cnsnews--2019-06-26--Pompeo Visits India Amid Spat Over Religious Freedom Violations

(CNSNews.com) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is visiting India Wednesday, just days after his department, in a major annual report, highlighted serious incidents of religious persecution there, including “an increase in attacks against religious minorities and the perceived diminishing space for religious freedom.”  In an assessment that raised the ire of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the State Department report released by Pompeo on Friday pointed to instances of Hindu mob violence against religious minorities, especially Muslims and Christians, in 2018.  It cited non-governmental organization (NGO) reports charging that “the government sometimes failed to act on mob attacks on religious minorities, marginalized communities, and critics of the government.”  Moreover, “some senior officials” in the BJP “made inflammatory speeches against minority communities,” it said.  The report identified as major triggers for mob violence accusations that non-Hindus are killing cows, which Hindus consider sacred, and accusations that Christians and others are converting Hindus, using inducements or coercion to do so.  “Mob attacks by violent extremist Hindu groups against minority communities, especially Muslims, continued throughout the year amid rumors that victims had traded or killed cows for beef,” it said. “According to some NGOs, authorities often protected perpetrators from prosecution.”  Nine of India’s 29 states have laws that restrict or criminalize religious conversion, and Christians accused of “forced conversions” faced criminal charges in several states.  Religious freedom is not the only potential irritant in the relationship between the world’s two biggest democracies, but it is a particularly sensitive issue.  “We see no locus standi [legal standing] for a foreign entity/government to pronounce on the state of our citizens’ constitutionally protected rights,” foreign minister spokesman Raveesh Kumar said in response to the report.  “India is proud of its secular credentials, its status as the largest democracy and a pluralistic society with a longstanding commitment to tolerance and inclusion,” Kumar said.  “The Indian constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens, including its minority communities. It is widely acknowledged that India is a vibrant democracy where the constitution provides protection of religious freedom, and where democratic governance and rule of law further promote and protect the fundamental rights.”  The national spokesperson of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP, Anil Baluni, said the U.S. report “shows clear bias against the Modi government and the BJP.”  “The basic presumption in this report that there is some grand design behind anti-minority violence is simply false,” he said. “On the contrary, in most of such cases, these instances are carried out as a result of local disputes and by criminal mindsets.”  India has slowly been edging up the Open Doors USA annual watch list of “countries where it is most dangerous to follow Jesus.” In 2012, it was in 32nd place, but by 2016 – two years after Modi’s BJP came to power – it had climbed to number 17. Last year it was in 11th place, and this year India is at number ten.  The BJP is closely affiliated to radical Hindu nationalist groups accused of violence against converts from Hinduism to other faiths.  Modi’s own record is controversial too. He was chief minister of Gujarat state during the worst episode of interreligious violence in modern Indian history, when more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in 2002.  After Muslims attacked a train carrying Hindu pilgrims, Hindus carried out retaliatory attacks against Muslims across the state. Modi was accused of doing nothing to stop the carnage.  The State Department subsequently charged that there was “a comprehensive failure on the part of the state government to control the persistent violation of rights of life, liberty, equality, and dignity of the people of the state.” Modi was consequently denied a visa to enter the U.S., a restriction only lifted when he became prime minister in 2014.  Other difficult issues in the bilateral relationship include trade tariffs, U.S. visas for Indian nationals, and Indian arms sales from Russia, a longstanding ally.  Still, the partnership is an important one, the State Department stressed in a statement on Tuesday.  “As vibrant democracies rooted in shared values, with fast-growing economies, cultures of entrepreneurship, and leadership positions on the global stage, the United States and India are natural strategic partners,” it said.  “President Trump and Prime Minister Modi are firmly committed to accelerating the upward trajectory of this partnership.”  The statement also focused on economic ties, noting that the U.S. is India’s most important trading partner and number one overseas market, while India is the fastest growing major market for U.S. goods.  “Two-way bilateral goods and services trade with India totaled $142 billion in 2018, up 12.6 percent, or almost $16 billion, over the prior year,” it said. “The United States exported nearly 50 million barrels of crude to India in 2018, compared to less than 10 million barrels in 2017, and is on pace to export even greater volumes in 2019.”


france24--2019-08-31--Millions face losing citizenship as India seeks to weed out foreign infiltrators

Millions face losing citizenship as India seeks to weed out ‘foreign infiltrators’

Buu Boro, AFP | Assam State National Register of Citizens (NRC) officials check documents of Indian residents during a hearing against the non-inclusion of their names in the citizens register in India’s northeastern state of Assam on May 31, 2019.  Almost two million people in India were left facing statelessness on Saturday after the state of Assam published a citizenship list aimed at weeding out “foreign infiltrators”, in a process the central government wants to replicate nationwide.  A total of 31.1 million people were included in a final National Register of Citizens (NRC), but 1.9 million were deemed ineligible, according to a statement from the Assam government in northeast India. Most of those excluded were expected to be Muslim.  Assam, an impoverished isolated state of 33 million, has long seen large influxes from elsewhere, including under British colonial rule and around Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence when millions fled into India.  For decades this has made Assam a hotbed of inter-religious and ethnic tensions. Sporadic violence has included the 1983 massacre of around 2,000 people.  Security was beefed up in Assam ahead of the release of the NRC, with some 20,000 extra personnel brought in and gatherings banned in some locations.  Only those who can demonstrate that they or their forebears were in India before 1971 could be included in the list.  But navigating the complex process is a huge challenge for many in a region of high illiteracy where many lack documentation.  Members of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party run Assam and critics say the NRC process reflects the BJP’s goal to serve only its co-religionists.  In January India’s lower house passed legislation that grants citizenship to people who moved to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan as recently as six years ago as long as they are not Muslims.  This has stoked fears among India’s 170-million Muslim minority for their future.  Home Minister Amit Shah, Modi’s right-hand-man, has called for the ejection of “termites” and said before the BJP’s thumping re-election victory in May that it would “run a countrywide campaign to send back the infiltrators”.  Those left off the NRC have 120 days to appeal at special Foreigners Tribunals, which the government says are being expanded in number.  But critics say that tribunal members can be underqualified and are subject to “performance” targets, and that the entire process has been riddled with inconsistencies and errors.  The number of errors has also turned some in the BJP in Assam against the process, with Himanta Biswa Sarma, a BJP minister in the state, saying it had left off “so many genuine Indians”.  “We have lost hope in the present form of the NRC,” Sarma told reporters, saying that the party was already mulling a “fresh strategy on how we can drive out the illegal migrants”.  Those who have been rejected by the tribunals and have exhausted all other legal avenues can be declared foreigners and -- in theory -- be placed in one of six detention centres with a view to possible deportation, although Bangladesh is yet to signal its cooperation.  Ten new such camps have been announced. One with space for 3,000 is being constructed in Goalpara, west of Assam’s capital Guwuhati.  The camps currently hold 1,135 people, according to the state government, and have been operating for years.  Nur Mohammad, 65, spent almost 10 years in one such camp until a Supreme Court order saw him released this month.  “I just want to ask them what is my crime? I was born here and lived in Assam all my life,” he told AFP. “I don’t know if my name will be in the NRC or not.”  Media reports say that there have been more than 40 cases of suicide caused by concern over the NRC.  Samujjal Bhattacharya from the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), a key driver behind the NRC, said the register was necessary to protect Assam’s indigenous “sons of the soil”.  “We are not ready to live here like a second-class citizens in our own motherland,” he said.  Minister Hubert Minnis said. “The price you may pay for not evacuating is your life.”


globalresearch--2019-05-01--Sri Lanka Candidate for a New NATO Base

Sri Lanka: Candidate for a New NATO Base?

Sri Lanka, Easter Sunday, 21 April 2019: More than half a dozen bomb blasts shook the country killing from 250 to more than 350 people. Depending on who counts, the death toll varies. The devastation took place in in several catholic churches and luxury hotels. Other explosions, including from – what they say – are suicide bombers, have since killed another several dozens of people. Many are children, women – christen worshippers. Why the luxury hotels? Western (Christian) tourists?  Yesterday, another explosion ripped through a suspicious building, killing 18, including children and women. Again, they, the ‘authorities’, say suicide bombers, who didn’t want their ‘cache’ to be discovered. Conveniently they are all dead – the “suicide bombers”. Nobody can ask them any questions.  There was a lot of confusion, and still is, all through Sri Lanka. Nobody claimed credit for the massacres. There were rumors that Sri Lanka’s President received warnings ahead of the attacks from foreign intelligence, but ignored them. The President denies these allegations. And the explosions continue.  Finally, the verdict is in. The culprits are an Islamic terrorist group, associated with ISIS. What else is new.  Sri Lanka’s population is composed of about 70% Buddhists, 13% Hindus, almost 10% Muslims, mainly Sunni, the Salafi version, and about 7% Christians. The New York times reports that the accused mastermind of the terror attacks was strongly influenced by Wahhabism, the same extreme hardliners that control most of Saudi Arabia.  Hatred between religions seems on the rise. In New Zealand a few weeks ago a white supremacist assaulted a mosque, killing 50. This past weekend, a shooting in a Synagogue near San Diego, California, killed a woman. The murderer said he was inspired by the New Zealand massacre. Are these spontaneous, interreligious mini-wars part of a foreign directed ‘divide to conquer’ effort, a strategy that has been used by empires for centuries, but seems to be alive and well with the current Washington based empire?  May we expect a wave of Saudi-sponsored WSD terrorism in the east too? – Is the horror Saudi government protected by the US, because it does its bidding? And this bidding leads to making gradually Islam extremism the justification for NATO bases around the globe? – Perhaps in Sri Lanka, tomorrow? So far Sri Lanka is clean from NATO. Sri Lanka has not even an association agreement with NATO.  Just look at the world-geostrategic location of Sri Lanka, linking the Arabian Sea with the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka may also have a direct, open-sea connection with the small British island of Diego Garcia, in the Chagos Archipelago, north-east of Madagascar. Diego Garcia hosts the US’s largest Navy base outside the American Continent. Many of the drone killings in Yemen, Syria and other places in the Middle East originate from Diego Garcia. The “civil war” in Syria was (and still is) largely directed from Diego Garcia, as well as from Djibouti.  Wouldn’t it be logical for NATO to set up base in Sri Lanka to control South East Asia? Saudi guided WSD attacks would create the necessary chaos justifying Western secret services – plus NATO – to descend on Colombo, to create further protests and anarchy – a never-ending internal strife, giving the war industry a new never-ending flow of profit, hence, further justifying the never-ending war on terror – and, thereby, moving yet an inch closer to Full Spectrum Dominance over Mother Earth and her hapless spectators, what western humanity has become – a bunch of complacent consumers, drenched in turbo-capitalist market ideology, too comfortable to go on the barricades.  The key and engine to all of this is NATO, whose modus operandi is killing for a living, for dominance and for profit. If there is ever to be Peace – and that’s what the vast majority of the inhabitants of this globe wants – I’m not exaggerating pretending that 99.99% of world population wants to live in peace – then NATO must go, NATO must be dismantled.  So, Europe which has the largest membership in NATO (27 out of 29 nations) has to put the money where her mouth is: Europe calls for Peace, Europe claims to be Peace-loving – really? Then put your money into creating Peace – pulling out of NATO, refusing at once to fund this killing machine under the pretext of “protecting Europe”. Protecting Europe from what? From whom? – Not from Russia – despite all the highly propagandized and highly corporate-funded Russiagate / Russiaphobia, exacerbated by a new artificially implanted fear – China. These countries have no history of expansion, like the west.  They only seek friendly relations of trade, of transport, cultural and research interconnectivity within the supercontinent, Eurasia, and ultimately, they promote a multi-polar world. The best example is the Chinese President Xi’s ingenuity – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that just finished its highly successful forum in Beijing – where more than 120 nations signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) and cooperation agreements with China for tens of billions of dollars equivalent. – What a way of cooperating, instead of sowing western-style belligerence.  Europe and the rest of the world is not in danger, except in danger of itself for being a vassal of the US and for hosting 30-plus NATO bases which would be first in the line of fire, if the east is forced to defend itself from that permanent Pentagon-NATO driven aggression.  Europe withhold your funding for NATO, get out of NATO, dismantle NATO, – NOW, before NATO sets up yet another base in Asia, before NATO spreads more death around the globe.  Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.  This article was originally published on New Eastern Outlook.  Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a water resources and environmental specialist. He worked for over 30 years with the World Bank and the World Health Organization around the world in the fields of environment and water. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research; ICH; RT; Sputnik; PressTV; The 21st Century; TeleSUR; The Saker Blog, the New Eastern Outlook (NEO); and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization.


globalresearch--2019-12-02--How Israel Became One of the World’s Worst Rogue States

As an integral part of its ongoing propaganda, Israel, along with its fervent supporters and legions of paid and anonymous agents, zealously repeats and disseminates – in the media, on university campuses, in blogs and comment sections, at conferences and more – the same old, tired Zionist myths.  Propaganda guides and tool kits, such as the “global language dictionary”, offer ready-made arguments and counter-arguments to sell Israel to journalists and critics. Such talking points come with tips on what tone and rhetorical tactics to use, what words and formulas “work”, and how to discuss “sensitive” issues, such as Israel’s illegal colonisation and annexation of Palestinian land, Jewish settlements and the killing of civilians.  All of which are now set to get worse since US President Donald Trump has both rewarded and emboldened Israel by recognising its illegal and brutal colonisation (its “settlements”). By the same token he has offered yet another spectacular demonstration of the complete contempt of the United States for the rule of international law.  Setting such an example will only send the message to all the despots, autocrats and tyrants of various stripes around the globe that not only it is ok to steal, colonise, and brutalise weak and defenceless populations, but that you may even be rewarded by the West for adopting the “law of the jungle”.  The media is saturated with uplifting news about the “Israeli economic miracle”, its wealth and high living standards, and its thriving startup and high-tech industry. But have you ever heard from a mainstream Western media outlet or politician that a fifth of Israelis live below the poverty line, that people are forced to look through rubbish for food to avoid starving, or that Israel has (according to the Jerusalem Post) the highest poverty rate in the developed world?  The answer is most likely not, and we should ask ourselves why. Other lies propagated by Israel’s disinformation machine include origin myths, the most famous being the romantic theme of Palestine as “a land without a people for a people without a land”, which strangely persists, despite its historical absurdity. Israel relies a lot on ignorance and gullibility.  This magnificent interactive photographic collection of pre-1948 Palestine is enough to pulverise that revisionist lie, which seeks to eliminate the very notion of the existence of Palestinians on the land before it was taken from them by Western colonial powers to be given to Jewish emigrants from Europe and elsewhere. Palestinians were made to pay for a Holocaust that Europe had committed, and in which they themselves played no part.  Besides the pathetic nature of such PR operations to counter critics and improve Israel’s disastrous global image, its effectiveness is more than a little uncertain.  When news and images of Israel’s killing and mutilation of Palestinian children, deliberate bombing of schools, and indiscriminate use of white phosphorus on entire neighbourhoods circulate around the world, it is hard to convincingly portray such a predatory, violent and terrorist rogue state as noble, democratic, peaceful or gentle.  “The Only Democracy” in the Region  By far the most common Zionist myth is the notion that Israel is the “only democracy” in the region – one that some even describe as a liberal, egalitarian, Western-style democracy. This grotesque, self-serving fairytale perpetuates the fallacy of a similarity of regimes, of a common destiny, and of a natural alliance between Israel and Western nations. Racist propaganda often pits this against the inevitably “barbaric”, backward and undemocratic Arab states and Muslim-majority societies.  This misleading description echoes the larger, even more sinister – but equally fallacious – Huntingtonian “clash of civilizations” discourse, which is itself the cultural reformulation in civilisational terms of the old ideologies of racial differences.  Repeating a lie multiple times does not make it true, although Israel’s agents clearly think it does. Israel is no democracy, and certainly not a “liberal, egalitarian” state. Two cold, hard facts can easily debunk this myth.  Firstly, there is the acquisition of Israeli nationality and citizenship through religion. The Law of Return allows any Jew, anywhere in the world, to emigrate to Israel and obtain full Israeli citizenship, whether or not they have ever set foot there or have any relatives living there. A privileged, royal path to citizenship is reserved exclusively for Jews, while being denied to members of other religions. Religious discrimination is thus institutionalised as official policy.  Just imagine for a minute how “democratic” countries such as France, Germany, Britain or the United States would be if they decided that from now on, Christians from all over the world – but only Christians – could freely emigrate and settle there, and unlike members of any other religion, or even atheists, they would automatically be granted citizenship upon arrival.  This would amount to discarding their most fundamental and basic democratic principles, including their cherished secularism – but such institutionalised religious discrimination is exactly what Israel practices.  Secondly, there is the issue of marriage. Given the massive pro-Israeli propaganda machine, coupled with the silent complicity of our Western media and governments, many people might be unaware that in Israel, only religious authorities are allowed to officiate marriages. Civil, non-religious marriages are not permitted.  Even worse, inter-religious, mixed marriages are also forbidden by law, forcing inter-religious couples to marry abroad. When they return, the non-Jewish partner often receives second-class citizen treatment by the state.  Again, let’s imagine what would happen to the French, British, German or US democracies if we were to apply such archaic principles. Rather unthinkably for those of us living in actual democracies, the Israeli state manages to make those already backward practices even harsher, levying a two-year prison sentence on couples who get married by a religious authority not accredited by the state.  Despite all this, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his PR minions continually explain to us – with a straight face – how democratic, egalitarian, tolerant, open and enlightened the state of Israel has always been, and how it grants all of its citizens equal rights.  Israel was already a profoundly racist, unegalitarian, undemocratic, ethno-religious state before the nation-state law was passed last year. Now, it is even worse.  Conceived of from the start as an ethno-religious “Jewish state” – a description it has finally openly acknowledged through the nation-state law – just as other countries thought of themselves as “white states” (South Africa, the segregationist US), it is not surprising that Israel quickly instituted a veritable apartheid system.  This reality is easily visible to anyone on the ground, and has been abundantly documented for decades by the media, all major human rights organisations, UN-mandated independent teams on the ground, Palestinian and Israeli activists, NGOs and academics, who explain how Israel’s apartheid regime constantly invents new, creative ways to perpetuate and consolidate itself.  Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants have themselves denounced Israel as a structurally segregationist, and even fascist, apartheid state. One can safely assume that when you have survived Auschwitz, as did Professor Hajo Meyer, you can recognise fascism in action – particularly in your own country.  ANC veterans who spent their own lives fighting apartheid in South Africa have also declared that what they saw in Israel was in some respects worse than what they confronted at home. Even US President Jimmy Carter wrote an entire book on Israel’s apartheid, explaining how Palestinians were caged in an open-air prison worse than what the South Africans had to face.  Israel’s discrimination against its Arab citizens, among others, is thus not just a societal, economic or cultural phenomenon. Every country has a share of that. In Israel’s case, discrimination is institutionalised, inscribed in its justice system as well.  “Israeli law includes numerous provisions that explicitly assert and institutionalise a principle of inequality between Jews and Arabs,” notes Arab-Israeli professor and politician Yousef Jabareen.  “To cite only one example, the Israeli flag, with its Star of David, represents only the Jewish majority of the country. But this differential treatment is certainly not limited to the realm of the symbolic. It exists in all domains of life: the definition of the state and its symbols, but also immigration laws, citizenship, political participation, access to land, culture, religion, budgetary policies, etc.”  Similar to the Law of Return, the “settlements” in the occupied West Bank – often direct breaches of Israeli law itself and major violations of international law – are exclusively reserved for Jews.  Israel invests considerable resources there on infrastructure and social services, but non-Jews are not allowed to live in the settlements – even though they are often built on confiscated land privately owned by Palestinians.  These settlers live among a population of more than three million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, who live under an all-pervasive, brutal military occupation. Another two million Palestinians live under siege and ongoing military terror in Gaza. None have a right to vote in Israeli elections.  Again, imagine the outcry if Britain or the US started invading territories outside of their internationally recognised borders, illegally annexed the land and resources, and then began creating Christian-only settlements in those areas.  The dozens of Israeli laws that explicitly discriminate against Arab citizens and Palestinians in the occupied territories are well documented. They can be accessed through the Adalah searchable database, and they apply to all aspects of Palestinian life: citizenship, education, political and economic rights, residency, language, culture, religion, and so on.  Even access to water, the most fundamental and life-sustaining resource, is the object of differential treatment by Israel, which has never hesitated to confiscate water or to use it as a war weapon to collectively punish entire populations.  Since the nation-state law has been adopted, Israel’s already systemic discrimination has become even worse, with new laws being passed to further entrench and expand inequality.  In addition to all of this evidence that Israel is no democracy, the state has also become globally infamous for its relentless, illegal, supremacist, hyper-violent colonialism; its annexation of land at gunpoint; its terroristic military; and its armies of fanatic Jewish “settlers”, who are little more than international rogues and land thieves.  During its half-century of illegal occupation and annexation, which is now doomed to get even worse, Israel has wilfully and knowingly violated almost every major international law convention, treaty and UN resolution, including the Geneva Conventions, the UN Charter, the 1947 Partition Plan, the Camp David and Oslo accords, and so on.  Such lawless behaviour has given Israel the distinct honour of being among the countries that for decades have been, and continue to be, regularly condemned by all major human rights organisations out there, and by the UN itself.  It is difficult to find a worse rogue state than Israel. From its very inception, writ with ethnic cleansing, Israel has made the collective punishment of defenceless civilian populations, the killing of entire families, the deliberate mutilation of children, the bombing of schools and hospitals, and other barbaric atrocities as distinctly, recognisably Israeli as challah, hamin and gefilte fish.  Even Israeli soldiers themselves – thousands of them, often elite soldiers regrouped in veteran organisations such as Breaking the Silence – are exposing and documenting Israel’s systematic and deliberate targeting of defenceless Palestinians. As much as the ANC veterans know apartheid, and Holocaust survivors know fascism, when they see it, these brave soldiers surely know what they are talking about, as they were once a part of it.  But they, too, are probably just “antisemites” or “self-hating Jews”; instead of them, maybe we ought to believe the likes of Netanyahu, who continues to claim that Israel is the region’s “only democracy”?  Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.  Dr Alain Gabon is an associate professor of French based in the United States and the head of the French Department at Wesleyan College in Virginia. He has written numerous papers and articles on contemporary France and on Islam in Europe and throughout the world.


npr--2019-11-29--These Students Speak Perfect Spanglish — And Now They're Learning To Own It

These Students Speak Perfect Spanglish — And Now They're Learning To Own It  Porfa please. Pero like. Janguear (to hang out).  These Spanglish phrases are all the results of contact between Spanish and English. In a Texas college classroom, students are learning that Spanglish — a version of Spanish that's influenced by English — is just as valid as any other Spanish dialect.  "What history teaches us is that the only constant is change," explains Meghann Peace, who teaches this class primarily in Spanish at St. Mary's University in San Antonio. "When two or more languages are in constant geographic and social contact, there will always be linguistic consequences."  And yet Spanglish, or U.S. Spanish, is sometimes looked down upon by native speakers of both languages. Even in a state like Texas, where nearly 30% of the population speaks Spanish at home, there's a perception that it's better to speak "pure Spanish."  Peace is teaching her students — who mostly grew up speaking a mix of Spanish and English — to challenge those negative perceptions.  "I think the one that judges me the most is myself," says freshman Angie Bravo, 18.  Bravo grew up in Laredo, Texas, just across the border from Mexico. Her first language was Spanish, and she wishes she were better at it. But this semester, she's learning there's nothing wrong with the way she speaks the language. It's just a different dialect from the one spoken in Madrid or Mexico City.  The pressure to be perfect  U.S. Spanish has been in college course catalogs for several years. According to a 2016 survey from New Mexico State University, more than 40 colleges across the country are teaching about it.  Peace asks her students if they ever get negative reactions when they speak U.S. Spanish.  Mary Villines, a biology major from the Rio Grande Valley, says she does. She says people who speak only Spanish or English will sometimes assume she doesn't speak their language well and correct her.  "But what bothers me is that they only speak one language," Villines explains in Spanish. "How are you going to correct me when you don't even know what I'm saying?"  Elisha Carrillo, an international and global studies major, also feels the pressure to speak flawlessly.  "I think people get confused because they assume if you're brown, you speak perfect Spanish," she says after class. "People everywhere just expect you to be a certain way because of how you look."  Carrillo's family has lived in San Antonio for generations. She says her mom and grandma speak Spanish, but they didn't really teach it to her. Instead, Carrillo learned the language in school.  "My grandparents talk a lot about being discriminated in school for speaking Spanish," Carrillo says.  There's a long history of "English only" policies in some American schools, including in Texas.  "I think, just like subconsciously, they think, 'Oh, we're not supposed to speak that.' "  "Should I be Hispanic, or should I be American?"  Spanglish isn't the only dialect that has popped up from contact between two languages — there's also Franglais, Taglish and Portuñol.  And while Spanglish is sometimes thought of as a random mishmash of two languages, Peace tells her class the dialect is actually very systematic. She says its speakers follow both languages' rules when they code-switch.  She writes an example on the classroom's whiteboard — the phrase "a girl who was walking her dog." In Spanish, it would be "una chica que estaba paseando su perro." One way to say it in Spanglish: "una girl que estaba walking her dog."  Then she gives an example of a sentence that doesn't work as well in Spanglish: "I already told you the most interesting story." In Spanish, it would be, "Ya te dije la historia más interesante." Peace says this one is harder to translate into Spanglish because it has a different sentence structure in Spanish and English.  "Bilingual speakers have to know both languages very, very well in order to code-switch in the same sentence," she explains in Spanish.  That lesson resonates with Bravo, who grew up near the border.  "It's taught me to be a lot more accepting," Bravo says.  "I didn't really take into account the rules that we don't speak about but we understand."  For Bravo, language is intertwined with identity.  "When I was growing up, I had a lot of issues [around] being Hispanic. I didn't understand, like, what does it mean to be Hispanic? Should I be Hispanic, or should I be American? And so I think it's because I struggled with that that I want to be able to do both," Bravo says. "To be able to speak Spanglish is to be able to say to people that I am Mexican American, and that's OK."  Peace has one thing to say to those who believe Spanglish is an attack on a "pure" language: "A standard dialect is simply the standard because the people who are in power made it the standard."


theguardianuk--2019-02-20--Poorer families to get text messages in trial to support early learning

Parents are to be sent three text messages a week offering tips on how to support their child’s early learning at home as part of a government drive to improve school readiness among children from poorer families.  The texts will be sent to disadvantaged families with four- and five-year-olds, encouraging activities to improve literacy and numeracy, “such as counting the number of plates on the table”, according to the Department for Education.  It is one of a number of trials being launched by the DfE aimed at supporting the early educational development of disadvantaged children who, on average, are four months behind their wealthier peers by the age of five. By the time they sit their GCSEs, their overall attainment lags by 19 months.  The study will involve 2,700 families from 105 schools in the north-east over an eight-month period. The results will be compared with those from separate trials that will test the effect of regular home visits by early years experts on the development of disadvantaged children.  In one, trained experts will visit 320 families with two-year-olds in South Yorkshire twice a week at home for 15 months, providing books and educational toys and teaching parents activities to help develop their children’s reading and conversation.  Announcing the trials on Wednesday, the education secretary, Damian Hinds, will also outline plans for a separate project in which families from disadvantaged backgrounds with children aged two to four will be given free access free to DfE-approved early learning apps for smartphones and tablets.  The DfE is promising to buy subscriptions to “the best” early learning apps, which will be made available to parents in 12 pilot areas across England. The apps will be selected by an expert advisory panel set up by the government last month to test apps and provide guidance to parents.  “The home learning environment can have a huge impact on a child’s ability to succeed in life,” said Hinds, “so I want to support families with hints and tips to propel their child’s learning so they are not behind on their first day of school and they can go on to reach their full potential, whatever their background.”  Acknowledging the difficulties that new technology can present for parents, he added: “Screens can be an easy distraction for children, but harnessing the power of technology to support early communication and development means that we have another tool in our arsenal to help young kids develop those skills.”  The projects will be run by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the Leeds-based education charity SHINE. Sir Kevan Collin, EEF’ chief executive, said: “Parents want the best for their children, whatever their background or wherever they come from. But it can sometimes be difficult to get parents involved in their child’s learning in practical ways which make a difference and we know little about how to do this well.  “By testing different ways of improving the home learning environment, from texts to parents to home visits, these new trials will give us much needed information about how we can give mums and dads the tools they need to give their child the very best start in life.”


theirishtimes--2019-01-28--Digital natives prefer learning from books rather than screens

‘Digital natives’ prefer learning from books rather than screens

Young “digital natives” are much more likely to absorb information from printed books rather than screens even though they have grown up surrounded by iPads and smartphones, new research shows.  The analysis of how more than 170,000 people are learning across Europe finds that paper is the preferred reading medium for both children and young adults when reading novels and longer-form articles.  Researchers have found that young readers are more likely to skim longer pieces of text when using iPads or e-readers, especially when under time pressure.  They are also less likely take notes for comprehension or “get lost” in the immersive experience of a novel when reading on screens.  Dr Ann Marcus-Quinn, a lecturer at University of Limerick who is part of an EU-wide research team, said the findings have implications for how students learn both at home and in the classroom.  “Just because young people can master electronic devices doesn’t mean that they have the critical skills to interpret texts,” she said.  “While there is a bigger focus on independent learning, students still need expertise and help [from teachers] . . . and if students are taking notes, the old approach of using a pencil and pen or Post-It notes has its place.”  The research also indicates that teachers tend to underestimate the negative impact of digital technology when their students read longer texts, while students are more likely to be overconfident about their comprehension ability, researchers found.  However, Dr Marcus-Quinn cautioned against ditching technology entirely and said shorter texts, such as poetry, can work well on screens.  She said she is involved in research which indicates that engagement with poetry can be boosted when there is access to layers of richer content on screens, such as deeper analysis of the text.  There have been a team of almost 200 scholars and scientists researching the impact of digitisation on reading practices across the EU as part of a wider research project.  It has involved more than 50 individual studies with more than 170,000 participants over the past four years.  Dr Marcus-Quinn said there is a major challenge to discover ways in which to facilitate deep reading of long-form texts in a screen environment given the growing use of screens.  As part of the project, Dr Marcus-Quinn and Dr Triona Hourigan of UL have been focusing on the impact of e-learning for reading-based activities in secondary schools.  They are investigating how typographic presentation can optimise users’ experience of learning from screens.  Experts involved in the research group – known as E-Read, or Evolution of Reading in the Age of Digitisation – have called for caution when introducing digital technology into education on foot of these findings.  They have also urged that teachers should be made aware that a “rapid and indiscriminate” move away from paper is “not neutral”.  “Unless accompanied by carefully developed digital learning tools and strategies, they may cause a setback in the development of children’s reading comprehension and emerging critical thinking skills,” the group said, in a joint statement.  Funding for the research has been partly prompted by concern within the EU over relatively low reading standards compared to Asian countries.  In international reading assessments, however, Irish children are the best readers in Europe and among the best in the world.


theonion--2019-11-15--Flu Outbreak Reduces Class Sizes To Level Appropriate For Learning

ST. LOUIS—With student-to-teacher ratios beginning to approach a more manageable level, sources confirmed Friday that a highly infectious strain of the flu sweeping through Washington Middle School this month has reduced class sizes to the point that learning is now feasible. “With this terrible illness forcing so many of our kids to stay home, I can actually give the students who remain some of the individualized attention they deserve,” said American history teacher Gina Wright, who along with her colleagues reported finally being able to meet some of the basic educational needs of her pupils now that a devastating virus has infected more than 300 of the school’s children. “Our classes are still overcrowded, but if a few more kids go down, it may, for the first time, be possible to implement a truly adequate curriculum. I’m sure we could have caught the outbreak earlier if we were able to afford school nurses. To be honest, though, this is a pretty nice trade-off.” Wright went on to predict that a new round of cuts to the school lunch program would likely weaken student health and keep class sizes small as more children are sickened.


thesun--2019-12-04--How to get teens to fly the nest and prepare them for the real world- from doing laundry to learning

How to get teens to fly the nest and prepare them for the real world- from doing laundry to learning about failure

RECORD numbers of young adults in their twenties and thirties are still living at home, official figures reveal.  In two decades there has been a 46 per cent rise in the number of 20 to 34-year-olds living with their parents – and now 3.5million people do, says the Office For National Statistics.  So what can mums and dads do to prepare their children for independence?  Dr Dominique Thompson who co-wrote parenting book How To Grow A Grown Up, says: “The whole point of being a parent is to teach your children to be able to leave home once they finish school and make their way in the world without the constant support of Mum and Dad.  “Being able to survive outside the nest is the main aim of growing up. Yet growing up today is very different from when today’s parents were growing up.”  Here Dominique, who was a GP for 20 years, gives her top tips to help your child take the next step off your sofa and out into the world.  Help them, but don't do it for them  MAKE sure your teenager can make and go to their own GP or dentist appointments by the time they are in Sixth Form.  If they are having problems with friends or even teachers, try to help them work out what they need to do to sort things, but don’t rush straight in to fix problems for them.  You might want to speak to the teacher, but you might actually help your child more by talking through with them how they want to handle things.  Doing this will help them deal with difficult colleagues and bosses in later life, too.    SHOW them how to cook basic healthy meals, to do their washing, how to get around by public transport, or to drive, and encourage them to earn their own money.  Having a weekend job, or babysitting, will build their self-esteem and confidence, as well as teach them about the value of money and maybe even how to save it.  If they are going to open days or interviews, suggest they go on their own or with a friend, not with you, so that they explore, make decisions or get that job independently.    Help them to take positive risks  TEENS are known for taking risks, but engaging in “good” risks is important in life.  They know that drugs and alcohol can land them in trouble, but do they know that trying new sports, taking a gap year, meeting new people, or getting out of their comfort zone can lead to top opportunities?  They should say “yes” to the chance to do something new.    Tell them no one is perfect  NOTHING worries the teenagers of today more than failure. They are terrified of letting people down and getting things wrong.  You can help them to learn that things will go wrong in life and they need to bounce back and cope with that when it happens.  They need to know that Mum and Dad are OK with them not being perfect. They already have too much pressure from social media to be their “best self” all of the time.  They need to be able to relax and be themselves with you. This will build their confidence.    MAKE sure your teenager knows that they can talk to you about the important things in life.  That you won’t overreact and that you will listen without interrupting. Talk together when in the car or walking the dog as it’s easier for them than face-to-face.  Make sure they know they can come to you with anything if they’re worried, and that they won’t be letting you down.  You need to be their safe place when they feel stressed, so they don’t feel trapped or take potentially tragic action when the outside world gets too much.  Then when they leave home they will know you are still there for them.  FRIENDS are what keep us sane in life, and having more than one group of pals at school, or in a sports or a social club, can make sure teenagers have somewhere to fall back if things go bad with one crowd.  Learning to get on with others is a life skill, as is negotiating and compromising when you disagree. Having different friendship groups is sensible and will give them support when they leave home. • How To Grow A Grown Up – Prepare Your Teen For The Real World, by Dr Dominique Thompson & Fabienne Vailes, £12.99, Penguin Random House is out now.  GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk


sottnet--2019-05-29--University of Denver offers Problematizing Whiteness course

University of Denver offers 'Problematizing Whiteness' course

In March, I wrote on the " American Political Thought " course offered by the political science department at the University of Colorado Denver that deliberately removed all white males and their contributions from the curriculum, instead focusing on "voices from the margins."The trend of anti-white "wokeness" at CU Denver continued this semester. This spring, its ethnic studies department offered a course called "Problematizing Whiteness: Educating for Racial Justice."The syllabus, a copy of which was obtained by The College Fix, spells out its details.Its instructor, Associate Professor Cheryl Matias, said in an email to The College Fix that whiteness is a term often misunderstood."Whiteness is not about culture or white skin as your question presumes," said Matias, who includes in her email signature the moniker "Motherscholar."Asked what kind of prospective career path her course prepares students for, Matias said: "Any job that respects diversity and people."With regard to the charge that Matias's course only further provokes racial divides in society, she responded: "Before judging a book by its cover, they should take the course and learn first."According to the syllabus, during "Problematizing Whiteness," one of the essential objectives is for students to understand "whiteness" is not restricted to actually being a white-skinned person, and instead it is a set of beliefs, characteristics, values and norms that determine somebody's "whiteness."This is echoed in the course readings, which includes such texts as "White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism," "Black Bodies, White Gazes," "White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism" and "Handbook of Social Justice in Education."In addition, some of the required items of reading are Professor Matias's own work, which includes publications such as:The syllabus is from 2016 but Matias declined an opportunity to spell out to The College Fix any updates or changes it has undergone in recent years.The course's three essential questions listed in the syllabus are: "What is whiteness?" (Where does it come from? What does it do to us?); "How do I identify whiteness in the self and society?" (What does it look, feel, or sound like?); and "What do we do about whiteness?"To put the questions into academic practice, students are given four major assignments. The first is called "Getting Down and Dirty with Whiteness," in which students are asked to take what they've learned in the course readings and lectures and describe how it applies to the world around them.The second assignment, "Deconstructing Whiteness in the Self and/or Society," tasks students with finding whiteness in media. "In this presentation, you are to use the literature, lectures, and class discussions from the course to unveil how Whiteness and race covertly operates. Meaning, what is the subliminal message being sent about whiteness, white culture, and people of color?"The third assignment, "Doing something about it: Racial Justice Advocacy," requires the student to be - quite literally - an activist for racial justice."There is a moral and ethical dilemma when learning about whiteness and race. If one is to learn about the racial injustices of society they must, in good faith, engage in processes that enact racial justice. That is, although education should be free, learning comes at a price: that price is doing something that benefits the community with that knowledge," the syllabus states.Students can take on projects such as to launch a blog to "push the conversation of race beyond mere comfort levels or white fragility" or "create a plan of action on how to disseminate the knowledge of whiteness in other departments, organization, communities, etc."The fourth assignment - "Are you truly feelin' it?" - is effectively an overall grade for a student's "emotional commitment" to the course, the syllabus states.Supplementary course material includes a chart on how to deconstruct common arguments of "examples of whiteness all around us."Another is a flowchart titled "Operations of Power in Institutionalized White Supremacy." The flowchart has two columns: how white supremacy impacts whites and how white supremacy impacts people of color."Elements of whiteness" listed include: investment, privilege, naturalization, identity, emotionalities, colorblindness, wealth, victimization in reverse racism rhetoric and authority.Items it suggests are "dynamics of racism" include: racial microaggression, Eurocentrism, job discrimination, achievement gap, model minority and "submission of docile body."In the center, there is a short list of ways in which "whiteness" can impact people of color: internalized racism, self hate, inferiority complex, dependency, color blindness and denial and adopting white emotions.What's more, let's replace the word "white" or "whiteness" with, say, "blackness," or "Mexican-ness" or, in my case, "Bangladeshi-ness." Imagine the (rightful) outcry if modes of thought, lifestyles, social and political views, and modes of behavior were simply dismissed as traits of "blackness" - even when they're not exhibited by individuals who are black.For all this, she has been praised. Matias is a two-time recipient of CU Denver's "Rosa Parks Diversity Award," the recipient of an award from the American Medical Research Association, and was listed in the journal Diverse: Issues in Higher Education as one of its Top 25 Women in Higher Education. In December, the popular Denver magazine 5280 wrote a glowing article about Matias headlined "How to be a True Anti-Racist.""At the end of the day, the one thing that all people can get by learning about racial identities is that you can feel like a human," Matias told the magazine. "You feel like, 'Wow, I'm connected.' We're sharing a burden as a common humanity. It's not about not seeing race-not that. It's understanding and seeing how race impacts the humanity of all of us."But these platitudes do not negate the reality of this course.If this is the new trajectory of CU Denver - one which devalues the contributions of white men in an American Political Thought class and one which teaches students to "problematize" whiteness in the ethnic studies program, then the school will have only itself to blame for disenfranchising such a large student demographic who no longer feel welcome.But as it currently happens on campuses, ideas are being sacrificed in favor of identities, victimhood has replaced merit and virtue, and the pragmatists of the old guard are left at the mercy of the woke brigade.


theindependent--2019-01-25--10 online courses to better yourself in 2019

Self-improvement is a phrase you hear banded around a lot these days, but particularly in January.  As we gracefully settle into 2019, the phrase “new year, new me” has become an unavoidable jingle, with everyone and their uncle vowing to better themselves for the months ahead.  But setting ambitious resolutions can be disheartening when, a few weeks later, you find yourself falling at the first hurdle.  It’s all very well and noble to say you’ll hit the gym more or eat fast food less, but in moments of great vulnerability (i.e. hangovers), it’s all-too-easy for desire to supersede willpower.  That’s why one of the best ways to commit to some self-improvement may be to take an educational approach and sign up to an online course that you can’t wriggle out of quite so easily.  There’s a beginning, an end and, sometimes, a fee, which means you’re even more likely to stick it out.  So, from becoming a networking master to learning how to play tennis from Serena Williams – yes, really – start the year with a dose of optimism and sign up to one of our top 10 online courses to better yourself with in 2019.  Learning to work within a team is a skill that could benefit you in the workplace and beyond.  This course, taught by University of Pennsylvania professor Greg Urban, Ph.D, focuses on educating people about the different aspects of team culture (rituals, approaching tasks, tackling a crisis) that you might not necessarily be familiar with.  “Knowledge of the ideas and information in this class enables you to be a better team player and a more effective team leader,” its description reads.  The subject of wellbeing has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, mostly thanks to an influx of Instagrammers happily snapping away as they guzzle green juice and twist their bodies into strange yoga poses.  But wellbeing is about more than just a nicely-filtered snap.  Yale professor Laurie Santos teaches this online course, which lasts 10 weeks and focuses on the psychological science behind wellbeing and tackles some of the common misconceptions about what it takes to be well and happy.  It also offers strategic tips for participants to incorporate wellness into their lives as simply as possible.  Success if something we all strive towards, but it’s an umbrella term that can mean different things to different people.  Award-winning author Professor G. Richard Shell designed this four-week-long course to help people assess what success means to them and guide them towards finding it.  Shell applies this strategy to everything from happiness in your love life to confidence at work. “Get ready for the journey of a lifetime,” the course description reads, “one that will help you reevaluate your future and envision success on your own terms”.  You might have it listed on your CV, you may even write it on your dating app profile, but time management is harder than it sounds.  This course is only two hours, but it packs in all the key info you need to help you organise your time more efficiently. It consists of two modules, covering a range of topics such as overcoming procrastination and the benefits of organisation and includes a final assessment.  The very idea of public speaking can elicit feelings of dread in the most confident of people. But it’s a useful skill to have. Even if you have no intention of ever standing up to speak in front of a crowd of people, knowing how to deliver a basic argument and persuade someone with your language can be beneficial in all sorts of scenarios, from pitching an idea in a meeting to trying to convince your friend why you should watch your favourite film and not theirs.  There are 10 lessons in this course, with most participants completing three to five hours each week. It’s taught by Matt McGarrity, a senior lecturer in the communication department at the University of Washington.  Now, this one might be a bit niche. But when we live in a world where people juggle multiple jobs and often work into the wee hours, it’s important to have hobbies outside of your work life – and photography is a great place to start.  Smartphones now have cameras that rival some professional lenses, which means any snap-happy person with an iPhone can take a decent photograph.  This Masterclass series is taught by one of the most esteemed photographers in the biz. It’s expensive, sure, but with 15 lessons in which Annie Leibovitz will talk you through everything she knows about portraiture and shooting in natural light, it’s probably worth it.  As the prevalence of the global obesity epidemic continues to rise, it’s never been more important to learn about nutrition and diet-related disease.  That’s what this course aims to do by offering practical tips on distinguishing between foods that will boost your health, and those that will threaten to destabilise it. It takes five weeks to complete and contains six different modules, including one on contemporary trends in eating.  Before you start saying that you can’t be taught tennis on a screen, consider the prospect of being taught tennis on a screen by the one of the best tennis players on the courts today: the inimitable Serena Williams.  In this two hour-long course, Williams takes viewers through in-depth lessons on fitness drills, perfecting your serve (via the help of a 15-page workbook) and improving your mental wellbeing on the court. It’s a great opportunity for people who want something to take their mind of work at the weekends, but fear their lack of sporting prowess will hold them back. Let Williams fix that.  It may sound somewhat basic and too good to be true, but having a life that leaves you feeling both happy and fulfilled is certainly something to aim for.  This two-hour long course is taught by the author of If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy?, Professor Raj Raghunathan, who draws on his experience in psychology, neuroscience and behavioral decision theory to explore one of life’s most pressing questions: What does it mean to be happy and how can I get there?  The idea is that upon completion, students will not only have a better understanding of the science behind happiness, but feel genuinely happier themselves too.  Cooking is an art that few millennials have learned to master in the age of Deliveroo and Uber Eats.  Today, it’s all too easy to forgo your pots and pans altogether and order a fresh pizza to your door in a few minutes instead.  But celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, is on hand to help talk you through some of his kitchen secrets in this 16-part course. He’ll talk you through everything from mastering some of his most tantalising dishes (think tuna sashimi and seafood gazpacho) to creating decent and risk-free recipes from scratch.


theirishtimes--2019-03-11--Choosing the right conversion course for graduates

As a Guidance Counsellor, I would always advise aspiring undergraduate students to study what they are passionate about. Nothing gets you successfully through the rigours of a four-year degree programme, where your own self-motivation is crucial, than your passion for its content.  But, as you move into the final year of your degree, your own personal development over those years, as you grow into your early twenties, alongside the opportunities in areas that interest and excite you in the labour market, may lead you to consider a postgraduate degree programme either totally or marginally unrelated to your undergraduate studies. This is a totally normal aspect of career development and should not in any way call into question the validity of your undergraduate course choice. Choosing to convert disciplines prior to seeking to enter the labour market is a perfectly rational decision.  Conversion programmes are typically one-year taught courses and are available in most subject areas, with many in business subjects (such as human resources and marketing), arts and humanities, IT and finance.  Conversion courses can be taken as the first step towards a postgraduate degree or standalone qualifications and are highly valued by employers. If you feel you didn’t reach your full potential at undergraduate level, a conversion course can offer a chance to redress the balance.  Given the high rate of graduate employment in the area, it’s not surprising many graduates consider a conversion programme in information technology.  Courses typically last for one year and offer a solid grounding in the theory and practice of computer science.  Many colleges offer cross-departmental programmes such as the higher diploma in applied science (applied computing technology) at University College Cork and the higher diploma in information technology at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.  Students who wish to move into IT in a particular subsector of the industry may wish to explore the UCD taught master’s programme in computer science by negotiated learning.  This flexible programme helps students to customise their learning to their individual student needs and their prior learning experiences.  As well as data science, cloud computing, software engineering, forensics and security, artificial intelligence and cognitive science, students can choose a range of tailored modules to aid their specialisation such as app design, data mining, recommender systems or computer graphics.  A postgraduate conversion course in IT can fast-track you on to a master’s, such as UCC’s MSc in Interactive Media or an MSc in Data Analytics at Technological University Dublin.  Pac.ie is a central application centre for postgrad teaching programmes. It processes applications for the recently introduced two-year Professional Master’s in Education (PME), which saw its first graduates enter the teaching force in September 2016.  To teach in Northern Ireland you need a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). Graduates of many disciplines can do a teaching postgrad, but check your primary degree meets the entry requirements for your proposed teaching subjects (see teachingcouncil.ie).  DCU Institute of Education offers the Professional Master of Education, a conversion course for non-teaching graduates wishing to teach at primary or post-primary level.  For graduate degrees and training in psychology, you need a first qualification in psychology which grants you graduate membership (GM) and the graduate basis for registration (GBR) in the relevant professional organisation.  GBR is a pre-requisite for entry to postgraduate training in applied areas of professional psychology.  Trinity College Dublin offers two fully accredited graduate conversion courses for people who wish to pursue a professional career in psychology (e.g. in counselling psychology, clinical psychology, educational psychology, occupational psychology or other related areas). The MSc in Psychology (conversion course) is a one-year full-time course for applicants holding at least an upper second-class honour’s bachelor’s degree or its equivalent (GPA 3.3) from a recognised university course.  Applicants will need at least 60 psychology ECTS credits earned as part of a cognate primary degree, or alternatively will have completed a minor psychology honours degree that did not confer eligibility for the graduate basis for membership.  The psychology conversion course is a two-year, full-time course for applicants holding at least an upper second-class honour bachelor’s degree or its equivalent (GPA 3.3) from a recognised university course in any discipline but with no prior academic experience of psychology.  The level-nine postgraduate diploma in applied social studies at Trinity College Dublin has particular appeal to graduates who wish to pursue a master’s programme in social work, social studies and social policy but who do not have an undergraduate social science qualification in these fields.  This fully online postgraduate diploma can act as a conversion course for such graduates and enhance their application for specialised programme such as a master’s in social work.  The programme will also appeal to applicants from outside Ireland, in particular North America, who wish to study in Ireland’s leading university with expertise in Irish, EU and global social policy, without disrupting their current living and work arrangements. The place of study is flexible as online delivery allows students to engage in learning activities at home or in the workplace and there is no requirement to attend at the Trinity campus in Dublin. Students will have access to weekly materials using a virtual learning environment and the opportunity to engage with other students and lecturers using discussion boards.  There are more than 100 postgraduate programmes in law on the Qualifax.ie website, many open to non-law graduates. A postgraduate law degree increases your expertise and specialisation in a particular area of law but is also widely respected in other sectors.  The MSc in International Law and Business is for graduates with an education background in law or business, or in a related academic area such as economics and is run jointly by the UCD Sutherland School of Law and the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business.  The programme lays the theoretical foundations in the areas of law and business and places them in the real-life context of the international business environment and can lead to careers with international law firms and multinational professional service firms through to multinationals requiring in-house legal advisers.  For a career as a solicitor or barrister you must take the examinations of the professional body: the legal practice course (LPC) or the bar professional training course.  A graduate diploma in law is the fast-track route on to these courses and is ideal for students without accredited undergraduate degrees in law.  A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is aimed at graduates of business and other disciplines who wish to enhance and develop managerial and leadership skills. They can be full-time for a year or part-time over two years.  Many of the large professional service firms are hiring graduates from non-business backgrounds, as they bring a different perspective to business challenges and situations.  Now in its fifth year, the UCD MSc in Aviation Finance has a specific focus on the practical features of global aviation markets. It is a one-year full time or two-year part-time programme suitable for graduates from a wide variety of disciplines including business, economics, finance, engineering and science who want to pursue a career in the highly dynamic international sector of aviation finance and leasing.  Each year, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School offers a range of scholarships to both domestic and international students. They are awarded to exceptional students who will be ambassadors for the school during their studies and after graduation.  The graduate entry medical schools at the University of Limerick, UCC, University College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland all offer four-year medical degrees for graduates of any discipline.  The degree is not strictly a postgrad programme as the award is the same as that of an undergraduate medical student. Applicants need 2.1 honours bachelor’s degree and a sufficiently high mark in the Gam Sat (Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admissions Test).


theirishtimes--2019-03-12--Spotlight on courses around the country

Spotlight on courses around the country

We take a look at a selection of the many postgraduate courses available in Ireland’s universities, institutes of technology and colleges. Where indicated, we have listed the most popular courses by number of applications in the higher education institutions. We have also included some salary expectations for some of the potential jobs for graduates of these courses.  Prof Diarmuid Ferriter, one Ireland’s best-known and respected historians, is one of the lecturers on this new course from the largest school of history in Ireland. Students will work closely with him and other renowned historians, including Dr Lindsey Earner Byrne.  Students will have an opportunity to focus on their own particular areas of interest, and be guided by historians with a strong track record in the teaching, research and writing of a range of absorbing and provocative themes. Modules include case studies in 20th century Irish history; welfare, health and gender; public history; the legacies of Irish revolution; and European history to place Irish history in a comparative context. Students will also complete a dissertation on a specialist topic of their choice, working with their supervisor to produce a thesis based on original research. And there’s an opportunity to organise a conference, sharing research findings and developing presentation skills.  Applicants are required to have a minimum of a 2.1 or international equivalent in BA history or a related discipline.  History graduates are employed in fields including law, business, journalism, public relations, broadcasting, education and creative writing.  EU fees for the full-time course are €7,055 for the year or €4,235 for a part-time two-year course.  Popular courses on offer, by number of applications, include:  Interested in working in business, but lacking that primary undergraduate degree? The MSc in management – ranked first in western Europe for general management by Eduniversal in 2018 – might just be the course for you.  Over one full-time yea, students on this programme will be equipped with the management skills needed to work in the world of global business, with all the key areas of management covered including people management, finance, operations and strategic planning.  As the course is not designed for business graduates the intake has been consistently diverse and includes students with primary degrees in arts, science and medicine.  Modules on the course include financial management, ethical business, entrepreneurship, the psychology of management and leading change in a complex world. Students will also learn about research methods, and carry out a dissertation project based on primary research; previous projects have covered a diverse range of areas including cinema and marketing management, engineering and strategy and fashion and supply chain.  Expert guest speakers, case studies and interactive discussion will help students to critically analyse business issues and to develop their own style of leadership.  Graduates have gone on to work in areas including consulting, financial services and media/entertainment in companies including Accenture, Deloitte and EY.  Applicants must have a minimum level eight 2.1 degree as well as two academic referees.  Spotlight on: MA in critical and creative media  The MA in critical and creative media offers flexibility to students who are new to media studies and wish to gain a broad understanding of media (these students will generally need a BA undergraduate degree) or those who have studied media or a related discipline and wish to specialise.  The course allows students to choose from a selection of subjects with a wide range of themes relating to production and practice, media history and media theory. Students who are keen to explore the interdisciplinary nature of media can also choose to take courses in related disciplines such as sociology, law, geography, anthropology and Irish. They will develop transferable research, writing and analytical skills.  Depending on the route students take through the degree, the course prepares them for a career in digital media, audiovisual production, marketing and advertising, research, content production, the arts sector or further postgraduate studies. Graduates have gone on to work in content writing, journalism and digital marketing. One graduate, Dafe Pressu, produced a soundtrack and documentary on Irish hip-hop music,and is now working in marketing.  Students must have a 2.1 honours degree in media studies or a related subject in humanities, art, social science, communication or ICT.  Full-time EU fees are €6,200 for the one-year programme or €4,170 for a flexible two-year part-time course  Popular courses on offer, by number of applications, include:  This two-year, full-time course offered by UCC’s college of medicine and health is an accelerated pre-registration programme for students with a primary degree in subjects other than diagnostic radiography. The course – which was the first programme of its kind in Ireland – aims to provide students with knowledge and experience of both academic and clinical environments including clinical and research skills and the abilities necessary for working and developing as clinicians, researchers and agents of change in healthcare.  Modules on the course include professional practice in radiography, biological sciences for health professionals, image interpretation, advanced radiation science and diagnostic pathways and patient needs. Students will also undertake three clinical placement blocks in semesters two and three of first year, four clinical placement blocks for a total of 20 weeks in second year and an elective three-week placement for those who wish to encounter other hospital experiences. There’s also a short research proposal and a research dissertation to complete.  Classes will take place from 9am-5pm every day during term time.  Possible careers, once graduates are registered with CORU, include advanced or consultant practitioner, management or teaching.  Some students may be eligible for a part-scholarship sponsored by the HSE South/South West Hospital Group. Fees are €11,000 for each of the two years (total: €22,000).  Popular courses on offer, by number of applications, include:  New course: MA sports journalism and communication  AI is predicted to make many jobs obsolete with the coming decades, but – according to research carried out last year by audit firm PWC – it will create many more than it displaces. The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025 machines will perform more current work tasks than humans today, while AI and robotics could contribute over €13.2 trillion to the global economy by 2030.  This new full-time, one-year programme will equip graduates to work in this major growth area, which has the potential to transform every aspect of our lives and worlds.  Foundational modules include machine learning and deep learning, ethics in AI and natural language processing, while advanced modules include data visualisation, web and network science and tools and techniques for large-scale data analytics.  This is a particularly competitive course: applicants should have a first class honours from a level eight computer science programme, or a level eight science programme that provides extensive training in computing (such as object-oriented programming, modern software engineering and database development). However, applicants with a strong 2.1 degree may be admitted on the recommendation of the programme director.  EU fees for this course are €7,215.  New courses at Dublin City University and the University of Limerick  This year DCU has introduced three very timely new courses with a focus on mental health, wellbeing and inclusion.  The new MSc in psychology and wellbeing provides psychology graduates with a strong grounding in theory, policy and practice of wellbeing. The focus of the course is on the psychological, societal, environmental and physical factors on the wellbeing of individuals, families and whole communities. This programme is intended as a springboard for students going on to further clinical, research or professional psychology careers in education, community settings, mental health, family support and clinical psychology. The course is offered on a one-year full-time or two-year part-time basis. Fees are €7,650 (full time) or €15,300 part-time.  The second of DCU’s courses is a Masters of education in autism (MEdA). Last year DCU became the world’s first autism-friendly university. This has involved creating spaces that are more comfortable for students with autism, providing training to help staff understand the challenges that people with autism may face and celebrating students on the autism spectrum. This new course is a part-time blended, two-year programme open to qualified teachers working with pupils on the autism spectrum and is focused on developing teachers with a greater understanding of the educational needs facing learners with autism. There is a significant amount of online learning. Students on this course complete a thesis. Applicants must hold a minimum H2.2 level eight education qualification. EU fees are €4,500 per year.  The MEd in specific learning difficulties (dyslexia) is a two-year part-time course with a mix of online learning and some weekend lectures. The course aims to develop expertise among educators working with learners who have specific learning difficulties, and is based on a professional portfolio rather than a thesis. Participants on this course learn to write diagnostic reports, especially in the context of the teaching environment, and will become specialists in diagnostically assessing for dyslexia, planning the most appropriate interventions and teaching students with dyslexia and literacy difficulties. Applicants working in a range of educational settings, including primary, post-primary and higher education, are welcome. Fees are €3,900 in year one and €4,300 in year two.  The University of Limerick has also introduced a number of new courses.  The MSc in design for health and wellbeing, offered by the faculty of science and engineering, is a one-year, full-time programme bringing together students from across different disciplines to develop and apply people-centred, innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to designing consumer health and wellbeing products, medical devices and product service systems for health. Stakeholders from hospitals, mental health services, public health and health care have been involved in designing the programme. EU fees are €6,225 for the year.  The MSc in applied sports coaching, offered by the faculty of education and health science, is a two-year, part-time programme giving experienced coaches the chance to develop their skills and work with leaders and researchers in sport coaching. The programme is offered by the department of physical education and sports sciences, and the fee is €4,000 per year.  Also at UL, the new MSc in business analytics is a one-year, full-time on offer at the Kemmy Business School which will train graduates to work in the growing area of solving business problems using statistical methods, large data sets, predictive models and optimisation techniques.  The MA in composition and creative music practice, a one-year full-time programme where students will create acoustic and/or electronic music through a range of composition, improvisation and performance practices. The course draws from UL’s expertise in music teaching and research, and students from all music traditions and sound art practices are welcome. For fee information on these two courses contact UL’s postgraduate office.  Popular courses on offer, by number of applications, include:  This is a two-year part-time masters with classes taking place on Mondays and Wednesdays in TU Dublin’s Tallaght campus (formerly IT Tallaght before its merger with the Dublin Institute of Technology and IT Blanchardstown).  The course is for hospitality and culinary management professionals who are interested in innovative food to meet the consumer demands and expectations in the growth area of health and wellness.  Modules on the course include flavour science, human nutrition, culinary nutrition, food regulatory affairs and strategic marketing for the contemporary chef. Students will also complete professional practice and an applied research project.  Graduates can expect to develop the skills needed to work in diverse roles including culinary innovation and food product development, food consultancy, food marketing, food production and service, food science research and nutritional analysis.  Applicants must have a level eight honours degree, although applicants who hold a level-seven (ordinary degree) but have gained sufficient industry experience will also be considered. Students who do not wish to complete the applied research project can exit with a postgraduate diploma in applied culinary nutrition.  The course costs €2,750 per year (€5,500 in total) including a non-refundable €100 application fee.  Popular courses on offer, by number of applications, include:  Cyber security has become increasingly important as more and more life moves online, and the skills gap in this area continues to grow. CIT’s MSc in information security has a strong emphasis on how knowledge can be applied, while being underpinned by in-depth theoretical knowledge.  Modules on the course include web application and network penetration testing, cloud security, incident response and digital forensics, data analytics and malware investigations. Students will also carry out an information security research project.  The course is offered on a full-time on-campus day programme basis as well as part-time online night programme. EU students will pay €6,500 for the full-time course, and €9,000 for the part-time course.  Applicants should have a minimum level eight honours degree in computing or a related discipline, although applicants with significant industrial experience may also be considered.  Popular courses on offer, by number of applications, include:  MSc in quality and safety for health and social care  This one-year, full-time taught MSc degree focuses on how we can apply the insights gained from animal behaviour to wildlife conservation. Conservation behaviour is a relatively new area of study, and will be of interest to people interested in careers in ecological consultancies, research institutes, government agencies, NGOs and charities.  Students will study species in marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitats, acquiring a range of skills including acoustic and visual monitoring of marine mammals, camera trap surveying for terrestrial mammals, geographic information systems and data analysis. Modules include studies in conservation behaviour, animal behaviour, recording and analysis, and acoustic monitoring as a marine conservation tool.  Students will also develop practical field skills during a residential field course in an area that allows them to study a range of animals in a variety of habitats (eg the Aran islands, the Burren, the Dingle peninsula) and to undertake a research thesis.  EU fees for this course are €6,000.  A selection of postgraduate research groups across business, engineering, health sciences, science and computing, humanities, and lifelong learning and education are looking for students to carry out postgraduate research degrees including masters by research and PhD degree programmes. Programmes are designed to allow students network with postgraduates in other disciplines, with optional weekly seminars on a range of topics as well as sessions aimed at developing practical skills organised by the WIT graduate studies office. Students are supervised by at least two academics with experience in the research topic.  In addition, PhD students will be able to develop transferable skills through modules such as academic writing for research postgraduates and research integrity and ethics.  Students can apply for funded or self-funded research programmes. Anyone interested in self-funded programmes should contact WIT academic staff to discuss potential topics, while those applying for funded positions as advertised on the WIT website and elsewhere can apply directly to the research group on Google search “WIT postgraduate prospectus” for more information.  MA and PhD by research in art and design  Youth workers will be interested in this level nine special purpose award which aims to equip them with the skills to engage young people in youth work through games. Students on the course will learn about the role of games in youth culture, and will gain the skills needed to design them.  Students on this part-time course must be actively involved in youth work, either as a paid employee or a volunteer. Teaching will be by online lectures, reading material, weekly seminar at the LIT Thurles campus and a monthly three-hour webinar.  Modules on this course include critical youth work theory, games and youth engagement, digital games in contemporary youth culture and designing games for youth work practice. Assessment will be by a project agreed with the host youth organisation, an essay or project, and online questions.  PG Dip/ Master of engineering in connected and autonmous vehicles  This is a two-year, full-time programme concentrating on advanced interior architectural design. The course combines elements of architecture, art, fashion, furniture and product design, graphics and performing arts. Students will be encouraged to discover their own style and expression by engaging in active research.  There are four elective streams on this programme including interiors without boundaries, innovative building conservation, contemporary furniture design and energy and the built environment.  Applicants should have a minimum 2.2 degree in interior architecture, architecture, interior design or a related subject.  For fee details, contact IT Sligo on 0719155222 or email admissions@itsligo.ie  Popular courses on offer, by number of applications include:  Spotlight on: MA in advanced professional practice (intake every second year)  Using a mix of online and blended learning options, this is a two-year, part-time programme geared towards graduates from a range of backgrounds including health, education, welfare and social care. The course aims to equip graduates with a thorough understanding of how research, policy and practice are important in shaping work activities.  Modules on the course include leadership, social policy, affecting social justice in practice and international comparative social policy. Students will also undertake a research project.  Applicants should have a minimum 2.2 honours level eight degree. Fees are €6,375 in total across the two years.  NCAD is offering four new design MA programmes for 2019, all of which are suitable for applicants from a broad range of disciplines including design, art, humanities, social science, computer science, engineering and business. Scholarships are available across all disciplines.  The MA in service design is a one-year taught masters applying design practice, methods and thinking to the service sector, including retail, tech, banking, transport, health and education, with students examining the issues facing business and governments, and creating new services to transform customer and citizen experiences.  The MA communication design is a 15-month research masters where students will develop the skills needed to succeed within contemporary graphic design, illustration and moving image. Research and critical studies are combined with advanced studio practice.  The MA design for body and environment, also a 15-month research masters, covers a broad range of design disciplines including fashion and textiles, jewellery and accessories. Students will examine the past, challenge the present and develop ideas that address industry, social, cultural and political agendas.  Finally, the MA product design is a 15-month research masters where students will address real world challenges of balancing creativity and technical capability to meet the needs of people in homes, workplaces or the public domain.  A small but well-respected college at the intersection of Dublin’s IFSC and Silicon Docklands, NCI specialises in business, computing and human relations.  This one-year full-time or two-year part-time course is aimed at anyone who wants to advance their career at senior management, particularly in HR. Graduates will be eligible for chartered membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).  Modules include employment law, talent development and mediation and conflict management. Students will also learn about research methods and carry out a dissertation.  Applicants should hold a minimum 2.2 level eight degree, although some graduates with extensive professional experience or other relevant qualifications will be considered.  Griffith College offers three separate law masters courses, including LLM in international law, LLM in international commercial law and LLM in international human rights law.  The LLM in international law is offered across one year full-time or two years part-time. Core modules on the course include public international law, international commercial law and international human rights law, while electives include corporate governance, international tax law and international criminal law.  Applicants should have a minimum 2.2 degree in law or a related discipline where law comprises at least 50 per cent of the course. EU fees are €7,200.  This course aims to produce graduates who understand how tech is changing the world of finance, with digitisation, block chain and the cloud among the innovations affecting the industry. The course was developed with industry collaboration to meet specific skills shortages in the finance sector (including banking, insurance, tech and start-ups) and students can expect to learn about financial analytics, advanced databases, disruptive technologies, web tech and security. Students will also learn about research methodologies, and carry out a project.  Applicants should have a minimum 2.2 level eight degree in a related discipline, or at least two years’ industry experience.  The MSc nursing (advanced leadership) aims to develop the student’s ability to reflect on their leadership role and examine theories and policies underpinning health and healthcare at individual and organisational level.  During this two-year part-time programme students will have the opportunity to build their confidence in taking a leading role as an effective member of a healthcare team and enable them to actively participate in the interdisciplinary team approach to care delivery.  The course also provides an opportunity to develop and engage in research projects and activities across disciplinary boundaries in the area of leadership. Students will develop an in-depth knowledge of information retrieval, data management skills, referencing skills, systematic reviewing, research implementation and action research skills.  The early childhood care sector has grown significantly in recent years and is becoming a graduate-led workforce. Graduates with recognised degrees attract higher capitation fees for early-years settings which offer the free childcare scheme, and, as a result, are highly sought by employers.  One of these degrees is the higher diploma in arts in early years Montessori education, delivered by St Nicholas Montessori College in Dublin and Cork. While this is a level-eight qualification it is only open to learners who have previously earned a degree.  The degree provides a foundation in Montessori philosophy and practice while also providing graduates with the core competencies, skills and knowledge needed to work with children in the national Síolta and Aistear frameworks. Students will also complete business and legal modules to enable them establish their own early-years businesses. The course is delivered across 18 months on a full or part-time basis, with tuition in the evenings and weekend. Placement is an essential part of the course.  For more information, see smsi.ie or call 012300080.