- Teacher & Graduate Student -
Ian E. Phillips
Week's Highlighted Studies
Here are the most influential documentaries, lectures, articles, or books I've studied this week:
Social Dominance Theory and the Dynamics of Gendered Prejudice
UCLA (2018)
Dr. Sidanius presents evidence for Social Dominance Theory (SDT) in relation to gender, showing that men are more likely to establish group-based social hierarchies and use mechanism of discrimination such as racism, xenophobia, sexism, classism, etc. in order to propel themselves up the dominance hierarchy and keep others down.
As a result of moving up the dominance hierarchy, males become more attractive to females, meaning it is in their best interest to sacrifice members of their own sex in order to achieve a higher status and likelihood of finding a mate.
Guns, Germs, and Steel Documentary - Jared Diamond
National Geographic (2005)
Everyone knows the classic book by Dr. Diamond, and this is the same information, just in the format of a documentary!
Beginning with guns, the Europeans were first to make guns, giving them a large combat advantage over native populations who were not afforded such a luxury.
Moving on to Germs, the Europeans were blessed with many domesticated farm animals that, as a result of living in close-quarters among humans, transferred their diseases over to humans. The native populations in the Americas were not exposed to such diseases and their immune systems were not ready for many old world diseases like Smallpox.
In regards to steel, the Europeans were able to forge steel that had a whole range of practical uses such as firearms, buildings, tools, and more, all of which provided an edge over American natives.
One Day in Auschwitz
USC Shoah Foundation (2015)
Holocaust survivor, Kitty Hart-Moxon, recounts her enslavement in the Auschwitz concentration camp when she was just a teenager, focusing on the sheer impossibility of surviving even a day in a place where death lurked at every turn.
Along with Hart-Moxon, are two teenage girls, roughly the same age as her when she was enslaved at Auschwitz, and they tour the facility together, reliving the memories as she walks through the former concentration camp.