MOMENTS OF ZEN

International relations is alive and well and found right in your living room. In an effort to bridge the gap between academic and reality, I have scoured the library and internet for topically-relevant cartoons/photos/videos/websites. These MoZs provide a minute of reflection and humor at the end of a long class period as well as challenge students to integrate lectures and readings into the world around them.

Although I do not promise that they will induce a zen-like state, I hope that you enjoy them while also questioning their underlying themes, logic and assumptions.*

8 Apr 2009

"Keeping up with the International Economy - the WTO"
(The Economist - cartoon, July 31, 2008)

1 Apr 2009

"Cellular on The River"
(Strauss/Curtis/CORBIS - September 15, 2001)

25 Mar - 1 Apr 2009

"The Best Stats You've Ever Seen"
(Hans Rosling and TED: Ideas Worth Spreading - 2006)
[If this kind of statistics makes you happy, you may be interested to explore data on your own: Gapminder]

4 Mar 2009

"The Post-War New World Map"
(Philadelphia, 1942)

25 Feb 2009

"How Come We Play War and Not Peace?"
(Bill Watterson - March 23, 1986)

11 Feb 2009

"Security and World Order"
(Polyp Cartoons)

4 Feb 2009

"Tragedy of the Commons"
(The Garrett Hardin Society, Avidor and Bewick - January 21, 2003)

28 Jan 2009

"What a Way to Run the World"
(The Economist - cover, July 2008)

21 Jan 2009

"It's the Same Thing"
(Herblock's History and The Washington Post - January 26, 1949)

Simply Worth a Mention

"Media: Seriously Funny" (From The Atlantic - September 2008)

"Primary Sources: Media." 2008. The Atlantic. 302(2):22. [Image:Peter Kramer/Getty Images.]

*Remember: Don't take truth or humor for granted. Every picture, every paragraph is an argument (a dialogue between an artist with a particular perspective and their environment) that both simplifies reality and distorts it. Full knowledge comes from both understanding what is there and what is missing.