CCT News

24 January 2010

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

Welcome to newly admitted CCT students -- for M.A.: Meghan Callaghan, MaryLu Horn, Fatmata Jah-Sesay, Laetitia Lévy, Jodee Lynette, Alison Palmucci, and for Certificate: Lisa Beers, Cathy Martin, Peter Palingo, Carla Thisse, Laura Tomaszewska

Registration and add/drop Period for Spring 2010, now through Feb. 1, 2010, for spring courses -- spaces especially in CrCrTh 612 & 688, and in online 616, 618, 692. Descriptions, recent syllabi and likely books for courses viewable from links to the preceding course list.

UMB Spring Welcome Week for students: Jan. 25-30th. See below under Events for more details.

The spring semester runs from Jan. 25-May 12. See the UMB Academic Calendar for other important dates for the semester.

Each matriculated CCT student will soon be given a free, private wiki that they can use for preparation of materials for a Reflective Practitioner's Portfolio and that instructors may ask them to use for submission of course work. "Private" means that only the student and their instructor(s) can view it. Stay tuned!

The CCT Writing Support Group will continue through the spring semester. Please join us in the CCT Program office (W-2-157) on Tuesdays anytime between 5:30-7:30pm as your time allows. Open to all CCTers, this group looks to develop a culture of writing, whether you are interested in sharing ideas about expressing your own voice through writing, or engaging with others to support progress in your writing. See Report from Writing Support Group, Fall '09.

Student @umb.edu emails have moved to a new server and more powerful interface. If you don't use this address, make sure to log in once and set your emails to forward to your regular account so you don't miss important official emails.

CCT Community

Becoming Gorgeous, Ben Schwendener (CCT instructor) with Eric Lane
electro-acoustic organic sounds will be heard
Sunday, January 24th, 7:00pm
Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music, 1 Follen St., Cambridge
Free

Dialogue Process continues -- students from the winter CCT616 course plan to continue weekly dialogues and welcome participants from previous classes. Contact Cathy Martin

Bob Schoenberg, instructor of the online Critical Thinking course, also is teaching the non-degree course through Continuing Ed. in spring 2010: "Critical Thinking in Business". This course offers a highly practical and business-oriented approach to critical thinking, particularly appropriate to those who need to bring critical thinking to their organizations but might not be able to engage in a full Master's or certificate program with CCT.
Please contact Bob at bobsch3@gmail.com and/or pass along the course description flyer to anyone who might be interested.

UMB Professor Larry Blum (instructor of CCT 627) was interviewed for a recent story on NPR: "'Selfish' Giving: Does It Count If You Get In Return?". Read the original article or listen to the audio story.

CCT Events


Monday, February 1, 2010
6:30-9:00pm, Wheatley 4th Floor Lounge, W-04-148
Spring orientation and CCT Network event: "Reflecting and Connecting for Lifelong Learning"
See the CCT Network event page for more details as they are added.

Mark the 16th April 1-5pm in your calendar for
CHANGING SCIENCE, CHANGING SOCIETY
An exposition of initiatives, coalitions & social movements engaging with scientific, technological & social change
Exhibit your group's work or attend to learn from others--or both.
Register at http://bit.ly/CSCS16Apr (no fee) -- or use this link to suggest other people or groups that should be invited.
More info about guest speakers and other activities -- http://www.stv.umb.edu/Expo.html
Hosts--the new CCT graduate track, "Science in a Changing World," http://www.stv.umb.edu/SICW.html

Alum and CCT associates Notes

John Lewis ('04) began working in Computer Science at UMB in November as the budget administrator supporting grants. He is completing a manuscript for his MA in Creative Writing, and has just begun the editing cycle for a non-profit literary magazine,
CONSEQUENCE Magazine, http://www.consequencemagazine.org, which focuses on the culture of war in America.

Events

Spring 2010 Welcome Week, sponsored by the Student Arts and Events Council at UMB (full schedule)
Highlights:

Monday, February 1st, 6pm, celebration of Tim Costello's life and contributions to the labor movement and the movement for social justice. Tim was a longtime Boston area rank and file worker, labor activist, visionary for the global labor movement and friend to many. Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, outside of Harvard Square.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 4:00pm, Campus Center 3540.
"Jacob Lawrence's Moral Compass"
Dr. Patricia Hill, Professor of Art at BU, will discuss the work of Jacob Lawrence and her new book in which she explores his paintings of modern Harlem. Sponsored by American Studies, Africana Studies, and the Art programs, and the Trotter Institute.

2010 United Students Against Sweatshops National Conference February 19-21, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Conference: "Bordering, Re-Bordering and New Possibilities in Education and Society," Istanbul, 14th - 18th June 2010, http://www.wcces2010.org

Opportunities

Spaces open until February 3rd, 2010 in cross-campus spring seminar, Feminist Inquiry, taught by Jill Taylor and Modhumita Roy, offered on Wednesdays from 6-9 PM at MIT. To apply: http://web.mit.edu/gcws/apply/index.html

Resources

New Book -- The Talking Point: Creating an Environment for Exploring Complex Meaning, by Thomas R. Flanagan (one-time CCT instructor) and Alexander N. Christakis. "All about how people learn within groups. People can be much smarter than crowds if you measure “smart” as decision-making speed. Crowds can be much wiser than individuals if you measure wisdom by depth of understanding."

Against the Grain, an archive of radio programs on "politics, society, and ideas" http://www.againstthegrain.org

Food for Thought


Chancellor Motley's Letter to the University Community about the crisis in Haiti, along with suggestions about getting and offering help.

In this transcript of his recent speech, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, king of Bhutan, discusses some of his vision for change. King Khesar leadership includes a strong commitment to implement and fulfill the requirements of Gross National Happiness, an "alternative" way of evaluating our standard of living.

"a radical idea in business education: that students needed to learn how to think critically and creatively every bit as much as they needed to learn finance or accounting," NY Times, 9 Jan, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/business/10mba.html

Humor

Shape-shifting street art