Human Rights Week

Today we marked the conclusion of Human Rights Week. We posted this message for everyone who participated:
$5 a day challenge:
We are proud of everyone who took this challenge. It is very moving to to see the introspection and profound sentiments that many of you have experienced. But, we have something to say to those who feel that they failed the challenge before it began. You did not fail. You conquered the real challenge. Change begins with the knowledge that we need to change. That meant the real challenge for us was to acknowledge the 1.4 billion poor people living a humble existence in poverty, acknowledge our real cost of living (the "Fabulous Life" of success) we take for granted everyday, discover that we do care about them, realize that we cannot walk in their shoes, and take ownership of the fact the we have chosen to take positive action in our lives on this issue going forward. Each of us carries a seed of change that will make us positive forces in the future of global society. Remember, everyone counts. Even you.

Brave new world

Today we added a new blog to those we follow to diversify and enrich our community, and because we like them. The University of Venus (UV) was co-founded by a faculty member we know at Northeastern University. What does UV have to do with the title of this post, you ask. It is clear from their principles and mission statement that the founders took a brave step forward into this new world we commonly call the global village. We, meaning all of us who have taken an active role in and acknowledge the international, transnational, multinational, multicultural, and interconnected life (to mention only a few of the characteristic of tngv) of world citizenship that we live today. The concept of world citizenship is at the very core of what tngv is about. According to the mission statement UV seeks to channel the genx women of academia into a global medium for positive social activity. It goes on to present some sincere and obviously heart-felt observations about current society and the realities of academia in America today. They are brutally honest about what they represent as women and academics. UV represents a fresh voice in the global community as they build powerful and positive new "global social networks." We welcome UV to tngv as the first organization of academia in the blogosphere to gain our seal of approval.