Black American Academic Performance and Access to the Democratic Process A thesis presented to the Faculty of Saybrook University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (M.A.) in Transformative Social Change by Michael P. Perazzetti Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to initiate a diagnosis and critique of the democratic process with an emphasis upon its relationship to… Read More
Photos and Video from the Last Residential Conference at Saybrook Univeristy I am very late in posting these but it’s been a hectic and eventful year. The photos are from the trip down, along the beautiful Highway 1 in Monterey, California. More than a few decades ago, I took two other trips down Highway 1 from Monterey to San Diego, a much longer trip that lasted… Read More
Creating a Workshop Prospectus for Nonviolent Social Change Training Introduction The hope for the following is different from a traditional nonviolence workshop in that it incorporates a rough reflexive teaching curriculum to allow participants to critically analyze themselves as well as past state violence and the potential for future state violence that they may encounter, and a reflexive history lesson that explores the possibilities… Read More
The Columbus, GA Community Arts and Music Collective: Preparations for the Long Haul Introduction In previous papers, the creation and planning of the Columbus, GA Arts and Music community initiative has been explored in depth. In this paper, the long-term existence of this project will be explored through the following areas: sustainability, maintaining gains achieved, approaches to support well-being, and acknowledging and celebrating gains and victories. While this… Read More
Social System Transformation: An Application of Reflexivity to the Planning of an Education Curriculum Introduction This essay attempts to explain a social system transformation, but the history behind it is also a personal one. While my impressions of the educational system in the United States are based on my personal experience and observations, others have written much more eloquently on the subject from years in the profession, John Taylor… Read More
Planning a Community Arts and Music Collective in Columbus, GA Introduction Members of the Columbus, GA community continue to inform me that an arts and music collective is vitally needed. Yet, some of them continue to cite examples of independent music and arts businesses (independent from the mainstream cultural institutions in Columbus and the surrounding community) that have failed in the recent and distant past. … Read More
A Life Worthy of Human Dignity: Requirements, Values, and Assumptions Introduction A life worthy of human dignity. The statement is at once impassioned, relative, and worthy of an ethics analysis. The elements that make each of our lives worth living may be different for each of us, but all of them are connected in ways that extend beyond the analysis of this paper. Nussbaum (2011)… Read More
An Analysis and Critique of Fromm’s Sane Society, the Dalai Lama’s Ethics, and an Alternative Approach [Note: After speaking with my professor last night (15 June 2017), I realize I was extremely harsh with Fromm’s text, and it may be something I should revisit in the future. Additionally, I apparently made sweeping generalizations that have no basis in the text, so when you read this, please keep that in mind. I… Read More
An Overview and Analysis of The Feminism and Nonviolence Study Group Introduction While it is probably safe to theorize that violence has been an inherent characteristic of the human race, it is then also safe to assume that nonviolence did not make its human debut via Gandhi, Thoreau, Tolstoy, King or a myriad of others (Wikipedia, 2017). While Gandhi’s borrowed principles are valid for the analysis… Read More