KIE Professor Walter Sinnott-Armstrong was a recent guest on WUNC public radio’s show the State of Things. He discusses the increasingly overlapping spheres of philosophy and neurobiology with host Frank Stasio. The broadcast is now available to stream.
On Friday, January 11, KIE, the Law School Program in Public Law, and the Duke Journal of Constitutional Law and Public Policy held an interdisciplinary symposium, “Perspectives on Migration, Governance, and Citizenship.” The Duke student paper The Chronicle covered the event, at which Nannerl O. Keohane Director at KIE Noah Pickus gave the opening remarks.
In his most recent post to The Crooked Timber blog, Kirean Healy reviews Invisible Men: Mass Incarceration and the Myth of Black Progress by Becky Pettit. The book evaluates the ways in which the statistics behind increased imprisonment influence other aspects of the social fabric.
WRAL news reports that The North Carolina Department of Commerce accepts large sums from a non-profit group, “Friends of North Carolina,” a group that accepts large corporate donations. KIE faculty Wayne Norman discusses conflicts of interest in government funding.
The Ethics Film Series is a signature series at KIE meant to engage the Durham community in conversation on ideas such as justice, personal freedoms, and social responsibility through the lens of feature films. This year’s theme is “Love and Justice,” with four films that will explore how individuals – both alone and in context of their communities – engage the tension between the demands of justice and the grace of love. When justice executed is seasoned by love, the boundaries of the ethical, social, and political expand in unprecedented ways. After each film, the audience is invited to stay and discuss issues raised by the films with Duke faculty and specialists. The screenings are free and open to the public, with parking passes and refreshments provided.
The first film, Gran Torino (2008), will be screening Monday, January 14. It features actor-director Clint Eastwood as disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski. The story follows his growing friendship with his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski’s prized possession: his 1972 Gran Torino. The post-film discussion will be led by Professor Marianna Torgovnick (English Department and Arts of the Moving Image). Torgovnick’s research and teaching expertise relates to film and media studies, cultural criticism, religion, and contemporary American issues.
On Monday February 11th, Le fils (The Son) (2002) will be shown. In this award-winning Belgian-French mystery film, themes of compassion and justice unfold in unexpected ways. The story follows Olivier, a carpentry instructor at a vocational school, who is still recovering from the murder of his only son five years earlier and the subsequent dissolution of his marriage. When a new student applies to join his class, Olivier initially refuses but then secretly begins following the boy.
The last two films in the series are selections from the Human Rights Watch Traveling Film Festival. Brother Number One (2011) will be screened Monday, March 18. The director of the film, New Zealander Rob Hamill, tells the story of his brother’s death at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. It explores the violence of the regime and its followers, killing nearly 2 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979. Thirty years later, Rob Hamill has a rare chance to take the stand as a witness at the Cambodia War Crimes Tribunal. In this documentary, Rob retraces his brother’s final days, meeting survivors who tell the story of what countless families across Cambodia experienced at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.
The award-winning and international festival favorite Habibi (2011), by director Susan Yousef, will show April 8. The film follows young lovers Qays and Layla, university students in the West Bank who are forced to return home to Khan Yunis, Gaza. In conservative Khan Yunis, their relationship can only be sustained through marriage, but Qays is too poor to convince Layla’s father that he can provide for his daughter. As the couple struggles to be together, Qays paints verses from the classical Sufi poem Majnun Layla all over Khan Yunis, a rebellious act that angers Layla’s father and the local self-appointed moral police. Lyrical and passionate, Habibi depicts a reality where personal happiness must be weighed against society’s opinions, and a choice sometimes made between one’s people and one’s heart.
All films begin at 7:00pm
Griffith Theater, Bryan Center
Free admission, parking passes, and movie snacks
The series is sponsored by the Kenan Institute for Ethics and presented by Screen/Society at Arts of the Moving Image and the Center for Documentary Studies.
KIE faculty Walter Sinnott-Armstrong will be featured on the January 8th edition of PBS Newshour at 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Sinnott-Armstrong will discuss his involvement in the Coursera online course initiative at Duke.
KIE Focus student Mousa Alshanteer offers a perspective on governorship to the Huffington Post Politics Blog.
A recent posting on the Washington Post’s WonkBlog looks at the data behind high-profile shootings, including Kieran Healy’s comparison of the high levels of death by assault in the U.S. versus those of other industrialized nations.
DUKE UNIVERSITY
International Human Rights
Tenure-line appointment (all ranks) in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Joint appointment with the Kenan Institute for Ethics
The Kenan Institute for Ethics together with the Sanford School of Public Policy invites applications from scholars whose principal research, teaching and policy interests focus on international human rights and related questions of global governance, political philosophy or international law. The position is open rank, tenure-line. We invite applications particularly from political science, public policy, and history.
The Kenan Institute for Ethics is a university-wide “think and do” tank committed to promoting moral reflection and commitment, conducting interdisciplinary research, and shaping policy and practice. The Sanford School includes nearly 70 faculty members, of whom over 40 are tenure-line, and offers an undergraduate major, two Masters programs, and a Ph.D.
All candidates should submit a letter of application, CV, and recent writing sample to Professor Bruce W. Jentleson, International Human Rights Search Committee Chair, via the following website: http://www.facsearch.sanford.duke.edu. Applications received by December 15 will be assured full consideration.
Duke University is an Equal Employment/Affirmative Action Employer.
In the Wall Street Journal blog “The Juggle,” Bader examines the tendency for self-reflection as a new year approaches and the benefits of pursuing new strategies for career and self.