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Our weekly forum, FOCUS, takes place every Tuesday during university term. It includes the following activities:
- Seminars: one or two people will prepare the chosen topic for the week (everyone having done some background reading on it), and we will divide into two or three groups to discuss the issue. Some of theses seminars will be based on a book.
- Get-togethers: a talk given by a guest-speaker, with time for questions at the end.
- Films/Documentaries: on topics of cultural/political interest
- Model UN: this is a new activity. We had a short (2-hour) session in the Leadership Weekend at the end of September, which worked very well. We can either do the same or have a slightly longer one (5 hours).
- Trips: once or twice a term we will organise visits to places of interest such as the Houses of the Oireachtas.
- UNIV Forum - Rome: we're planning to go to Rome for a week in March (coincides with UCD break). More about this later.
The purpose of the FOCUS forum is to discuss issues in relation to politics, history, the media, economics & business that are of interest to university students. Some examples of the topics we hope to cover are:
- The United Nations
- The EU
- US Foreign Policy
- Zimbabwe
- China
- Burma
- Capitalism
- Globalisation and Terrorism
- The Death Penalty
- The Role of the Media in Politics
- Irish Politics
- Historical figures,
e.g. Nelson Mandela, Ghandi, etc.
- Financial scandals (e.g. Enron)
- and more...
The emphasis of the forum is on preparation of the topic of the week in advance so that everyone can participate in an informed way. Participants are welcome to suggest topics for future forums.
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The following topics, among others, have been covered in the Forum this year (along with some information sent out publicising the forum at the time):
The UN and the Rwandan Genocide
A paper will be presented by Ezequiel Mercau (2nd Arts UCD), who is one of the participants in the forum.
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Lack of Accountability in Irish Political Institutions
A paper will be presented by Philip Bagnell (3rd Arts UCD), who is one of the participants in the forum. |
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Is Fox News a weapon of Republican propaganda ?
We will watch a DVD about the role of Fox News in the American media.
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The US Media and the Death Penalty
A paper will be given by John Holdridge who is Director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Capital Punishment Project in Durham, North Carolina. Before studying law at New York University, he worked for a year as a journalist in Ireland. Prior to joining the ACLU in 2006, he was a public defender in Connecticut’s Capital Defence and Trial Services Unit and, before that, spent 11 years as director of the Mississippi and Louisiana Capital Trial Assistance Project in New Orleans. He has represented numerous “Death Row” clients at trial, on appeal, and in post-conviction proceedings. These include Michael Graham and Larry Maxwell, both innocent defendants who faced death by execution and were later freed. He wrote the pleadings and co-argued a seminal case in which the Louisiana Supreme Court recognized that indigent defendants have a right to effective counsel and that the overwhelming caseloads of the indigent defender system in New Orleans violated that right. In 2001 he received the National Legal Aid & Defender Association’s Life in the Balance Achievement Award. For a summary of his reasons for ending the death penalty in the US, see http://www.aclu.org/capital/general/30135res20070614.html
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The Legacy of Tony Blair
The forum will watch a documentary about Tony Blair produced by PBS Frontline: The Blair Decade. After the documentary, we will have a discussion assessing Blair's legacy to British and world politics.
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The Middle East
Focusing on the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. We will review a document written by Vladimir Jabotinsky, a Zionist, which argues in favour of a Jewish State. We'll also watch part of a documentary that looks back on the creation of the Jewish State and what that has meant for the people of Palestine. What we are going to be focusing on is the reasons for and against the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.
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