What Matters Most

You may have received this already but I still want to share this with you. Our modern life keeps us always on the move and oftentimes we loose the more important side of life. Take care and all the best.

I know the story below is quite long, but trust me – it is worth 3-5 minutes of your time.
The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the Mayonnaise Jar and the 2 Cups of Coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar, he shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things… your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions, and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else… the small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first… the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, “I’m glad you asked.” The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of Cups of Coffee with a friend.”

Please share this with someone you care about. I JUST DID 🙂

Film Fellowships

I would like to post information about a Social Science Research Council fellowship open to PhD students. The application period runs from December 3, 2007 to February 8, 2008. Below is the desired posting.

Thank you,
Emily Burns
Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship (DPDF)
http://programs.ssrc.org/dpdf/

The Social Science Research Council, with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, provides fellowships up to $5000 to humanities and social science students to support predissertation research. In addition to receiving funding, fellows participate in two four-day workshops organized around the research fields and that bracket the
summer research. Workshop exercises prepare fellows in formulating doctoral dissertation proposals that are intellectually pointed, amenable to completion in a reasonable time frame, and competitive in future dissertation research fellowship competitions. Workshops will be held May 29 – June 1 in Saint Louis and September 11 – 14, 2008 in Milwaukee. Travel, lodging and meals for the two workshops are provided
by the SSRC.

DPDF is open to early-stage graduate students in all disciplines of the social sciences and humanities who are currently enrolled full time in PhD programs at accredited universities in the United States and whose predissertation research fits into one of the five research fields. Students pursuing relevant dissertation topics may apply to one of the
following fields:

Animal Studies
Harriet Ritvo (History, MIT)
Janet Browne (History of Science, Harvard)
Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change
Brent Yarnal (Geography, Pennsylvania State University)
Tom Evans (Geography, Indiana – Bloomington)
Muslim Modernities
Charles Kurzman (Sociology, North Carolina – Chapel Hill)
Bruce Lawrence (Religion and Islamic Studies, Duke University)
Critical Studies of Science & Technology Policy
Sheila Jasanoff (Science & Technology Studies, Harvard)
Clark Miller (Science & Technology Policy, Arizona State)
Urban Visual Studies
Edward Dimendberg (Film & Media Studies/Visual Studies, UC Irvine)
M. Christine Boyer (Architecture and City Planning, Princeton)

Contact Details
For full descriptions of the research fields, eligibility and application requirements, and the DPDF program, visit our Web site: http://programs.ssrc.org/dpdf. All inquiries must be directed to the SSRC DPDF program staff at: dpdf@ssrc.org.

Applications
Deadline for submission is February 8, 2008 by 9:00 p.m. EST. Applications are available on SSRC’s application portal: http://applications.ssrc.org.

Emily Burns, Program Assistant
Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship
Social Science Research Council
810 Seventh Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 377-2700, ext. 441
Fax: (212) 377-2727
http://www.ssrc.org

Education: Henry Brooks Adams

“Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of facts.”

“A teacher affects eternity he can never tell, where his influence stops,” (Henry Brooks Adams: Quoteworld.org).

Education: Henry Brooks Adams

Two quotations on education from Quoteworld.org: “Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of facts.”

“A teacher affects eternity he can never tell, where his influence stops.”

Dean Gooderham Acheson

“A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer,”(Dean Gooderham Acheson: Quoteworld.org).

CFP: Reconsidering the “Orient” and the “Occident

Call for papers: Reconsidering “the Orient” and “the Occident” in the 21st Century: Observing the 30th Anniversary of Edward Said’s Orientalism, State University of New York College at Brockport, April 12, 2008

Thirty years ago, Edward Said raised a series of important questions in his
book, Orientalism:
* What is “the Orient”?
* How do we know it? and
* How do systems of knowledge affect the relationship between “Orient”
and “Occident”, “Self” and “Other”?

Though it has been challenged in various ways, the influence of Orientalism has
outlived its author.

The State University of New York College at Brockport invites scholars and students from all disciplines to submit proposals for papers and panels that reflect on Said’s work, what it has meant in academe and in the larger society, and how the questions he raised might be answered in the 21st century.

We are also interested in exhibits and audio-visual presentations that draw upon or illustrate Said-inspired critiques in the visual arts, plastic arts, news media, film and the like.

Dr. Takashi Nishiyama
Dr. Carl Davila
Department of History
State University of New York
College at Brockport

585-395-5687
Email: tnishiya@brockport.edu
Website: http://www.brockport.edu/orientalism/

Saint Thomas Aquinas

“We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten us and direct us; and God has provided for this, by appointing his angels to be our teachers and guides,” (Saint Thomas Aquinas: Quoteworld.org).

Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine

Call for applications for PhD studentships/scholarships in the History of Medicine

Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London

The Centre is the world’s largest research institute devoted to the study of the History of Medicine. It invites applications from prospective PhD students for 3 years commencing September 2008. Candidates should normally have a Masters degree in a relevant subject. The Centre anticipates being able to offer two or three research studentships worth c. £19,000 pa plus the payment of “home” fees. Applications to study without a scholarship are welcome.

Informal inquiries may be made to the Centre’s Graduate Tutor, Dr. Helga Satzinger, h.satzinger@ucl.ac.uk. For further information and application forms, please contact Adam Wilkinson, ucgaawi@ucl.ac.uk

The deadline for the full application is 14 December 2007. Interviews will be held on 5 and 6 February 2008. For more details of the work of the Centre, please see www.ucl.ac.uk/histmed.

Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL
210 Euston Rd.
London NW1 2BE UK

Reading, Donald J. Adams

“There are times when I think that the ideal library is composed solely of reference books. They are like understanding friends – always ready to meet your mood, always ready to change the subject when you have had enough of this or that,” (Donald J. Adams: Quoteworld.org).

Back to (ab)normal in Metro Manila

It usually takes me 40-50 minutes travel time from my home in the suburbs of Metro Manila to the place where I work.  Yesterday it took me 1 1/2 hours to travel.  What else is new.  Its now crunch time here after the long weekend.  The long peaceful, traffic-free week before is over.  For us local residents this is just natural, (ab)normal.

Filipinos normally start playing Christmas carols on the radio as early as September 1.  Right after All Saints Day, November 1, the mandatory Christmas tree and decorations begin to appear in homes, schools, offices and public places.

Pretty soon the gift-buying, gift-giving and parties will start.  The Philippines is now on a very festive mood.  Its nice to be happy, even for awhile, to forget ones problems and troubles.  Hope springs eternal, maybe this time things will be different.  Quien sabe?