Perception, Race, Debate & Genetics

Wednesday and I am finally making some friends and getting used to starting class at 8.00am each day and continuing until 6.30pm each night to go home and do the next days readings. I am trying to set a good example..At least I can tell students do what I do! Not just what I say!

Today we started with a small group discussion. Twice each day my study group, group 7 meets with our facilitator Rachel to discuss and debate issues and concepts raised. These sessions are invaluable. We are a diverse bunch with Hope from Hawaii, Karen from Costa Rica, Daisy working in Georgia (former USSR), Philip from New Orleans, and several others. This is valuable time, we dont always agree but it feels like a safe place to debate. Our early morning wake up discussion was followed by a presentation on perception and the impact of this on learning.

I had a quiet lunch - a roll I made in my suite and brought in myself, along with a banana and V8 juice I grabbed at breakfast while chatting with Debra MCall from New Hamptons in New York. We had a great chat about the Obama administration, dance therapy, the reversal of much of the social change achieved by the protests and civil movement in the 1960s the frustration about the ability for USA states to bring in legislative changes that take back many rights fought for and gained in the 1960'70 & early eighties.

Do you know that in the USA women actually get paid 20% less than a man for doing the same job!!! What!!!!
This was followed by Nancy Hills presentation on race and culture and she was like fingers down a blackboard - she advocates for a whole range of ideas around race that I dont believe, like race has a biological basis...aaagghhh. The Canadian's agreed and said listening to her was painful and they would rather have a root canal. The local participants loved her and believe in using race as a way of labelling people - they say so they can support variability. I am not advocating colour blindness, but I argue that ethnicity can provide acknowledgment of different life experiences without all the negativity. Least this session was followed by another small group discussion. My group were able to douse me with water to put out the fire!!!

Now I am listening to session on Genetics and Learning. Did you know that humans and fruit flies have similar genes linked to eye development!! What the! They are now saying that the environment within a cells,DNA & genes have a chemical impact on genes as much as cultural environment.Cognitive ability and height are both highly heritable but do not have individual genes that contribute much to their inheritance, AND MILLA EXPECTS TO BE TALL - not much chance of that.

Then one last session and home.

Harvard is like a precinct and is very preppy!! But it has a real sense of learning, people here are either students, teaching staff, researchers or retail and hospitality workers. People are all talking, or sitting in a cafe reading, the bookshops are packed and every second shop is a cafe. You can smell the money!