News2018October
News from the Graduate Program in Critical & Creative Thinking
University of Massachusetts Boston25 October 2018
Student Matters
Prospective students - please note that applications are due on November 1, 2018 for admission to all programs to start in spring 2019. See application requirements here.
Looking ahead to spring 2019 - the following CCT course offerings are planned (some schedule details subject to change before then):
CRCRTH 602 Creative Thinking (online with limited meetings on Wednesday evenings)
CRCRTH 615 Holistic and Transformative Teaching (hybrid, Thursdays at 4:00)
CRCRTH 645 (BIO 545) Biology in Society: Critical Thinking (hybrid, Wednesdays at 4:00)
CRCRTH 653 (PPOL 753) Epidemiological Thinking and Population Health (hybrid, Tuesdays at 4:00)
CRCRTH 688 Reflective Practice (hybrid, Mondays at 7:00)
CRCRTH 693 Action Research for Professional, Educational, and Personal Change (online synchronous, Thursdays at 7:00)
CRCRTH 694 Synthesis of Theory and Practice (hybrid, Mondays at 4:00 (to be confirmed); Tuesdays at 7:00)
Current students: please note that the Withdraw deadline for fall 2018 courses is November 19th.
The following face-to-face Applied Linguistics (APLING) graduate courses are open to students in CCT and other graduate programs for spring 2019. To register, please email applied.linguistics@umb.edu directly to be added to the course.
APLING 601: Linguistics, Tuesdays, 7:00pm ET; APLING 603: Language, Culture, and Identity (formerly titled: "Cross-cultural Perspectives), Thursdays, 7:00pm; APLING 605: Theories & Principles of Language Teaching, Wednesdays, 4:00pm; APLING 612: Integrating Culture into the Curriculum, Mondays, 7:00pm; APLING 618: Teaching ESL: Methods & Approaches, Wednesdays, 7:00pm; APLING 637: Ethnography, Tuesdays, 7:00pm; APLING 705: Advanced Ethnography, Tuesdays, 7:00pm; APLING 673: Teaching Reading in the ESL & Bilingual Classroom, Thursdays, 4:00pm; APLING 709: Language Policy, Wednesdays, 4:00pm
CCT Community
Next spring (probably late April), a one-day conference is being planned to celebrate 40 years of the CCT Program. Preparing for and participating in this conference--which you can do over the Internet as well as on site--will provide you an opportunity to reflect on your journeying and the way it has involved risk, opened up questions, created more experiences than could be integrated at first, required support, and yielded personal and professional change. Look for more details as they develop in upcoming months.
CCT Events
Alum Talks: Deep Dive Creative Discussions for CCT Alums with Nina Greenwald
4 Mondays, 7-8pm ET on November 5 and 12, and December 3 and 10, 2018
Online participation through through Zoom Web Conferencing.
All alums of the Critical and Creative Thinking program (UMass Boston) are invited to join this upcoming free online series with Nina Greenwald, former CCT faculty. All who were enrolled in the MA or Certificate programs at any time in the past are welcome to participate. Please RSVP to cct@umb.edu. The facilitated discussions will help participants to consider how critical and creative thinking can continue to help them address issues and concerns in their workplaces and lives.
Alum and CCT associates Notes
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
Bob Schoenberg (CCT alum and former instructor) has developed a new online course entitled, "Stop Assuming". The first part of the course is now available for free viewing. For information and the link, please email Bob at bobsch3@gmail.com or Info@stopassuming.org.
Events
Book launching for The Truth is the Whole: Essays in Honor of Richard Levins (co-edited and produced by CCT's Peter Taylor, http://bit.ly/TTITW2018), Wednesday, November 14, 7:30-9:00 p.m. at MIT in 32-141.
Hosted by the Boston chapter of Science for the People and Radius. Prepared remarks by Peter Taylor, Katherine Yih, Nafis Hasan, Victor Wallis, and Abha Sur, as well as Q&A with this panel of speakers.
39th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking
June 4-7, 2019, KU Leuven, Belgium
Organized by The Foundation for Critical Thinking in Partnership with CRITHINKEDU, KU Leuven, and University Colleges Leuven-Limburg (UCLL)
Registration open now for early-bird rates. See the web site for conference and session descriptions and details about the Call for Proposals (due Jan. 31, 2019) for presenters.
Opportunities
Call for Applications: PhD Program in Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY, USA)
The Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer invites applications for admissions into our PhD program. Founded in 1982, the STS Department at Rensselaer is one of the oldest and most highly recognized programs in this field. Our Faculty is internationally recognized for research that emphasizes the cultural, historical, economic, political, and social dimensions of our scientific and technological society, with a strong emphasis on ethical engagement. Topically, our work spans a wide range including and not limited to sustainability, digital culture, disability studies, food security/justice, STEM education, critical design, human health, medicine, and energy and environmental policies.
How to Apply: For important information regarding the online application process, please visit RPI’s Office of Graduate Admissions website:.Our department maintains a Graduate Admissions and Awards Committee that will evaluate your application for intellectual merit and fit. While we do consider GRE scores, the department employs multi-criteria admissions in order to attract a diverse student cohort, and will consider applicants who are outstanding in other ways.
Call for Proposals: 17th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference
Theme: "Reckoning with Consent and Contract in Times of Instability"
March 1-2, 2019 at Indiana University Bloomington
Proposal Submission Deadline: December 1, 2018
Description: This conference aims to interrogate the representation of consent and contract, especially in moments when those concepts are being culturally, politically, or socially reckoned with or renegotiated. We interpret these topics broadly, and we wish to consider them individually as well as their entanglements across historical moments and geographical locations. How does (or how did) the social contract negotiate consent, both between human subjects and even between the human and the non-human?...more
The Umass Boston Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance announces the new Global Governance and Human Security Master's program focusing on solutions that matter to a wide range of global problems. Learn more: www.globalma.umb.edu.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is seeking master’s and doctoral students to teach a 5-6 week, non-credit enrichment course in their area of study or an area of personal interest (1.5 hours per week). As you may know, OLLI is a lifelong learning program for adults 50 and older at UMass Boston.
Applications to teach during OLLI’s 2019 spring semester (March - May) are due by November 5, 2018. To apply, a student must submit: 1) Course Proposal Form available on the OLLI website at https://www.umb.edu/olli/about/teach 2) A brief outline of the course plan; 3) A brief bio and resume; 4) A reference (letter or email) from a UMass Boston faculty member. Submissions and questions should be directed to Cathy Phillips at catherine.phillips@umb.edu or proposalolli@gmail.com
Resources
The Lenny Bruce Audio Files, from the archives at Brandeis University
Art Teachers Alliance for Boston-area art teachers continues to offer professional development seminars and workshops , open to Boston-area public school art teachers and independent teaching artists.
LISC is pleased to announce the webinar series: How to Do Creative Placemaking! Offering practical and tactical advice for local leaders, artists, and community development practitioners. Runs from November 14, 2018 - April 10, 2019.
The UMass Boston IT and Instruction Design department is offering a fall series on teaching with technology. All in the university community are welcome to drop in during any of the sessions (all are free, no registration needed). The sessions are designed to guide all with navigating the growing technology resources used for courses at the university.
Enhance Student Engagement: Collaboration Tools to Stay Connected (Blackboard Ultra, Voicethread, Echo 360, Google Apps); Tuesday, November 13, visit anytime between 11:30am and 1:30pm, Campus Center room 2315
Blackboard Just-in-Time Training to Successfully Wrap Up Your Semester; Wednesday, November 28, visit anytime between 11:30am and 1:30pm, Campus Center room 2315
Open House Holiday Party – Instructional Continuity & Getting Ready for Spring; Tuesday, December 11, visit anytime between 11:30am and 1:30pm, Campus Center room 2315
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:
Ben Folds Composes a Song LIVE for Orchestra In Only 10 Minutes (Youtube)
Shredding the Girl and Balloon - The Director’s half cut (Youtube)
Articles:
Teaching Critical Thinking: Some Practical Points (Faculty Focus)
A New Academic Hoax–Complete with Fake Articles Published in Academic Journals–Ventures to Show the “Corruption” of Cultural Studies (Open Culture)
This Year's Award For The Worst Pseudoscience Is Especially Deserved (IFL Science)
Is it time to cut back on criticism? (Irish Times)
Enhancing the power of our reflective practice (The Learner's Way)
Why a law school in India is teaching a course on Harry Potter (Quartz)
Want to Innovate? Science Says, “Be Mentored!” (Creativity Post)
The most important science policy issue in every state (PopSci)
Freakonomics: How to Be Creative (Ep. 354)
These two women are building an arts hub in Worcester and found empowerment among female entrepreneurs in the process (MassLive)
There is no middle ground for deep disagreements about facts (Aeon)
Humor
Short of the Week: Best Satire Short Films
Every Joke Falls in One of 11 Categories, Says Founding Editor of The Onion (BigThink)