Thinking global, living local: Voices in a globalized world

  • A rural school in a Mazahua community in the Estado de México.

    From Feudalism to Partnership

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    “De Panzazo”, a 2012 documentary directed by journalist Carlos Loret de Mola, exposes Mexico’s failures in education throughout the last century. A popular expression meaning “barely approved” in English, “De Panzazo” presents a concise, captivating, and even humorous overview of the Mexican education crisis, claiming that both public and private […]

  • The Planet Needs Our Help

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    When it comes to big planet-scale environmental issues like climate change, some people dismiss individual actions like driving less or eating less meat. They say that our actions aren’t important, and instead we need large-scale policies that will influence everyone’s actions. While policy can help, it’s wrong to dismiss individual […]

  • Mona Shomali (photo courtesy of the artist)

    Artist Mona Shomali: Ecology not for ‘stiff lab coats’

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    Once upon a time, there was a young painter named Mona Shomali. Her brown eyes glowed like candied almonds and her smile came together like a vanquished orange slice. She laughed readily, covering canvasses with beautiful images — sweeping portraits of female figures who share her Iranian descent. Art collectors were […]

  • Two Keys for Olympic Success in the Developing World

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    Green, a rowing channel that radiated beauty during the 1968 Olympic games hosted by Mexico is today nothing more than a neglected, smelly, green water spot in the middle of Mexico City. Near the finish line, the screen where once people could watch the race from the stands is not […]

  • 132 Strives for Democracy

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    It seems that it just takes a couple of brave students plus one collective vision in order to awaken a society’s hunger for democracy. In the final months leading up to the Mexican presidential elections, 131 students from a private university– Universidad Iberoamericana– decided to defy the media’s allegedly favorite […]