News2017October
News from the Graduate Program in Critical & Creative Thinking
University of Massachusetts Boston30 October 2017
Student Matters
The Withdraw deadline for CCT courses is November 22nd.
Registration for spring 2018 courses begins on November 6th. Continuing students must register by January 9, 2018 to avoid paying the late registration fee. See full descriptions. Course offerings (all times Eastern):
CRCRTH 602 Creative Thinking (online). Synchronous online meeting times TBD. (online section: register for class #10980; face-to-face [permission required]: register for class #16793)
CRCRTH 649 Scientific and Political Change (hybrid). Tuesdays, 4:00-6:45pm (online: class #10981; face-to-face: class #10325)
CRCRTH 670 Thinking, Learning, and Computers (hybrid). Mondays, 4:00-6:45pm (online: class #10983; face-to-face: class #10326)
CRCRTH 688 Reflective Practice (hybrid). Mondays, 7:00-9:45pm (online: class #10984; face-to-face: class #10327)
CRCRTH 693 Action Research for Professional, Educational, and Personal Change (synchronous online). Thursdays, 7:00-9:45pm (online: class #10987)
CRCRTH 694 Synthesis of Theory and Practice (hybrid): 2 options:
- Tuesdays, 7:00-9:45pm (online: class #10985; face-to-face: class #10328)
- Thursdays, 4:00-6:45pm (online: class #10986; face-to-face: class #10329)
Applications for spring 2018 admission are due by November 1, 2017. Please refer to application guidelines for graduate admission and additional requirements for international students.
CCT Community
Peter Taylor's recent book, Ann(ie) Blum in Our Lives, will be honored in the upcoming UMass Boston Provost's Book & Major Composition Party on Wednesday, December 13th on campus. This event celebrates the publications of UMB faculty completed over the year.
Peter Taylor and Jeremy Szteiter facilitated a session on "Synchronous online teaching: Enhancing learning while boosting enrollment" for the UMB Center for Innovative Teaching (CIT) Forum on October 24th. The session included discussion and activities to guide faculty into developing ideas around how instructors can foster active learning community in class meetings that combine face-to-face and online students. Presentation materials, handouts, and audio reflections can be viewed on the event web page.
CCT Events
Collaborative Exploration: November 2017
Mondays, 7 PM EST, November 6, 13,20 and 27
Hosted by Teryl Cartwright, CCT graduate
A Collaborative Exploration (CE) is a free, non-credit mini-course open to all, in support of learning to extend our understanding of various topics related to critical and creative thinking. The CE consists of hour-long online meetings in Google Hangout for 4 weeks in a row -- see additional description and background on CEs. Online meetings will be Mondays, 7 PM EST, November 6, 13,20 and 27
To join: please contact cct@umb.edu for details.
Topic: If you looked at your passion or the field you are engaged in, what’s missing? Where is it possible to find new directions, new topics, new discoveries? What tools and techniques do you use to identify and evaluate a possible breakthrough idea or question? How do you use other fields of inquiry and frames of reference to create momentum and increase your own curiosity?
In the 1850s, gold miners cursed that “blasted blue stuff” until they found out they found out this was silver at the Comstock Lode. They were digging in the right place but didn’t recognize the treasure. In 440 BC Greek were talking about the idea of atoms but it took over a thousand years to actually “discover” them. They recognized the treasure but weren’t finding it at the time.
Where are the explorers and philosophers not pursuing the path you see they could take? Is there a tangent or something hidden in plain sight? If not a breakthrough, what are the small steps that build on something unexpected or something needed for that breakthrough?
This four-session Collaborative Exploration (CE) is intended to allow participants to delve into the principles or theories from their chosen field of interest to view them with fresh eyes. It invites participants to reassess the knowledge and structure of their field by digging out new questions to consider. Activities will, as they have in CEs since 2013 (and NewSSC workshops 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. By working with others in parallel studies of a variety of topics and participating in generative dialogues, participants have the opportunity to re-approach their chosen field with a sense that by digging into new areas with new tools and new enthusiasm they will find something to take away as treasure.
Alum and CCT associates Notes
Catherine Weber (CCT '99) is co-editor of Art on the Trails: Finding Solace in the Woods at the Elaine and Philip Beals Preserve. In addition to the development of this catalog and poetry chapbook, the Art on the Trails project includes work with curator Mary Tinti and poets Maura Snell and Cynthia Franca to product a juried public art exhibition and poetry event. Catherine's art can also be currently viewed in three locations in Massachusetts (Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton; Springdale Barrel Room in Jack's Abby Brewery, Framingham; Theracopia Therapeutic Wellness Center, Southborough).
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
The 38th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking will be held from July 16-20, 2018 in Rohnert Park, California
Sponsor: The Foundation for Critical Thinking
Call for proposals for the conference: accepted until Feb. 26, 2018.
For more information about submitting proposals and attending the conference, see the web site.
On October 13, as part of HUBWeek in Boston, Project Zero celebrated its 50th anniversary with the panel, “Changes in Mind: Five Decades of Insight into Intelligence, Thinking, and Learning.” The recording of the panel discussion and speakers can be viewed here and includes CCT alum Shari Tishman ('84), who was director of Project Zero from 2007-14.
Opportunities
Call For Proposals: The Teaching Professor Conference
due Oct. 31, 2017 for 60 and 90-minute sessions to be given at the 15th annual conference in Atlanta, GA on June 1-3, 2018. For more information about proposal requirements and the conference in general, see the web site.
Call for Proposals: OLC Innovate 2018 (Online Learning Consortium)
due November 1, 2017 for sessions to be given at the OLC Innovate 2018 conference in Nashville, TN on April 18-20, 2018. For more information on the conference and proposal requirements, see the web site.
Call for Proposals: International Transformative Learning Conference 2018
due Feb. 19, 2018 for the conference to be held from Nov.7-10, 2018 at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City.
Theme: "Building Transformative Community: Enacting Possibility in Today's Times."
Although discourse about transformative learning has to date focused primarily on individual learning, for communities to transform there must be a bridge between individual and community transformation. Let's come together to explore how we are enacting TL to expand possibility in our communities. Naturally, we are interested in proposals that share research and theory that inform practice, and practice that spurs research and theory-building on the conference theme. We also welcome proposals that highlight work that amplifies transformative learning outside the scope of the theme. Given our focus on building transformative community, we seek proposals that address collective learning as well as individual transformation. We are curious about how transformative learning is being leveraged for collective transformation in various systems, i.e., groups, organizations, institutions, and communities.
View and download the Call for Proposals here.
In fall 2018, the Rhode Island School of Design will launch two new MA programs in the interdisciplinary liberal arts. Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies (NCSS) and Global Arts and Cultures (GAC). These programs build on RISD's tradition of rigorous education in the humanities and social sciences to offer dynamic frameworks for critical inquiry. Emphasizing theoretical grounding and self-directed research, these 1.5-year programs invite students to produce innovative scholarship across a range of academic and professional fields. For more information, see the web site.
Resources
October 27th was #ArtsMatter day in Massachusetts. For more information, see the original announcement from MassCreative and look for community stories on social media using the #ArtsMatter hashtag.
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)
Articles:
Daydreaming is good: It means you're smart (ScienceDaily)
Adapting to AI: Educators answer uncertainty with emphasis on adaptability (The Sentinel)
Does science need mavericks? (Aeon)
Why You Can Focus in a Coffee Shop but Not in Your Open Office (Harvard Business Review)
Documentary Examines Schools That Emphasize Critical Thinking (Education Week) and the ReThinking Movie
The Type of Comedy Intelligent People Like (PsyBlog)
Why I’ve Started to Fear My Fellow Social Justice Activists (Yes! Magazine)
George Hatza: What ever happened to critical thinking in the arts? (ReadingEagle)
Neuroscience: The mother lode of invention (Nature)
Challenging conceptions about climate change (Fin24)
Series examines Creativity and Critical thinking in students, effect on academics (Etownian)
8 Things Every Creative Should Know (Artsy)
Creative Economy Initiatives Fund Supports Local Artists, History, Africa (UMass Boston News)
New Dean of College of Education and Human Development Looks to Expand UMass Boston’s Reach (UMass Boston News)
SAP Commercial: "Let's Do This" (iSpot)
Film: Paul Goodman Changed My Life (Paul Goodman Film)
Why Do Smart People Do Foolish Things?: Intelligence is not the same as critical thinking and the difference matters (Scientific American)
Google X and the Science of Radical Creativity (The Atlantic)
Interview with Bill Lucas, Author of "Teaching Creative Thinking: Developing learners who generate ideas and can think critically" (Nursery World UK)
Video:
Art project for train passengers (YouTube)
Bernhard Schroeder: Leadership and Culture Fuels Creativity (YouTube)
Humor
Compilation of the Struggles of Daily Life (as seen through Infomercials) (YouTube)