The Scout Report -- Volume 22, Number 45

Starkville, Mississippi was just one of numerous sites where community activists fought throughout the mid-twentieth century to end the segregation of schools and public facilities and provide fair employment opportunities to black women and men. On this website, created by students and faculty at Mississippi State University, visitors can listen to oral history interviews and browse a number of primary documents relating to this activism. Included in the oral history collection (found under The People tab) are interviews with a former member of Starkville High School's first racially integrated class, with the former president of the Oktibbeha County NAACP, and with a retired physician, who was the first black individual to enroll in Mississippi State University. Meanwhile, visitors can learn more about activism and view related primary documents in The Struggle section. Instructors can find a number of lesson plans drawing on this rich material in the Teachers area of the Resources section. [MMB]

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Medical Education Online is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal that aims "to disseminate information on the education and training of physicians and other health care professionals." Edited by a team of educators and administrators from medical schools, labs, and training clinics around the country, Medical Education Online publishes articles relating to best practices in medical school pedagogy and medical school admissions. The current issue of the journal explores how learning communities within medical school influence social and educational relationships between medical students, analyzes whether or not MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) scores influence USMLE (United States Licensing Examination) scores, and considers possible ways to alleviate "neurophobia" - the anxiety around learning neurology - among medical students. [MMB]

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This blog from the Anthropocene Learning Community at the University of Oklahoma, explores the many ways that humans are impacting the earth. Authored by an interdisciplinary group of ecologists, biologists, anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers, and other scholars, Inhabiting the Anthropocene aims to "provide a kind of 'guided tour' of scholarly literature relevant to the broad theme of the Anthropocene, and to the idea of habitability." With this aim, the blog features reflective essays (What We're Thinking) along with an extensive interdisciplinary bibliography of scholarship relating to the Anthropocene (What We're Reading). Recent contributions include a consideration by biologist Ingo Schlupp that outlines how humans influence not only species extinction, but also the rise of new species; an essay by historian Peter Soppelsa about how to date and historicize the anthropocene; and an analysis by political theorist Marit Hammond on the role of art in the Anthropocene. [MMB]

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From the University of California, Berkeley's Bancroft Library comes Mark Twain in the West, an impressive collection of archival material relating to the author's time spent in Nevada and California. In 1861, Samuel Clemens left his home state of Missouri for Nevada, where he worked as a miner and began writing under his pen name, Mark Twain. In 1864, Clemens headed for San Francisco, where he wrote for a number of newspapers and continued to travel throughout the west before departing for New York in 1868. With this resource, visitors can examine a number of fascinating documents, including a letter Clemens wrote to his brother Orion from Esmeralda County, Nevada; the first piece of writing signed as "Mark Twain;" and columns that the author penned for the Territorial Enterprise in Nevada. Visitors can also look at part of the lost manuscript for Roughing It, a semi-autobiographical account of the author's time out west. As a whole, this collection sheds light on a formative time and place for the Clemen's future work. [MMB]

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K-12 mathematics instructors and tutors, along with parents and youth librarians, will find a wealth of resources at The Mathematics Shed, including videos, worksheets, lesson plans, interactive activities, PowerPoint presentations, and more. Instructors can browse for resources by numerous subcategories, such as Calculation Shed, Maths Inquiry Shed, Data Shed, Flash Games Shed, and Maths Myths and Legend Shed. This collection is not only impressively diverse, but it also contains an especially extensive collection of interactive resources and educational games. As a result, this resource may be of special interest to enrichment teachers in addition to traditional classroom teachers. Many resources are available in PDF format for easy printing and use. [MMB]

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PBS Newshour's Teachers' Lounge features thoughtful essays from educators about a variety of classroom issues, including reflections on how to best teach current events, analysis of issues affecting contemporary youths, and notes about teaching in different settings around the world. While parts of this collection will especially appeal to social studies teachers, these essays may also be of interest to educators of all subjects and age groups. In one recent, poignant essay, high school English teacher Patrick Welsh reflects on teaching the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States over the past fifteen years, and his experiences teaching students, some of whom were the children of Pentagon workers, on the day of attacks. In another essay, social studies teacher Tim Smyth describes how he uses comic books in his teaching. [MMB]

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The November 2016 issue of Nature dedicates its Nature Insight supplement to neurodegenerative disease. This supplement "explores brain ageing and possible rejuvenation and updates our understanding of Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease." This collection may be of interest to both medical professionals as well as those with family and friends personally impacted by neurodegenerative disease. Recent research on neurodegenerative disease are represented in the six articles included here, including an exploration of the effects of aging on the brain and a study about therapeutic treatment that may be able to alleviate some Alzheimer's symptoms. All articles included in this supplement will be freely available online for the next six months. [MMB]

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The Institute of Women's Policy Research (IWPR) is a think tank dedicated to analyzing public policy and its impact on women. On the IWPR's Status of Women in the States website, visitors can explore national and state data relating to gender on the following issues: Employment and Earnings, Political Participation, Poverty and Opportunity, Reproductive Rights, Health and Well Being, Work and Family, and Violence and Safety. The site's homepage presents this data in a map of the United States, and the IWPR has assigned a grade to each state based on these seven categories. Individual state data may be accessed by clicking on a specific state. In addition, visitors can explore data for specific population groups (e.g. Older Women, Women in Unions) or download complete national reports by the organization through the Explore the Data and Publications sections of this website. [MMB]

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Rewi Alley was a New Zealand born writer and activist who joined the Chinese Communist Party and eventually became connected with party leaders. Due to these connections, Alley acquired a number of Chinese artistic items in the 1950s and 1960s, which he subsequently donated to New Zealand's Canterbury Museum. China, Art and Cultural Diplomacy is an ongoing project, headed by University of Canterbury art historian Richard Bullen and University of Waikato historian James Beattie, to digitize and research this collection - and to learn more about "why and how [the collection] developed and the extent to which the artefacts encouraged favourable perceptions of a 'New China' in New Zealand." On this website, visitors can browse 13 exhibits and over 1,000 spectacular items. Exhibits include Calligraphy and Painting, Ceramics (some of which date back to the Han Dynasty), Bronze, Jade, Prints, and even two busts of Rewi Alley himself. [MMB]

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The Jewish Cultural Center of San Francisco hosts Arts and Ideas, a series of lectures and interviews with a wide variety of writers, artists, and scholars. On this website, visitors can view videos of past lessons or live stream upcoming lectures of interest. Videos include a lecture by child psychologist Alison Gopnik on child development and parenting; a talk by prolific writer Carl Hiaasen; and an interview with cookbook author and New York Times cooking columnist Mark Bittman. Each lecture or interview is approximately one hour in length, facilitating in-depth explorations of featured topics. In addition, the series also features a number of podcasts available for download. These podcasts include interviews with Carrie Brownstein (of the show Portlandia and the band Sleater-Kinney), writer Maria Popova, and MIT psychologist Sherry Turkle. [MMB]

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Stephen Hackett, a technology writer and podcast host, authors this extensive webpage dedicated to the history of Apple for his blog 512 Pixels. Apple History will be of special interest to anyone who remembers the early days of the Mac as well as anyone generally interested in the history of the company and its technology. Here, visitors can view a complete list of all Apple products throughout the years, read about Clarus the Dogcow (a memorable character of Cairo, Apple's early Dingbat font), and view vintage Apple promotional videos (some of these videos age better than others). The Apple History Library is filled with original videos, press releases, and press conference footage from the company and highlights some of Apple's most iconic products alongside some of the company's flops. As a whole, this site is a highly entertaining peek into an interesting past. [MMB]

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Rain Taxi is a non-profit literary organization dedicated to critically reviewing new literature and building awareness of new writers who may otherwise get overlooked. As part of this mission, Rain Taxi publishes a quarterly review of new poetry, fiction, and nonfiction work in both print and online editions. In addition to reviews, this publication also features interviews and feature essays. The print edition (which includes articles and reviews completely distinct from the online edition) is available for purchase, while visitors can read current and past online editions for free. In the current online edition, readers can check out a review of a new biography about Ted Hughes, reviews of six different poetry collections, and an interview with Alfie Brown, who recently published a book exploring video game applications. One of the many strengths of Rain Taxi is the publication's commitment to reviewing and exploring diverse kinds of writing; as a result, this publication will appeal to a wide audience. [MMB]

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How do your limbic systems and prefrontal cortex inform your tendency to procrastinate? How has art played a role in human evolution? Why do so many people love sugar - and can it actually be an addiction? These questions and more are explored in BrainCraft, a PBS Digital Series dedicated to "psychology, neuroscience, and why we act the way we do." Created by science educator and report Vanessa Hill, new 4-6 minute episodes of BrainCraft are released each week. These highly entertaining and informative episodes may be viewed on BrainCraft's YouTube Channel, a link to which is provided in the Episodes section of this website. Those active on Facebook or Twitter may also want to follow the show via social media to learn about new episode topics. [MMB]

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From the Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown, New York comes Plowline: Images of Rural New York. This digitized collection of photographs is part of a "collecting initiative" to document "changes in agricultural practice, rural life and farming families in New York State from the 19th century through the present." On this website, visitors can browse a remarkable collection of photographs from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by author or by format (including Postcard, Stereograph, and Print Photograph). A few of the gems in this extensive collection include an 1850s daguerreotype of a farmhouse, a collection of early 1940s photographs of farms and farmers from the Croft Photographic Laboratory, and a 1900 map of the milk supply in Boston. Collectively, these photographs call attention to the shifting technology and culture of American agriculture. [MMB]

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The Allusionist is a delightful podcast dedicated to "small adventures in language." Hosted by British broadcaster and podcaster Helen Zaltzman, the Allusionist covers a single issue related to the English language in each twenty minute podcast. Zaltzman is especially interested in issues of how language and society inform one another. One recent episode features an interview with Isaac Siemens on the reasons why scientists are looking to rename diseases that are currently eponyms. In another episode, Zaltzman and a panel of guests discuss the practice of naming generations (e.g. Generation X, Millennial, Baby Boomers) and the relative merits and drawbacks of these labels. New episodes of the Allusionist are released bimonthly. Interested listeners can explore current and past episodes, along with related links and resources, on this website. [MMB]

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The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library of Women in America at Harvard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study is home to an impressive collection of documents related to Charlotte Perkins Gilman (b. 1860, d. 1935), noted public intellectual and author of The Yellow Wallpaper. The bulk of the collection, which includes personal letters, original manuscripts, diary entries, photographs, and much more, has recently been digitized to celebrate the sesquicentennial of Gilman's birth. From the landing page, readers may immediately Enter the collection or opt to Learn More about Gilman through a brief biographical essay. There are presently over 37,000 digitized items that promise to provide an intimate look at "Gilman's thinking about women's dress, housekeeping responsibility, domestic architecture, and the demand for equal rights." The site boasts a well-developed search function and users can create an account to add personalized tags or create digital folders as a way to save and organize items of interest. [CDR]

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Whether you are learning a new language, studying for a standardized test (such as the GRE or the MCAT), or just looking to brush up on your knowledge base, Brainscape may be for you. This interactive flashcard program is offered both as a web browser and as an iOS or Android application. By creating a free account, Brainscape users can access a number of existing flashcard sets or create their own. As users go through each set, they rate their overall knowledge in confidence about each card. Brainscape then takes these self-ratings to engage users more frequently with the cards reported as challenging. Users can create a basic account for free; to access all available flashcards, users must purchase a subscription. There is also a version for Educators. [MMB]

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Those looking for a secure, private way to send messages, videos, and pictures may want to check out Wickr. Available for iOS or Android mobile devices as well as on Windows, Mac, or Linux computers, Wickr is a messaging system that allows users to share text messages, voice messages, or a number of files to either another individual or to a group. All messages are encrypted, and Wickr does not collect user data. Individual users can also manage who can contact them or gain access to their address book information. Users can send and receive messages and files on multiple devices, while maintaining their privacy with a password. [MMB]

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