Category Archives: science communication

The Chocolate Diet Hoax

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

First do no harm There’s something creepy if you have to lie to get what you want. So it bothers me when someone gets trapped into doing something she might not do without a nudge. For example, Portland took the … Continue reading →

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Drinking a cup of tea, I stop a war

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Memorial Day We learned that freedom of speech is sacrosanct: that you should always allow someone the courtesy of saying something idiotic and extreme for fear that anything that quashes freedom could sanction yours. That sort of freedom was always … Continue reading →

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How gaze affects our behavior

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Researchers are looking at how someone’s gaze affects our behavior. For example, researchers in England placed posters with staring eyes near bicycle racks and found fewer bikes were stolen. My colleagues figure we respond viscerally to a pair of watchful … Continue reading →

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Grousing over chickens

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

It’s a battleground Since when do we treat folks who disagree with us as enemies? Is your commute to work a war zone? Do you battle your way through the grocery store? Are there thieves camped outside your door? One … Continue reading →

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A blow to freedom

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

The class assignment is to take an important and controversial issue–current or past–and dig deeply to find the hidden parts of the story. Stories like the Boston Tea Party of 1771. Most of us learned the event signaled the critical … Continue reading →

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Do ancestors deserve respect?

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

I didn’t expect to find a full house Friday night for an hour-long, black-and-white, silent movie from the 1920s. But Portlanders came in droves to see the West Coast premiere of a newly restored, colorized version of John Noel’s hand-cranked … Continue reading →

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When is a person not a person?

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

  There’s a Buddhist story where the sage tells her pupils about a master craftsman who creates artisan carriages. She describes the carriages in detail, from the quality of the polished wood to the smoothness of the wheels. But what … Continue reading →

Posted in authenticity, communication, Indian, Indian remains, native american, native press, Native Science, repatriation, science communication, writing | Tagged | 3 Comments

Crazy Horse’s Law

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Maybe we should call it Crazy Horse’s Law. Mainstream North American culture brings some truths that we all acknowledge but rarely question. Take Murphy’s Law. The suspicious part of our shared-American cultural nature presumes that no matter how much we … Continue reading →

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Beware the sales pitch

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

We can learn a lot from used-car sales folks. Noted psychologist Robert Cialdini urges his students to study the techniques used that entice you to buy. Go to a used-car lot and see how the seller pitches the product, Cialdini … Continue reading →

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When individual choice causes harm

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Vaccine lunacy is the way Frank Bruni described a recent outbreak of measles in California: why? Parents decided to withhold vaccinations from their children. Children are taken ill with a disease that was once wiped from our memories–a disease that … Continue reading →

Posted in american indian, authenticity, framing, Indian, journalism, Native Science, science, science communication, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments