Resources.

In this fully revised and updated version of Inequality and Violence in the United States: Casualties of Capitalism, sociologist Barbara Chasin examines both the interpersonal violence with which the news media keep us familiar, and the less visible, but more costly, structural violence, which the media practically ignore. Dr. Chasin points out that interpersonal violence is inflicted on its victims by identifiable others and is emphasized by the media. By contrast, organizational and structural violence primarily affects the poor, the working class, and people of color, is a result of decisions made by society's elite, and is practically ignored by the media and rarely prosecuted. Throughout this thoroughly researched book, Dr. Chasin stresses the connections between violence and economic, ethnic, and gender inequalities. This revised edition also includes recent statistics and tables, plus new material on the 2003 U. S. war with Iraq and terrorism. (Humanities Books, $27.)

Since its founding in 1991 by University of Massachusetts Communications professor and media scholar Sut Jhally, the Media Education Foundation has been producing and distributing video documentaries that focus on the threats that corporate-dominated media pose to any viable democracy. MEF's work encourages critical thinking and media literacy around such issues as media ownership and regulation, capitalism, representational politics, and discrimination along the lines of race, class, gender, and sexuality (see www.mediaed.org). MEF's newest release, Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire, explores how an extremist faction of the Republican Party has strategically used the horrific events of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to set in motion a pre-existing agenda to reshape United States foreign policy and dismantle civil liberties and social programs domestically. Written and directed by Jeremy Earp and Sut Jhally, this sixty-four minute documentary makes a compelling case that the Bush Administration's controversial justifications for the war in Iraq should be understood within the larger context of a two-decade effort by neoconservatives to radically increase the Pentagon's budget in the wake of the Cold War, and to use military force to expand U.S. imperial power globally. The film reveals how the Bush Administration has been manipulating intelligence, political discourse, and the fears of the American people after 9/11 in order to justify and gain support for its neoconservative global agenda. Narrated by Julian Bond, Hijacking Catastrophe features interviews with more than twenty prominent political analysts including 1997 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams, former U.N. Chief Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter, international scholar Noam Chomsky, and Pentagon whistleblower Karen Kwiatkowski.

All of MEF's films are designed to provide viewers with the tools and vocabulary necessary to analyze how global media are threatening democracy. As such, Hijacking Catastrophe comes with an extensive study guide to help educators work with high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from diverse fields of study (e.g., American studies, sociology, cultural studies, critical pedagogy, communications, media literacy, journalism, history, etc.), as well as adult education students, community groups, and activists. What's so important about Media Education Foundation's projects is that they don't tell us what to think, rather they work to get us to think for ourselves--a fundamentally democratic ideal.

A new 28 minute documentary, "Last Journey for the Leatherback?", documents the incredible life of the leatherbacks, the largest species of sea turtle, and details the threat industrial fishing poses to their survival. The video is $15 postpaid for individuals and organizations, but free for teachers with a teaching kit. To receive your copy of the video, contact Robert Ovetz, Save the Leatherback Campaign Coordinator, Sea Turtle Restoration Project, PO Box 400, Forest Knoll, CA 94933; or call 1-415-488-0370 ext. 106; or fax [phone]; or visit www.seaturtles.org.

The Summer 2004 Rethinking Schools continues its excellent work with two lead articles focusing on highly successful experiences within the elementary schools. "Beyond the Bake Sale" describes an elementary school club which helps students explore the roots of hunger, and in "Confronting Child Labor," an elementary teacher discovers her students' best work emerges from a unit on child labor.

Carol Smith's exhibit on "Academic Freedom at New York City College, 1931-1942" is a visual history of student and faculty activism during the turbulent years of the Great Depression and the measures taken to silence it. CCNY in the 1930s was a major center for student protest against militarism and fascism. In addition, there were faculty involved in anti-fascist activities, the Communist party, and the College Teachers Union. In the early 1940s over 50 CCNY faculty and staff lost their jobs because of their activism. Over 100 vintage photographs, cartoons, graphics, and flyers of the period illustrate these events. The exhibit will be at the City University Graduate Center of the City University of New York from February 4 to March 4, 2005 on the first floor in the Exhibition Hallway. A symposium on academic freedom will take place on the opening night, Friday February 4, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m in the Segal Theatre. The Graduate Center is located on the corner of 5th Avenue and 34th Street in Manhattan and the exhibition hours are from Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m to 10:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

Is there a news item, call for papers, upcoming conference, resource, teaching tool or other information related to progressive education that you would like to share with other Radical Teacher readers? Conference announcements and calls for papers should be at least six months ahead of date. Items, which will be used as found appropriate by Radical Teacher, cannot be returned. Send hard copy to Leonard Vogt, Department of English, LaGuardia Community College (CUNY), 31-10 Thomson Avenue, Long Island City, New York 11101--or email items to: [e-mail].