Joe Henrich - Thematic Series: The Emerging Science of Culture The Weirdest People in the World

Joe Henrich – Thematic Series: The Emerging Science of Culture The Weirdest People in the World

December 1, 2011

Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Behavioral scientists routinely publish broad claims about human psychology and behavior in the world’s top journals based on samples drawn entirely from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Researchers—often implicitly—assume that either there is little variation across human populations, or that these “standard subjects” are as representative of the species as any other population. Are these assumptions justified? Here, the speakers’ review of the comparative database from across the behavioral sciences suggests both that there is substantial variability in experimental results across populations and that WEIRD subjects are particularly unusual compared with the rest of the species—frequent outliers. The domains reviewed include visual perception, fairness, cooperation, spatial reasoning, categorization and inferential induction, moral reasoning, reasoning styles, self-concepts and related motivations, and the heritability of IQ. The findings suggest that members of WEIRD societies, including young children, are among the least representative populations one could find for generalizing about humans. Many of these findings involve domains that are associated with fundamental aspects of psychology, motivation, and behavior—hence, there are no obvious a priority grounds for claiming that a particular behavioral phenomenon is universal based on sampling from a single subpopulation. Overall, these empirical patterns suggests that we need to be less cavalier in addressing questions of human nature on the basis of data drawn from this particularly thin, and rather unusual, slice of humanity. The speakers close by proposing ways to structurally re-organize the behavioral sciences to best tackle these challenges.

UBC Library Resources

Henrich, J., & Boyd, R. (1998). The evolution of conformist transmission and the emergence of between-group differences. Evolution and Human Behavior, 19(4), 215-241. doi:10.1016/S1090-5138(98)00018-X. [Link]

Alland, A., & American Museum of Natural History. (1967). Evolution and human behavior. Garden City, N.Y: Natural History Press.

Alland, A. (1973). Evolution and human behavior: An introduction to Darwinian anthropology. New York: Anchor Press.

UBC Research Guides

Medical Genetics

Psychology

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Years of Controversy Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Awards 1936 – 2010 Lecture at IKBLC

November 30, 2011

75 Years of Controversy: Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Awards, 1936-2010 Lillooet Room (301) Irving K. Barber Learning Centre THURSDAY, JANUARY 12 2 p.m.

Professor Dr. Andrew Irvine, UBC Philosophy


Lecture: 75 Years of Controversy – Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Awards, 1936-2010 (IBLC)

This talk reviews several of the most contentious and controversial episodes in the history of the Governor General’s Literary Awards.

Andrew Irvine received his Ph.D. from the University of Sydney for work in the Department of Traditional and Modern Philosophy on mathematical truth and scientific realism. Since then he has published and lectured on topics in the philosophy of mathematics, the history and philosophy of logic, and the philosophy of law. He is especially interested in the work of the twentieth-century philosopher, essayist and social critic, Bertrand Russell.

A Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, he regularly teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in a variety of areas.

He has taught in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and in the Department of Philosophy at Simon Fraser University, and has been a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh and at the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) atStanford University.

He serves on the boards of directors of several charitable organizations and is a past Vice-Chair of the UBC Board of Governors.

His current research includes work on Bertrand Russell, censorship, and the rule of law.

 

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William Cope – Digital Literacy: Changing the Dynamics of Learning

November 24, 2011

Webcast sponsored by Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and hosted by SLAIS. We can use new technologies to do conventional, old things—as we do when we transfer Gutenberg’s typographic schemas onto desktops or the heritage logic of classrooms into learning management systems. This presentation explores seven ‘affordances’—things we could do differently with new media technologies, even though much of the time we do not. The things I am going to highlight are by no means written into new media technologies. In fact, these are all things that, with effort, we could have done with printed texts and in traditional classrooms, and sometimes did. The change of greatest significance is the economy of effort.

The presentation will be around the wrong way, starting in the first half with the practicalities of a several projects I am working on for the US Department of Education. For these projects, we have been building an online writing, learning and assessment environment, and trialing it in schools. I will show this. In the second half of my talk, I will get into the theory and explore the seven affordances: collaboration, differentiation, metacognition, ubiquity, multimodality, agency and evaluation.

Bill Cope is a Research Professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at University of Illinois, and is co-author or editor, with Mary Kalantzis, of a number of books in the fields of curriculum and assessment, recently including: New Learning: Elements of a Science of Education, Cambridge University Press, 2008; Ubiquitous Learning, University of Illinois Press, 2009 and Literacies, Cambridge University Press, 2011. He is a former First Assistant Secretary in the Australian Government’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. He is inventor of a ‘Method for the Creation, Location and Formatting of Digital Content’, US Patent 7,886,225 B2.

 

Select Articles Available at UBC Library

Dudeney, G., Hockly, N., & Pegrum, M. (2013). Digital literacies: Research and resources in language teaching. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Alcock, M., & Jacobs, H. H. (2014). Mastering digital literacy. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

UBC Library Research Guides

Library, Archival, and Information Science

Learning Through Literacy and Technology

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Michael Eisenberg – Project Information Literacy: What College Students Say about Conducting Research in the Digital Age

November 24, 2011

Webcast sponsored by Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and hosted by SLAIS (School of Library, Archival and Information Studies), and School Library Day Colloquium (Co-Sponsored with the UBC Education Library). Project Information Literacy (PIL) is ongoing research project, based in the University of Washington’s Information School. The project seeks to understand how early adults conceptualize and operationalize research activities for course work and “”everyday life”” use and especially how they resolve issues of credibility, authority, relevance, and currency in the digital age. Research in 2009-2010 collected data from over 10,000 students. Most recently, PIL studied how 560 college students managed technology and multitasked while they were in the library during “”crunch time”” (the final weeks of the term). Prof. Eisenberg will discuss the findings and implications of PIL research–for higher education but also for information work across settings and contexts.

Mike Eisenberg is the “”founding dean”” of the Information School at the University of Washington, serving from 1998 to 2006. During his tenure, Mike transformed the school from a single graduate degree program into a broad-based information school with a wide range of research and academic programs, including an undergraduate degree in informatics, masters degrees in information management and library and information science (adding a distance learning program and doubling enrollment), and a doctorate degree in information science.

Mike’s current work focuses on information literacy, information problem-solving in virtual environments (funded by the MacArthur Foundation), and information science education K-20. His “”Big6 approach to information problem-solving”” is the most widely used information literacy program in the world. Mike is a prolific author (9 books and dozens of articles and papers) and has worked with thousands of students-pre-K through higher education-as well as people in business, government, and communities to improve their information and technology skills.

 

Select Articles Available at UBC Library

Eisenberg, M. (1996). Helping with homework: A parent’s guide to information problem-solving. Syracuse, New York: Eric Clearinghouse on Information and Technology.

Eisenberg, M., & Berkowitz, R. E. (1988). Curriculum initiative: An agenda and strategy for library media programs. Norwood, N.J: Ablex Pub. Corp.

Eisenberg, M., ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources, & United States. Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (1990). Trends and issues in library and information science 1990. Syracuse, N.Y: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources, Syracuse University. [Link]

Eisenberg, M. (2007). Books & ideas. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 16(1), 131-138. doi:10.1207/s15327809jls1601_5. [Link]

UBC Library Research Guides

Library, Archival, and Information Science

Learning Through Literacy and Technology

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Michael V. Smith – Robson Reading Series at IKBLC Presents "Progress"

November 23, 2011

In the lonely years following the death of her fiance, Helen is unable to move on with her life. But life itself is moving on around her literally: the building of a dam is forcing her small town and her family home to relocate. But the construction project means more than the loss of a home. Helens brother, Robbie, who disappeared without a trace fifteen years earlier, suddenly resurfaces. As he re-enters his sisters life, he reveals the secret of why he left in the first place: a secret that tore their family apart, and affected Helens life in more ways than she ever realized. The second novel by Michael V. Smith, Progress is a stirring story of lives lost and found. For a full transcript of this program, please find here.

Biography of Author

Michael V. Smith is an assistant professor at UBC, where he teaches creative writing. His first novel, Cumberland, was shortlisted for the Amazon.com / Books in Canada First novel Award. His short fiction has won the Western Magazine Gold Award for Fiction and been nominated for the Journey Prize. In 2007, Smith received the Dayne Ogilvie Award for Emerging Gay Writers and Vancouver’s Community Hero of the Year Award. A native of Cornwall, Ontario, Smith currently lives in Kelowna, BC.

Author’s Titles at UBC Library

Smith, M. V., & Ellingsen, D. (2008). Body of text. Toronto: BookThug. [Link]

Smith, M. V. (2002). Cumberland. Toronto: Cormorant Books. [Link]

Smith, M. V. (2011). Progress: A novel. Toronto, Ont: Cormorant Books. [Link]

Smith, M. V. (2006). What you can’t have. Winnipeg: Signature Editions. [Link]

UBC Library Research Guides

English

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How Social Media Are Changing Journalism and Politics

November 20, 2011

UBC Continuing Studies collaborates with other members of the UBC community to provide an ongoing series of free lectures, dialogues and debates on topics of interest to the general public locally, nationally and internationally. The Lifelong Learning Series is held in the fall and winter terms at UBC Robson Square and its webcasts sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre as part of its webcast collection.

Sunday November 20th 2011, 7pm at the Chan Centre for the Perfoming Arts

Activists around the world are turning to social media tools usually used for more pedestrian purposes: the sharing of family videos and videos of cats flushing toilets. But these tools can be extremely   powerful in the hands of activists, as they are pervasive, easy to use and difficult for governments to censor. Zuckerman looks at “the cute cat theory” of internet activism, as it helps explain the Arab Spring protests, aggressive internet censorship in countries like China and Vietnam, and the challenges for the corporate owners of social media platforms in an era of online speech.  This event is a hosted by UBC Continuing Studies, UBC School of Journalism, Yahoo!, and the Laurier Institution.

ABOUT ETHAN ZUCKERMAN

Ethan Zuckerman is director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, and a principal research scientist at MIT’s Media Lab. His research focuses on the distribution of attention in mainstream and new media, the use of technology for international development, and the use of new media technologies by activists.With Rebecca MacKinnon, Ethan co-founded international blogging community Global Voices. Global Voices showcases news and opinions from citizen media in over 150 nations and thirty languages, publishing editions in twenty languages. Through Global Voices and through the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, where he served as a researcher and fellow for eight years, Ethan is active in efforts to promote freedom of expression and fight censorship in online spaces.

Are you interested in more about this area?   There are open access resources available online selected by UBC Librarians

UBC Library Books for further reading

The art of strategic listening : finding market intelligence through blogs and other social media by Robert Berkman [David Lam Library – HF5415.2 .B456 2008]

Advertising 2.0: social media marketing in a Web 2.0 world by Tracy L. Tuten [David Lam Library – HF6146.I58 T88 2008]

The Googlization of everything: (and why we should worry) by Siva Vaidhyanathan [UBC Okanagan Library – HD9696.8.U64 G669 2011]

Deep search: the politics of search beyond Google edited by Konrad Becker and Felix Stalder [Koerner Library –  HM851 .D4344 2010]

The media and social theory edited by David Hesmondhalgh and Jason Toynbee [Koerner Library – HM1206 .M389 2008]

UBC Library Resources

Subject Resources for Social Media and Web 2.0 Marketing 

Educational Resources of Interest

One Laptop Per Child – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child

For more information, please contact Allan Cho

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Health Information Series at Surrey Public Library webcast online

November 20, 2011

“Self-Managing your Chronic Conditions: The facts, the challenges and future directions” – November 19, 2011 – 2:00-3:30pm at Surrey Public Library’s City Centre Library

Presented by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and Woodward Library, the Health Information Series is an ongoing public lecture series that take place in the Lower Mainland community. The tasks that individuals must undertake to live well with one or more chronic conditions. These tasks include having the confidence to deal with medical management, role management and emotional management of their conditions. As an expert on chronic disease self-management supports, particularly health programs and everyday intervention techniques, Dr. Sue Mills from the School of Population and Public Health and Dr. Sharon Koehn from the Providence Healthcare delivers a lively presentation and discussion to the community of Surrey at its newly opened City Centre Library.

The purpose of the Health Information Lecture Series is to foster a better personal health management and a variety of health topics based on the expertise and research that happens at the University of British Columbia’s diverse medical and health sciences program. Through an innovative mix of cutting edge web technologies and important health topics, the Learning Centre offers not only a bridge for UBC faculty and the communities of BC, from the Lower Mainland to rural and remote areas, to create a dialogue around timely topics on the health care needs of British Columbians, but also an opportunity for the transfer and exchange of knowledge, experience and history with these local BC communities.

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Highlights from a Student's Experience at IKBLC

November 20, 2011

by Kyuwon Kim

In my role as the Programming Assistant for IKBLC, I usually sit at the office and do miscellaneous data entry, upload webcasts on to the web, and install the art exhibits in the lobby/Ike’s… all interesting things but every once in a while I get to be a part of really exciting events!

Paul Cubbon and George Moen

Paul Cubbon and George Moen

In October, I got to help run the Small Business Accelerator event. I had the pleasure of hearing insights from business from Paul Cubbon (Sauder Prof) and George Moen (CEO of Blenz Coffee).  As a student with a timetable that is royal to the Forest Sciences Centre, I learned so much about business that evening! Prof Cubbon and Mr. Moen are the dynamic duo. They balance each other perfectly. Mr. Moen was telling it like it is, sharing his personal stories on success and failures. (His sound advice can be found here). Prof Cubbon gave concrete examples of his past students who are now running super successful businesses, installing hope in the eager audience. Following their presentations, the audience got to ask them questions. I was given the role of the microphone girl, running around from one keen hand to another making sure the audience had a chance to ask their burning-business-related questions. My favourites from the night were: “Is it possible to do business with family?” and “Why did Blenz fail in China?” The answers to these questions as well as the full webcast is available here.

In November, I had the pleasure of assisting with another Robson Reading Series event. The featured author this time around was Michael V. Smith, a creative writing professor from UBC-O and a founder of the RRS! Michael read from his new novel, “Progress”. This reading was my first introduction to the novel. I can say that from the excerpts that he read, it made me want to ditch school, curl up with the book and a large cup of tea, and find out how this family drama unfolds. That being said, my biggest take-away from the event was the casual Q&A at the end. It is absolutely brilliant to hear an author do a reading of their own work, it’s even more fantastic is to hear about the author’s writing process. So one of the questions posed to Michael was “Do you believe in writer’s block?” Michael gave probably the best answer I have ever heard. He interprets writers block as “not giving yourself permission to write crap”. He says that a writer’s block can easily be overcome by giving yourself permission to play, to write crap, and not giving yourself crap. He elaborates, “It doesn’t have to be perfect until it’s done. Besides, writing imperfect stuff is fabulous because it means you only have room to improve. Everything you write doesn’t have to be precious. Just be ready to invest a lot in to the initial crap to turn it into something precious. Diamonds weren’t formed in a day, the Earth took eons to play with carbon. The Earth invested a lot in carbon”. Afterwards, I Wiki-ed “diamond formation”. It turns out the Earth invests up to 3.3 billion years to form diamonds. So dear readers, sorry if this blog entry isn’t a precious diamond yet. But hey, at least I gave permission to myself to write something.

Note: Michael V. Smith’s webcast will soon be uploaded on to our webcast page

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Sue Mills and Sharon Koehn – Self-Managing your Chronic Conditions: The facts, the challenges and future directions

November 20, 2011

Presented by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and Woodward Library, the Health Information Series is an ongoing public lecture series that take place in the Lower Mainland community. The tasks that individuals must undertake to live well with one or more chronic conditions. These tasks include having the confidence to deal with medical management, role management and emotional management of their conditions. As an expert on chronic disease self-management supports, particularly health programs and everyday intervention techniques, Dr. Sue Mills from the School of Population and Public Health delivers a lively presentation and discussion to the community of Surrey at its newly opened City Centre Library.

The purpose of the Health Information Lecture Series is to foster a better personal health management and a variety of health topics based on the expertise and research that happens at the University of British Columbia’s diverse medical and health sciences program. Through an innovative mix of cutting edge web technologies and important health topics, the Learning Centre offers not only a bridge for UBC faculty and the communities of BC, from the Lower Mainland to rural and remote areas, to create a dialogue around timely topics on the health care needs of British Columbians, but also an opportunity for the transfer and exchange of knowledge, experience and history with these local BC communities.

Are you interested in more about this area?   There are open access resources available online selected by UBC Librarians

Free Medical Journals – http://resources.library.ubc.ca/579/

BioMed Central – http://www.biomedcentral.com/

Ageline – http://resources.library.ubc.ca/541/

Native Health Database – http://resources.library.ubc.ca/879/

Population Index – http://resources.library.ubc.ca/1632

HLWiki Canada – http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/index.php/UBC_HealthLib-Wiki_-_A_Knowledge Base_for_Health_Librarians

Questions for Discussion

What percentage of people live with chronic pain?

How can people with chronic pain learn to manage their pain?

How important is the social network/support for the person with chronic pain?

Some relevant websites for more information

Chronic Pain Association of Canada – http://www.chronicpaincanada.com/

What Are Some UBC Resources That Might Be Helpful for understanding chronic pain management and self-care?

The origins of health and disease by Michael E. Hyland [Available at UBC Okanagan Library – QP356.47 .H95 2011]

Indicators of chronic health conditions: monitoring community-level delivery systems edited by Robert J. Newcomer, A.E. Benjamin [Available at Woodward Library – WT500 .I536 1997]

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Nancy Perry, Rebecca Collie, and Charlotte Brenner – Enhancing Early Career Motivation and Well-Being Through Preservice Teaching Experiences

November 18, 2011

Webcast sponsored by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and sponsored by the Faculty of Education. CREATE (Community to Re-imagine Educational Alternatives for Teacher Education). Research indicates a wide range of factors affect teachers’ motivation for and commitment to teaching, especially early in their careers. Our research seeks to understand these factors better by examining relationships between student teachers’ experiences in their teacher education programs and their perceptions of teaching efficacy, engagement in and commitment to teaching, and stress associated with teaching. Teacher candidates in the Self-Regulated Learning, Social and Emotional Learning, Problem-Based Learning, Intermediate, and Kindergarten/Primary cohorts have participated in our study. We will begin our presentation with a brief review of research findings on teacher motivation and well-being and then describe our project—what we are doing and learning and what comes next.

Relevant Books and Articles at UBC Library

Perry, N., & Ebrary Academic Complete (Canada) Subscription Collection. (2009; 2008). Adults on the autism spectrum leave the nest: Achieving supported independence. London; Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. [Link]

Perry, N., VanZandt, Z., & Ebrary Academic Complete (Canada) Subscription Collection. (2006; 2005). Focus on the future: A career development curriculum for secondary school students. New York, NY: International Debate Education Association. [Link]

Perry, N., VanZandt, Z., & Ebrary Academic Complete (Canada) Subscription Collection. (2006; 2005). Exploring future options: A career development curriculum for middle school students. New York, NY: International Debate Education Association. [Link]

UBC Library Research Guides

Education

 

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