Eastern Community College Social Science Association
“Tolerance & Humanity in the Social Sciences” April 12-14, 2007
Northern Essex Community College100 Elliott Way, Haverhill, MA 01830, (978) 566-3381
College Web Site
OVERVIEW
ECCSSA is an association of professional social scientists and related professionals devoted to advancing research, practice, knowledge, and understanding, in the social sciences for the progression of humankind.
The focus of this year’s conference is “Tolerance and Humanity in the Social Sciences.”Proposals for individual papers or entire sessions are invited. Papers should focus on the conference theme within the context of the Social Sciences.
In addition to practitioners of the Social Sciences and faculty from other related academic disciplines, students are strongly encouraged to submit their work for consideration. Formal presentations, panel discussions, and poster presentations are all acceptable.
This conference promises to be timely and thought-provoking as conference presenters and participants dialogue about the challenges that the presence of intolerance poses in our increasingly diverse society and the effect that it has on teaching and higher education.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
“HIDDEN BIAS”
Kristina Olson,Social Psychology ProgramHarvard Graduate School of Arts and SciencesCambridge, MA 02138
Olson’s Overview of Address:“How deep are the bounds of human thinking and feeling and how do they shape social judgment? To answer this question, I have chosen to investigate systems that operate in implicit or unconscious mode, with a focus on implicit assessments of self, other humans, and social groups. In this talk I will show evidence for the existence of implicit attitudes and knowledge, and what we have learned about their nature. In particular, I will focus on the disparity between conscious and nonconscious social cognition as revealed by techniques that measure behavior and brain activity, with participants who are college students, drop-in visitors to implicit.harvard.edu , and young children. I will also provide a brief demonstration of the biases in all of us (using the audience and myself as subjects). From such demonstrations and research, I will raise questions about what the mind sciences can say about the development and maintenance of social attitudes.”
About the Keynote Speaker:Kristina Olson is a fourth year graduate student in the social psychology program at Harvard University. Her research interests focus on how attitudes and moral judgments develop and change. She is currently involved in projects on a range of topics including: racial attitudes in post-Apartheid South Africa, the relationship between attitudes toward gays and public policy concerning gay rights, young children’s sharing tendencies, and attitudes toward reparations for the descendants of American slaves. Olson has conducted research in the U.S., Japan, and South Africa, and has focused on developmental stages across the lifespan from 11-months to 80 years.
About Project Implicit:Project Implicit is a Virtual Laboratory for the social and behavioral sciences designed to facilitate the research of implicit social cognition: cognitions, feelings, and evaluations that are not necessarily available to conscious awareness, conscious control, conscious intention, or self-reflection. Project Implicit comprises a network of laboratories, technicians, and research scientists at Harvard University, the University of Washington, and the University of Virginia. The project was initially launched as a demonstration website in 1998 at Yale University, and began to function fully as a research enterprise following a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health in 2003.
The topics include preferences for ethnic and racial groups, religious groups, sexual orientation, gender, stereotypes of race and crime, gender and science, and ethnic-national links.
For further information, see:www.implicit.harvard.edu
Northern Essex Community CollegeHaverhill, MATechnology Center, Room 103.
Thursday, April 12
7:00-9:30 p.m.
Moderator: Maureen Dadekian Eckel, Northern Essex Community College
What Does Tolerance Mean to You? The Questions Video and Discussion Popcorn and soft drinks______
Friday, April 13
8:00-8:45Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:45-9:00 Introduction and WelcomeBeth Wilcoxson, Northern Essex Community College Rosalyn King, Northern Virginia Community College Lane Glenn, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Northern Essex Community College
9:00-10:15Session I
Panel 1: Moderator: Gerry Morin, Northern Essex Community College
Part of the Solution: An Interdisciplinary Learning CommunityAddresses Social Problems(Amy Beaudry and Gaelan Lee Benway, Quinsigamond Community College)
Panel 2: Moderator: Athalia Lyons, Virginia Commonwealth University
Religious Tolerance: Development and Education(Ramezan Dowlati and Mohammad Parchehbar,Northern Virginia Community College and Ehsan High School)
Small Voices of Humanity from Modern War Zones: Writings and Wordsfrom Destroyed Childhoods(Rose Meza, Nassau Community College)
10:15-10:45 Break/Book Exhibits/Networking
10:45-12:00 Session II
Panel 1:Moderator: Stephen Russell, Northern Essex Community College
Tolerance and Intolerance in the Middle East(Student panel, Northern Essex Community College)
Panel 2: Moderator: Ramezan Dowlati, Northern Virginia Community College
In Defense of Intolerance(Stephen Slaner, Northern Essex Community College)
Why Requests for Tolerance Fail(Francine White, LaGuardia Community College)
12:00-12:30Break/Book Exhibits/Networking
12:30-1:30 Lunch and Business Meeting
Gerry Morin, Northern Essex Community College President David Hartleb, Northern Essex Community College Rosalyn King, Northern Virginia Community College
1:30-2:45 Keynote Presentation: Hidden Bias(Kristina Olson, Harvard Graduate School)
Introduced by Maureen Dadekian Eckel, Northern Essex Community College
3:00-4:30 Session III
Panel 1:Moderator: Nancy Lee, Salem Community College
Same Sex Marriage in Massachusetts(Andrew Morse and Stephen Russell, Northern Essex Community College)
Panel 2:Moderator: Rosalyn King, Northern Virginia Community College
Toward a System of Prudent Realism: Tolerance, Human Potential andInternational Relations(Michael Parsons, Hagerstown Community College)
4:30-5:00Reception/Mingle
___
Saturday, April 14
9:00-10:00 Session IV
Panel 1:Moderator: Beth Wilcoxson, Northern Essex Community College
Living Tolerance Every Day(Dina Brown and Saleh Daher, Northern Essex Community College)
Panel 2: Moderator: John Hutchinson, Community College of Baltimore County
Teaching Humanities with Technology(Justin Reich, Noble and Greenough School)
10:15-11:45 Session V
Roundtable: What is Tolerance?
12:00 Noon Box Lunch and Discussion
___For more information, contact:Dr. Elizabeth Wilcoxson, Assistant Dean,Northern Essex Community College100 Elliott Street, Haverhill, MA 01830 Fax: 978-556-3135,E-mail:ewilcoxson@necc.mass.edu_______
CALL FOR PAPERS
Proposals for individual papers or entire sessions are invited. Papers should focus on the conference theme.Specific papers may come from the perspectives of Anthropology, Economics, Education, History, Geography, Psychology, Political Science, Sociology, International Studies, or other related disciplines.
Papers and presentations should address ways in which faculty are using innovative pedagogy in the Social Sciences in a community college setting to address the conference theme. Papers that address issues related to the challenges of building or promoting tolerance and humanity toward a world community will be seriously considered.
Student papers, presentations and perspectives are welcomed related to issues of tolerance and humanity. ECCSSA also strongly encourages submissions from international students.
Please download and complete the attached form and return to the Conference Chair:Dr. Elizabeth Wilcoxson, Assistant Dean,Northern Essex Community College,100 Elliott Street, Haverhill, MA 01830 Fax: 978-556-3135,E-mail:ewilcoxson@necc.mass.edu
_____ Downloadable Documents Conference Program Schedule Conference InvitationInvitation and Overview of Conference__ Call for Papers Proposal FormECCSSA 2007 Call For Papers__ Conference Registration FormECCSSA 2007 Registration Form______ Conference HotelFor Hotel accommodations contact directly: Best Western Merrimack Valley.Mention the ECCSSA Conference for the special rate of $69.00 (includes a continental breakfast, indoor pool, exercise room and parking.)Website: www.bwmerrimackvalley.comClick on hyperlink below:Best WesternMerrimack ValleyInterstate 495, Exit 49401 Lowell AvenueHaverhill, MA 01832-3694(978) 373-1511____
Become a part of the ECCSSA tradition!