We live in an era of unprecedented access to information and in these moments of extraordinary change, reading books or diving into history seem at best, quaintly out of date, or at worst, an indulgence that cannot create the same opportunity that we see in other growing fields like computer science or marketing. As someone who works in higher education, I can tell you that there is always talk about the demise of the humanities. In moments of technological innovation, these conversations intensify, and yet, these are the points in history that need the humanities the most.

The humanities鈥攖he study of literature, language, history or philosophy鈥攐ffer opportunities to think about why our world is the way it is, and give its students the tools to meet the changes we face. , but not always obvious, even as humanities students find their paths in education, law, business, management and the not-for-profit sector. The humanities invest in processes鈥攄eveloping critical thinking skills, intellectual creativity and flexibility. Put simply, humanities students know how to learn. At Adelphi, we have seen our graduates go on to become published authors, teachers, lawyers and technological innovators, finding jobs and building careers in unexpected and thrillingly varied fields. To follow the humanities is to pursue a passion, but that doesn鈥檛 mean that those of us who do so have to choose between that and a satisfying and lucrative career. We consider ourselves the lucky ones鈥攎ore often than not, we can have both.

Here鈥檚 the thing about the humanities: The path ahead isn鈥檛 always clear. We take a road map, and set out on a path, perhaps stopping to listen to the stories or histories that will guide us on our path, and keep moving forward. As we study the humanities, building vast reserves of intellectual curiosity, empathy and problem-solving skills, we are moving toward jobs that we haven鈥檛 yet realized exist鈥攐r perhaps even jobs that don鈥檛 yet exist. We move with creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit that will serve us well in the world鈥攏ot only as an employee, or (better yet) a boss, but as a human being, navigating the rapidly changing world with a sense of history, a sense of compassion and a sense of purpose. We understand how history and culture have brought us to this point in time, and we have the ability to imagine what comes next. We are, as Shakespeare put it, makers of manners.

In a world where technology insists that answers can be given instantly, and the world can feel increasingly unsettled, it can be hard to invest in a long-term strategy that can only promise to take you to places you are willing to go. But the outcomes are always worth it.

The post Opinion: Why Study the Humanities, Anyway? appeared first on 茄子视频.

The justices ruled 6鈥�3 along ideological lines that Mu帽oz does not have a fundamental liberty interest in her noncitizen spouse鈥檚 ability to be admitted to the United States. For Jumper, the result was disappointing, but also motivational.

鈥淲orking on immigrants鈥� rights activism and cases became an important part of my law school career and is something I hope to keep working on,鈥� she said.

She credits her time as a Panther with preparing her to excel at a prestigious law school, graduate with honors and secure a position at a New York law firm.

Honing Her Skills at Adelphi

Jumper began to focus on immigrants鈥� rights and environmental justice as an undergraduate. With the support of the Honors College, she created an interdisciplinary studies major enabling her to study political science, economics and philosophy. She said her interdisciplinary major enabled her to look at environmental justice through the economic, political and philosophical lenses. For her honors thesis, she researched worldwide water quality issues.

Jumper said Katie Laatikainen, PhD, professor of political science and international relations, initially mentored her interest in international law and international legal affairs. She participated in Dr. Laatikainen鈥檚 National Model United Nations course and in her study abroad partnership in Finland. 鈥淚 took a lot of her classes because I really love learning international politics from her,鈥� Jumper said. 鈥淎nd that really pushed me toward doing international law.鈥�

She also joined The Delphian as a reporter and was named editor in chief in 2020. 鈥淚 was writing articles so quickly and getting them out and proofing them, and that was really helpful in law school,鈥� she said. In May 2023, she was named editor in chief of the Cornell International Law Journal.

鈥淐oming into a small school and being in the Honors College, I really was able to do everything that I wanted to do,鈥� she noted. 鈥淭hat’s not something that a lot of my colleagues who went to bigger schools could say. I was able to shape my degree and figure out exactly what I wanted to research, and I had the support of professors in doing that.鈥�

Future Focused

Jumper is spending the summer studying for the New York state bar exam. She already has a job lined up in October as a first-year associate with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in downtown Manhattan, where she worked last summer in the litigation department.

鈥淟aw school has been awesome. I鈥檝e done a lot of really cool projects and got to take a lot of great classes and meet great people鈥攁nd I鈥檓 excited for what鈥檚 to come,鈥� she said.

The post From the Honors College to Cornell Law School to the Supreme Court appeared first on 茄子视频.

Numerous studies, such as one by , have shown that philosophy is good preparation for further studies in various fields and can help students gain admission to graduate programs in law, medicine and other professional areas.

鈥淧hilosophy trains students to be analytic thinkers who are attuned to detail and nuance,鈥� said Shawn Kaplan, PhD, associate professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy. 鈥淭he ability to analyze complex arguments in philosophy translates to them being able to analyze projects or workplace problems and creatively develop solutions to them. Our majors are also made to understand diverse perspectives in philosophical debates, and this strengthens their ability to both understand opposing points of view and to be able to rationally persuade people with diverse and opposing opinions and perspectives.鈥�

These Adelphi alumni spoke on how earning a philosophy degree has contributed to their professional and personal lives.

Nicholas N. Khayumov 鈥�14, JD

Nicholas N. Khayumov, 鈥�14 JD, associate attorney, Littman Krooks LLP

, Associate Attorney, Littman Krooks LLP, was drawn to philosophy by the classroom environment of lively debate and discussion among professors and students. 鈥淭he rigorous philosophical training I received proved invaluable in navigating dense and complex legal texts during law school,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he logical reasoning skills honed through philosophy were instrumental in excelling in the LSAT exam, law school and the bar exam.鈥�

Khayumov specializes in trusts and estates, elder law, and special needs planning, 鈥渟afeguarding the assets of elders, ensuring their proper care and planning the future for individuals, especially those with disabilities,鈥� he said, adding, 鈥淭he holistic approach instilled by my philosophical education allows me to view client matters not merely as transactions but as opportunities to contribute meaningfully to our community.鈥�

Leah Prestamo 鈥�08, JD

Leah Prestamo 鈥�08, JD, general counsel, Acacia Center for Justice

, General Counsel, Acacia Center for Justice, also found that philosophy provided a good foundation for a career in law, particularly in her field, which provides in-house counsel to nonprofit organizations.

鈥淚 appreciated the way the Adelphi philosophy department forced me to ask questions and provided options for how to think about the world rather than answers,鈥� she said.

She explained that the philosophy program鈥檚 focus on history 鈥渙ffers the perspectives of entire schools of thought that contradict, complement and otherwise have all kinds of neat tensions with one another. Critical thinking, ethics and legal theory are the areas of philosophy usually cited as being useful for a career in law, but I think it’s deeper than that. Studying philosophy trains you to probe the foundations of everything.鈥�

Camille Pajor 鈥�09, MBA 鈥�16

Camille Pajor 鈥�09, MBA 鈥�16, crime victim advocate, Safe Horizon

Camille Pajor 鈥�09, MBA 鈥�16, Crime Victim Advocate, Safe Horizon, was working as director of bias response and Title IX coordinator at when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. She felt compelled to help, and she and her partner left their jobs to volunteer to assist refugees on and near the Poland-Ukraine border. She later began working for as a protection officer, leading a team that provided psychological first aid and resources to refugees traumatized by the war.

鈥淸Philosophy is] not just an opinion sharing, but a space to develop entire philosophical concepts, theories and arguments,鈥� Pajor said. 鈥淎 philosophy degree can give people a lot of leverage, [especially in today’s world where] we’re faced with a lot of different issues and topics and trying to understand how information flows, if a source is warranted, and what arguments and evidence people are putting forth. These all play into the problem of disinformation. So, in addition to being an interesting discipline, I think you can take a lot from it into other areas.鈥�

Nicholas LaRousse 鈥�10

Nicholas LaRousse 鈥�10, national account manager, Penguin Random House

, National Account Manager at Penguin Random House, was an English major planning to minor in philosophy until he realized he could meet the requirements for a second major. He said his philosophy background has made a lasting impact on him and has helped him in his career handling sales for Penguin Random House, part of the , to major retailer Barnes & Noble.

鈥淚 have always felt that my philosophy degree was an invaluable primer to my future studies and work, as the critical thinking skills have paid such significant dividends,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n graduate school, apart from working on my own creative projects, I would also read and provide feedback for others. I firmly believe that the skills of reading comprehension, crafting and articulating arguments and defending a position were invaluable.

鈥淭here is also an element of empathy that comes from studying philosophy,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲hen you read and engage with philosophical texts you learn to understand various perspectives and viewpoints. Those skills are needed everywhere.鈥�

The post What Can You Do With a Degree in Philosophy? These Alumni Are Putting Thought Into Action鈥攁nd Career Success appeared first on 茄子视频.

But for Shawn Kaplan, PhD, associate professor of philosophy and director of Adelphi’s ethics and public policy program, this inevitability poses an ethical quandary: If protesters are so confident that their actions will be met with violence, do they also bear some moral responsibility for the harm ultimately sustained?

Unfortunately, this question is one of increasing urgency. 鈥淢ore and more, protests are being condemned for the responses they elicit and labeled as provocations to violence,” Dr. Kaplan said. As he writes in a recent paper, 鈥�,” which appeared in The Philosophy of War and Violence, a special edition of the Washington University Review of Philosophy, 鈥減rovocation is a thorny concept” that can 鈥渦nfairly shift culpability for the violent response.”¹

Shawn Kaplan, PhD, is an associate professor of philosophy and director of the ethics and public policy program.

The paper lays out an ethical framework for examining the ethics of nonviolent protest that ends in violence, beginning with an assessment of culpability. According to Dr. Kaplan, protesters sometimes bear some blame for violence they inspire: 鈥淲hile it in no way negates the culpability of those who respond violently or command a violent response to the nonviolent protest, partial culpability can be assigned to the organizers or protesters if the risk of violence they create is unjustified,” he explained.

For a risk of a violent reaction to be justified, the injustice being opposed by the protesters must be grave enough to justify the risk of a violent response, and the likely benefits of the protest must outweigh the likely harms of the violent response. If protesters are facing a significant risk of harm, then only state-ordained violations of their most basic rights may provide justification for imposing such a significant risk of violence. Yet the risk of a violent response, however likely, is not by itself sufficient to establish moral culpability. 鈥淭he person who stands up to a bully might foresee a violent response,” Dr. Kaplan said, 鈥渂ut we don’t believe they have provoked the bully in a morally important way, and we certainly don’t believe they are partially culpable for the bully’s violence. This would be victim blaming.”

Dr. Kaplan addresses another ethical question that emerges from this phenomenon: Is it morally permissible to publicize acts of disproportionate violence against protesters and bystanders in the hopes of influencing public opinion? Ordinarily, a person should not be morally permitted to take advantage of a response they have manipulated or provoked in another party. 鈥淔ollowing this reasoning, some critics argue that, when protesters have already foreseen a violent reaction, it’s morally impermissible for them to then use images and videos of the response in a public relations or social media campaign.”

But categorically denying people’s right to disseminate such documentation is too simplistic, especially since the way a regime responds to protest can illuminate its brutality or criminality. 鈥淧rotesters who create either justified or unjustified risks of violence are permitted to publicize disproportionate violent responses from their opposition, so long as this campaign has a likelihood of success for shaping public opinion,” Dr. Kaplan said.

This framework for analyzing the ethics of nonviolent protest intersects with Dr. Kaplan’s work on the incorporation of facial recognition capabilities into our video surveillance systems. In another new paper, 鈥淭o be a face in the crowd: Surveillance, facial recognition, and a right to obscurity” (Everyday Life in the Culture of Surveillance, 2023), Dr. Kaplan identifies a new threat for nonviolent protesters: the loss of safety through anonymity.² To make sure new surveillance technologies do not have a chilling effect on public protest, he argues that a new 鈥渞ight to obscurity” should be enshrined that prohibits the cataloging of protesters. The loss of our anonymity while in public due to facial recognition surveillance makes us 鈥渧ulnerable to psychological manipulation” and undermines 鈥渢he interest of liberal democracies to neither deter expressions of political dissent or conviction nor limit the diverse expressions of citizens’ diverse faith or ways of life.”

¹ Kaplan, Shawn. 鈥�.” Washington University Review of Philosophy: The Philosophy of War and Violence, vol. 2, 2022, pp. 170-187.

² Kaplan, Shawn. 鈥�.” , edited by Lars Samuelsson, Copp茅lie Cocq, Stefan Gelfgren, Jesper Enbom. Nordicom, 2023.

The post Who Bears the Blame When Protests Turn Violent? appeared first on 茄子视频.

鈥淲e have a changing surveillance landscape where our very broad video surveillance network is starting to be augmented by facial recognition technologies,” Dr. Kaplan said.

How Video Surveillance Can Be Used

While people may be aware that they’re often on camera when they’re in public, many don’t recognize the extent to which information can be gathered and used to produce detailed psychological profiles. It’s not just that you were at the fruit stand, he suggested, but who you were with, what you picked up but didn’t purchase, all of your emotional responses to stimulus in your environment, and how you paid. And that information can then be linked to your name and sold to advertisers, disinformation campaigns, potential employers or schools, insurance companies, and other data collectors. It can also be used to catalog all who publicly participate in political, religious and socially stigmatized activities, which he argues would undermine central interests of liberal democracies.

In his essay published in the anthology Everyday Life in the Culture of Surveillance, Dr. Kaplan poses what he calls 鈥渁n alert about this shift in the surveillance landscape and a call for specific regulations for this emerging technology.”

A Global Look at Surveillance Technology

鈥淚n China, facial recognition surveillance is a very active threat to individuals,” he explained. The Chinese government 鈥渋ntegrated this technology pervasively. Europe has in some ways tried to regulate this, however, it’s still a situation where people are trying to get around the regulation in various ways. In the United States, it’s a little bit more like the Wild West. We have no broad regulation over this technology.”

He added, “It is an emerging threat. I think that’s the best way to think about it. And that’s why now’s the best time to have this debate. There’s very little you or I can do while walking around to protect ourselves from facial recognition surveillance. The main thing is not just being aware of it, but vocally demonstrating your objections.”

Ethics and Public Policy Program

As director of Adelphi’s new Ethics and Public Policy program, Dr. Kaplan’s research focuses on real-world applications for philosophical studies.

Students in the program gain analytic skills, based in studies in philosophy, political science and economics, to investigate specific contemporary problems such as online and public surveillance with regard to ethical, economic and policy challenges. They graduate equipped for rewarding careers in growing sectors covering law, banking and finance, politics, journalism and broadcasting, industry, teaching, business management, and many other branches of public service and advocacy.

Or to put it more succinctly, as Dr. Kaplan says, 鈥淭hey get the tools with which they can be agents of change.”

The post Video Surveillance and Facial Recognition Technology: A Philosophical Concern appeared first on 茄子视频.

Aleksandar Aleksiev ’11: An Actor and Film Producer Goes Into Action in Real Life

Aleksandar Aleksiev ’11 transported refugees out of Ukraine.

Aleksiev, who has starred in more than 30 movies and TV shows and is a film producer in Sofia, Bulgaria, said that when the war started, he spent about 18 hours watching the news in disbelief about what was happening just 12 hours away from his home by car. 鈥淚 wanted to figure out a way to be of help towards the community. I knew that hundreds of thousands of women and children needed to escape Ukraine and to find a way to move away from there,” said Aleksiev, who was a theater major and an Honors College student at Adelphi.

So he decided he would help to get them. At the beginning of March 2022, he loaded a 12-seater van with supplies like blankets, diapers and food, and drove with a friend to a village in Moldova near the Ukraine border. It was a 40-hour, nonstop journey, but they brought 13 women and children back to Bulgaria. He then posted about it on Facebook, and word spread in the media. Soon he had enough donations to make another trip. He crossed into Ukraine to drop off supplies and bring another 12 people back, working with an organization there. In all, they made six trips into the war-torn country between March and May 2022, directly bringing 64 people out of Ukraine and arranging for another 40 to leave, and also helping to house everyone they brought over. He’s raised $60,000 to date to purchase bulletproof vests and supplies.

Aleksiev, who won the Golden Rose award in the Bulgarian Feature Film Festival, said he didn’t think about the danger he was in until after, despite being in towns like Vinnytsia when air raid sirens went off; the town was destroyed 10 days later. 鈥淭hat’s because every time I was coming back from Ukraine driving a bus packed with women and children, I was listening to their stories,” he said. 鈥淵ou try to hold your tears because you cannot be weak in front of them. They have just left a war zone. I was just a driver to help to bring some stuff there and bring back people.”

In December 2022, he was one of several activists awarded for his .

Gabriel Hardy-Fran莽on ’14: Former Journalist Reaches Out to Colleagues on the Front Lines

Gabriel Hardy-Fran莽on ’14 (left) launched the nonprofit Rescue & Equip Ukraine Mission (REUM), which provides refugees with medical equipment, clothes, food and protective gear.

Hardy-Fran莽on, who lives in Adissan, France, and works in technology, was also distressed by the news. He had lived in Kyiv, Ukraine, for five years as a journalist from 2015 to 2020 and was now worried about his former team of journalists. 鈥淚 have so many friends there. Ukraine is my second home,” said the political science major. So he reached out to his former colleagues to ask how he could help, and three days later was on a flight from Paris to the Polish-Ukraine border to pick up a friend’s wife and son. He also started fundraising on the internet and earned about $25,000, which he used to purchase medical equipment.

Using the town hall as a warehouse, he and volunteers were able to gather about 10 pallets of clothes and medical equipment and arranged for a truck to bring them to Ukraine. 鈥淚 also bought a lot of military equipment that was very expensive,” he said. 鈥淚 bought two bulletproof vests for two of my best friends just to make sure that they were okay if they had to go fight.”

To provide more aid, he launched a nonprofit, Rescue & Equip Ukraine Mission (REUM), the mission of which is to help refugees escape and provide them with medical equipment, clothes, food and protective gear. Money he raised also paid for train and plane tickets to help evacuate people. Now he’s trying to buy night vision goggles, which are about $1,000 each, and generators at $700 each.

In March 2022, he returned to Ukraine to deliver medical and military equipment. He is also helping French journalists make connections in Ukraine so that they have access to contacts to enable them to report on the war.

Camille Pajor ’09, MBA ’16: Returns to Ukraine to Help Refugees

Camille Pajor ’09, MBA ’16 (second from right), joined Oxfam to help refugees on the Poland-Ukraine border.

Pajor, a member of the Adelphi 10 Under 10 Class of 2018, also wanted to help with the war effort. For her, that meant heading to Poland, a natural move since her parents had migrated to the United States from there and she is fluent in Polish, Ukrainian and Russian. From 2009 to 2011, Pajor had served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine, where, for next two years, she taught English and worked on projects to counter human trafficking.

鈥淲hen the war escalated in 2022, it was difficult for me to watch and not do something,” said Pajor, who at Adelphi was a member of the Honors College, majoring in philosophy and minoring in art history. 鈥淲e saw people coming to Poland to help out and wanted to be part of that.”

So in May 2022, she and her partner volunteered for the grassroots organization Russians for Ukraine and were sent to a border camp in Medyka, Poland. In July, she joined Oxfam International as a protection officer to safeguard human rights. Pajor and her team help refugees get medical treatment. They also perform psychological first aid, an approach used to reduce stress and help survivors of traumatic events function and recover. And they get refugees the information they need鈥攈ow to get food, a place to sleep and a social security number, and collect data on what services were needed and administered.

Their Work Continues With the War

The three alumni don’t see an end to the aid they can provide. As Hardy-Fran莽on said, 鈥淚 keep on helping as much as I can. As we approach a year, it’s the worst part of war because when it lasts a long time, everybody gets used to it. So I’m helping on a demand basis now.”

The post From the Sidelines to the Front Lines: Three Adelphi Alumni Respond to Crisis in Ukraine appeared first on 茄子视频.

But today鈥檚 class is different. There鈥檚 a special guest, Camille Pajor ’09, MBA 鈥�16. She鈥檚 Dr. Haas鈥� former student and a member of Adelphi鈥檚 2018 10 Under 10 class of outstanding alumni. She is here to give her firsthand account of what it鈥檚 like to work for Oxfam on the Poland鈥揢kraine border, helping Ukrainian refugees fleeing from Russian assaults. After this brief visit home, she’ll return to continue her work.

Pajor left behind a job as Title IX coordinator and director of bias response at The Juilliard School and a comfortable life in the United States. She said it was a big decision, yet an easy one, because 鈥渢his conflict is too close, too personal, to not help in some significant way鈥� knowing what I have to offer and understanding myself and the skills I can bring to the table.鈥�

Pajor is no stranger to taking on challenges and serving others. Her parents were refugees who fled Poland two days before martial law was enforced in 1981. From 2009 to 2011, she served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine, where she taught English and worked on projects to counter human trafficking. She is fluent in Polish, Ukrainian and Russian, and through her work in student affairs at Adelphi and at Juilliard, is experienced with working with people suffering from trauma.

Pajor addresses students in Dr. Marty Haas’ honors seminar.

A Decision to Serve

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine escalated, 鈥淚t was difficult for me to watch and not do something,” she said. In May 2022, she and her partner, himself the son of refugees from the Soviet Union, began volunteering with the grassroots organization Russians for Ukraine, serving at border crossings, transport hubs and shelters throughout southeast Poland.

In July she joined the international nongovernmental organization Oxfam as a protection officer. Her team provides refugees with updated information and safe referrals for a range of critical needs, including medical and psychological support, accommodation, transportation, financial support and access to the Polish social services system. They also provide psychological first aid, an approach used to reduce stress and support survivors of traumatic events. Many of the refugees are women and children, who are in danger of being preyed upon by traffickers. By sharing reliable information in strategic locations, the team raises awareness about potential dangers and how to mitigate them.

Witnessing the 鈥渧irtues of perseverance, courage and love鈥�

鈥淚n my past eight months of service,鈥� she said, 鈥淚 have heard endless stories of horror and destruction from people directly impacted, like the father who ran away from an explosion carrying his 10-year-old son, sustaining burns from his neck to his ankles. His boy鈥檚 hands were badly burned and wrapped when I met him.

鈥淲hat stands out in these stories,鈥� she continued, 鈥渁re the virtues of perseverance, courage and love. The boy鈥檚 injuries did not stop him from practicing tricks on his scooter in the humanitarian center parking lot. They also did not stop him from asking me if I could look up if there were any skate parks nearby. And they did not stop his parents from glowing with pride and joy at their boy.鈥�

And through it all, she and her colleagues try their best to look after their own physical and mental health to avoid burnout and continue to be present to help alleviate the suffering of the refugees. 鈥淭here is sadness and tragedy, but also resilience,鈥� she said.

Inspired by her liberal arts education at Adelphi

Pajor later said that Adelphi was and continues to provide her with a supportive environment and that her major in philosophy and minor in art history were good preparation for working overseas.

鈥淧hilosophy is a difficult major but a wonderful discipline,鈥� she said. While she initially chose it because she heard it would help her get into law school, 鈥�… it was the curiosity that kept me rather than it being a means to an end 鈥� learning about the big thinkers and asking the big questions and examining how human thought evolved from historical times to now and how it impacted the world.鈥� She said that art history required a lot of memorization, good practice for learning multiple languages.

Pajor has stayed connected with many of her professors, including her adviser, Shawn Kaplan, PhD, associate professor of philosophy. 鈥淭he rigor he expected of his students helped me develop intellectually,鈥� she said. She appreciated the way Dr. Kaplan engaged his students outside class, sometimes bringing students together to watch discussion-worthy films, have pizza and then 鈥渢alk about the film until the conversation was done,鈥� not something that could be confined to the time limits of a typical class.

And, of course, she鈥檚 stayed connected to Dr. Haas, even video chatting with him from Poland. 鈥淭here are so many things I can speak to [about him],鈥� she said, citing how he lets students choose articles from periodicals like The New Yorker and then lead the classroom discussion. 鈥淵ou get to learn about so many different topics but also the people in the room and what they鈥檙e passionate about. His presentation style is so open and welcoming, not about ‘Did you do the reading?’ but the essence of the issue and meandering asides that are interesting and relevant. Every time I talk to him, I leave with a list of books, movies and radio shows that he recommends.鈥�

While her path hasn鈥檛 been a straight one, she says there are plenty of opportunities for career growth with INGOs like Oxfam, 鈥�… whether it鈥檚 continued deployment or work at headquarters or specific teams. There鈥檚 unfortunately no shortage of humanitarian issues around the world.鈥�

The post Heeding the Call: An Alumna’s Experience in Poland Helping Ukrainian Refugees appeared first on 茄子视频.