News2017April
News from the Graduate Program in Critical & Creative Thinking
University of Massachusetts Boston24 April 2017
Student Matters
Registration for summer 2017 courses opens in early April. Current students may register through WISER. Courses are open to non-degree students as well, who may register here.
CRCRTH 611 Seminar in Critical Thinking (Theme: Design for Living Complexities); (hybrid; course meets Mon & Wed 5:00-8:00pm EDT from July 17-Aug. 24; face-to-face #1350, online #1270). For more information, see the course descriptions.
CRCRTH 618 Creative Thinking, Collaboration, and Organizational Change (hybrid; course meets Friday, Saturday 9:00-4:15pm EDT on July 14-15, 21-22, and 28-29; face-to-face #1351, online #1272)
CRCRTH 619 Biomedical Ethics (online class #1273; July 17-Aug. 24)
CRCRTH 627 Issues and Controversies in Antiracist and Multicultural Education (online class #2358; May 30-July 13)
Creative Realization of Ideas offered through an off-campus partnership can be taken for credit as CRCRTH 688 (online class; June 1-July 13)
CCT Community
Suzanne Clark (CCT '02, and instructor of CCT course Seminar on Creativity) hosted "And in the End" in early April -- an Internet radio show at Berklee College of Music focusing on the work of the Beatles. This show featured a round table discussion and covers of Whatever Gets You Through the Night (Lennon's only solo #1 hit, fyi), You Are Here (Lennon), All You Need is Love (Lennon), I Saw Her Standing There (McCartney) and two originals.
CCT Events
CCT Community Event: Student Presentations
Monday, May 1 and Tuesday, May 2, 2017: Students Presentations (completion of Critical and Creative Thinking Synthesis projects, and Reflective Practice projects).
All are welcome to join us for spring presentations by students completing course projects and the CCT program.
Monday, May 1: 7:00-9:00pm, online only. Reflective Practice presentations.
Tuesday, May 2: 4:00-10:00pm, on campus in Campus Center 2540, with option to join online through Google+ Hangout.
Please RSVP to cct@umb.edu for more information or see the developing schedule here.
Alum and CCT associates Notes
Kaylea Champion (CCT '16) has been accepted as a PhD candidate in the Communications program at University of Washington. Congratulations to Kaylea!
CCT alums and associates are encouraged to send items of interest to the Critical and Creative Thinking community to be included in future newsletters. Please submit events, announcements, and opportunities through this form: http://bit.ly/CCTSICWi
Events
UMass Boston 11th Annual Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Technology
Friday, May 12th, 2017
8:00am-4:00pm, UMB McCormack Hall, Ryan Lounge (3rd Floor), with concurrent sessions in various locations around campus.
Theme: Reaching 21st Century Students: Teaching Values, Teaching Practices
For more information and call for proposals, see the web site and registration page.
All are invited to attend public presentations by capstone students in the Transnational, Cultural, and Community Studies graduate program:
Thursday May 4, 4pm to 6pm, University Hall 02-2300
Candida Baptista: KabuMerikanus - The Sum of US: Exploring the Cabo Verde - United States Musical Connection and Legacy
Thursday May 11, 1pm to 2pm, Integrated Sciences Complex 5300
Tariana V. Little: A Participatory Evaluation Guide for Chica Project
Tuesday May 16, 4pm to 6:45 pm, Campus Center 02-2545
Iria Dopazo Rubia: Re-conceptualizing parent engagement among Latinos: Enhancing Engagement and Empowerment through Critical Theories and Methodologies
Kim Soun Ty: ???????????? Leadmines in the Homes of Cambodian Refugees in Lynn, Massachusetts
Wednesday May 17, 4pm to 6:45 pm, Campus Center 02-2545
Nicole Young: Space, Race and Networks: A Look at Neocolonial Discourse and Impacts in Vieques, Puerto Rico
Tri Quach: By Way of Vietnam
Acm Creativity and Cognition 2017: Lifelong Creativity, Learning, And Innovation
June 27–30, 2017
National Gallery Of Singapore
For more information, see the web site.
Opportunities
The UMass Boston Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is a lifelong learning program for adults 50 and older. OLLI is always looking for master's and doctoral students to teach a 5-6 week, non-credit course, or a one session brown bag on any topic of interest during upcoming semesters. Students who do teach a course receive a $500 stipend and it's a great opportunity to get some teaching experience. For more information about proposing a course, please see the web site.
Resources
A free ebook of the Introduction and Chapter One of Noam Chomsky's new book, Requiem for the American Dream, is now available: https://chomsky.info/books/
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)
Video:
Alike: short film
What Does a Pianist See?
Is This the Answer to Clean Water Shortages?
The Last Burger
What fruits and vegetables looked like before we domesticated them
To Read:
Caribbean Artists Remember Derek Walcott
Study: 60 percent of rural millennials lack access to a political life
Atlantis is old-school 'fake news.' A college class used it to teach an important lesson (Upworthy)
Explaining science wont fix information illiteracy (Slate)
How to be productive according to Margaret Atwood (Quartz)
22 Messages of Hope (and Science) for Creationists (Medium)
Donna Seaman on the Forgotten Women Artists of America (PS Magazine)
Why Writers Lie (and Plagiarize and Fabricate and Stretch the Truth (Vanity Fair)
Yale Climate Opinion Maps (Yale Climate Communication)
7 Must-Read Books to Change Your Life This Summer (Psychology Today)
There's A Japanese Word For People Who Buy More Books Than They Can Actually Read (The Huffington Post)
Could Lower LSAT Scores Be a Good Thing for the Legal Profession? (PS Magazine)
The End of Progressive Neoliberalism (Dissent Magazine)
Lessons from the Bezos Way and the success of Amazon (Quartz)
How We Learn to Make Friends and Exclude Others (New York Magazine)
Chicago schools' big experiment with a different disciplinary tool: empathy (Christian Science Monitor)
To Be a Genius, Think Like a 94-Year-Old (New York Times)
Museum of Failure
Rage, Hope, and Community: Community Organizing in these Times (Highlander Research and Education Center)
How to Quit Being a Nice-aholic
Why Japan's Rail Workers Can't Stop Pointing at Things (Atlas Obscura)
High School Students Give The World A Hand Literally (WGBH News)
Why 40% of Vietnamese People Have the Same Last Name (Atlas Obscura)
This German retiree solved one of world's most complex maths problems - and no one noticed (ScienceAlert)
The Surprising Truth Behind Tax Day: Where Your Taxes Go (BillMoyers.com)
Corporate tax reform, explained with a cartoon about sandwiches (Vox)
All the Things Women Are Doing Wrong (New York Magazine)
Denying climate change as the seas around them rise (CNN)
Why Americans Are Leaving the City (The Atlantic)
After class N.C. restaurant bans kids, critics fume and reservations surge (The Washington Post)
Colleges need a language shift, but not the one you think (Inside Higher Ed.)
Why I Don't Like Play Based Learning (Happiness is Here Blog)
Happiness Research Institute
These border bids are subtle resistance to Trumps wall (Reveal)
Companies are cutting their lifespans in half by ignoring one type of employee (Quartz)
From an Iowa classroom in 1968 to Donald Trump: Educator Jane Elliott on the legendary Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed exercise (Salon.com)
3D printed water-maker can create 2 liters of drinking water every hour out of the air (Minds)
How Americans Think About Climate Change, in Six Maps (The New York Times)
Why Public Transit Ridership Is Down In Most U.S. Cities (WBUR Here and Now)
Boston Schools Use Modernized Maps That Enlarge Africa, Depict World More Accurately (The Huffington Post)
What Sneckdowns Say About Safe Street Design (CityLab)
Safety Pin Box: The Women Behind the Successful Start-up (New York Magazine)
NeuroLogica Blog: The Need for Critical Thinking (Theness)
I taught my 5th-graders how to spot fake news. Now they wont stop fact-checking me. (Vox)
5 Ways College Teachers Can Improve Their Instruction (Cult of Pedagogy)
Climate change to shift global pattern of mild weather (EurekAlert! Science News)
Evogeneao: The Tree of Life
The Solutions Project - 100% Renewable Energy
A stylist explains how to create the perfect minimalist wardrobe (Quartz)
South Asian method of teaching maths to be rolled out in schools (Gov.uk)
Megacities, not nations, are the world's dominant, enduring social structures (Quartz)
Rage Yoga ‘Is Just Like Any Other Yoga Class, Except with More Obscenities,’ (and Beer) Says Its Founder
Every Joke Falls in One of 11 Categories, Says Founding Editor of The Onion (Big Think)
Learning Myths And Realities From Brain Science (NPR Ed)
Finally, a breakthrough alternative to growth economics (The Guardian)
Humor
25 science jokes that only true nerds will understand (Eternally Sunny)
Dad Turns His Sons Doodles Into Anime Characters, And The Result Is Amazing (Bored Panda)