TEDxPSU - Sam Richards - A Radical Experiment in Empathy

Sam Richards is a sociologist and award-winning teacher who has been inspiring undergraduate students at Penn State since 1990. Every semester, 725 students register for his Race and Ethnic Relations course, one of the most popular classes at Penn State and the largest of its kind in the country. Through his natural ability of seeing a subject from many angles, Richards encourages students to engage more fully with the world and to think for themselves — something he did not do until his third year in college. Because of his passion for challenging students to open their minds, an interviewer recently referred to him as "an alarm clock for eighteen-year-olds."



His career began at the age of 24 when he was hired to teach a cybernetics course — just 15 minutes before the first class meeting. He remembers walking into the room without having had a moment to create a lesson plan and greeting his students, "Welcome to the course. I'm your instructor. And if you have no idea what cybernetics is, you're not alone — because I don't either." This characteristic willingness to be playfully transparent in the classroom, along with a talent for making complex ideas understandable and relevant, is the foundation of his success as a teacher.

Richards is also the co-director of the World in Conversation Project at Penn State (www.worldinconversation.org), whose mission is to create a kind of dialogue about social and cultural issues that invites the unexamined, politically incorrect thoughts of participants to the surface so that those thoughts can be submitted to conscious exploration and inquiry. The conversation topics span a range of cultural issues — from U.S. race relations to gender to faith to international racism. This year, nearly 7,000 University Park students will participate in one of more than 1,300 of these unscripted conversations. Furthermore, the project also sponsors video dialogues between Penn State students and students at other universities around the world.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

Arabic translation: Noof Fawzi Alkhamis
Malay translation: Iliani Wan Ahmad Murtadza

Category:

Education

Tags:

• TEDx
• TEDxPSU
• PSU
• Penn State
• 10/10/10
• Sam Richards
• WinC
• World in Conversation Project

[x13nick13x]

Sounds like everything Ron Paul talks about...

[wretchedyo]

thats the work of the C.I.A. It's a common method, it was also used in most south american countries during the cold war. Secure treacherous tyrants as your "man", feed him money, once in power tell him to make it look like he is unfriendly towards the americans that he works for. In the end, America basically controls that country.

[kregerjd]

It's the media that portrays the images of Christianity as such, when Christ asks you to turn the other cheek, he doesn't mean for you to justify yourself in killing, because we think its a just cause. Christ asks you to die in witness to Him, not defend what the goverment thinks is its best interest. If it goes against Christ stay out of it. Just like it chooses to generalize Muslims as terrorists indirectly, Imagine if people stopped thinking about themselves, religion poorly represents truth.

[infinitude3]

Same goes for Palestine !

[KnockBuck88]

we have 64 ppl WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND !!!!

[prodrivebrasil]

Honestly, just north americans don't see what they are doing for the world. The rest of the world knows a lot better what is happening. There are a lot of great people in USA, but all this crap your country is doing with the war for oil.... turns you into the hell for the rest of us.

Great speech from a very rare not blind north american.



[dzambulat92]

I wish all stupid retarded people would watch this video and STOP hating. I have sein ALOT of videos where Americans and Arabs/muslims write shit to each others, and hating.. i se ALOT of Russian/chechen videos where both sides does the same thing. And i am in the middle, i just can't understande how people can be so dumb, i guess these are those people who makes war instead of peace. I hope those dumb asses will start thinking different. Peace and love.

[MrWeezyhawk]

I think you are completely missing the point. There are endless other issues he could have brought up, but the point not to talk about a lot of political issues-- it's just that these were easy to use as examples to help people put themselves in others' shoes.

[Mr2WAC]

thanks for doing what you do.....I really think this can help a lot of people

[jrewert]

@x13nick13x exactly. We should trade with other countries, not meddle in their affairs.

[jrewert]

Sounds like what Ron Paul is saying. We are a great country, but we need to stay out of other people's business and bring our troops home. we should stop propping upp dictators

[ender330]

The Russians have a disgusting, corrupt upper class getting rich off of oil and shipping it elsewhere. The Russians aren't flying planes into American skyscrapers. This guy leaves out the basic truth that it is radical Islam that has held back the Middle East. Sure the U.S. has supported the Saudi Regime, but we've supported many corrupt regimes. It's the Saudi version of radical islam that is exported elsewhere that leads to terrorism and stagnation in countries like Afghanistan.