Educating Cambodians about Safe Drinking Water

I heard this story on NPR a few months ago and meant to share it with the students in my Developing World classes. I wanted to link to it here before it was too long for me to remember when I heard it. It's a fascinating piece that illustrates an innovative and simple approach to solving a lethal problem.

Outsourcing for Parents

In our FDINT 202 class last week we discussed Thomas Friedman's book "The World is Flat." Here's another example of outsourcing that might be of interest to readers with young children at home.



Report: Many U.S. Parents Outsourcing Child Care Overseas

Victor Mair on Chinese Names

Students in my Chinese 347 course will recognize Professor Mair as the editor of our text, The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature. Here he comments in depth on an article in today's New York Times about some of the curiosities of Chinese names and naming conventions.

Tips to Some Chinese Translation Technologies

This is an interesting interview, but if you don't have time to read the whole thing, scroll down to section six for some excellent tips on software useful to the Chinese learner and/or translator.

中文102学生你们好！

This post is for my Chinese 102 class.

你们好！我们这个学期要用Blogger做播客。每个星期你们要写一次播客。古老师也会写几次播客。希望大家都会喜欢这个活动。

Bono on Soul Searching

Since I recently gave space on this blog to a link to one of Bono's critics, I've no reason to not give him some space too. In this guest opinion in the New York Times, he discusses our individual and collective soul searching in these more difficult economic times.

Indoor Air Pollution

As I began just over a year ago to prepare to teach "The Developing World" (a new gen ed course at my university), it came as no surprise to me that air pollution is one of the more serious environmental concerns plaguing millions of people in the developing world. What I didn't realize, however, is that the most pernicious and pervasive form of this air pollution is indoor air pollution, caused by improperly vented, primitive indoor cook stoves. In this article in the New York Times, Elisabeth Rosenthal looks not only at the health concerns raised by these stoves but also the collective environmental impact they are imposing on the global climate.

Dambisa Moyo on Aid to Africa

This five minute clip from bigthink.com provides valuable insight into what is and is not working in African development. Though not opposed to emergency relief, Moyo takes the long view and sees investment (many forms, including micro-loans) as the only sustainable road leading Africa out of poverty. Moyo is the author of Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa.

"The Blue Sweater"

Students in my FDINT 202 class watched a TED talk by Jacqueline Novogratz last week in which she describes a life-changing event experienced as a 20-something working in Rwanda. That particular experience has shaped her life and career, and can now be read about in more detail in her book "The Blue Sweater."

Peter Singer

Take two and a half minutes to listen to Peter Singer discuss his ideas for addressing global poverty.