International Education week is a joint operation of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education to promote programs that encourage worldwide exchange. The main objective is to prepare Americans for a globalized market and encourage students from abroad to study and share cultural experiences in the United States. This provides a … Continue reading "International Experience is Crucial for Our Education"

“Imagine if you were [confined] to a bathtub for twenty-five years, don’t you think you’d get a little psychotic?!” exclaims an opponent of animal captivity, more specifically that of killer whales. Marine mammal scientist, Dr. Naomi A. Rose attributes various reasons as to why concrete surroundings are a terrible idea for these smart, complex, powerful … Continue reading "The fight for the quality of life for all living organisms"

When you think of meditation, it’s likely that you think of Buddhist monks as well. Meditation has been practiced by Buddhists for centuries, and has more recently made its way into the Western mainstream under the umbrella term of “mindfulness training” (Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is especially popular). Defined as “being aware and attentive … Continue reading "Events on Mindfulness and Art: Nawang Khechog’s Visit to DePauw"

Humans are sometimes self-contradicting. They are well aware of the violence and social and economic disruptions caused by war, but war, ironically, has been one of the most recurring themes throughout human history. One thing that might have justified this contradiction could be the cost and benefit analysis through which people think the harm caused … Continue reading "Forgotten Casualties: War and the Environment"

Greencastle’s USDA office was closed. Indiana’s Social Security office was closed. The federal government was closed. The government shutdown on October 1st shocked citizens across the country. Reporters on CNN, CBS, and ABC performed live shots outside Capitol Hill. Families watched in their living rooms to hear they could no longer order passports and all … Continue reading "Greencastle Feels Repercussions of Government Shutdown"

There is a certain truth to the saying, “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” After all, practically everyone, man and woman alike, enjoys a good meal now and then. However, the immense sociocultural power of food is not limited to trite, gendered stereotypes. In fact, it offers one of the most … Continue reading "Food, Ethics, and Culture"

America is a culture of opinions. A proud tradition of democracy and suffrage has precipitated a society in which people take it upon themselves to be informed and critical. Although some may be persuaded by the wit of a politician or the bias of a media outlet, many of us take it upon ourselves to … Continue reading "Syrian Youth for Peace: Securing Syria’s Future"

Tuesday night, DePauw students gathered in the Prindle Courtyard for an outdoor screening of Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield, a recent documentary that zeroes in on the covert military operations happening in several Middle Eastern countries including Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen. Journalist Jeremy Scahill serves as tour guide, traveling from city to city … Continue reading "Review of “Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield” Film Screening"

I was interning at CBS television station in Chicago last semester when the Boston Marathon Bombings happened. In the hectic newsroom, where everyone was scrambling for accurate details, live interviews and up-to-date coverage, I made the comment, “when things are at their worst, journalists are at their best.” There are certainly exceptions but I believe … Continue reading "“When things are at their worst, journalists are at their best.”"

On Thursday, May 2nd, The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics and the DePauw Debate Society will discuss the ethical implications of pharmaceutical drugs used to enhance academic performance. The most common being stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin, which are commonly prescribed to treat attention disorders such as attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity … Continue reading "Adderall: A Prescription for Cheating?"

In January of this year, activist and world-renowned computer genius Aaron Swartz took his own life. At the time of his death, Swartz, an instrumental figure in the invention of the RSS feed and the online community Reddit, was facing 35 years in prison and exorbitant fines for downloading millions of articles from MIT’s academic … Continue reading "Who Owns Knowledge? Examining Open Access Policies"

It’s not every weekend that undergraduate students from across the nation gather at the Janet Prindle Institute of Ethics to inquire on a wide range of pertinent ethics issues about climate change. The 6th Annual Undergraduate Ethics Symposium (UES), which just concluded, brought together thirty students from across the nation to engage with a diverse set of … Continue reading "6th Annual Undergraduate Ethics Symposium"

Over the last year or so, the word divestment has taken on new meaning. Until recently, this term popularly referred to the movement in the 1970s and 80s to remove all investments from South Africa. The goal was to retract financial support for companies participating in Apartheid. Divestment now refers primarily to fossil fuel divestment: … Continue reading "Fossil Fuel Divestment is a Moral Issue"

The Prindle Institute for Ethics is a proud and excited host of “Cool Talk about a Hot Topic: The Ethics of Communicating about Climate Change,” a three-day symposium from Tuesday to Thursday of this week that will “explore how scientific climate change findings are reaching the public, how policy uncertainties are driven by the changes … Continue reading "Cool Talk About a Hot Topic: A Preview of This Week’s Events on the Ethics of Communicating about Climate Change"

When a bandwagon social media trend arises, the critics are certain to follow. Last week, while the Supreme Court heard two cases on gay marriage, a separate discussion was taking place on the Internet. An estimated 2.7 million users changed their Facebook profile picture to the Human Rights Campaign’s symbol for marriage equality. Chances are … Continue reading "Social Media, Social Change"

We had just published our annual call for intern applications: a sign posted around campus with a loud image of the traditional Uncle Sam that read, “I want YOU to be a Prindle Intern.” Diego Fonseca and Aileen El-Kadi, the two minds that brought together the twenty four crónicas that form “Sam no es Mi … Continue reading "‘Sam no es mi tío:’ A visit from Diego Fonseca & Aileen El-Kadi"