Gary Olson

Emeritus Professor of Political Science

Education

B.A., Concordia College
M.A., University of South Dakota
Ph.D., University of Colorado

Postdoctoral National Endowment For The Humanities Fellowships:

University Of California, Berkeley
University Of Pittsburgh
UNC At Chapel Hill
UCLA

Contact

Email: olsong@moravian.edu
 

Areas of Research and/or Expertise

International political economy, labor politics, U.S. foreign policy in the Third World.

Biography

Dr. Olson's books include U.S. Foreign Policy and the Third World Peasant (1974), The Other Europe (1977), How the World Works (1981) and Empathy Imperiled: Capitalism, Culture and the Brain (2013). In 1977, Dr. Olson was awarded a Fulbright to Finland; in 1990, he received a Fulbright to Egypt and Jordan, and he received another in 1995 to Mexico. He was also awarded the Malone Fellow to Syria and Kuwait in 1993. He is a recipient of the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Recent Commentaries

• Karl Marx Defends Henry Kissinger Before the International Criminal Court
• Why I'm for 'Jill, not Hill'
• Was the Orlando Massacre Another Chicken Coming Home to Roost?
• Philanthropy: Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth
• Missed Opportunities At The Democratic Debate
• Gary Olson: Why Did Aylan Kurdi Die?
• Are Some Cultures Better Than Others At Cultivating Empathy?
• Don't Expect Clinton, Gop Candidates To Work For Social Justice
• Will Teach For Food
• Is It Worthwhile To Send U.S. Troops To Fight Islamic State?
• Can Capitalism Save Itself?
• Cia Torture And The Imperialist Toolbox
• Gary Olson: New Israeli Settlements Doom Chances For Two-State Solution
• U.S. Must Say To Israel: 'Enough Already'
• Want To Prevent Ptsd? End Unbridled Us Militarism
• Businesses Recognize They Can Profit From Climate Change
• Profiting From Climate Change
• Sadness And Anger At The 9/11 Memorial
• Gary Olson: With Views On Capitalism, Populist Pope Attracts All The Right Critics
• Irreconcilable Differences: Capitalism And A Sustainable Planet
• Washington's Objective Is To Prolong Syrian Civil War
• Education, Neoliberal Culture, And The Brain
• Big Brother's Message: Do As You're Told
• Say 'No' To The 'Grand Bargain' On Hard-Earned Benefits
• Choice Of Obama And Romney Presents Personal Quandary
• "Manufacturing Memory," Arts & Opinion, February, 2012 (Montreal, Canada)
• King's Demand For Justice Still Strong In 2011
• What Did We Learn From 9/11?
• Masculinity, Militarism And Empathy
• Killing Bin Laden Leads To Questions Of Government, Ourselves
• Awakening From Obama's Seductive Spell
• Wisconsin's Union Showdown A Symbol Of 'Class Warfare'
• Washington's Egyptian Nightmare
• Cuban Internationalism As Engaged Empathy
• Empathy And Neuropolitics: This Is Your Brain On Neoliberal Culture. Any Questions?
• Calling Out (And To) Homophobes
• Jeremy Rifkin’s The Empathic Civilization And P.W. Singer’s Wired For War
• More Terrorist Blowback From Failed U.S. Foreign Policy
• Change We Can Believe In?
• Frans De Waal's Age Of Empathy: A Review And Critique
• Afghanistan: 'Necessary' War For Empire
• Empathy Marketing 101
• Remarks Delivered At The "Freedom For Gaza" Rally At 9th & Hamilton In Allentown On 1/10/09
• We Empathize, Therefore We Are: Toward A Moral Neuropolitics
• The Emotional Power Of Photography: From The Civil Rights Movement To Iraq, How Empathy Can Impact Change
• Movie Can Clarify Vision Of Rebel Che Guevera
• From Mirror Neurons To Moral Neuropolitics
• Neuroscience And Moral Politics: Chomsky’s Intellectual Progeny
• Hard-Wired For Moral Politics: Neuroscience And Empathy
• The Very Rich Are Different From You And Me F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Whither Diversity?
• Hold Those Responsible For Iraq Accountable
• Alternative Media Can Balance Establishment's Experts
• Nationalism, Not Islam, Motivates Most Suicide Terrorists
• Palestinian Diaspora Is Cause Of Conflict
• Graduates Face Choice Between Love Or 'Selling Out'
• Radical Teaching
• Scapegoating Human Nature
• Music, Meetings And Markets

Satire Pieces (Pseudonym I.M. Salmon)

• Leprosy: the decisive edge for admission to elite colleges
• Israel and US schmooze about Arabs and Indians
• Senator strikes deal with God over refugees
• Psychopaths R Us
• CIA seeks to ‘Keep Fear Alive’
• Exclusive: Excerpt From Hillary Clinton’s Speech To Goldman Sachs
• Revealed: Big Pharma’s Big Plan To Cash In On Zika
• Chia Cartel Delivers Some Babies Competitive Edge
• Texas College Wants To Outsource Saudi Beheadings
• Vagina Vote

Political Engagement

• Common Dreams
• Znet
• Truth Out
• Howard Zinn
• Noam Chomsky
• The Morning Call
• New York Times
• Monthly Review
• The Nation
• The Progressive

Foreign Study, Teaching and Travel

Important musical influences in my life

• Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited
• Joni Mitchell Blue
• Miles Davis Kind of Blue and In A Silent Way
• John Coltrane A Love Supreme
• Neil Young Harvest and Harvest Moon
• The Grateful Dead American Beauty
• The Beatles Abbey Road
• Roxy Music Avalon
• Van Morrison Astral Weeks
• Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
• Cowboy Junkies Trinity Sessions
• Lucinda Williams Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
• Neil Young After the Gold Rush
• Carole King Tapestry
• The Band The Band