The document summarizes Larry Catá Backer's presentation on diversity in legal education given at Penn State Law. It discusses challenges with moving from aspirational statements on diversity to implementing real change. Specifically, it notes a need to refocus analysis on responsibility at higher administrative levels rather than just obligations of front-line actors. It also calls for robust accountability measures for those responsible for shaping organizational culture and assessments of diversity-related performance in reviews of managers.
RECODE, an initiative lead by McConnell Foundation, and UpSocial are researching how Canadian post-secondary institutions could adapt to more adequately address community needs.
Measuring Civic Learning: Meaningful Strategies for Educating 21st Century Ci...Iowa Campus Compact
Using the recent AAC&U report A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy’s
Future and research arising from the Personal and Social Responsibility Inventory,
participants will discuss current areas of research related to civic learning and identify
areas for additional research. Discussion of best practices will focus on both indirect
and direct measures of civic learning and campus engagement, including existing and
available measures that can be adapted for use on participants’ campuses.
Robert D. Reason, Associate Professor of Student Affairs and Higher Education, and
Joshua J. Mitchell, doctoral student and Graduate Research Assistant in the Research
Institute for Studies in Education, both at Iowa State University
RECODE, an initiative lead by McConnell Foundation, and UpSocial are researching how Canadian post-secondary institutions could adapt to more adequately address community needs.
Measuring Civic Learning: Meaningful Strategies for Educating 21st Century Ci...Iowa Campus Compact
Using the recent AAC&U report A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy’s
Future and research arising from the Personal and Social Responsibility Inventory,
participants will discuss current areas of research related to civic learning and identify
areas for additional research. Discussion of best practices will focus on both indirect
and direct measures of civic learning and campus engagement, including existing and
available measures that can be adapted for use on participants’ campuses.
Robert D. Reason, Associate Professor of Student Affairs and Higher Education, and
Joshua J. Mitchell, doctoral student and Graduate Research Assistant in the Research
Institute for Studies in Education, both at Iowa State University
Strategic Visions & Values: Inclusive Curricula and Leadership in Learning an...Richard Hall
Presentation for the Leadership in Learning and Teaching event at Durham University on 1 May 2019.
Project resources:
Universal Design for Learning: Evaluation Interim Report: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17106
A Literature Review of Universal Design for Learning: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17059
Freedom to Achieve: Project Evaluation Report: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/16793
Culture, Poverty, and Social Justice OrganizationsDouglas Strahler
This group presentation focused on presenters reflecting on how culture, poverty, and social justice played a role in their professional lives. Topics including Slippery Rock University's "Respect for Individuals" initiative, ACCESS Charity, and PIPRA.
The Fourth Strand of Social Justice: Theoretically SpecificDouglas Strahler
This presentation was given to the IT3 Doctoral Cohort's Social Justice course in the summer of 2012. The presentation described the fourth strand of social justice through three prominent theoretical specific discourses in education: multiculturalism, critical pedagogy, & cultural studies.
Decolonising DMU: Building the Anti-Racist ClassroomRichard Hall
Slides for:
Patel, K., Hall, C., and Hall, R. (2020). Decolonising DMU: Towards the Anti-Racist Classroom. AdvanceHE Annual Conference 2020: Teaching in the spotlight: Creative thinking to enhance the student experience: From curriculum design to student success, Bedfordshire. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/programmes-events/conferences/TLConf20
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: What Can Cities Do? - Neighborhood Par...NeighborhoodPartnerships
HUD’s proposed affirmatively furthering fair housing rule brings increased attention to how regions and local jurisdictions actively plan for and encourage the production of affordable housing. Explore tools, resources and strategies local jurisdictions in Oregon can implement to address our housing needs.
Presenters
Stephanie Jennings, Lane Livability Consortium
Pegge McGuire, Fair Housing Council of Oregon
Andrée Tremoulet, Commonworks Consulting
Sam Chase, Metro Counselor
Omar Carrillo Tinajero, Neighborhood Partnerships
The Reciprocal Relationship of Higher Education Institutions and Their Commun...Innovations2Solutions
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how action-oriented programs in community engagement are a means for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to advance the needs of their organizations. Advancement occurs through dynamic relationships and partnerships with a variety of community stakeholders. The result of this synergy is the enhancement of quality of life and an improved educational climate, which benefits students, staff, faculty and community members.
UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity Strategic Directions 2014 and BeyondArkworktogether
The Strategic Directions provide a general framework for how we will conduct business and fulfill our mission. It captures the scope of our strategic priorities and is intended for internal and external audiences.
Presentation at the QM conference 2018 about issues of culture and diversity in course design for online learning.
Related to this paper on QM site: https://www.qualitymatters.org/qa-resources/resource-center/articles-resources/cultural-awareness-in-online-instruction
Strategic Visions & Values: Inclusive Curricula and Leadership in Learning an...Richard Hall
Presentation for the Leadership in Learning and Teaching event at Durham University on 1 May 2019.
Project resources:
Universal Design for Learning: Evaluation Interim Report: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17106
A Literature Review of Universal Design for Learning: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17059
Freedom to Achieve: Project Evaluation Report: https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/16793
Culture, Poverty, and Social Justice OrganizationsDouglas Strahler
This group presentation focused on presenters reflecting on how culture, poverty, and social justice played a role in their professional lives. Topics including Slippery Rock University's "Respect for Individuals" initiative, ACCESS Charity, and PIPRA.
The Fourth Strand of Social Justice: Theoretically SpecificDouglas Strahler
This presentation was given to the IT3 Doctoral Cohort's Social Justice course in the summer of 2012. The presentation described the fourth strand of social justice through three prominent theoretical specific discourses in education: multiculturalism, critical pedagogy, & cultural studies.
Decolonising DMU: Building the Anti-Racist ClassroomRichard Hall
Slides for:
Patel, K., Hall, C., and Hall, R. (2020). Decolonising DMU: Towards the Anti-Racist Classroom. AdvanceHE Annual Conference 2020: Teaching in the spotlight: Creative thinking to enhance the student experience: From curriculum design to student success, Bedfordshire. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/programmes-events/conferences/TLConf20
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: What Can Cities Do? - Neighborhood Par...NeighborhoodPartnerships
HUD’s proposed affirmatively furthering fair housing rule brings increased attention to how regions and local jurisdictions actively plan for and encourage the production of affordable housing. Explore tools, resources and strategies local jurisdictions in Oregon can implement to address our housing needs.
Presenters
Stephanie Jennings, Lane Livability Consortium
Pegge McGuire, Fair Housing Council of Oregon
Andrée Tremoulet, Commonworks Consulting
Sam Chase, Metro Counselor
Omar Carrillo Tinajero, Neighborhood Partnerships
The Reciprocal Relationship of Higher Education Institutions and Their Commun...Innovations2Solutions
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how action-oriented programs in community engagement are a means for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to advance the needs of their organizations. Advancement occurs through dynamic relationships and partnerships with a variety of community stakeholders. The result of this synergy is the enhancement of quality of life and an improved educational climate, which benefits students, staff, faculty and community members.
UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity Strategic Directions 2014 and BeyondArkworktogether
The Strategic Directions provide a general framework for how we will conduct business and fulfill our mission. It captures the scope of our strategic priorities and is intended for internal and external audiences.
Presentation at the QM conference 2018 about issues of culture and diversity in course design for online learning.
Related to this paper on QM site: https://www.qualitymatters.org/qa-resources/resource-center/articles-resources/cultural-awareness-in-online-instruction
Division Meeting - March 19, 2021
UofSC Division of Student Affairs and Academic Support
"Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Achievement Task Force Review Session"
presented by Silvia Patricia Rios-Husain, Student Success; Alisa Liggett, Student Conduct and Academic Integrity; Jerome Scott, Student Government; and Joe Fortune, University Housing
MIT’s administrative community demonstrated that it’s already off to the races when it comes to invention. The jam-packed annual poster session on October 14 brought together 26 sponsoring DLCs and hundreds of Institute community members eager for a preview of what’s next at MIT.
Introduction to Bonner High-Impact Initiative Learning OutcomesBonner Foundation
Introduction to Bonner High-Impact Initiative Learning Outcomes, used at the High-Impact Institute Summer 2013; introduces key learning outcomes, as adapted from rubrics for civic engagement, integrative learning, and creative thinking, that may provide a set of shared student learning outcomes for high-impact projects connected to community engagement.
A report by The Coalition on Diversity Education regarding education needs in Peel Region, Ontario, Canada. This looks at diversity and equity needs, and what changes are required by education systems to meet those needs for current time periods and beyond.
Eyes on Extension: A model for diverse advisory leadershipEric Kaufman
Presentation for the 2015 Public Issues Leadership Development conference, sponsored by the Joint Council of Extension Professionals.
From creating an inclusive environment to understanding volunteer motivations and barriers, we’ll explore special considerations for diverse volunteers and for potential decision-making volunteers. Get prepared to welcome diverse advisory leaders into your programs and leverage them for future success.
Directors Meeting - Sept 15, 2020
Featuring:
Julian Williams, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Katherine Hilson, Professional Development Team, Admissions
Jessie McNevin, Professional Development Team, Capstone Scholars Program
Dennis Pruitt, Vice President for Student Affairs
The Algorithms of Ideology in Economic Planning: A Critical Look at Cuba’s N...Larry Catá Backer
Short Abstract: The development plans of Marxist Leninist states are usually given short shrift as expressions of ideology (at best) and propaganda (at its most pathetic). Yet there is value in considering critically these development plans, if only to get a sense of the mindset of high level functionaries with control over macro-economic policy, and to get a sense of the administrative cultures within which governmental middle managers will actually exercise discretionary authority. Especially useful in that context is the Cuban Communist Party 7th Congress’s Conceptualización del modelo económico y social Cubano de desarrollo socialista: Plan nacional de desarrollo económico y social hasta 2030: Propuesta de vision de la nación, ejes y sectores estratégicos in which the PCC posited that development can be better managed by rejecting the central role of markets, and substituting state planning in its place, taking an all around view of economic planning as inextricably bound up in social, political and cultural progress of a nation. The resulting structural proposal elaborated in the Cuban National Economic and Social Development Plan 2030 (PNDES) suggests behavior and choice algorithms with interesting implications even if only partially realized. It is particularly important as a vision for transition developed in the wake of anticipated changes in higher leadership and the effects of normalization with the United States. This essay critically considers PNDES in the current context national and regional context. It starts with a brief analysis of PNDES for what it can reveal about entrenched ideological perspectives that shape decision making and analysis within Cuban Party and administrative elites. It then considers the way these appear to manifest themselves as a set of self-referencing decision systems that substitute or supplant market or regulatory determinations. Those premises are tested against Cuban approaches to the pharma sector, among the most important targets of centrally planned development. The essay ends with an assessment of the consequences of Cuban current approaches for national and regional affairs.
“One Belt One Road and RMB Internationalization—A Strategic Alliance” Larry Catá Backer
Focus: Consideration of the peripheral structures of Chinese trade and investment policy and its potential effects on RMB internationalization. Thesis: RMB internationalization is one small part of a larger more ambitious project: (1) External: An integral part of Chinese trade and development policies; an interlocking set of objectives to solidify the all around central position of China; (2) Internal: Core of socialist modernization and development of productive forces within China; situating China at center of global commerce essential for next stage of economic and political development.
Structures of discussion: (1) Situating RMB internationalization within broader issues of Chinese policy; (2) The OBOR initiative and related development efforts. Last section considers putting the pieces together; and (3) Tie it back to issues of reality (trade and investment use) and perception (consensus of others states)
Why are OBOR and RMB internationalization linked? (1) Stability; (2) Development; and (3) Control
Unpacking Accountability: The Multinational Enterprise, the State, and the In...Larry Catá Backer
Businesses, states and civil society are thought to be accountable. But to whome, and how? Effective imposition of accounting regimes requires a more nuanced understanding of the structures of the character and ecologies of accounting. Thesis:
In a working system of accountability Corporate Violations of Human Rights, Labor and Environmental Standards all stakeholders in the system must (1) bring each other to account, (2) be brought to account and (3) bring oneself to account.
The Privatization of Governance: Emerging Trends and ActorsLarry Catá Backer
Globalization's challenges, tensions and contradictions, indeed all of the variables that contribute toward the trajectory of globalization and its relationship to its principal actors, merely reinforce the primacy of globalization itself as a singular orthodoxy. And it is an orthodoxy that is itself embedded in the more fundamental governance orthodoxy of the mid-1945s from out of which the framework of its conception and operation was itself embedded. That orthodoxy itself posited a hierarchy in which politics served as the legitimating instrument of power, and that the state served as the apex organization of politics. That organization, itself, was expressed as the institutionalization of mass power framed within a set of fundamental substantive norms the limiting principles of which would be set by the community of states dominated by its leading members. Thus, the appearance of challenge and opposition that has been more sharply drawn since the start of this century might be understood as occurring within a carefully protected orthodoxy the object of which is to protect the primacy of politics (and law) with the state as its apex.
And yet, one of the great ironies of globalization is the way in which its effort to cement a framework orthodoxy after 1945 has served to overturn orthodoxy itself, and in its place, has ushered in an age of heterodoxy that is both ordered but anarchic. This presentation introduces some of the basic trends and actors that have emerged from out of the orthodox conceptual framework of globalization, and the extent to which these are contributing to its transformation as a vector of governance.
The Responsibilities of Banks, Sovereign Wealth Funds and Other Financial Ins...Larry Catá Backer
Extractive industries have been at center of CSR and environmental responsibilities debates at the national and international level. It has been noted that "The sector faces unique social and environmental challenges when operating in developing countries. Faced with these challenges, a number of Canadian companies are engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, generally defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner" (Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector). These generally involve direct compliance. Domestic law focuses on the law and regulatory frameworks of home and host states. Soft law focuses on national (to a small extent) and more generally in international framing mechanisms and indigenous law (national an international). In addition, private law also applies--to the extent that extractive enterprises build their own internal governance systems applicable through their production chains worldwide.
But increasing there is a need to think about indirect compliance: especially the responsibilities of financial institutions, suppliers, and upstream customers to gauge their conduct by the legal/normative compliance of the extractives enterprise itself.
This presentation focuses on financial institutions and their responsibilities with respect to the human rights responsibilities of their borrowers.
Sovereign Wealth Funds, Capacity Building, Development, and Governance Larry Catá Backer
Abstract: Though operating in some form or another for over half a century, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) did not become an object of general attention until the early part of the 21st century when a combination of the need of developed states for investment and the growing acceptability of state investment in private markets abroad made them both threatening and convenient. Assured by the framework of the Santiago Principles most states now view SWFs as a useful multi-purpose sovereign investment vehicle. Yet over the last decade or so, SWFs appear to have developed the potential to become an important instrument in good governance and development, especially for resource rich and capacity poor developing states. Following the lead of Chile, and with the patronage of IFIs, these SWFs have begun to serve objectives as and with development banks both within and beyond their home state. This paper considers the capacity of SWFs to serve ends beyond mere fund value maximization as envisioned in the Santiago Principles. It explores the value of SWFs as a means of enhancing governance capacity in weaker states, its utility in enhancing development objectives, the emerging landscape of joint ventures among SWFs for development and their intersections with emerging infrastructure and development banks, and their importance in enhancing the operationalization of emerging international business and human rights standards not only within their own organizations but through their investment activities. A brief assessment of these trends ends the paper. Lastly it develops a set of transformative changes in approaches to SWF instrumentality that SWFs, especially the smaller SWFs and those in developing states, might deploy in structuring and operating their SWFs within a globalized economic order. These strategies are meant to avoid the circular characteristics of current discussions grounded on premises of finance instrument silos and state based systems that no longer accord with the realities of, and fail to take advantage of the possibilities now offered through, global finance and can be grouped into the three transforming categories suggested in Section III: regionalization strategies; financial objectives strategies; governance strategies.
Presentation Delivered January 26, 2017Johns Hopkins University School of Education. his presentation will help to build a broader understanding of governance issues and models within academe and provide an overview of challenges to shared governance derived principally from a university model of faculty senate. Professor Backer has served as a member of Penn State’s University Faculty Senate in the capacities of Senate Chair, Parliamentarian, Representative for the Law School, and Chair, Co-Chair and Member of various senate committees. He maintains a website devoted to faculty voice entitled Monitoring University Governance with the mission of “promoting transparency and engagement in shared governance in universities and colleges.”
The Corporate Social Responsibilities of Financial Institutions for the Condu...Larry Catá Backer
Abstract: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be split along two distinct lines. The first touches on the nature of corporate personality and is rooted in domestic law regulating enterprises specifically and legal persons generally. The second touches on the nature of the rights of individuals and is rooted in international law (and sometimes domestic constitutional law) defining the scope of the human rights of individuals and the consequential obligations of states and legal persons. Both conversations intertwine though they tend to operate autonomously. In both cases, however, the traditional focus of corporate responsibility has focused on the relationship between an operating company and its direct effects on individuals, society and the environment. That discussion remains contentious, conflicted and unresolved. But it ignores a critical actor—the financial institutions which provide operating capital to enterprises. This paper considers the corporate social responsibilities of financial institutions, including sovereign wealth funds, for the conduct of their borrowers. The focus will be the extent of any duty or responsibility of lenders to ensure that their borrowers comply with CSR obligations (or alternatively conforms to international human rights standards) as a core aspect of their own CSR obligations (or alternatively) of their responsibility to respect human rights. Section II examines the general regulatory framework. There are two aspects that are relevant. The first is to understand the scope and character of the legal norms that may be applied to enterprises generally with respect to their operation’s that might be understood as CSR-human rights related in nature. The second is to consider the range of non-legal normative governance rules that might apply. In the process it will be important to distinguish between a CSR based regulatory approach and a human rights based approach. Section III considers the application of these norms to financial institutions. This requites distinguishing between those obligations that apply to the internal operations of financial institutions generally, and those obligations that apply to the financial institution’s obligations with respect to its lending activities, that is with respect to its relationship with its borrowers. The essay ends with a brief examination of recent cases in which financial institutions undertook such a responsibility, and the ways in which that obligation was undertaken. Three different types of institutions are considered—private banks, sovereign wealth funds and international financial institutions (IFIs). The paper ends with a preliminary consideration of the consequences of this movement for domestic CSR in the U.S.
Between the Judge and the Law—Judicial Independence and Authority With Chines...Larry Catá Backer
Abstract: What is the scope and nature of judicial reform? To what extent does borrowing from Western models also suggest an embrace of the underlying ideologies that frame those models? It is a common place in the West, whether in Common Law or Civil Law states, that the integrity of the judiciary depends on their authority to interpret law and to apply that interpretation to individual cases and the litigants that appear before the courts. That presumption, however, embeds premises about the organization of political and administrative authority that may be incompatible with those of states developing Socialist Rule of Law structures within Party-State systems. In Common law states those deep presumptions touch on the disciplinary role of judicial opinions as a constraint on judicial interpretation. In civil law states that discipline arises from the constraining principles of the legal codes themselves. In both the legislatures serve as the ultimate check in a complex dialogue with courts in three respects. First, judges serve a political role in their relation to law. Second, cases themselves serve an important political role as well. Third, courts begin to serve as the place where societal narratives are forged and popular expression is constructed and applied. In Socialist rule of law systems, the disciplinary systems are quite different and ought to produce a different relationship between courts, law, and the cases they are bound to apply fairly and consistently under law. This paper considers the way that the logic and grounding principles of Chinese Marxist Leninism may provide guidance in the construction of a judicial enterprise that is both true to its organizational logic and which enhances the authority of judges to serve litigants fairly. It suggests the points of compatibility and incompatibility in the ideologies of these distinct systems of judging and what it may mean for judicial reform in China. That consideration, in turn is based on a fundamental difference, in Socialist Rule of Law systems, between the authority to interpret law and the authority to apply law to an individual case. For Chinese judicial reform it is in the perfectibility of the judge that lies the perfectibility of law that in turn ensures the perfectibility of the judge. Part II considers in very broad strokes the relationship between the judge and law in the West. Part III then considers Chinese reforms touching on the relationship between the judge and the law, and the evolution of normative structures within which one can speak to judicial independence. Part IV then considers the project from the perspective of the grounding ideology of the Chinese state. From that fundamental distinction, the paper will propose a Socialist approach to the judicial function compatible with its own logic and legitimacy enhancing under global consensus principles for a well-organized and functioning judiciary.
中国,法律与外国人:国际舞台上的相互交融 ("China, Law, and the Foreigner: Mutual Engagements on a...Larry Catá Backer
外国人在中西法律交流中的角色类似于新中国前的情形。
这表明了中西法律交流的典型形态
这表明了中国人自身在“走出去”的战略中可以从中西法律交流中摄取经验。
内部思考:是否可以从党的“建设社会主义现代化”中发展出一套思维—以实事求是的态度来发展现代化。
外部:中国人是否可以避免西方曾经的错误,从而变成他国之上的“老外”?"China, Law, and the Foreigner: Mutual Engagements on a Global Stage," considered the structures of patterns of engagements between China and foreigners from the template well established by the end of the Qing dynasty. Drawing form those patterns, the paper developed a number of archetypes that I suggested could provide a useful framework for analysis. Those archetypes also suggested lessons for China as its now assumed the position of inferential foreigner in other states.
Central Planning Versus Markets Marxism: The Cuban Communist Party Confronts ...Larry Catá Backer
The 7th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party stands in stark contrast to its predecessor. The 6th PCC Congress appeared to usher in an era of at least limited opening up and the institutionalization of a private sector of sorts. Yet the 7th PCC Congress in many respects appeared to disappoint. Procedurally it appeared to mark a step back from the openness of the 6th Congress. And it offered little by way of political opening up, even an opening up ushering in more robust intra-Party democracy. Most importantly, the 7th PCC Congress appeared to fall far short of confronting the economic model reaffirmed in the 4th PCC Congress—a model of central planning and Soviet bureaucratic mechanisms substituting for any sort of markets based regulation of economic activity. This paper considers the potential and the missed opportunities of the 7th PCC Congress. A close reading of the 7th PCC Congress will suggest the limits of reform in Cuba. Ideological limits are suggested by a political timidity that has been built into the operating culture of the PCC. As a consequence the PCC is finding it hard to move even from soviet style central planning ideologies to Marxist market ideologies that have proven more successful in other states. The PCC is suffering from a paralysis that may be more dangerous to its long term authority than any machinations originating in its enemies. The paper ends with a consideration of options and likely movement over the short term moving forward.
China, Law and the Foreigner: Mutual Engagements on a Global StageLarry Catá Backer
Prepared for the Conference: “Foreigners and Modern Chinese Law”, Tsinghua University School of Law, Beijing, China, July 9-10, 2016; Organized by Profgessors Xu Zhangrun and Chen Xinyu
Transnational Law and the Multinational Enterprise: From Legal Concept/Method...Larry Catá Backer
At first blush, transnational law’s engagement with TNCs reflects the situational and ad hoc approach of the transnational law project. Transnational law tends to focus on the TNC as an actor apart, like the state, within transnational law situational processes.
Like the state, TNCs are governance singularities into which law can be poured, extracting coherent action. It moves the TNC from the construction of a category to consequential instrumentalism
But is this relationship between TNCs and transnational law construct TNCs too restrictively?
Does it fail to describe the reality of TNCs (the problem of definition)?
Should we consider TNCs as a transnational legal order in its own right (the systems issue)?
Should we consider TNCs instead as the constitution of production chains (the conflation issue)?
Presented at “Jessup’s Bold Proposal: Engagements with 'Transnational Law’ after Sixty Years” Transnational Law Institute, The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College, London, Friday-Saturday 1-2 July 2016
Normalization With Cuban Characteristics: How Might Cuba Navigate Normalizati...Larry Catá Backer
Cuba has constructed a tightly woven framework of macro-economic policy and political structures around a unique application of European Marxist-Leninism. That framework has proven durable even in the face of substantial economic crisis and a political situation increasingly subject to internal pressures. Closer working ties with the United States will only exacerbate the tensions and contradictions of the current system. If Cuba means to keep a Marxist-Leninist political structure, something will have to evolve.
Financial Sector Responsibility for Human Rights Conduct of Borrowers: What W...Larry Catá Backer
Extractive industries have been at center of CSR and environmental responsibilities debates at the national and international level
The sector faces unique social and environmental challenges when operating in developing countries. Faced with these challenges, a number of Canadian companies are engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, generally defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner. Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector
To what extent are financial institutions responsible for the human rights breaches of their borrowers?
“While the obligation for the protection of human rights lies with the state, IFIs and their member states also have responsibilities to ensure that activities they support do not cause, or contribute to, human rights abuses by putting in place adequate safeguards.” Statement of Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to UN Human Rights Council. How might these obligations constrain borrowers?
Trail By Fire: Rana Plaza and Transnational Legal Orders Larry Catá Backer
Considering the construction of transnational legal orders through the lens of a deep study of the aftermath of the Rana Plaza Factory building collapse in 2013.
Analysis of the General Program of the Chinese COmmunist Party COnstitution as a basis for theorizing the fundamental principles of Chinese political and legal theory
Global Corporate Social Responsibility (GCSR) Standards With Cuban Characteri...Larry Catá Backer
This paper suggests the issues that may face Cuba and enterprises, including U.S. based enterprises, in the wake of normalization. After the introduction, Part II considers briefly the local legal and political context in which enterprises may operate in Cuba, with particular focus on Ley No. 118/2014 (De la Inversión Extranjera), and its contextualization within the legal structures of Cuban macro-economic policy. Part III then outlines two important standards systems for global CSR with effect in Cuba, the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the U.N. Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights. Part IV then considers the ways in which MNEs may have to approach their investment activities in light of these standards, the pressures for change they might produce, and the adverse effects their adverse effects on MNE decisions to invest or operate in Cuba.
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Normal Labour/ Stages of Labour/ Mechanism of LabourWasim Ak
Normal labor is also termed spontaneous labor, defined as the natural physiological process through which the fetus, placenta, and membranes are expelled from the uterus through the birth canal at term (37 to 42 weeks
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
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Diversity in Legal Education: Considering the Hollow Spaces Between Speech and Action
1. Diversity in Legal Education:
Considering the Hollow Spaces Between
Speech and Action
Larry Catá Backer
W. Richard and Mary Eshelman Faculty Scholar Professor of Law
and International Affairs
Pennsylvania State University
Prepared for Event: All in at Penn State Law:
Addressing Diversity & Implicit Bias; Sponsored by the
Diversity Committee Penn State Law
March 16, 2017
2. Context
• institutions of post secondary education, has been struggling with the very
hard work of moving from the embrace of flowery statements of solidarity
respecting diversity to actually making it a lived reality in the environment
in which students, staff, faculty and particularly administrators operate.
(Statement From the Penn State University Faculty Senate Chair ).
• Much of the discussion has focused on obligation centers
• Of students, faculty and
• others at the lowest end of the institutional pyramid
• But fairly little attention has been paid to responsibility centers
• Middle Managers (deans and their staff)
• Central university administrators
3. Issue
• Is it time to refocus the analysis
of diversity and diversity related
programs from conformity at the
bottom to shaping responsibility
at the top?
• How does an institution create
robust measures to assess and
discipline those whose
responsibility is to shape the
organizational cultures of their
units?
4. Roadmap
• Consider as a baseline for analysis
the 2010 ABA Report “Diversity in
the Legal Profession: The Next
Steps” especially as they relate to
“Recommendations to Law Schools
and the Academy (pp.17-25).
• Reflect on their consequences for
Law Schools
• Suggest the top down bottom up
approach to their realization
suggested in the
Recommendations of the Penn
State Joint Diversity Awareness
Task Force (2016)
5. The ABA Report and Recommendations
• “The Report’s Recommendations for next steps
reflect and incorporate the multiple
experiences, false starts, insights, frustrations
and new beginnings that represent the various
ways that diversity works within the different
sectors of the legal profession.” (PP. 6)
• Included recommendations already being used as
well as some that are ambitious and aspirational.
• Recommendations broadly categorized, but not
prioritized.
• Recognition that organizations have its own
contextually compelling circumstances.
6. ABA Report: Foundations
• What is Diversity (pp. 9):
• When we talk about increasing
diversity in the profession, we are
addressing a history of laws,
practices, and employment decisions
that excluded broad sectors from
participation in the political,
economic, and social activities and
benefits of this society.
• The specific groups that fall within
ABA diversity programs and policies
include racial and ethnic minorities,
women, persons with disabilities,
and the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender) community.
• Diversity Rationales:
• Business Rationale: “A diverse
workforce within legal and judicial
offices exhibits different perspectives,
life experiences, linguistic and cultural
skills, and knowledge about
international markets, legal regimes,
different geographies, and current
events.” (pp 9)
• Leadership Rationale: this society
draws its leaders from the ranks of
the legal profession and that is one
reason why diversity is a
constitutionally protected principle
and practice. (pp. 10)
• Demographic Rationale: U.S.
population is getting older and more
diverse.
7. The ABA Law School Recommendations
• “Law schools contribute to the
ongoing transformation of the
profession from one that has
historically been dominated by
white men from the upper classes
to one that is inclusive of persons
from many different backgrounds
with different perspectives,
cultures, abilities, worldviews, and
tastes.” (PP. 15)
• “Diversity in law schools, as in
other institutions, affects all areas
of activity.” (PP. 15)
• A. Culture: Building
consensus/creating accountability
• B. Planning
• C. Accountability
• D. Diverse faculty: Hiring and
Retention
• E. Educational practices:
admissions, Law school Debt
• F. Data collection, Law school
Rankings
• G. Pipeline practices
8. Challenges
• Definition
• Where is religion?
• Focus on formal, rule based impediments
• Focus on system, not on social values
• Socialization Versus Naturalization
• No one likes to be told what to do
• No sense of the possibilities of naturalizing
diversity principles in the everyday lives of
Law School stakeholders
• Metrics
• Focus on outside metrics
• No real engagement with the relationship
between principles and metrics
• Simple output measures will distort and
promote strategic avoidance around
metrics
• Accountability
• No accountability measures that reach
institutional leaders
• Opens door to broad administrative
discretion and impunity
• Only discipline is at the bottom
• Passive versus Active Engagement
• Approach seems to cultivate passivity
among stakeholders
• Objects of diversity as instruments to better
rankings and “new wave” hierarchies
• Hidden Agendas
• Is diversity merely an instrument to counter
dominance of US News rankings?
9. Penn State Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Excellence
• The Pennsylvania State University is committed to and accountable for
advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of its forms. We embrace
individual uniqueness, foster a culture of inclusive excellence that
supports both broad and specific diversity initiatives, leverage the
educational and institutional benefits of diversity, and engage all
individuals to help them thrive. We value inclusive excellence as a core
strength and an essential element of our public service mission.
• At Penn State:
• We will foster and maintain a safe environment of respect and inclusion for faculty,
staff, students, and members of the communities we serve
• We will educate our faculty, staff, and students to be social justice advocates, creatively
providing curricula, programs, and environments that reflect the diversity of our
communities, and elevate cultural awareness.
• We will ensure fair and inclusive access to our facilities, programs, resources, and
services, and ensure that all of our policies and practices are inclusive and equitable.
• We will advance and build our workforce by assessing hiring practices and performance
review procedures to attract, retain, and develop talented faculty and staff from diverse
backgrounds.
• We will address intergroup disparities in areas such as representation, retention,
learning outcomes, and graduation rates.
10. The Penn State Joint Diversity
• It was my great honor to serve as the Chair of the Penn State University Joint
Diversity Awareness Task Force (JDATF). JDATF was charged this past April by our
Provost and the University Faculty Senate Chair to consider a number of
important diversity initiatives at Penn State (Charge (PDF); Members). Our work
over the academic year has produced four reports with recommendations for
substantial changes in a number of areas.
• Presented March 2016 for consideration by the PSU Faculty Senate April 2016:
1. US/IL Courses Survey--Recommendations (Legislative;
Advisory/Consultative)
2. Diversity Best Practices
3. Moving Forward Embedding Diversity Policy
• Presented February 2016 and Approved by the PSU Faculty Senate March 2016
4. Moving Forward
11. JDATF Current Committee Charge
• Continue to undertake a review of issues
related to cultural awareness, curricular
and out-of-class climate changes which
could enhance the environment for all
students across the University;
• Continue to work with and contribute to
any effort relating to curricular
programs, including general education
and engaged scholarship;
• Assess the document "A Framework to
Foster Diversity at Penn State" paying
particular attention how the Faculty
Senate can assist with the following
Framework challenges: . . .Campus
Climate, Recruiting and Retaining a
Diverse Work Force, Developing a
Curriculum That Fosters United States and
International Cultural Competencies
• Explore creation of a framework for
advancing diversity and inclusion that
goes beyond the current Framework to
Foster Diversity;
• Contribute to the President’s “Student
Career and Economic Development”
Imperative in coordination with the
Provost and the Office of the President;
and
• Conduct an analysis of the current US
and IL diversity courses across the
University. This includes gathering data,
considering the ways in which outcomes
are monitored and systems of
accountability. Such a study should
benchmark across CIC Institutions as it
relates to the course content that focuses
on diversity, and consider alternative
models to monitoring and accountability.
12. Technical Curricular Sub-Committee: REPORT
• Recommendations:
• The following criterion should be added to the list of criteria that are used to
designate a course as a US or IL course (strongly supported by the newly
adopted PSU Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Excellence).
• For US: Increase student understanding of the nature of social justice, and equity in
the United States at the societal, institutional, and individual levels.
• For IL: Increase student understanding of the nature of social justice, and equity in
international nations at the societal, institutional, and individual levels..
• Future courses that receive the US or IL designation should include at least
50% of the course content addressed by the US or IL course designation
criteria.
• Appropriate funding should be provided to implement the Recommendations
1-5 above.
13. Policy Coordination Sub-Committee: REPORT
• Engaged Scholarship initiative and Student Career and Economic
Development: incorporate principles of inclusive excellence.
• Assessment metrics should be established at the outset to monitor for intergroup
disparities in participation and outcomes.
• Further study to assess institutional embedding of the Framework Review
recommendations.
• Units should highlight information about diversity and inclusion
resources online, following the best practices indicated above.
• Adequate resources are necessary to support institutional priorities;
diversity efforts cannot be successful as an “unfunded mandate.”
• In addition to adequate resources for pursuing diversity and inclusive
excellence initiatives, significant accomplishments and outcomes should
earn rewards, which will help to incentivize progress.
• A uniform system of rewards for diversity enhancing measures ought to be
established in a fair manner.
14. Policy Coordination Sub-Committee: REPORT
• New executives and administrators should be made aware of
University expectations and priorities regarding diversity and inclusive
excellence, and should be made aware of University strategic
planning and particularly their unit’s diversity strategic planning and
associated Framework Reviews.
• Administrative reviews AD-14 should include measures for incorporation of
the A Framework to Foster Diversity at Penn State.
• Units should make use of informational resources available to guide
strategic planning, implementation, reporting, and assessment
efforts, available on the Diversity Strategic Planning website of the
Office of the VP for Educ.;
• unit executives and their representatives should utilize the consultation
services available from VPEE representatives to assist with diversity strategic
planning, implementation, reporting and assessment initiatives
15. Substantive Policy Sub-Committee: Report (1)
• Recommendations:
• The Office of Educational Equity and Campus Environment:
• (a) develop a diversity action plan, in collaboration with unit administrators to enhance
recruitment and retention of students, faculty, and staff,
• (b) develop recommended standards and metrics, centered on the objectives of the
University’s Diversity Statement, for assessing recruitment and retention;
• (c) work with relevant stakeholders, such as Human Resources, unit administrators, and
others to develop unit plans for effective implementation of the goals and metrics for
administrative assessment.
• The Senate Committee on Educational Equity and Campus Environment:
• sponsor an annual report from the Office of Educational Equity and Campus Environment
assessing its programs, initiatives and other significant work, and provide an opportunity for
Senators to pose questions.
• The Office of Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations:
• should prepare a written articulation of standards and objectives that link development
campaign themes to diversity initiatives. That office should provide summary information,
annually, to the university faculty senate assessing the implementation of those standards
and providing senators with an opportunity to pose questions.
16. Substantive Policy Sub-Committee: REPORT (2)
• Create a platform for “conversations” on diversity.
• focus of this discussion should center on the concepts built into the University Diversity Statement
• The University should consider adopting the statement on expressive freedom that is not
grounded on protection from speech or speech acts that may be merely offensive.
• Diversity in recruiting and retention of students, staff and administrative personnel
should be an element in administrative reviews at the unit and senior administrative
levels
• The university should develop binding and transparent measures by which unit
administrators and senior administration officials, may account for the embedding of
diversity issues in ethics based decision making.
• The university should establish a mechanism for the rigorous review of the
administrative structures of diversity units at the university. The process should be
transparent and inclusive.
• Diversity ought to be incorporated as part of the metrics for assessing all aspects of strategic plan
implementation
• The university should include issues of diversity in the construction and elaboration of
its health benefit programs—including programs of mental and physical health—as well
as in its operations and the administration of all human resources programs.
• The responsible administrators should report annually on the progress made in this regard.
17. Challenges
• Definition
• Almost inverse of ABA approach; open ended and ambiguous
• Shifts power over inclusion to senior administrators who hold
the keys to the “diversity kingdom”
• Socialization Versus Naturalization
• Retains the ABA socialization approach; no one likes to be told
what to do
• A significant effort to naturalize in the recommendations—via
inclusion in courses and in the ordinary operations of units; yet
even this largely undefined and thus open to abuses of
discretion
• Easy enough t use diversity to reframe but not eliminate the
hierarchies produce the need for “diversity measures” in the
first place.
• Metrics
• Metrics remain aspirational, though the recommendations call
for better metrics
• Metrics require “all-in” conversations that are unlikely in an
unwieldy institutional organization like a large research
university
• The problematics of “social justice advocates”: a back door to
constraining academic freedom and broader discretionary
authority to middle managers to discipline faculty and
students?
• Accountability
• Focus on accountability measures that reach institutional
leaders
• Seeks to narrow and manage broad administrative discretion
and impunity
• Fiscal accountability: no unfunded mandates; requires
leadership from the top beyond pretty words and good
intentions
• Passive versus Active Engagement
• Approach seems to reduce passivity among stakeholders; but is
it enough? Targeted in the right direction?
• Still Objects of diversity as instruments to better rankings and
“new wave” hierarchies
• Hidden Agendas
• Is diversity merely an instrument to counter dominance of
rankings?
• The problems of the ABA business case in a new guise—if
diversity is framed in terms of the business case then does it
reduce merely to an instrumental mechanism for greater profit?
Is that a sufficient rationale? How does that affect approaches?
18. Conclusion
• The gulf that separates aspiration and realization remains quite broad
• The focus on lowest level stakeholders to bear the burden of realizing
diversity creates a misalignment between obligation and
responsibility
• The focus on principles permits a broad exercise of administrative
discretion that is unbounded by principles of abuse and may be
exercised with impunity.
• The failure to tie diversity to accountability and performance review
among middle and upper managers substantially inhibits the
implementation of robust programs