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2 weeks ago | 
timesfreepress.com | Deborah Levine
I didn't take it seriously enough when a friend in the internet security business told me that AI is reshaping the world and our future. Surely that was an exaggeration. Or so I thought until I was asked to speak about intercultural leadership in the "Age of AI" during a three-day virtual symposium for the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research. These experts spoke about the positives and negatives of AI in the classroom.
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3 weeks ago | 
timesfreepress.com | Deborah Levine
Reading the recent emails from Harvard President Alan Garber that accompanied invitations to upcoming 55th reunion events next month was enlightening and reaffirming. At this moment, it feels as if there is a movement to take Harvard back to a time when only white Christian men were welcome.
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1 month ago | 
timesfreepress.com | Deborah Levine
I've rarely given in-person presentations since the pandemic. Taking a deep breath, I did speak to Civitan International's Chattanooga chapter about my documentary: "Untold, Stories of a World War Liberator." With Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) on April 23, it was relevant timing for a topic that's very personal for me. My father was a U.S. military intelligence officer during the war. He was assigned to interrogate Nazi POWs. My documentary is based on his wartime letters.
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1 month ago | 
timesfreepress.com | Deborah Levine
I don't often use AI, but I made an exception over the weekend when severe storms were expected and schools announced closings for Monday. The report echoed weather reports of a few weekends ago, when 60 tornadoes (and the resulting 40 deaths) came close to us. Was this the new norm? I couldn't resist going to my computer and asking AI if this weather was unusual.
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2 months ago | 
timesfreepress.com | Deborah Levine
Advertisement Advertisement Opinion: Ukraine and the humanitarians of Chattanooga Today at 6:00 p.m. File photo/City of Chattanooga / Times Free Press archives / Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly, right, shakes hands with the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Trostyanets, Yuriy Bova, during the 2023 Cities Summit of the Americas. My brain nearly exploded when President Donald Trump declared that Ukraine started the war with Russia.
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2 months ago | 
timesfreepress.com | Deborah Levine
How wonderful to celebrate Black History Month at Mizpah Congregation with our February "Intriguing Conversations." The audience included members of Chattanooga's Jewish community and Black community. They gathered to hear talk radio host Jed Mescon interview his "intriguing" guest, John Edwards III, founder of The Chattanooga News Chronicle. The tag line for the event's flyer focused on Black History and the Civil Rights movement: "They stood up against racism and inequality ...
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Feb 6, 2025 | 
timesfreepress.com | Deborah Levine
Advertisement Advertisement Opinion: Remembering and learning from the Holocaust Today at 6:00 p.m. Photo/Sebastian Willnow/dpa via The Associated Press / U.S. businessman Elon Musk is shown during a live video link, as Alice Weidel, AfD candidate for chancellor, takes to the stage, during the AfD's election campaign kick-off in Halle, Germany on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025.
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Jan 30, 2025 | 
timesfreepress.com | Deborah Levine
I was amazed when Joe Biden, just before the end of his presidency, declared that the Equal Rights Amendment should be considered ratified as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. A symbolic statement, sure, but important nonetheless. Did you know that 85% of United Nations member states already protect against sex and/or gender-based discrimination in their constitutions? And recently, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women asked then-President Biden to ensure the ERA's role.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
timesfreepress.com | Deborah Levine
Like many of you, I spend a lot of time online, especially in the Meta universe: Facebook, Instagram and most recently, Threads. The Threads' blunt conversations on social issues and current events are engaging, to say the least. But these days, folks are rebelling against Meta and leaving it because Meta is disbanding its fact-checking service and content moderation. Threads rebels are emotional and disgusted.
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Jan 9, 2025 | 
timesfreepress.com | Deborah Levine
Time for New Year's resolutions! Getting in shape is always popular and a big deal on the internet. Here are some online examples of how we're pushed to go for it: "Exercising can be fun — really. Five ways to add more joy to your workouts." Since diet helps determine the outcome of workouts, we're supposed to happily go for that, too: "Ditch the restrictive resolutions and set one of these three fun food 'intentions' instead." OK ... here I go:First, I have modified my diet.
