questions a-f decide whether the statements are true, false or information is not given (if false, explain why):

1. It was established through exit polls carried out in all the 50 states that race was a factor in voting for/against a candidate in the 2008 presidential election.

2. Nate Silver explains how racially based voting is caused by numerous factors such as income, religion, education, age and mobility.

3. The General Social Survey revealed that unlike people living in rural communities, an overwhelming majority of city dwellers have a neighbor of another race.

4. Affirmative action is almost equally unpopular among white voters, irrespective of the neighborhoods they live in.

5. Nate Silver believes that stigmatizing racially based voting is a fair enough way to destroy racially based voting patterns.

6. Facilitating interaction with people of other races is a way to address racism.

3. Answer the questions:

1. What practical ideas does Nate Silver have as to how facilitate interaction with people of different races? Do you think the ideas are applicable to other countries to address interracial or interethnic prejudice and attitudes?

2. Why is it important to understand the root causes of racially based voting?

4. Give the gist/summary of the talk.