News2017August
News from the Graduate Program in Critical & Creative Thinking
University of Massachusetts Boston14 August 2017
Student Matters
Registration remains open for Fall 2017 courses (see descriptions). Courses begin the week of September 11th. Non-degree registration is open for most courses while space remains.
Hybrid course format means combined face-to-face and online sections; face-to-face sections meet on campus in Wheatley Hall, 4th floor, room W04-170 on the schedule listed below, and online sections join by video web conference during those times (all times are Eastern time zone).
CRCRTH 601 Critical Thinking (hybrid) Tuesdays from 4:00-6:45pm (face-to-face section: register for class #7299, online: register for 7725)
CRCRTH 616 Dialogue Processes (online, class #7726)
CRCRTH 630 Criticism and Creativity in Literature and Arts (hybrid) Mondays from 4:00-6:45pm (face-to-face section: register for class #7300, online: register for 7801)
CRCRTH 650 Mathematical Thinking (hybrid) Thursdays from 4:00-6:45pm (face-to-face section: register for class #7301, online: register for 7802)
CRCRTH 651 Cognitive Psychology (hybrid) Thursdays from 7:00-9:45pm (face-to-face section: register for class #7302, online: register for 7809)
CRCRTH 692 Processes of Research & Engagement (hybrid) Tuesdays from 7:00-9:45pm (face-to-face section: register for class #7303, online: register for 7806)
The following courses from other programs may be of interest to CCT students:
GISD 611: Managing Change: Supporting Communities and Embracing Cultures, Thursdays, 7:15-8:15 (online)
Courses offered by Transnational Cultural and Community Studies program
CCT Community
The CCT program welcomes recent and new admits (spring 2017 and later) to the Certificate and MA program in Critical and Creative Thinking (Science in a Changing World + regular tracks):
Michelle Bradbury, Andrew Castagna, Anne Kaufman, Casey Moir, Courtney Moses, Kyle Lemstrom, Alexander Domenikos, Russell DeLuca-Kavanagh, Margarita González-Giraldo, Natasha Goss, Janell Hofmann, Phil MacDonald, Lauren Taub, Elizabeth Carrandi, Kate Mills, Amber Samid, Edgar Torres, Tara Cunningham, Ali Davis, Nadija Edwards, Caitlin Quarrington
CCT Events
Fall 2017 New England Workshop on Science and Social Change (NewSSC)
Location: Arlington MA, USA*
Dates: October 2017, Fri 6th at 8:30am to Monday 9th at 5pm
(*a limited number can participate from a distance via google+ hangout)
"Most workshops are dysfunctional-this one wasn't!" read one evaluation from the first New England Workshop on Science and Social Change (NewSSC) workshop in 2004. Appreciative feedback like that may feel like validation for any workshop or collaborative processes that you facilitate, but how well can you articulate or support the principles or theory about personal and group change that underlie those processes? Moreover, how would you lead people who experience the dysfunction in many workshops, collaborations, conferences and meetings into making the effort to create something more fulfilling?
This four-day workshop is intended to allow participants to delve into the principles or theory that underlie their own workshop or collaborative processes and develop plans to make those processes more effective in some sense(s) that they deem important. Activities will, as they have at NewSSC since 2004, build on what the particular group of participants contribute and employ a range of tools and processes so as to support and learn from each other's inquiries. The topic means that the processes of the NewSSC workshop itself and the ways they make space for people to "connect, probe, reflect, and create" will end up being subject to compare-and-contrast with other approaches to workshops and generative group interactions...more
Alum and CCT associates Notes
Bob Schoenberg (CCT '99 and Critical Thinking instructor), has had a new book published, STOP Assuming! (Amazon link) which focuses upon identifying and challenging personal assumptions. Schoenberg describes a three step process of 1) identifying your personal assumption, 2) challenging it using a "Special Role Play" and 3) using enhancement techniques to strengthen those personal qualities that one feels are weak or even lacking. His publisher says the following: “STOP Assuming is a more personally oriented book, including personal decisions, to help the reader overcome limiting concepts of their own capabilities. “... good reading, avoiding a lot of the academic fluff found in other guides.” Robert Banis, Publisher – Science and Humanities Press. Bob also conducts STOP Assuming workshops and recently taught for the Osher Life-Long Learning Program at the University of RI.
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
EDIT: Expo for Design, Innovation & Technology
September 28 - October 8, 2017, Toronto
This new expo/festival is being launched Design Exchange (DX), Canada's museum for design excellence.
HUBweek 2017: A week of events exploring how the future is being built at the intersections of art, science, and technology.
October 10-15, 2017 in Boston. For more information about the event and getting passes, see the web site.
ZurichEduCaExpo 2018: 2nd International Education and Career Exhibition
Zurich, Switzerland, 14-15 March 2018.
With ZurichEduCaExpo 2018 – 2nd International Education and Career Exhibition, IPD primarily strives to provide educational, governmental & non governmental institutions as well as companies and recruitment agencies worldwide a stage to engage with their targeted audiences, promote their bespoke and tailored programs and ultimately enable visitors to gain first-hand insights on excellent academic and career opportunities offered by a broad range of exhibitors. The two-day fair is aimed to help a wide audience including school-leavers, undergraduate & graduate level students, domestic & international degree seeking students and job-seekers to take crucial decisions on their future study and career paths. The event heralds the platform for those, who are prone to gain exposure to new perspectives in the areas of education and career progression. Whether you’re inclined to pursue a new domestic opportunity or give your career a boost via securing an overseas job, ZurichEduCaExpo is a perfect platform to deal with your study and career aspirations in the ultimate way.
Application for exhibitors: early bird deadline 25 October 2017, final deadline 7 December 2017.
Entrance to exhibition is free for visitors and guests. Visiting time is from 09:00 – 17:00 during 14-15 March 2018.
The Teaching Professor Conference - celebrating the art and science of teaching
Theme: Cutting-Edge Learning for Exceptional Educators
June 1-3, 2018 in Atlanta, GA
For more information and to register, see the web site.
Opportunities
UMass Boston alumni receive numerous benefits as graduates of the university including discounts, access to university resources, ongoing career search services and job coaching, and networking opportunities with other alums. See the Alumni Association web site.
Resources
Sharewiki: a wiki to catalog and promote projects and initiatives of all types that involve sharing
Creative Business Cup: The Global Network for Innovative Business. Creative Business Cup is a global, year-round initiative to help entrepreneurs develop capacity for creativity and innovation as they connect with innovators around the world. The Creative Business Cup finals for 2017 will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 16 November, 2017.
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:
Forget Shorter Showers (Vimeo)
Can you solve the prisoner hat riddle? (YouTube)
The Art of Hosting - Four-Fold Practice
To Read:
Critical Thinking: Should Posting Fake News and Hate Speech Be Considered a Criminal Act in the U.S.? (Editor & Publisher)
James Howard Kunstler: We are living in a moment of unprecedented incoherence (Resilience)
In 2017, to be a Musician is to be an Entrepreneur (Huffington Post)
The decline of critical thinking (The Rappler)
To My Son With Autism Upon Starting Kindergarten
Tell Us 5 Things About Your Book: ‘Why,’ About the Science of Curiosity (New York Times)
This Church Might Not Look Extraordinary, But Take A Look At It From Another Angle... (Trendfrenzy)
In Breakthrough, Scientists Edit a Dangerous Mutation From Genes in Human Embryos (New York Times)
Film: Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope (KPJR Films)
A worthy assessment: Kansas State University a leader in improving critical thinking skills (The Mercury)
Free Yourself of Your Harshest Critic, and Plow Ahead (The New York Times)
Monsanto Exec: How to Encourage Creativity at Work (Fortune.com)
Colleges Fail to Improve Critical Thinking Skills (Wall Street Journal)
Creative Teachers Help Teens Thrive, But We Keep Cutting Arts Classes Anyway (GOOD Education)
25 inexpensive ways to keep your kids busy when they are bored (Brightside)
The Death of the Artist and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur (The Atlantic)
15 Surprising Things Productive People Do Differently (Forbes)
Saving the Lost Art of Conversation (The Atlantic)
The value of a liberal arts education in the modern world (Quartz)
Annual Meeting - Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)
Cognitive dissonance helps old dogs with their new tricks (Aeon Ideas)
Contradictions in How We Think about Teaching (Faculty Focus)
Promoting Creative and Critical thinking in Mathematics and Numeracy (Engaging Maths)
Does Diversity Actually Increase Creativity? (Harvard Business Review)
I Don't Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People (Huffington Post)
I learned to run 100-mile marathons thanks to the science of self-control (Quartz)
Philanthropreneurship: How The Creative Democracy Can Transform Communities (Creative Oklahoma)
The history of weekends show they are a lie created by capitalism (Quartz)
The Six Living Generations In America (Marketing Teacher)
Being Busy Permanently Reduces Your Capacity to Think Deeply and Creatively (Big Think)
11 brutal truths about creativity that no one wants to talk about (The Next Web)
The Single Reason Why People Can't Write, According to a Harvard Psychologist (Inc.com)
How Metacognition, Thinking About Thinking, Can Help Your Life (Big Think)
People Share 'Green Flags' That Someone Is A Good Person (Knowable)
College Was Once Free and For the Public Good. What Happened? (YES! Magazine)
"A Spark of Genius" Story and Pictures (National Geographic)
Critical thinking skills are now in top demand in sales, business (Chicago Tribune)
For the first time, a US company is implanting microchips in its employees (ScienceAlert)
12-Year-Old Kd's Minimalist Lego Sculpture Goes Viral (GOOD)
The Soft Power 30 Report (Soft Power 30)
"The click": Drummer Robert Ellis says this music production tool is the reason why all new music sounds the same (Quartz)
Should we stop keeping pets? Why more and more ethicists say yes (The Guardian)
Brush Yourself Off And Try Again: An Invention Story (NPR)
Critical thinking in the 'post-truth' age: 'Six Steps to Better Thinking' by Christopher DiCarlo (TVO Canada)
TLA Network - Power of Words 2017 (TLA Network)
This is how you build the library of the future (eSchool News)
Illustrated journal about being inspired and artist problems (Unearthed Comics)
Josef Pieper on the Waning of Philosophy in the Time of Total Work (Andrew James Taggart)
South America's Street Art Mecca (New York Times)
City says stairs for seniors will cost $65,000. Man builds it for $550, then city tears it down (Shareably)
A design for life (Tes)
New world of work: are universities preparing students for future careers? (Times Higher Education)
People with creative personalities really do see the world differently (The Conversation)
When Emotion Meets Thinking: An Untold Story of Creativity (Psychology Today)
Humor
Being Inspired: An Artist’s Perspective On Making Art (Unearthed Comics)