News2016July
News from the Graduate Program in Critical & Creative Thinking
University of Massachusetts Boston8 July 2016
Student Matters
There is space remaining in upcoming summer courses CRCRTH 619 Biomedical Ethics (online), and CRCRTH 611 Seminar in Critical Thinking: Design for Living Complexities (hybrid). Courses begin the week of July 18th and run for 6 weeks. See the registration page or contact cct@umb.edu for additional information.
Registration for fall 2016 courses is open for continuing students now and opens to non-degree students on July 25th. Most fall courses are hybrid format, where face-to-face students attend on campus, and online students join class meetings via web conference. See more information about registration and course descriptions.
CRCRTH 601 Critical Thinking. Sept. 15-Dec. 15, Thursdays 7:00-9:45pm. Wheatley 4-170. Face-to-face students: register for class #14047; online students register for class #6915).
CRCRTH 603L Foundations of Philosophical Thought. Sept. 13-Dec.13, Tuesdays 4:00-6:45pm. Wheatley 4-170. Face-to-face students: register for class #12553; online students register for class #6916).
CRCRTH 618 Creative Thinking, Collaboration, and Organizational Change. Sept. 12-Dec.12, Mondays 7:00-9:45pm, Wheatley 4-170. Face-to-face students: register for class #14048; online students register for class #6917).
CRCRTH 640 Environment, Science, and Society: Critical Thinking. Sept. 15-Dec.15, Thursdays 4:00-6:45pm, Wheatley 4-170. Face-to-face students: register for class #12551; online students register for class #6918).
CRCRTH 655 Metacognition. Sept. 12-Dec. 12, Mondays 4:00-6:45pm, Synchronous online (all participants join online each week, although it is still possible to register for either the face-to-face or online section). Face-to-face students: register for class #12550; online students register for class #6919).
CRCRTH 688 Reflective Practice. Sept. 12-Dec. 12, Occasional Monday meetings, Rm. TBA (9/12, 10/3, 11/7, 12/5) with most weeks involving asynchronous work. Face-to-face students: register for class #12552; online students register for class #6920).
CRCRTH 692 Processes of Research and Engagement. Sept. 13-Dec. 13, Tuesdays 7:00-9:45pm, Wheatley 4-170. Face-to-face students: register for class #14049; online students register for class #6921).
CCT Community
Orin Davis, who joined CCT as a 1/2 time core faculty member in Fall 2014 will no longer be teaching for the Program. His wide knowledge of research in psychology, especially as it pertains to personal fulfillment, provided CCT with valuable new perspectives on fostering critical and creative thinking. The Program wishes him well in his future ventures.
Olen Gunnlaugson (instructor of CCT online course Dialogue Processes) received in person his Critical and Creative Thinking Award, presented initially at the College of Advancing and Professional Studies commencement brunch in May, during Peter Taylor's recent visit to Québec City.
More and More Curious: Critical Thinking and Beyond--
an evolving series of short videos and podcasts by Peter Taylor
http://moreandmorecurious.wikispaces.com/
CCT Events
Collaborative Exploration: Design for Living Complexities:
A free, non-credit mini-course offered by the CCT program, open to all. The Collaborative Exploration (CE) consists of hour-long online meetings in Google Hangout for 4 weeks in a row. Meeting day and time will be Mondays at 12:00noon EDT, July 25, August 1, August 8, and August 15. Please apply here to indicate your interest. In between online meetings, participants explore the topic on their own. Additional details: see http://bit.ly/designcct or contact cct@umb.edu
Description: Design is about intentionality in construction, which involves a range of materials, a sequence of steps, and principles that inform the choice of material and the steps. Design always involves putting people as well as materials into place, which may happen by working with the known properties of the people and materials, trying out new arrangements, or working around their constraints (at least temporarily).
Critical thinking involves understanding ideas and practices better when we examine them in relation to alternatives. In a sense, critical thinking is in design from the start, because design cannot proceed without the idea that there are alternatives to the current way of doing things. This course exposes and explores alternative designs through history (showing that things have by no means always been the way they are now), "archeology of the present" (shedding light on what we might have taken for granted or left as someone else's responsibility/specialty), comparison (looking at the ways things are arranged in different organizations and cultures), and ill-defined problems (in cases of real-world "living complexity" that invite a range of responses). Read more...
Alum and CCT associates Notes
Luanne Witkowski (CCT graduate '03, and adjunct faculty) announces a solo exhibition of her artwork, New Observations, at Hutson Gallery (432 Commercial St., Provincetown, MA). The reflective qualities of the gleaming, color-saturated works shift with the perspective of the viewer. Glittering textures awaken tactile responses and are reminiscent of sand and other specific elements of landscape. The works continue to exemplify Witkowski's ability to echo and amplify the experience of being in nature.
On View: July 8 - July 21, 2016
Opening Reception: Friday, July 8, 7:00-9:00 pm
Learn more about Hutson Gallery and Luanne's work.
Events
Art All Around - public workshop
Friday, June 24, 2016, 12:00-2:00pm
Hyacinth Place, 2 Walker Street, Westbrook, Maine
For more information: http://www.mainecenterforcreativity.org
The Art All Around Public Workshop series, presented by the Maine Center for Creativity. Open to the public collaborative art workshop is designed to engage community members in creating an outdoor art installation.
Opportunities
Fall '16 course in Applied Linguistics welcomes students in other graduate programs:
APLING 685: The Internet in the Language Classroom.
This graduate-level course combines theoretical work and practical applications that illuminate the role that technology can play in language and literacy education. It introduces students to the role the Internet and the World Wide Web can play in the Bilingual/ English as a second language (ESL) Classroom. As new technologies expand, language and literacy pedagogy must account for the growing variety of text forms associated with information and multimedia technologies as these shape new discourse communities. This course draws upon frameworks such as the sheltered content instruction (SEI) and substitution, augmentation, modification redefinition (SAMR) frameworks to effectively utilize and integrate Web 2.0 tools to support the language and literacy education of K-12 English Language Learners (ELLs). Specifically, the course will look at the utilization of Web 2.0 tools to differentiate instruction so ELLs can continue to develop their language proficiency while receiving academic support in content-areas. Class activities will include hands-on explorations and investigation of familiar and new Web 2.0 tools as well as in-depth discussions of how these ideas can be integrated into any current or future language or content-area classrooms. Practical ideas however can be easily adapted for college and/or adult ESL or foreign language classrooms.
Please contact applied.linguistics@umb.edu if interested.
The Foundation for Critical Thinking now offers certification in the Paul-Elder Framework for Critical Thinking. The certification is program is open to those who hold a Masters degree and involves completing certain trainings and conference attendance, along with an application. Please see the program description for full details, requirements, and costs.
Resources
The Ultimate Guide to Tools for Academics: 100+ Academic Tools to Amplify Your Research and Writing
Food for Thought
(additional web links and posts can also be found on CCT's Diigo pages. General critical and creative thinking focus: https://groups.diigo.com/group/ccreflect; Science in a Changing World focus: https://groups.diigo.com/group/sicwumb)
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Humor
On assumptions, inspiration, honesty...and test-taking