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Scooped by Seth Dixon onto Geography Education |
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Today's students embrace technology outside the classroom, and, when used effectively, technology is an excellent tool to engage students inside the classroom as well.
Were you hoping for a free web course on teaching GIS for your K-12 classroom? This is it.
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Seth Dixon's insight:
A steep slope and unstable ground in this picture from Egypt results in mass wasting and the 'flow' of the sand down the slope. Sand dunes are often formed more by aeolian (wind) processes, making this image especially noteworthy.
Tags: physical, geomorphology, erosion, landforms. Delete the scoop?
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Protesters upset over an American-made video denouncing Islam attacked the United States Consulate in Libya, while Egyptian demonstrators stormed over the walls of the United States Embassy in Cairo. The idea of anti-U.S. protests in the Middle East and Northa Africa on the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 was initially quite shocking. As always, a greater understanding of the cultural context and timing helps explain (not necessarily justify) the situation. The video produced by "Sam Bacile" that has sparked the controversy is truly reprehensible and as cultural insensitive as it gets. Still, the protests, by blindly lashing out at the United States embassy, only exacerbate the cultural problems. UPDATE: This public gathering of Libyan's in Benghazi to apologize for the death of Chris Stevens is quite poignant. Questions to Ponder: How does one single YouTube video impact geopolitics? Culturally speaking, what makes this such a powerfully charged issue? Will this issue become fodder for the election? Tags: MiddleEast, political, culture, Islam, religion. 
Jeff F's comment,
September 17, 2012 6:46 PM
I find it unsetteling that such violence can erupt from the content of one film. It's also curious that only in Islam does such violence occur due to that religion's view of blasphemy. It makes me ponder what exactly is going on in Islamic culture that allows for this scenario to keep popping up. Rarely in modern times does violence happen in response to blasphemy against other religions and when it does happen, it tends to be isolated events rather than mass protests.
I think the most likely answer is that societies which are based upon other religions tend to be much more secular. Religion tends to play less of a role in most people's life. 
's comment, September 17, 2012 9:38 PM
Reading the accounts of Libyan protests and violence that culminated in the death of Ambassador Stevens leaves many questions. Notwithstanding of which is the role of religion in an increasingly secular globalized world economy. Of course there are many back stories here as well. The ghost of 9/11, the Arab Spring, uneasiness between Israel and Iran, US military presence in the Mideast; etc. The trigger for the violence-we are led to believe- was the video “Innocence of Muslims” by a California man named Sam Bacile. Bacile’s video while short, was cartoonish and ruthless in its appraisal of Muhammad and Islam, Bacile is on record stating that “Islam is a cancer”. Bacile an Israeli-American feels no need to engage in any cultural sensitivity on the issue, and his video has clearly caused much consternation in the Arab world.
The cultural sensitivity issue is probably the hardest issue for America and West in general to overcome. Religion in the US is more of a decoration, a footnote, something that is on the decline, it is not the center of life here. For Muslims it’s the focal point , a prism from which they look at the world through. Marginalized by the world, brutalized and manipulated within their own countries, Arabs look to their religion to be a rock on which they can build themselves. To dismiss it as ridiculous, comical, or evil can only foster great distrust and anger. Within the communities of the Mideast sentiment varies and many expressed horror over the embassy attacks, blaming extremists like the Muslim Brotherhood. Within all the confusion I think of the situation in Syria, the ongoing genocide and the chess pieces within a larger world stage. I wonder if there is a workable solution to any of the issues from North Africa to Afghanistan. One thing is certain Israel must feel insecure in the days, weeks, and months ahead, as things trend toward “us” versus ‘them”. 
Don Brown Jr's comment,
September 18, 2012 6:33 PM
This video effects geopolitics in the region in a number of ways as the US may find itself bearing the brunt of the Islamic world reaction from this video since the producer was a American. The fact that Jewish donors provided funds for the film will likely further strain relations between Israel, the United States and the Islamic countries. Likewise in the upcoming 2012 election how both parties choose to address this while trying to appeal to “Christian” voters will add another layer of complexity to this issue. This video is a clear example of just how interconnected the world we live in today really is and how a single actions can affect many others creating unforeseen consequences. Hopefully the lesson that can be learned from the “Innocence of Islam” U-Tube trailer is that people need to be more cultural sensitive when it comes to displaying public information that can be easy diffused around the world. The largely negative reaction from the global Muslim community has shown us that we cannot afford to be ignorant or cultural incentive to others in an increasing globalized and connected world. However another lesson that both the US, Libya, Egypt and the world at large should take note of is that nations should not become the focal point of acts of violence due to the actions of a few individual whether it is a terrorist or Sam Bacile. We in the West need to take into account that in the Muslim world there isn’t really a separation between church and state like there is in the here so religious matters affect every aspect of society. We should also take into mind that this was also the case in Europe not to many centuries ago, remember the Middle Ages and the inquisition. Delete the scoop?
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A year the first protests in Tahrir Square, young Egyptians look back at the promise of the Arab Spring as well as the reality many revolutionaries failed to foresee.
The young revolutionary voices of Egypt are hardly united in their political aims and social goals. This video chronicles the disparate voices that are a part of the shaping the revolution, but also voices that are impacted by the unfinished nature of the revolution. Delete the scoop?
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A case study for our World Development text book...
How useful was digital technology, particularly social networking sites, to democracy protesters in Tunisia and Egypt? How important are the democracy protests in the Middle East and North Africa to world development? Social media has fundamentally changed the cultural and political paradigms. Delete the scoop?
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TED Talks In this short talk, TED Fellow Sarah Parcak introduces the field of "space archeology" -- using satellite images to search for clues to the lost sites of past civilizations. The uses of geospatial technologies is NOT limited to studying geography, but it is the bedrock of many research projects that involve spatial thinking (as demonstrated in this TED talk). Geographic principles and geographers can be very important members of interdisciplinary teams. Tags: spatial, remote sensing, geospatial, TED, MiddleEast, historical. Delete the scoop?
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The Choices Program asks Brown University's Political Scientist Melani Cammett to briefly explain the Arab Spring. This is a great primer to teach young students who don't follow international news to understand the beginnings of the Arab Spring. For more videos by the Choices Program in their "Scholars Online" series, see: Delete the scoop?
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Tensions rise in Cairo as Egyptian forces raided the offices of human rights and pro-democracy groups.
When there is a new political regime, what impact does it have on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) operating within that country? While many NGOs attempt to stay out of partisan politicals so as not to compromise the future of their organization or cause, sometimes the cause is in direct conflict with the policies of the regime. Delete the scoop?
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