Cultural Perspectives on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty in Higher Education
Thursday, February 3, 7pm, BH 176 (Baldwin Little Theater)
TSU International Students
Plagiarism, citing sources and group work are not viewed uniformly across all cultures. Depending upon where you are in the world, different ideologies persist, transforming classroom environments and student-professor relationships. In some cultures, sharing notes and answers, even on tests, is acceptable to both professors and students alike in order to improve the class as a whole. In other cultures, citing a well-known source in a paper can be insulting to a professor, indicating that he or she is not educated enough to know the source. Concepts of intellectual property in the United States can therefore be a huge cultural stumbling block to international students. A diverse panel of Truman international students will discuss their own cultures’ perspectives on plagiarism and academic dishonesty, how they differ from views in the United States, as well as how they have adjusted to expectations in this country.
Gods, Guns, and Gandhi: Rethinking Terrorism
Thursday, March 31, 7pm, BH 176 (Baldwin Little Theater)
Lester Kurtz, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, George Mason University
How might we prevent and respond to horrific acts of terrorism? Our first response has been to pick up a gun or send in the troops, but that has not proven successful. It has mired the world in war and turned battlegrounds into terrorist recruiting camps rather than destroying the terrorist organizations. Alternative responses may prove difficult to envision but more fruitful in the long run – we will analyze the roots of terrorism in religion and economics, and map out some nonviolent responses.
Cooperating for Economic Development
April 21, 7pm, BH 176 (Baldwin Little Theater)
Ted Howard, Executive Director, Democracy Collaborative, University of Maryland
The current economic downturn has been caused in part by extremely competitive “me-first” attitudes in finance and business. The Evergreen Cooperative Initiative in Cleveland, Ohio, which Ted Howard helped launch in 2008, seeks to help build a different mode of economic development that is more sustainable, not only economically but also socially and environmentally, on the basis of cooperation and mutual support. The project helps create mutually beneficial economic linkages between universities, hospitals and hotels on the one hand and the local community on the other, by incubating worker cooperatives which provide goods or services for these large institutions (for example, laundry services, greenhouse vegetables, and solar energy installations). Howard will discuss the experiences of this initiative so far, which may serve as a model and inspiration for efforts elsewhere (including Truman State University as it seeks to become more sustainable in cooperation with the larger Kirksville and Adair County community).