A warm welcome to our students' blog! This will be our platform for homework and commentaries! Students will have to post their homework, read and comment on the homework of other students on this blog. Homework assignments will be posted by me, Helmut Kalss. Detailed information will be given with the assignments. My comments and corrections will be discussed in class (Error File). There will be a deadline for every homework assignment and posts submitted later will not be accepted.
DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the
year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been
passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of
country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew
on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was
--but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable
gloom pervaded my spirit. ... SourceSparknote: The Fall of the House of Usher
Read the text in the supplement - it will provide
necessary information and should inspire your individual long turn talk. Imagine the following situation: AI Meeting
Individual Long Turn4-5 min
You
are a member of AI (Amnesty
International) and you organise a meeting with your friends. You watch the movie
“Lord of the Flies”, based on William
Golding´s novel. After watching the movie, you give a short talk. You want to
convince your friends to join the organisation to fight capital punishment
worldwide.
Analyse the violation
of Human Rights today
Argue why it is so
important to become a member of AI
(Amnesty International)
Express your point of
views concerning other NGOs
Paired Activity8-10 min.
With
a colleague you discuss the situation of Human Rights. Consider and discuss the
aspects below:
migration and refugee
streams in Europe
possible solutions to
help the people in their home countries
education as a key to
integration
Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who take injustice
personally. We are campaigning for a world where human rights are enjoyed by
all.
We are funded by members and people like you. We are independent of any
political ideology, economic interest or religion. No government is beyond
scrutiny. No situation is beyond hope.
Few would have predicted when we started that torturers would become
international outlaws. That most countries would abolish the death penalty. And
seemingly untouchable dictators would be made to answer for their crimes.
“The social psychology of this century reveals a major lesson: often it
is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he
finds himself that determines how he will act.” –Stanley Milgram, 1974
If a person in a position of authority ordered you to deliver a 400-volt
electrical shock to another person, would you follow orders? Most people would
answer this question with an adamant no, but Yale University psychologist
Stanley Milgram conducted a series of obedience experiments during the 1960s
that demonstrated surprising results. These experiments offer a powerful and
disturbing look into the power of authority and obedience.
Milgram started his experiments in 1961, shortly after the trial of the
World War II criminal Adolph Eichmann had begun. Eichmann’s defense that he was
simply following instructions when he ordered the deaths of millions of Jews
roused Milgram’s interest. In his 1974 book Obedience to Authority, Milgram
posed the question, “Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in
the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?”