The 2011 SPICE catalog is now available.  SPICE has four curriculum units featured in this year's catalog.

Inter-Korean Relations: Rivalry, Reconciliation, and Reunification

This curriculum unit provides students with a multifaceted view of inter-Korean relations, asking them to study the relationship through the lenses of history, politics, economics, security, and socio-cultural and human dynamics. Finally, students apply their knowledge of inter-Korean relations to consider future prospects for the Korean peninsula.

Indigo: A Color That Links the World

This teacher's guide was developed specifically for teachers in the New York City Public Schools to encourage the use of Indigo: A Color That Links the World, Calliope: Exploring World History (September 2010, Volume 21, Number 1) and the study of the Silk Road in their classrooms. The indigo issue of Calliope and the teacher's guide were developed in collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project as part of its Silk Road Connect education initiative.

Early Encounters: The First Japanese Embassy to the United States, 1860

This graphic novel tells the story of the first Japanese diplomatic mission to leave Japan after over two centuries of isolation under the Tokugawa Shogunate. Chronicling encounters with foreign leaders, cross-cultural mishaps, and unlikely friendships that develop despite barriers of language and politics, the graphic novel follows the embassy's voyage to San Francisco, Washington D.C., and other cities on the East coast.

Sadako's Paper Cranes and Lessons of Peace

In collaboration with the Tribute World Trade Center Visitor Center (Tribute Center) in New York City, SPICE has developed educational materials that help students to reflect upon the impact of September 11th and the humanitarian efforts that took place in the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center.

Los Que Se Quedan (Those Who Remain) is the powerful story of nine Mexican families who cross the U.S. border in search of a better life and those left behind. In this moving story, the families share their hope and fears. The film has won many film festival awards, including Los Angeles, Biarritz, Woodstock, and Guadalajara. After the film, Beatriz Magaloni, Director of the Program on Poverty and Governance in Latin America, and Carlos Hagerman, the film's co-director, engaged in discussion with the audience.

On February 22, Professor Alison Renteln of the University of Southern California spoke during the seventh installment of the Sanela Diana Jenkins Speaker Series hosted by the Program on Human Rights at the Stanford Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. During her lecture entitled, "The Right to Culture as a Human Right: Law in a Multicultural World," Renteln challenged the universality of human rights, a claim previously debated by prior series' speakers.

Assessing the "monocultural paradigm of human rights," Renteln argued in favor of what she termed the human right to practice and enjoy one's culture. She maintained that legal systems must protect this fundamental human right by allowing defendants to employ a "cultural defense" and to voice relevant cultural motivations during court proceedings. She cited three main instances in which such a cultural defense has been used: to lessen the sentence in criminal cases, to be granted exemption from a policy, or to receive additional compensation when an abuse disproportionately affects a person because of cultural considerations.

Renteln presented recent court cases in both Canada and the United States brought against members of the Sikh faith. A central tenet of the Sikh faith is to wear the kirpan, a dagger that must constantly be carried on the person of all Sikhs. Renteln contested that in these cases, the courts must respect the cultural meaning of the kirpan, symbol of non-violence or ahimsa, and grant Sikhs the right to uphold their cultural tradition. With this example, Renteln demonstrated how courts must "make room for culture" in the evidence presented during the case.

Renteln concluded with a discussion on the hierarchy of cultural rights and other forms of human rights. For example, she questioned whether the Amish's right to practice their culture superseded the right of all Amish children to be educated. In her consideration of more questionable and often heatedly debated practices, she proposed that no cultural practice that inflicts "irreparable harm" on individuals should be allowed or supported. However, she admitted that defining practices which violate this standard can often be difficult.

A group of leading American and Japanese venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, academic experts, government officials, and leaders in business and related fields joined the "U.S. - Japan Dialogue to Promote Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Job Creation" symposium, organized by the Stanford Project on Japanese Entrepreneurship (STAJE), the largest U.S.-Japan event held at Stanford in many years, on February 23, 2011.

Representatives from both governments opened the event by underscoring the economic and strategic reasons for closer U.S.-Japan cooperation in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. U.S. Ambassador to Japan John V. Roos emphasized how an economically vibrant Japan is critical to the security of the United States, and how it creates opportunities for U.S. trade, investment, and job creation. Moreover, innovation and collaboration are vital to addressing critical global issues, such as climate change. Under Secretary of State Robert D. Hormats noted how innovation and entrepreneurship, often involving young firms bringing new technology to market, are fundamental to ensuring sustainable growth and inclusive prosperity, both at home and across the globe. For Japan, Teruhiko Mashiko, a Ranking Member of the Diet's Committee on Economy and Industry and a former Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, highlighted the potential for greater employment, development of green technology, and the circulation of human and other resources through innovation and entrepreneurship.

Several speakers pointed to ways government and the private sector can foster the creation of entrepreneurial ventures with a global outlook. Professor William F. Miller, co-director of the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE), focused attention on the need to support the full entrepreneurial habitat—including an active angel investor and venture community, entrepreneurial education, passionate entrepreneurs, and business services (legal, consulting, financial) that understand the needs of start-up companies. Additionally, several speakers suggested that mid-career hiring by large Japanese firms and greater willingness on their part to grow by acquisition would increase labor mobility and expand opportunities for entrepreneurial ventures. They expressed concern that, at present, a public offering of shares is practically the only option for startup firms to exit the venture stage in Japan. Others highlighted how greater English-language proficiency and changes in immigration law could expand the linkages between Japan and the global community of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

Larry W. Sonsini, Chairman of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, reflected on the waves of innovation that Silicon Valley has generated, both in terms of new technologies coming to market as well as the maturing of technology already out. Defining Silicon Valley as a culture rather than a place, he outlined the ingredients in the recipe for its success: an entrepreneurial culture, with such features as mobility of talent, diversity, and acceptance of failure as a type of learning; ready access to capital; sources of technology and technologists, particularly from universities and large forward-looking corporations; government support; developed laws and accounting systems; availability of exit options for ventures; and an infrastructure of lawyers, accountants, bankers, and consultants. He also offered his thoughts on key trends that will influence the position and direction of emerging technology companies, including: globalization, regulatory changes, development of capital markets, education, and the rule of law.

In the closing remarks of the day-long symposium, Robert Eberhart, a SPRIE researcher and the leader of the SPRIE-STAJE project, summarized the three potential roles for governments to play in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship: to establish rules to ensure fair dealing and access to the market; to rewrite (i.e., reform) the rules of a market thereby ensuring firms will address it in new ways; and to stimulate demand for advanced technology by purchasing it for its own reasons, thereby creating new opportunities for entrepreneurial technology ventures.