Program Schedule

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Every year, more than 10,000 adults and children could benefit from a bone marrow transplant. Only 30% of patients find a donor match within their family. 70% of patients depend on a complete stranger to give them a second chance at life. Only 4 out of 10 patients will receive the transplant that can save their life. There is no better place to recruit healthy donors than at colleges and universities. Come by the DKMS table on April 4 to register as a bone marrow donor! GET SWABBED. SAVE A LIFE!

Join students from universities around the world via video-link in an interactive global discussion about whether or not our education systems are preparing students for the world of work, and contributing to or hindering the creation of a free, sustainable, and secure future. The videoconference will serve as one of the events to be presented at a May 4 event at the United Nations titled, “Creating a Sustainable Future: Empowering Youth with Better Job Opportunities.” This event is part of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) initiative.

Come learn from a play by Susan Stein created from “the words taken from the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesium, a young Jewish Dutch woman living under the German occupation of the Netherlands.” On July 10,1942, Etty wrote in her diary, “And I shall wield this slender fountain pen as if it were a hammer, and my words will be so many hammer strokes with which to beat out the story of our fate and a piece of history as it is and never was before...still, a few people must survive if only to be chroniclers of this age. I would very much like to become one of their number.” This play is a one-woman monologue acted by Ms. Stein who has appeared in numerous roles on the professional stage. An interactive discussion will follow the performance. This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights, and Genocide Education at Brookdale Community College, the Jewish Culture Studies Program, the History and Anthropology Department, and the Honors School.

Racial and gender roles are socially constructed, shaped by social forces including history, class, language, schooling, culture, laws, and media. Students in the U.S. can examine how these beliefs affect our lives and how they change, by comparing our own routine practices with those from other societies and considering the outcomes. This classroom colloquium will explore gender outcomes in contexts such as dating rituals, employment conditions, arranged marriages, and women’s rights in Ireland, India, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia.

This performance is comprised of non-fiction narratives, statistics, images, and videos depicting the problem of bullying in the U.S. The performance will detail the nature of bullying and its consequences for individuals and our larger culture.

During the transition from communist states to capitalism and democracy, concepts of common goods, public resources, and ‘spreading the wealth around’ showed how society changed tremendously in many east European countries. Old ideas were no longer acceptable since many associated them with former, non-democratic regimes. Yet, faced with some of the wildest forms of ‘wild capitalism’ and corruption, public opinion slowly started to change. Streets and building occupation became quite popular ways of protesting and in some cases - in spite of lack of long democratic tradition and with the help of media - struggle for better environment and public resources were quite a success.

Roosevelt strives to problem solve in local communities in ways that make a tangible impact in people’s lives. By focusing on 2040, the Roosevelt Thinks conversations are able to transcend present-day politics and focus instead on long-term problems and the corresponding root causes. This workshop provides an introduction to Roosevelt’s model by discussing values, formulating outcomes and solutions, and defining policy. This is the first component of the Roosevelt Thinks training curriculum. The Roosevelt Campus Network is the largest student-driven policy organization in the country.

Recent political, economic and social events have put the reflectors of the American Media on the Italian country: the coming of the new government, the Crisis of the Euro Zone, and more recently, the tragedy of the Costa Concordia. But what is going on in the Italian society? What is the real state of the country? We will discuss this topic with Prof. Mario Aldo Toscano, author of a recent book on the Italian society (Prove di società - Proofs of Society - 2011) and Andrea Barbaria, Italian Consul at Newark.

Sea Change is both a personal journey and a scientifically rigorous, sometimes humorous, unflinchingly honest look at the reality of the threat of ocean acidification to ocean ecosystems, and positive examples of changes in human behavior that we all must choose before the oceans are lost. This session features a panel discussion by experts from the Sandy Hook Marine Lab and Monmouth University.

Those who led the LGBT Rights movement are being forced back into the closet after years of struggle, socially and personally. We will be presenting on the issues older LGBT people are facing in today’s society, in terms of oppression, and the ways in which we can educate the service providers they utilize to be more culturally competent and welcoming to the population. The LGBT Older Adults Project is focusing on understanding what older LGBT people are not getting in the arenas of social services, medical care, and community life.

This is a chance for Monmouth to step back and take a few moments to talk about things that are not easy or pleasant to discuss: experiences of hate. Led by personal stories and an opportunity for an open mic, this rally is a way for Monmouth students to share, listen, heal, care, and make change. At the end of the rally, everyone is encouraged to write down words or actions of hate that have affected them, that have been spoken to them, spoken by them, or have been overheard by them (and they did not intervene). Paper shredders will be on hand to allow people to shred those memories...a symbolic way to take away the pain associated with those words and actions. Moving away from our pain or guilt can help us move on to a better tomorrow where all hawks truly do fly together. This event is co-sponsored by Wells Fargo’s NJ Pride Team Member Network, an organization fully engaged in providing a safe and welcoming environment for all.