CCT News

22 October 08

See also previous news, alum news and exchanges, items for the upcoming news, and CCT calendar.
Inform cct@umb.edu if you have news OR want to be emailed when there's a new news compilation (no more than once/month) OR want to be removed from such mailings.

Contents: Student matters, CCT community, CCT events, alums, other events, opportunities, resources, food for thought, humor

Student Matters
Registration for the spring begins soon, and for the winter (CCT616) soon after. See files/spring09.html for course offerings. Contact your advisor for advice, if needed.

See also opportunitiesabout applying for a Professional Development Grant (PDG) from the GSA.

CCT Community

Guest speakers recently attended CCT classes to enlighten students on creative thinking in the work place and community. On October 7, CCT 602 (Creative Thinking) featured Dana Bein, stand-up comedian; Dan Greenwald, Creative Director of White Rhino, a full-service ad agency; and Marnie Jain, artist. Later that evening, CCT 612 (Seminar in Creativity: Humor) featured Ed Perry, owner of WATD-FM Radio Station (Mass Broadcasters Hall of Fame) who spoke about the use of humor in the media and workplace.

CCT Events

Special Open House Event: CCT in the Community: Discover the Graduate Program of Critical and Creative Thinking
Sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Relations at UMass-Boston
When: Thursday, November 6, 2008. 5:30pm-7:00pm
Where: UMass-Boston, Healey Library, 11th Floor Lounge.
Talk with CCT program alumni and faculty and learn how the program transforms lives.
RSVP: Gail.Hobin@umb.edu
Visit files/openhouse6nov08.html for more information.

UMass-Boston Annual Graduate Studies Showcase
When: Wednesday, November 19, 2008. 4:00pm-7:30pm.
Where: UMass-Boston, Campus Center main ballroom
Have a friend or colleague who might be interested in the CCT program? Stop by the table for CCT and many other graduate programs at UMass-Boston and get the inside track on graduate studies.
Visit http://www.umb.edu/gradshowcase/ for more information and to register.

...and after you stop by the Graduate Studies Showcase, join us for CCT Network event:

Re-membering Michael White: An Introduction to Narrative Work and Its Impact on Our Lives and Communities
When: Wednesday, November 19, 2008. 6:30pm-9:00pm.
Where: UMass-Boston, Campus Center, Room TBA.
Participate with us as we explore Michael White's work in narrative therapy and community work, a powerful process for to write and realize alternative scripts (or narratives) to the ones that are limiting their lives.
Visit files/CCTNetwork19Nov08 for more information on this and other upcoming CCT Network events.

Alum and CCT associates Notes

Jan Coe ('07, now in Perth, Western Australia) listened live to the 1 October CCT Network event and reported:

• I could only stay until Julie's presentation ended, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the ones I heard. Technically, it was pretty good, too, with only a few muzzled/fuzzy bits. Even Lori speaking on a telephone was completely audible. I think that all of your (you, Tara and Jeremy) efforts to promote the program and a sense of inclusiveness and connection are really beginning to pay off. The CCT program events are way more 'visible' and on the radar now.

Jim Clements ('05) has been named Recipient of 2008 InaBeth Miller Award for Distinguished Faculty of the Year at the New England Institute of Art & Communications.

Ben Schwendener and his band performed "Non-Specific Games" at the Acton Jazz Cafe on October 18th. For more about Ben's work, see http://www.benschwendener.com/.

Events

Unnatural Causes: Race, Inequality, and Reproductive Health
When: October 27, 2008, 5:30pm - 6:00pm (Networking, Reception, and Resource Tables) and 6:00pm-8:00pm (Film Screening and Discussion)
Where: UMass-Boston, Healey Library, 11th floor.
See the full event flyer: http://www.mccormack.umb.edu/centers/cwppp/documents/UnnaturalCausesflyerv.3-x_000.pdf for more information.

IDEAS Boston
When: Thursday, October 30, 2008 (various events between 8:00am and 7:00pm)
Where: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
IDEAS Boston is a jam-packed one-day event that brings together leading thinkers in a variety of fields to share ideas and promote innovation.
For more information or to register, visit http://ideasboston.com/

Sudbury Valley School Open House
When: Saturday. November. 8, 2008, 1:00pm - 4:00 pm
Where: Sudbury Valley School, 2 Winch Street, Framingham, MA 01701
A school where students decide when and what they'll learn.
See http://www.sudval.org for more information.

Opportunities

Students: Apply for a Professional Development Grant (PDG) from the GSA!
The PDG represents the largest program expenditure of the GSA. The GSA allocates funds to reimburse matriculated graduate students who attend or present their research at conferences and professional meetings related to their field of study. A student presenting a paper or poster can be rewarded up to $500 to aid trip expenses. A student not presenting a paper or poster can be rewarded up to $400 to aid trip expenses. Program details, reward breakdown, and program guidelines and application requirements can be downloaded at http://www.gsa.umb.edu/programs.htm.

Call for Proposals: Annual Conference on Teaching for Transformation, sponsored by the Center for Improvement of Teaching at UMass-Boston. Deadline is Monday, November 17th, 2008. Seeking proposals for leading a conference session of 75 minutes long, related to any area of "sharing strategies and exploring issues that focus on inclusive teaching, learning, and curriculum change in college classrooms. We encourage proposals for sessions that will engage participants in an interactive way." Contact Valerie Jimenez at valerie.jimenez@umb.edu, 617-287-6330, and see http://www.cit.umb.edu for the proposal application and to view the schedule of last year's conference.

Resources

Drop-in Assistance with Research at Healey Library
When: 3:00pm - 4:00pm, every Monday and Thursday from October 2nd through December 18th (closed on Thursday, Nov. 27th)
Where: UMass-Boston, Healey Library 4th Floor, in the Center for Library Instruction
Open to all students - drop-in with your questions and meet with a reference librarian. Librarians will be available to answer all your questions -- big and small.

Check out the UMass-Boston "Community Front Page", the university's one-stop location for news, upcoming events, and information about services and opportunities.

Humor

An "investment banker" sketch from 2007 by English comedians John Bird and John Fortune prefigures the economic crisis of fall '08. http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/187.html

"Humor helps us think out of the box.The average child laughs about 400 times a day - the average adult laughs only 15 times a day. What happened to the other 385 laughs?" (Anonymous)

"When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So, what the heck, leap!" (Anonymous)

"The kind of humor I like is the thing that makes me laugh for five seconds and think for ten minutes." (William Davis)

Food for Thought

"They say you learn from experience, but you only learn from the experiences that you learn from." (Myles Horton)

"Mythology is a psychology of antiquity. Psychology is a mythology of modernity."
James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld (1979), p. 23.