Friday Fling - The Best Articles I've Read This Week

Just one link this week, but it's a long one! Check out this New York Times article on How Companies Learn Your Secrets. Creepy yet interesting.

Wanderlust

I have to say that I have no desire to see the movie Wanderlust starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, however I was very taken by this article at cultureby.com.

The old career path was simple.


Fix on the objective. Commit body and soul. Keep your eyes on the prize. Stay at it.


No experimenting with other options. No idle curiosity. No putzing around. In sum, no career wanderlust.


Make a choice. Stick with it.

It is no surprise that this article stuck with me. I'm in the midst of a (rather difficult) career transition, from legal executive to (hopefully) policy advisor working with ethnic minorities. Yes, I had a good career, yes, I could have stuck with it. But was it fulfilling? Did it make me happy? Did I want to do it for the rest of my life? No way. It took me a long time to figure out what I really wanted. And it will take me a long time to get exactly where I want to be. In the meantime I am checking out my options, learning as much as I can, and moving forward.

Friday Fling - The best Articles I've Read This Week

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted one of these - for some reason I haven't found much of interest on the tubes recently. Could I be looking in the wrong places?

Anyway, on to a few articles I've enjoyed this week:

• Anthropological theories on human nature over at Living Anthropologically
• And an interesting look at domestic violence from pop-culture site Mamapop

Equality And Diversity Training

I have just completed a course for Equality and Diversity training run by NICEM. The course explored the dynamics of racism and equality on an individual and organisational level, and looked at anti-racism legislation, ways of challenging discrimination in the workplace, and even looked at formulating action plans, both personal and for our chosen organisation.

It was only a 2 day course, but managed to cover a fairly extensive range of topics in that time. The aim was for practical the application within the workplace, and how to encourage a diverse and equal working environment.

Exploring Engagement Seminar

I just attended one of Belfast City Council's free lunchtime Exploring Engagement seminars, organised by the Good Relations Unit. Held in the City Hall on the first Thursday of each month, this was the first of the seminars that I have attended.

The speaker was Madeleine Leonard, Professor of Sociology at Queen's University in Belfast who has been working on a recent project on teenagers' perceptions of Belfast, the peace walls, and the city as a divided or shared city. The talk was extremely informative, and I was interested to hear of the way in which teenagers viewed Belfast, and particularly their views on whether or not the peace walls should remain. For more information, I thoroughly suggest reading Bringing Down the Walls: Young People's Perspective of Peace Walls in Belfast, Leonard, M and McKnight, M (2011), International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 31, 9/10, 569-583.