News2018June
News from the Graduate Program in Critical & Creative Thinking
University of Massachusetts Boston29 June 2018
Student Matters
Space is still available in summer 2018 courses. Current students may register through WISER. Courses are open to non-degree students, who may register here.
CRCRTH 611 Seminar in Critical Thinking (Theme: Design for Living Complexities); (hybrid; course meets Mon & Thurs 5:00-8:00pm EDT from July 16-Aug. 23; face-to-face #1272, online #1419). For more information on the theme, see the course descriptions.
CRCRTH 627 Issues and Controversies in Antiracist and Multicultural Education (online only; register for class #1421; July 16-Aug. 23)
Fall 2018 course offerings (all times Eastern). See full descriptions. Register for the class # corresponding to how you will attend.
Note course formats -- hybrid courses combine two section for weekly meetings, where face-to-face section comes to campus, and online students participate directly at the same times via web video conference:
CRCRTH 601, Critical Thinking (hybrid; Thursdays, 4:00-6:45pm). Face-to-face: register for class #9621. Online: register for class #9855.
CRCRTH 603, Foundations of Philosophical Thought (hybrid; Wednesdays, 7:00-9:45pm). Face-to-face: register for class #9622. Online: register for #9856.
CRCRTH 618, Creative Thinking, Collaboration, and Organizational Change (hybrid; Tuesdays, 4:00-6:45pm). Face-to-face: register for class #9623. Online: register for #9857.
BIOL 654, Sustainability Science: Environment, Economy and Equity (Thursdays, 5:30-8:15pm; face-to-face class #14288). Note that this course serves as a substitute for CRCRTH 640, Environment, Science, and Society: Critical Thinking that was originally planned but will not be offered this fall.
CRCRTH 655, Metacognition (synchronous online; Thursdays, 7:00-9:45pm). Register for #9866.
CRCRTH 692, Processes of Research & Engagement (hybrid; Tuesdays, 7:00-9:45pm). Face-to-face: register for class #9629. Online: register for #9867.
All graduate students, regardless of residency or enrollment status, are now required to complete the university's Sexual Assault Prevention online training modules. These modules are administered through the UMass Boston University Health Services office. Students can begin the online modules starting July 2, 2018. Please note that there is a 30 day 'intercession' between parts 1 and 2 of the modules, and students should start as soon as possible to meet the completion deadlines. Part I is due August 31, and Part 2 is due October 5, 2018.
CCT Community
CCT Faculty Nina Greenwald and David Martin offer their Thinking Matters special presentation to your organization, school, staff or personnel, on ways critical and creative thinking can assist everyone to become better problem-solvers. Increasingly, in this "beyond Google” age, standard thinking practices aren’t sufficient to avoid thinking traps and move us forward. In a fast-moving technological world, increasing interconnectedness, and new forms employment, learning new tools and techniques is essential for improving our thinking for life and work. Thinking effectiveness improves dramatically when practiced within relevant areas of focus and real-world contexts. It's why we like to talk with people internal to a group or an organization to understand important goals and objectives. From this, we can tailor presentations to incorporate relevant examples and exercises that address specific needs and interests. Our interactive sessions incorporate both learning and coaching in enjoyable formats that engage humor, and promote thinking agility and beneficial thinking attitudes in a climate of personal safety. As well, we are prepared to make presentations designed to engage localities or wider communities in problem-solving based on overarching matters of concern. Please share this announcement with others who might like to know about what we do. Currently, we are scheduling presentations for spring/summer/fall 2018 and can be reached at: nlgreenwald@comcast.net and davidmartindr@aol.com
CCT Events
Collaborative Exploration: Design for Living Complexities:
Meeting day and time will be Mondays at 12:00noon EDT, July 23, July 30, August 6, and August 13.
Please apply here to indicate your interest.
A free, non-credit mini-course offered by the CCT program, open to all. The Collaborative Exploration (CE) consists of facilitated, hour-long online meetings in Google Hangout for 4 weeks in a row where participants engage in dialogue to explore questions and clarify thinking about the topic. In between online meetings, participants explore the topic on their own and share written discussion. Additional details: contact cct@umb.edu. (Note that this CE is held along with a related MOOC and graduate course where the same topic is explored, but where each involve different levels of engagement and commitment).
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
Kelys Rodríguez, who will visit CCT next fall as a Visitor Research Scholar,is looking for rental accommodation starting August 17th. Please email leads (or offers) to her.
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
38th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking
July 16-20, 2018
Rohnert Park, CA, DoubleTree Hotel
Conference theme: Critical Thinking Throughout Education and Across the Professions – in Every Classroom, Every Boardroom, Every Business, Every Government, in Every Country Around the World
For full details and registration, see the web site.
Opportunities
EDUCAUSE Annual Conference
Tuesday, October 30–Friday,November 2, 2018
Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colorado
Preconference workshop on Oct. 30 with conference sessions starting on Oct. 31.
"The EDUCAUSE Annual Conference calls together the best thinking in higher education IT to become even better at what we do. This is where professionals and technology providers from around the world gather to network, share ideas, grow professionally, and discover solutions to today’s challenges."
For registration and agenda, see the web site.
Proposals are sought for the NAFSA (Association of International Educators) Annual Conference and Expo, to be held in Washington, DC, from May 26-May 31, 2019.
Theme: Global Leadership, Learning, and Change
For proposal requirements and details, please see the web site.
Proposal due dates: August 29, 2018 for session and workshops; January 9, 2019 for poster presentations.
Resources
Resource for artists: show your work by using these web sites for submissions of proposals and portfolios.
A Free Downloadable Racial Justice board game (Road to Racial Justice)
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:
The power of believing that you can improve - Carol Dweck (YouTube)
Artificial Intelligence in Whose Interests? - RAI with Rana Foroohar (YouTube)
Articles:
Are electric cars worse for the environment? (Politico)
Nebraska Reading Program Teaches Interactive Listening (Net Nebraska NPR)
Swapping a cage for a barn: Can lab animals be studied in the wild? (Science Magazine)
Why Finland is home to the world's most radical libraries (CNN)
Looking for Life on a Flat Earth (New Yorker)
Supreme Court rules for Colorado baker in same-sex wedding cake case (CNN)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: How we can really make America great (Washington Post)
Nine Things You Don’t Know about Yourself (Greater Good Science Center)
Designing for Conversations: A Creative's Guide (Medium)
Native Superheroes Are The Norm At This All-Indigenous Comics Store (Good)
That Vision Thing: New AI System Can Imagine What It Hasn't Seen (Scientific American)
International Conference on Thinking (including archives from past years)
How international students can brush up their critical thinking skills (Study International)
Can science-based video games help kids with autism? (Science Magazine)
52 Character Building Thoughts for Children (Kelly Bear Resources)
Librarian’s Book Addresses ‘Fake News’ and Critical Thinking (U. Cal. Merced)
Why are More Americans Reading Poetry Right Now? (Pacific Standard)
How Identity, Not Issues, Explains the Partisan Divide (Scientific American)
Humanizing robots with humor detection (Stanford U.)
Humor
The 12 Best Science Jokes You're Ever Likely to Read (Unispeak)
The Funniest Graph Contest: All Theories Proven with One Graph (Journal of Irreproducible Results)