General Interest
What is an “UME” exactly? Well, in Japanese “ume” means plum, and in the world of architecture it “is about the drawings architects make to build their designs.” UME: The International Architecture Magazine offers all of their issues online here at this visually stimulating and informative website. First-time visitors should virtually “thumb” through some of their pages here and take a look at works by such architects as Henri Ciriani, Richard Rodgers, and Zaha Hadid. Visitors can also click on an individual set of drawings to see thumbnails of the actual pages. There are many glorious works here, and anyone with a penchant for interior design, architecture, urban planning or such pursuits will find reason to visit this site multiple times. [KMG]
Established in 1999 at the Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS) is primarily interested in supporting women asylum-seekers who are fleeing gender related harm. Additionally, they work “to impact the development of law and policy to protect women fleeing gender-based violence.” The Center’s website is a great place to learn about many of the issues related to these subjects, and new visitors will want to take a look at their quarterly newsletter and then look over the results of some recent cases involving asylum law. The “Country Conditions” area is a fine way to get up to speed on the conditions involving these topical areas, and visitors can learn about conditions for women in countries including Mexico, Honduras, and Bangladesh. Within the “Campaigns” area, visitors can also learn about the Center’s recent work, and on particular legal campaigns which have been completed. [KMG]
The potential within the human mind and its connection to the rest of the human body is a subject that has consumed many of the world’s brightest scientists. The Mind Science Foundation, founded by Thomas Baker Slick, is a place that is intimately concerned with such matters, and their website is a good way to learn about some of the issues surrounding their work and broader notions about how consciousness arises in human beings. It’s a tall research order, and the website responds admirably by presenting a number of speeches from experts on the subject, along with links to the results of various research endeavors sponsored with funds from the Foundation. The site also contains an interactive database of researchers who are working in the area of consciousness and a library of books that might be of interest to those looking for additional resources. [KMG]
http://www.elearning-africa.com/
Bringing education to a wide range of persons throughout different countries in Africa presents an extensive set of challenges, and a number of organizations and corporations have made substantial investments in this area. One way to bring a diverse group of interested parties to the table is by having a conference, and that is precisely the focus on the eLearning Africa 2007 site. This particular conference was held in Nairobi in late May 2007, and visitors with an interest in distance learning initiatives in Africa will appreciate the resources offered here. On the site, visitors can look over summary documents, multimedia presentations, and abstracts from papers presented at this conference. Additional information includes links to their in-house newsletter and brief synopses of previous conferences. [KMG]
http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/csrpl/
Spirituality and religion have always played a key role in American society, and there are a number of centers dedicated to exploring the interactions between religion and public life. One such place is The Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life, located at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. From the Center’s homepage, visitors can learn about the events and conferences they sponsor and also read full-text versions of their publications, which include “Religion on the International News Agenda”. One key publication on the site is their in-house magazine, “Religion In The News”. Published continuously since 1998, visitors can browse around the archive and read various pieces, or take a look at the most recent issue. [KMG]
http://www.bio-link.org/resMaterial.htm
The Bio-Link consortium of centers was established in 1998 with funds provided by the National Science Foundation. The motivating factor behind creating this consortium was “to improve and expand educational programs that prepare skilled technicians to work in the high-tech fields that drive the U.S. economy.” Along with creating a series of bricks-and-mortar regional centers, they have also worked to develop this online clearinghouse of instructional materials related to biotechnology technician education. Visitors to the site can look over several primary sections at their leisure, including “Curriculum Materials” and “Instructional Materials”. Each section is essentially a list with links to the individual teaching aids, and some of these resources include the titles “Basic Math for Biotechnology Technicians” and “Using Interactive Computer Technology to Teach Protein Purification”. Visitors who wish to contribute materials can also do so via the website. [KMG]
http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResource.dspChildrenForCourse&CourseID=130
Students may not always learn in the same way, so teachers can help them by drawing on a diverse set of educational materials and techniques. Math teachers will appreciate learning about this set of developmental math “gizmos” offered on this site. Visitors can select interactive features that cover fractions, linear equations, roots, and geometry. Clicking on each topic will bring up a list of additional “gizmos”, and visitors can look over each one to see which is most appropriate for their students. Each small interactive feature is easy to use, and with the help of the explanatory text, they are all accessible for both teachers and students alike. [KMG]
http://www.cornell.edu/humanities/
This website, Humanities at Cornell, is a little different from the majority of academic websites that exist merely to inform visitors about the courses taught and majors offered at a particular university or college. The site sets out to explicate the humanities, by showcasing events, interviews, lectures, performances, publications, and readings related to the broad area of the humanities, which encompasses over 30 departments at Cornell. Some current highlights are: Buzz Spector's Big Red C Humanities Book Art Project, which is a sculpture of the letter C made from books written by Cornell authors; an audio interview with Jim Bell, Cornell Professor of Astronomy, talking about his book "Postcards from Mars", Bell's book contains over 150 images selected and edited from the hundreds of thousands sent back to earth by Nasa's Mars rover missions; and Beat Box Bard, which is William Shakespeare performed by beatboxer Adam Matta who uses his voice to create the sounds of almost any instrument, directed by Cornell theater professor Bruce Levitt. [DS]
