Kazuo-Joseph Oishi
Recent Activity
Kazuo-Joseph Oishi commented on Re: The Truth of Abortion on January 16, 2008, 11:58 PM
While my liberal-Central Canadian upbringing has led me to support laws that protect abortion, I have always found it difficult to argue that an unborn fetus has any less human rights than a woman of child-bearing age. On this issue, I stand in uneasy contradiction waiting for events to force me to choose a side. Legality is far less important than morality. I would love to hear some well-articulated moral arguments in support of abortion.
Kazuo-Joseph Oishi commented on How do you get into character? on January 16, 2008, 11:19 PM
"Diversity" has become a buzz word in America for educational institutions, corporations and governments who use the concept to market themselves as progressive organizations. Tilghman champions an abstract concept of "diversity" in education without adequately defining "diversity" or providing any evidence that it enhances one's education. This is ironic since Tighman also champions the merits of a liberal arts education, which teaches students to question beliefs and seek clear definitions of reality through reason. Simply putting people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds on the same college campus does not create diversity, in the way that Tilghman seems to imagine. What is the outcome of diversity in education? How do you ensure that people from diverse backgrounds actively engage in equal and productive discourse? How do you measure the benefits of "diversity"? These are the critical questions that are rarely addressed beyond the insular intellectual discussion.
Kazuo-Joseph Oishi commented on Diversity in Higher Education on January 16, 2008, 7:25 PM
I wholeheartedly disagree with jkraft12. Simply because Universities such as Princeton have failed to implement strategies that force students to actively engage in cross-cultural experiences and interdisciplinary academics, does not mean that diversity lacks importance. Moreover, while expensive, University campuses provide an ideal venue for rational discourse of divergent opinions and diverse world views. I agree that the things that jkraft12 describe do occur on college campuses. This is due to a failure of institutions to adequately define diversity and implement ways to incorporate true diversity into their programs. It is easy to reduce this discussion into an issue of race and equality; however, the more significant problem is to determine what we hope to accomplish with diversity and how to implement programs to reach those goals.
Kazuo-Joseph Oishi commented on How do you get into character? on January 16, 2008, 6:19 PM
"Diversity" has become a buzz word in America for educational institutions, corporations and governments who use the concept to market themselves as progressive organizations. Tilghman champions an abstract concept of "diversity" in education without adequately defining "diversity" or providing any evidence that it enhances one's education. This is ironic since Tighman also champions the merits of a liberal arts education, which teaches students to question beliefs and seek clear definitions of reality through reason. Simply putting people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds on the same college campus does not create diversity, in the way that Tilghman seems to imagine. What is the outcome of diversity in education? How do you ensure that people from diverse backgrounds actively engage in equal and productive discourse? How do you measure the benefits of "diversity"? These are the critical questions that are rarely addressed beyond the insular intellectual discussion.
Kazuo-Joseph Oishi commented on Diversity in Higher Education on January 17, 2008, 12:25 AM
I wholeheartedly disagree with jkraft12. Simply because Universities such as Princeton have failed to implement strategies that force students to actively engage in cross-cultural experiences and interdisciplinary academics, does not mean that diversity lacks importance. Moreover, while expensive, University campuses provide an ideal venue for rational discourse of divergent opinions and diverse world views. I agree that the things that jkraft12 describe do occur on college campuses. This is due to a failure of institutions to adequately define diversity and implement ways to incorporate true diversity into their programs. It is easy to reduce this discussion into an issue of race and equality; however, the more significant problem is to determine what we hope to accomplish with diversity and how to implement programs to reach those goals.