To celebrate the end of an extremely experimental stressful successful semester, the “Global Poverty” course graduate student instructors (all 482 of them) and the #GlobalPOV team came together to eat, drink and be merry. But then Bono showed up, per usual, and Prof. Roy promptly kicked all of us out of the house so the two of them could be alone, per usual. Some party. (And yes, bunny ears are still socially acceptable at academic functions. Just to

The #GlobalPOV Project’s in-class tweeting component was covered in the Fall 2012 edition of the Blum Center newsletter. In the article, writer Javier Kordi notes: Chipping away at the tradition of hierarchical education, the Twitter project restructures social relations within the classroom. . . . Being a public medium, Twitter allows anyone to join the conversation, but also forces Berkeley students to think of themselves as public scholars— everything they post falls under the scrutiny of the global community.” To read the full article, click

The #GlobalPOV Project’s story artist, Abby VanMuijen, and her live-action sketch skillz were covered in the Fall 2012 edition of the Blum Center newsletter. As a student, VanMuijen doodled her way to producing The Global Poverty Coloring Book, which students now use as a learning aid in Prof. Roy’s Global Poverty class. In addition to now working as our story artist extraordinaire, VanMuijen is teaching a DeCal class, titled “Visual Notetaking 101,” which attracts 150 students from departments all over campus. According to VanMuijen: I wasn’t magically bestowed with the ability to take notes the way I do. It was something I practiced every day, and taught myself how to do. I started “Visual Notetaking 101″ because I realized this is a skill that people can learn. Visual notetaking can revolutionize your entire outlook on your education, as it did for me. Seeing your thoughts and ideas and opinions come to life, even if just on paper, is empowering.” To read the full article, click

Prof. Roy yacked on and on about Bono. Abby did some doodling. Tara shoved a camera in everyone’s face. This vid resulted. Take a behind-the-scenes look into the making of The #GlobalPOV Project’s “Who Sees Poverty?” pilot video. [youtube

Kristin Hanes, a reporter with KGO Radio, visited Prof. Ananya Roy’s “Global Poverty: Challenges and Hopes In The New Millennium” class this week to explore and experience Roy’s use of Twitter as a teaching tool. Hanes interviewed Roy and talked to students during class (tisk! tisk!) to get their feedback on the process. According to Hanes: Students in a Global Poverty lecture at UC Berkeley are incorporating Twitter into class, which gives shy students a voice, and expands interactions in a class of

“Who Sees Poverty?” Let production commence! Today.

The Daily Californian, the student-run UC Berkeley paper of record, visited Prof. Ananya Roy’s “Global Poverty: Challenges and Hopes In The New Millennium” class this week to explore her use of Twitter in a large lecture hall setting. According to the article: By projecting tweets pertaining to the class on a screen, professors are able to use teaching methods that allow large groups of students to interact with one another and the professor during class. The tables have turned,” said Tara Graham, director of Digital Media Projects at the Blum Center and a lecturer in the campus international and area studies department. “We’re no longer in a world where ideas are conveyed one-to-many, but now we have a many-to-many mode of communication.” … “What this does is that there are so many kids that are speaking up, and because we run it live, they then engage in conversation with each other in a way that’s impossible in almost any classroom,” Roy said. “This is not anymore about my simply lecturing to them; I’m curating the conversation.” To read the full article, click

By now, it’s common knowledge that Twitter and other forms of social media are transforming the ways in which our students engage with each other (and celebrities) outside of the classroom, but what about the ways in which these media tools can transform student participation and interaction during class? Or, inversely, the ways in which the classroom can transform the tone of discussions and sharing on social media? And, in turn, the ways in which these digital platforms can empower a generation of digital natives to speak up and weigh in on matters of public importance? “There is nothing new about using social media in the classroom,” argues Tara Graham, a lecturer in the International and Area Studies Academic Program at the University of California, Berkeley. She has been using Twitter as a platform for dialogue and discussion in her classes on digital media and social justice for over a year. Graham’s workshop-style classes, however, are small in size, ranging from 15 to 20 students. The question follows: Could Twitter encourage substantive discussion in large lecture hall classes with hundreds of students? Graham teamed up with another UC Berkeley colleague, Ananya Roy, chair of the Global Poverty & Practice Minor, to put the question of scale to the test. Roy teaches a class on global poverty every fall that attracts at least 600 students. Early this semester, the two unleashed a live twitter feed into the auditorium, and the experience was

Here’s the (totally non-substantive but totally memorable) tweet of the day: Hey I just twittered and this is crazy, hi Ananya! So tweet me maybe?

The importance of anthropology in poverty alleviation and development work was showcased at a March 8 panel discussion hosted by the Blum Center for Developing Economies, where speakers highlighted how anthropology can help us understand economics, policy and the alarming rates of poverty that persist in the world.

Eight students from the Blum Center for Developing Economies at UC Berkeley will participate in the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI-U) hosted at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. starting on March 30th. All are part of the Blum Center’s “Global Poverty and Practice Minor,” the largest undergraduate minor on the Berkeley campus. Students are selected to attend CGI-U based upon the quality of their “Commitment to Action” – a specific plan of action that addresses a pressing challenge — on their campus, in their local community, or across the world. Three of the Blum Center students have also been honored by an invitation to present their action plans to the audience. Presenting their work will be: Lauren Herman, a recent Cal graduate who majored in Peace and Conflict Studies, made a commitment to create informational material for Kenyan borrowers who are vulnerable to predatory lending. An attendee at last year’s CGI U, she will return this year to share the progress she’s made since last year’s commitment. Her work aims at helping Kenyan borrowers, who are often unaware of the loan conditions and their rights as consumers. To address this problem, Lauren has been working on a consumer education manual. This new resource will assist clients in making informed decisions about their participation in microfinance. It will be distributed in collaboration with consumer advocacy groups and microcredit borrowers in Nairobi. Komal Ahmad, a fourth year student majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies and Jacquelyn Hoffman, a fourth year student majoring in Gender and Women’s studies, made a commitment to addressing inequitable distribution and injustice in the food system. Their organization, Bare Abundance (BA), collects excess food from on-campus dining halls and restaurants to redistribute to those who don’t have healthy food. They have developed an after-school program operating in Oakland and staffed by current UC Berkeley student volunteers. School children learn about the importance of a healthy lifestyle through BA’s experiential method, where participants prepare and consume the healthy food collected through the BA network. Komal and Jacquelyn aim to expand their afterschool program and hope to create food redistribution initiatives on other college campuses. Attending for the first time will be: Stephanie Ullrich, a fourth year student with a double major in Peace and Conflict Studies and Media Studies & Rebecca Peters, a third year student majoring in Society and Environment , made a commitment to a 3-part water initiative. They will create a Water Sustainability, Science, and Development minor at UC Berkeley to educate students on global hydro-politics, health and sanitation; they will expand membership in the Berkeley Water Group, an interdisciplinary student group that addresses problems related to water, sanitation, and hygiene; and they will create an academic water research journal and social marketing campaign to improve outreach. Joanna Chen, a third year student majoring in Urban Studies, made a commitment to work with local NGOs to preserve the ecology of rural China. She will offer workshops on the environmental rights of villagers in rural areas. By engaging marginalized groups in education about their rights to a safe environment, Joanna hopes to spur local activism and encourage policy reforms that will protect the vulnerable environments of China. Thuy Ngan Pham, a third year student majoring in Molecular Toxicology, made a commitment to develop a network to raise awareness and gather funding for student-run service organizations. SAnoda, a citizen organization, will develop an online database to connect students and faculty to the needs of the UC Berkeley service community. By linking student initiatives to their much-needed funding, SAnoda aims to increase the efficacy and frequency of social action. Bernadette Rabuy, a second year student majoring in Political Economy, made a commitment to improve access to healthcare for villagers in Vadamanappakkam, India. Working with Project RISHI (Rural India Social and Health Improvement), she will help implement ‘RISHI Plug-Ins’— informational public service announcements meant to connect households with the self-help services of the village. About the Blum Center for Developing Economies: Propelled by the energy and talent of faculty and students committed to helping the nearly three billion people who live on less than two dollars a day, the Blum Center is focused on finding solutions to the most pressing needs of the poor. Blum Center innovation teams are working to deliver safe water and sanitation solutions in eight countries; life-saving mobile services throughout Africa and Asia; and new energy technologies that emphasize efficiency while reducing negative environmental impacts. The Center’s Global Poverty & Practice minor is the largest undergraduate minor on campus, giving students the knowledge and real-world experience to become dynamic participants in the fight against poverty. In addition to choosing from a wide variety of new courses, students participate directly in poverty alleviation efforts in over fifty developing