“Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus”: Are they?
April 24, 2008Posted by mmarvs in : Audio and Video, Debates, General
9 comments
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, by John Gray, was published in May 1992 and stayed in the best selling lists for 6 years. In his book, Dr Gray, a doctor in phychology, defends the theory that men and women can’t easily understand each other unless they become aware of the fact that they are as different as beings from different planets. He offers many suggestions for improving husband-wife relationships by understanding the communication style and emotional needs of the opposite gender.
Watch John Gray explaining some of his theories.
“What Makes Men Happy is Not the Same for Women”
“How Men Communicate”
“How Men and Women Cope with Stress Differently”
Do you agree with Gray?
Read this post in a blog about a writing experiment carried out by an English professor from the University of Phoenix, which seems to illustrate John Gray’s theory.
The Paradox of Choice
April 18, 2008Posted by mmarvs in : Audio and Video, Debates
10 comments
Having a choice is supposed to give us freedom and happiness in life.
Not according to Barry Schward, a sociology professor at Swarthmore College and author of The Paradox of Choice. In this talk, he persuasively explains how and why the abundance of choice in modern society is is in fact a burden and making us miserable.
Do you agree?
Motions for debate 2008
April 7, 2008Posted by mmarvs in : Debates, General
1 comment so far
The section Motions for Debate was created in 2007 and was developed by my students in Fifth year. It was a fantastic experience for me as a teacher, because I really had a great time reading the task I had asked to do, which, I must confess, it’s not always the case. Students felt motivated to write for new readers: no more writing for just the teacher, judging your mistakes and giving you a mark. They could also interact with each other, reacting to what others had to say. I didn’t take part in the debates, just once to congratulate my students for the effort and the good job and I didn’t correct the mistakes students might have made.
And now it is time to start a new block of debates. There is a new page with its own tab, called Motions for Debate 2008 and in the column on the right of the page you will find the proposals made by students. Choose the ones you feel more strongly about and write your comments!
You have to choose a nickname and e-mail it to me. I’ll be the only one who knows your identities. This is a new feature suggested by a student from last year, Heliodoro. He said that it would have been better fun to write without knowing who you were debating with until the very end, so that’s what we’re going to do this time. Needless to say that no offensive comments will be published.
If you don’t know what to think at first, you may take a stand after reading what other students had to say.
Good debates, then!
María