Long-standing international disputes often seem unsolvable because the parties involved are too deeply invested in their positions. However, a third party may help them to focus on the basic concerns underlying their positions, and thus to reframe the issues in ways more amenable to negotiation. Herbert C. Kelman describes the process, which he calls interactive […]
Societal respect for and confidence in American public education may be at an all-time low. Yet remarkable things are happening in classrooms across the nation. In his book “Possible Lives: The Promise of Public Education in America,” Mike Rose focuses on the positive things going on in these classrooms and, through them, offers hope for […]
An orchestral work inspired by the poems of a Holocaust survivor captured the 1997 award. British composer Simon Bainbridge intertwined his music with the poetry of Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi in “Ad Ora Incerta — Four Orchestral Songs from Primo Levi,” which was selected from among 181 entries for the $150,000 Grawemeyer prize. The work […]
For the first time, the major world powers share a commitment to democracy. By working together, they eventually will encourage other nations toward democracy and, ultimately, peace. This is one of the predictions by Max Singer and the late Aaron Wildavsky, authors of The Real World Order: Zones of Peace/Zones of Turmoil. The ideas presented […]
Understanding that some cultures within society have little use for accepted ideas of literacy is the key to improving learning for children from those groups, says Harvard University professor Victoria Purcell-Gates, winner of the 1996 award. Purcell-Gates explores in her book “Other People’s Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy,” how nonliterate cultures adapt to life […]
A concerto written by composer Ivan Tcherepnin for violinist Lynn Chang and cellist Yo-Yo Ma captured the 1996 award. Tcherepnin’s “Double Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra,” a 23-minute work premiered by the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras June 3, 1995, was selected from 173 entries to receive the $150,000 Grawemeyer prize. Tcherepnin described the […]
An author who interpreted her experiences as a Christian encountering God through dialogue with other major world religions has earned the 1995 award. The award is given jointly by the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the University of Louisville. Diana L. Eck, a Harvard University professor of comparative religion and Indian studies, won for her […]
The end of the Cold War has left many nations struggling to develop foreign policies to help maintain a new world order. Former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans has presented ideas that could quicken the process. Evans’ ideas were laid out in an article, “Cooperative Security and Intra-State Conflict,” in the fall 1994 issue of […]
In many inner-city areas, schools and other institutions have failed to prepare students to become effective members of society. The grassroots efforts that have sprung up to help those students offer lessons that could help save many of our most vulnerable children, say the winners of the 1995 award. Stanford University professors Shirley Brice Heath […]
John Adams “Violin Concerto” was commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra, the New York City Ballet and the London Symphony Orchestra. The Minnesota Orchestra, under conductor Edo de Waart and featuring violinist Jorja Fleezanis, performed its world premiere Jan. 19, 1994. Composed in three movements, the 33-minute work is a free-flowing showpiece for violin that changes […]