Tag: replace

Will Monuments Honoring People Of Color Replace Old Statues Of Confederate Generals That Are Slowly Disappearing
SOCIAL JUSTICE

Will Monuments Honoring People Of Color Replace Old Statues Of Confederate Generals That Are Slowly Disappearing

With most of the legal challenges resolved after the violent Unite the Right rally, and the statue of Robert E. Lee removed from its lofty pedestal in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, local lawmakers in December 2021 voted to do the unimaginable – donate the statue to the local Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. In turn, the nonprofit cultural group quickly announced its plan to melt down the bronze statue and use it as raw material for a new public artwork. What the group plans to build is still an open question, but it clearly will not be another statue honoring the Lost Cause of the Confederacy, the idea that slavery was a benevolent institution and the Confederate cause was just. As part of America’s reckoning with its oppressive past, Charlottesville and the rest ...
What’s Next For Policing Reform – Voters Rejected Plans To Replace The Minneapolis Police Department
POLITICS

What’s Next For Policing Reform – Voters Rejected Plans To Replace The Minneapolis Police Department

Michelle S. Phelps, University of Minnesota Voters in Minneapolis rejected a measure that would have transformed the city’s policing 18 months after the killing of George Floyd thrust the city into the forefront of the police reform debate. By a 56% to 44% margin, voters said “no” to a charter amendment that would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety focused on public health solutions. Michelle Phelps at the University of Minnesota leads a project looking at attitudes toward policing in the city. The Conversation asked her to explain what happened in the Nov. 2, 2021, vote and where it leaves both Minneapolis’ beleaguered police department and police reform movements nationwide. An edited version of her responses are below. What have v...
What should replace Confederate statues?
Journalism

What should replace Confederate statues?

Ever since the University of South Carolina put up a statue of Richard T. Greener – who in 1873 became the school’s first Black professor – one of my favorite things to do has been to eat lunch on a bench nearby to watch how people interact with it. Greener – who taught for four years when the university was desegregated during Reconstruction – went on to become a widely recognized lawyer, scholar, diplomat and activist for racial justice. Some people come to the statue with a purpose, often to show it to others and take pictures. Others pass by and look at Greener’s likeness with curiosity. Usually when they read the plaque at the base, they pause with a look of surprise. I watch them read the plaque again and then walk around the statue as if to evaluate if this story could be true. A ...
EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY

Robots in the classroom: Could robots replace tutors, teachers?

Robots have been shown to be effective at increasing cognitive and affective outcomes In “Social Robots for Education,” a study published last August in Science Robotics, the abstract conveyed: “Social robots can be used in education as tutors or peer learners. They have been shown to be effective at increasing cognitive and affective outcomes and have achieved outcomes similar to those of human tutoring on restricted tasks. This is largely because of their physical presence, which traditional learning technologies lack.” The study indicated a few reasons why educational robots are emerging as a teaching trend: ‒ Shrinking school budgets ‒ Growing numbers of students per classroom ‒ Demand for greater personal-ization of curricula for children with diverse needs Instead of just ...