Hobbies

 

What hobbies have you had in the past?  Did the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown lead you to cultivate new ones?  There is some historic precedent for that behavior-

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/04/us/pandemic-hobbies-great-depression-wellness-trnd/index.html

 

As this will be our last class together for this academic year, I would also like to know what hobbies you are thinking about picking up during the summer.  If you need some help on how to find a new hobby, here's a helpful guide-

 

https://www.bustle.com/articles/119942-how-to-find-a-hobby-as-an-adult

The next economic crisis

 

This article had been on my mind for a while, and since some have expressed desire to talk about economics, this seems like a good time.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/18/next-economic-crisis-empty-retail-space-429994

I think we can see the negative effects described in this article here in Palencia.

Biden

 

What makes a speech a good speech?  What elements does it require?  

This topic was suggested for the class and I think it would be interesting to take a look at it.  I don't think I've ever sent a speech out as the reading assignment before.

Please watch the video and read the transcript from Biden's Inaugural Address (attached). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3a6n_1owPY

Is it a good speech?  Why/why not?  What purpose does it serve?  What feelings does it invoke?  Does it inspire you?  

Dogs

Did you know that in some countries around the world people eat dogs?  However, it is a practice that does seem to be falling out of favor.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/10/28/South-Korean-dog-meat-farms-closing-as-attitudes-change/7141603796708/

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/09/china-signals-end-to-dog-meat-consumption-by-humans

What are your feelings towards dogs?  Should humans eat dog meat or should it be banned?  Why is it culturally taboo to eat dogs but perfectly okay to eat pigs and cows?  Have you ever eaten any 'exotic' meats? 

Are We consuming too much information?

Are you feeling overwhelmed by constantly being bombarded with information?  24 hour news cycles, the radio, the internet, social media, etc.  Information seems to be constantly thrown at us.  It may be a good thing to be informed, but what are the risks of information overload?

https://medium.com/@tunikova_k/are-we-consuming-too-much-information-b68f62500089

The Coronavirus has exacerbated this problem exponentially. We also have to work on flattening the infodemic curve:

https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/let-s-flatten-the-infodemic-curve

Why flats dominate Spain’s housing market

Something I have to constantly remind my friends back in the U.S. is that here most people live in apartments/flats.  It's definitely a cultural difference compared to the U.S.  Why is this more common in Spain?

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200506-why-do-flats-dominate-spains-housing-market  

What is your living situation?  Is it the same as how you grew up?  Would you like to change?  What are the pro/cons of living in flats?

The election has been decided

 I thought about covering a different topic this week, but let's get real- we were going to talk about this anyways.

So now that we are almost pretty sure that Biden has won, what's next?

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/07/us/election-uncertainty-coronavirus-waiting-trnd/index.html

What do you think will happen?  How does this change the international community?  What has surprised you about the results?

If you would like to do some extra reading, here is an editorial that also talks about what may come next.  In full disclosure this post comes from a biased website.  Crooked Media is an openly progressive activist organization.

 https://crooked.com/articles/after-trump/

I know it's late and that you may not have time for the second article.  That's okay, I'm only including it for those that want to get a deeper look into how some feel in the U.S.  

Talleres de conversación online

Nuestros Talleres de conversación de inglés y francés continúan de forma virtual.

Hemos realizado varias sesiones por Skype y Zoom.

Han sido unas quedadas virtuales en las que el coronavirus ha sido uno de los principales asuntos que hemos tratado, para después continuar con los temas propuestos.

¡Nos vemos los martes en inglés y los jueves en francés! 😉

Pandemic

So I didn't really want to talk about this because it's saturating the news and I thought all of us may be tired of hearing about it, but at the same time precisely because it is all over the news it merits discussion- the corona-virus outbreak.

Is this something that you are concerned about?  What actions should individuals take?  What do you think governments should do?  Can this be considered a pandemic?

https://www.vox.com/2020/2/23/21149327/coronavirus-pandemic-meaning-italy 

There has already been one death reported in Spain:

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/04/spain-reports-first-coronavirus-death-in-valencia.html

Have you seen the movie Contagion?  It's pretty good.  Here's the trailer:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sYSyuuLk5g

Children

Around the world in developed countries people are having fewer and fewer children.  Not only that- they are also waiting later and later in age to have them.  What are the pros and cons of older parenthood?

 

https://www.verywellfamily.com/being-an-older-parent-4155772 

 

When I think of this topic I look at it from the parental side of the arguement, but what about the child's side?  Is growing up with older parents a good thing or not? 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/may/09/me-and-my-old-man-growing-up-with-an-elderly-parent  

 

Are any of you 'older' parents?  Were your parents older?  I'd like to hear about your experiences and opinions during the next class

A population decline

As you may know Spain is suffering through a population decline (we have talked about the Grey Tsunami in the past) and one of the results of that is La España Vacía.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/22/empty-spain-government-urged-to-act-as-towns-fade-from-map  

This seems to be a current hot button issue and I would like to hear your take on it.

Products

"Products don't last as long as they used to" or "Quality used to mean more in the past"?

You may have a point. Companies often design their products with an 'expiration date' in mind.  Planned obsolescence is the practice of fabricating products that will ultimately have to be replaced.  This may bother consumers as we are burdened with having to continue making purchases to replace products we have already bought.  

This article goes in depth into the history, practice, and reasons behind planned obsolescence.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160612-heres-the-truth-about-the-planned-obsolescence-of-tech 

Space exploration

This is a topic that admittedly I know little about but that some of you may be very curious about.  Space exploration is something that I've personally had little interest in, but some of you feel differently as discussed in our last class.

Is space exploration worth the cost?

What do we gain from it?

https://interestingengineering.com/is-it-worth-it-the-costs-and-benefits-of-space-exploration 

This is a very comprehensive article with videos embedded that will answer those questions and give some history into the space programs as well.

Make sure to click on the link in the article (23 great NASA spin-off technologies) to see what consumer products have been created thanks to NASA research.

Martin Luther King

Monday the 20th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States.  The civil rights leader has a long legacy and his efforts have impacted society as a whole.

 

https://bigthink.com/robby-berman/5-ways-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-changed-america 

 

There are, however, some people that do not understand or intentionally distort his message or history:

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/martin-luther-king-jr-s-true-radical-legacy-being-whitewashed-ncna960756 

 

We'll talk about what you know about MLK, the impact that he has made, and the overall theme of whitewashing history.  Can you think of any other historic figures whose true story has been altered through time?

 

I'll leave you with some brief videos of speeches and news reels of MLK:

 

21 news stories that gripped the world in 2019

I hope your holidays went well.  Another year is behind is and a new decade is upon us.  Before we get too far into the new year I'd like to take a moment and look back on some of the biggest events of 2019.

https://www.insider.com/news-stories-that-gripped-in-the-world-in-2019#empire-actor-jussie-smolletts-claims-that-he-was-the-victim-of-a-violent-hate-crime-were-thrown-into-doubt-2


Here are some of the year's biggest stories as per this website.  Some of these we discussed and others not.  Are there any that you think should have made the list.  Please have that in mind and ready to share the next time we meet up.

Holidays

It's that time of year again.  Who among us is a grinch? Here are some survival suggestions for this time of year:

http://theconversation.com/hate-christmas-a-psychologists-survival-guide-for-grinches-108278 

But why do some people hate the holidays?:

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/a29108557/why-people-hate-christmas/

How do you feel about the holidays? What are your plans?  I hope we can all share these thoughts next Tuesday.

Regional accents

As was suggested in class, this week we're going to talk about regional accents.  This is actually a really interesting topic to me because often when I tell people I'm from Texas, the first thing they say is "You don't sound like you're from Texas."

Here 50 people show their state's accents.  Can you notice the differences?:

However, I think regional accents are being lost.  Do you think we should make an effort to preserve them?

This article argues that accents aren't disappearing at all:

https://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/29/living/american-accents-ireport/index.html 

Does Spain have any regional accents?  Do you know of any regional accents in other countries?  What stereotypes are associated with certain accents?

I hope to have a spirited discussion about this topic on Tuesday.

Cost of a university degree

A big debate topic right now in the U.S. is the cost of a university degree.  

In the past we've talked about the Amercian university system and the exorbitant costs that students incur- causing them to go deeply into debt before the age of 22.

This begs the question- should college/university be free?

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/25/776017867/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-free-college-in-chile 

This article brings up some good points and I'd like to bounce some of its ideas off of you all.

Thanksgving

As Thanksgving looms around the corner I was thinking about it's significance.  Sharing a meal with your family and loved ones seems to be a dying tradition and an ever more rare event, so it takes a special holiday to be able to make it happen.

Why is this the case?:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/10/work-its-whats-for-dinner/599770/  

Have you lost dinner?  What are your family meals like?  

Facebook political ads

As more and more people are getting their news from Facebook, does Facebook have an obligation to censor false information or is it simply a forum for open discourse?

Recently Mark Zuckerberg has come under scrutiny for his decision to not fact check political ads.  He has even been hauled into congress and grilled by lawmakers, but still no widesweeping changes:

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/07/tech/facebook-political-ads/index.html

There are laws that prohibit companies from making false claims in advertising, but none for politicians and other news sources are more scrupulous when it comes to what they print or broadcast:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/Facebook-could-learn-better-manners-from-14830080.php?utm_source=desktop&utm_medium=collection&utm_campaign=hcpromomod

Should Facebook fact check or sensor material or should it allow people to say what they want and have the onus on the public to research and decide for themselves?  This is a big point of contention right now and I'd like to get your opinions on the matter.