Jason Smith

: This paper is a cultural studies analysis of the Microsoft computer video game, ZooTycoon™. Through a critical reading using the "circuit of culture," questions of the gamer's subject position, the role of wildlife and implicit and explicit messages about contemporary attitudes toward the environment are explored. Drawing on Susan Davis' book, Spectacular Nature: Corporate Culture and the Sea World Experience (1997), this paper unpacks the virtual theme parks created in Zoo Tycoon™ for their (dis)continuities with Davis's findings. The virtual animals are found to serve as both labor and products in this game that teaches capitalist business strategy and managerial skills. This popular culture text is an example of a product that harnesses the environmental impulse and redirects that impulse back into commodity capitalism.

Contemporary art can be a powerful pedagogical tool in the health humanities. Students in an undergraduate course in the health humanities explore the subjective experience of illness and develop their empathy by studying three artists in the context of the AIDS epidemic: Keith Haring, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Wolfgang Tillmans. Using assignments based in narrative pedagogy, students expand their empathic response to pain and suffering. The role of visual art in health humanities pedagogy is discussed.

This report provides an overview of training individuals in public health law. This report is designed to broadly outline the issues in order to facilitate discussion at the November 2007 PHLA meeting in Washington, D.C. I found that attorneys and public health practitioners have different approaches to training and practice. Materials and programs that seek to train individuals must be designed to fit within the professional culture of the targeted group. The differences between the two professional cultures can be a barrier to training if not acknowledged in the design of training programs and materials.In a selected overview of materials and programs available, I found that there is an unmet need for responsive materials and programs. I also found that networking and conference opportunities can play an important role in training that should be explored. I also discuss joint degree programs. The report concludes with a series of future recommendations to facilitate discussion.