Current Articles on the Issues
Texts are selected for the Dean's Book Course at least in part for the issues of contemporary interest they raise. As a result, relevant articles often appear in newspapers and on the web long after the Dean's Readers collected their Sites of Interest.
From this page you can view current articles, editorials, and news stories related to the semester's book selection. Most of these items have been submitted by Dean's Book Course students and instructors.
If you discover a relevant article you believe will be of interest to others, please send the information and citation to the Dean's Book Course director at deansbook@comcol.umass.edu.
Sapolsky's Science
How Stress Affects Your Health
(NPR Talk of the Nation 9/10/04)
Can stress make you sick? From depression, insomnia and addiction, to cancer, heart disease and stroke, stress plays a crucial role in a host of physical ailments. An audio program with guest Robert Sapolsky.
Does Age Quash Our Spirit of Adventure?
(NPR All Things Considered Krulwich on Science 8/15/06)
Robert Sapolsky, a neuroscientist in this 40s, wonders if age makes us less eager to try new thrills. An audio program.
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers
This review by Chris Woolston, a contributing editor to the CVS chain's Consumer Health Interactive, provides a full and interesting summary of Sapolsky's popular book about stress.
Greater Good Magazine -- Power Sickness
This article, by San Francisco-based social worker Eve Ekman, uses Sapolsky's work on stress to examine the physical effects of stress and powerlessness on families in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco.
Our Fellow Primates & Other Animals
"Ape Genius" (a Nova video program)
An absolutely wonderful
look at the living and learning of our fellow primates, this hour-long Nova video is divided into six viewable "chapters." The site contains links to other related videos and texts as well. A video program and site.
"Baboon Metaphysics"
On December 5, Terry Gross interviewed Dorothy Cheney and Robert Seyfarth, authors of Baboon Metaphysics, which reports on their years of fieldwork observing baboon's matrilineal social dynamics. The "Fresh Air" page linked here offers the interview audio, an excerpt from the book, and links to other NPR stories on primate cognition.
Jane Goodall: What Separates Us from the Apes?
(Ted Talks, March 2003)
Traveling from Ecuador to Africa, Jane Goodall takes the audience on an ecological journey, discussing highlights and low points of her experiences in the jungle. A video program.
"The Moral Instinct"
(NYT Magazine 1/13/08)
Sapolsky recounts "an astonishing display of heroism on the part of the unlikely Benjamin," an act contradictory to most primatologists' observations and beliefs. In this article, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker considers the human moral sense, "with quirks that reflect its evolutionary history and its neurobiological foundations."
"Political Animals (Yes, Animals)"
(NYT 1/22/08)
Researchers who study highly gregarious and relatively brainy species like rhesus monkeys, baboons, dolphins, sperm whales, elephants and wolves have lately uncovered evidence that the creatures engage in extraordinarily sophisticated forms of politicking, often across large and far-flung social networks.
"The Selfless Gene"
(Atlantic Monthly 10/07)
It’s easy to see how evolution can account for the dark streaks in human nature—the violence, treachery, and cruelty. Evolutionary biologist Olivia Judson considers the added question, but how does it produce kindness, generosity, and heroism?
[For an interview with Dr. Judson about this article, visit www.theatlantic.com/judson.]
Swingers
(The New Yorker 7/30/07)
Bonobos are celebrated as peace-loving, matriarchal, and sexually liberated. Are they? Psychologist Ian Parker checks out the origins of flower power.
Our Furry, Feeling Friends
(Utne Reader 6/07)
Over the past two years, headlines in science magazines have informed us that cows hold grudges, mice empathize with other mice, and elephants can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Social Life of Hyenas: A Slide Show Presentation
(NYT 3/4/08)
Spotted hyenas, also known somewhat disparagingly as laughing hyenas, live in a hierarchical social structure. Here, high-ranking hyenas get first bite at an African Cape buffalo. The lower-ranking hyenas in the outer circle must wait. Their complex social structure belies their reputation as odd-looking, scavenging misfits. And they are not always scavengers; they often bring down prey on their own.
Kenya Elections and Turmoil
Riots Batter Kenya as Rivals Declare Victory
(NYT 12/30/07)
With the results from Kenya’s closely contested elections still up in the air and evidence growing of election mischief, riots erupted across the country...
Disputed Vote Plunges Kenya Into Bloodshed
(NYT 12/31/07)
It took all of about 15 minutes on Sunday, after Kenya’s president was declared the winner of a deeply controversial election, for the country to explode...
Fighting Intensifies After Election in Kenya
(NYT 1/1/08)
Kenya sank deeper into trouble on Monday, with a curfew imposed in Kisumu, the country’s third-largest city, ethnic fighting intensifying and more than 100 people killed in election-related violence...
Mob Sets Kenya Church on Fire, Killing Dozens
(NYT 1/2/08)
Dozens of people seeking refuge in a church in Kenya were burned to death by a mob on Tuesday in an explosion of ethnic violence that is threatening to engulf this country, which until last week was one of the most stable in Africa...
Kenya, Known for Its Stability, Topples Into Post-Election Chaos
(NYT 1/3/08)
Western diplomats have been putting pressure on the government and opposition to end the bloodletting...
Kenya Kikuyus, Long Dominant, Are Now Routed
(NYT 1/7/08)
Tens of thousands of Kikuyus, the tribe of Kenya’s president, have fled because of ethnic violence...
3 Days of Kenya Protests Leave 22 Dead
(AP 1/18/08)
Filed at 12:01 p.m. ET NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Masai fighters battled rival...bloodiest day of protests this week over Kenya's disputed election. In Nairobi's...streets. Three days of protests called by Kenya's opposition have dwindled in strength...
Signs in Kenya That Killings Were Planned
(NYT 1/21/08)
[A] closer look at what has unfolded in the past three weeks, since a deeply flawed election plunged Kenya into chaos, shows that some of the bloodletting that has left more than 650 people dead may have been premeditated and organized.
Ethnic Violence in Rift Valley Tears Kenya Apart
(NYT 1/27/08)
Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, may seem calm, but anarchy reigns just two hours away. In Nakuru, furious mobs rule the streets, burning homes, brutalizing people and expelling anyone not in their ethnic group, all with complete impunity.
Second Lawmaker Killed as Kenya's Riots Intensify
(NYT 2/1/08)
A second Kenyan opposition lawmaker...member of the Orange Democratic Movement, Kenya’s main opposition party, to...than 800 lives, appears to be pushing Kenya closer to the brink of disaster.
Peace Corps Suspends Kenya Operations
(AP 2/5/08)
The U.S. Peace Corps said...was pulling its remaining volunteers from Kenya following weeks of violence over a disputed...observers have said the vote was rigged. Kenya had been the region's economic powerhouse...
Kenya Rivals Reach Peace Agreement
(NYT 2/29/08)
Kenya’s rival leaders broke their tense standoff on Thursday, agreeing to share power in a deal that may end the violence that has engulfed this nation but could be the beginning of a long and difficult political relationship.
Video: Kenya's Tourism Industry in Shambles
Months of violence have taken their toll on Kenya's tourism industry, especially safaris and visits to national parks. Related Article
On-Going Coverage in the New York Times
On-Going Coverage from BBC News
On-Going Coverage from CNN
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