News2018September
News from the Graduate Program in Critical & Creative Thinking
University of Massachusetts Boston19 September 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)
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.
Jeremy Szteiter (CCT Assistant Director) visited the Açi School in Istanbul, Turkey in August to lead a multi-day workshop to teachers on "Developing the Culture and Practices of Critical Thinking Across the School".
CCT Events
Online Drop-in Information Sessions for CCT Prospective Students
Prospective students are invited to attend one of these upcoming brief, informal sessions to learn more about the program and get questions answered about applications, program requirements, and the options for the MA degree and Graduate Certificate. Join online at any point within either session through the Zoom conference link below, or contact cct@umb.edu if you would like to make an appointment to speak with a program representative at another time.
Join by Zoom: https://umassboston.zoom.us/j/378579069
or call in by phone at 1 669 900 6833 and type Meeting ID: 378 579 069
- Monday, October 1st, 5:00-6:00 ET
- Friday, October 12, 12:00-1:00 ET
Alum and CCT associates Notes
Ben Schwendener (CCT faculty of the course on Creative Realization of Ideas) is pleased to announce the pilot of the Organic Innovation Ensemble (OIE), a 6-week program where people of all skills levels in music will come together to develop their "creative energy, innovation, and original thinking as they...improve collaboration skills through the organic process of creating high quality original musical performances". See additional details below under Events.
Luanne Witkowski (CCT '03 and faculty of the course on Creative Thinking) celebrated her art show, "Strata", at the Kingston Gallery (Boston, MA) with an opening reception on Friday, September 7th. Luanne and Denise Marika (who passed away earlier this summer) collaborated to develop this innovative exhibit that integrates painting, video, and other media. The exhibit remains open through September 30th, and includes an event featuring a Discussion with the Artist on Saturday, September 22nd at 3:00pm (Kingston Gallery, 450 Harrison St. in Boston). For more information, see the exhibit web site and a recent review in the Boston Globe.
Todd Erickson (CCT '15) is showing his artwork at Jamaica Plain Open Studios on September 22-23, 2018 (Jamaica Plain, MA). Please look for Todd's table at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 6 Eliot St.
Joel Rubin (CCT '88), currently Astronomy and Engineering faculty in Stoughton High School's Science Department (Stoughton, MA) shares an update of his life after CCT: "Since leaving CCT in '88 I've had 16 years running teacher services for the New England Aquarium followed by 13 years teaching high school science, as well as 14 years as an adjunct teacher educator for Cambridge College and BU. Along the way, I've also had an artist-in-residency with the Exploratorium's Center for Informal Learning in Schools in San Francisco, earned my Ed.D. from Harvard, and raised 2 kids with my wife of 23 years."
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
Ben Schwendener (CCT Faculty of course on Creative Realization of Ideas) is piloting a new program and invites you to participate:
Organic Innovation Ensemble (OIE)
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00pm
October 9-November 20, 2018 at the Longy School of Music, Cambridge, MA.
This program was founded on the idea that everyone is innately creative. Participants unlock their artistic potential through music and learn how to apply these skills in every aspect of their lives. Discover how to perform in the moment and improvise on the fly. Learn to trust a team, heighten awareness of group dynamics, and increase leadership capacities. The best part—this program is for absolutely anyone. Haven’t played an instrument since you were in elementary school? No problem!
Hosted at Longy School of Music of Bard College, in Cambridge MA, Gravity Arts launches the first six week program in October. Please see full details at the web site: https://www.organicinnovationensemble.org/, pass on the invitation to others that may be interested, and contact Ben at ben@gravityarts.org with any questions.
Also see the full flyer.
The Teaching Soul: Research And Mentoring
Please join Interim Chancellor Newman and the Friends of the Library for the Annual Faculty Research Celebration
October 2, 2018; 3-5 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge, 2nd Floor, Campus Center at UMass Boston
Over the past six years, the Chancellor’s Faculty Research Celebration has focused on UMass Boston’s Carnegie Community-Engaged ranking. The 2018 celebration, “The Teaching Soul: Research and Mentoring,” showcases faculty members working with students supported by the UMass Boston–Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center U54 Partnership. Since 2002, the partnership has collaborated on research regarding cancer health disparities in disenfranchised populations. The partnership has enabled UMass Boston and Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center to share scientific data and technology, to increase research and training opportunities for minority students, and to ensure the sustainability for future research projects and grants. Faculty will describe their research and the value in research and learning that students gain from their experience as participants, researchers, and learners. Students participating in summer projects, under the auspices of the research and instructional faculty, will describe their experiences as learners, researchers, and/or mentees. The participants will also talk about the future of this type of learning and teaching community.
For more information on the speakers and other details, see the web site.
Opportunities
Call for Proposals: 39th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking
To be held June 4-7, 2019 in Belgium
Proposal due date: January 31, 2019.
The Foundation for Critical Thinking invites proposals for presenters at the conference "who have important stories to tell about your work in developing and advancing a robust conception of critical thinking." Proposals may be for the concurrent sessions or roundtable discussions.
For additional expectations and requirements for proposals, and for more information about the conference, see the conference web site.
Resources
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.
Meet ALLY: Making your course accessible – It is the Law Now!; Wednesday, September 26th, visit anytime between 11:30am and 1:30pm, Campus Center room 2315
Blackboard Genius Bar: From Gradebook to WISER – Make Entering Grades Easier; No More Bubble Sheets – Create Your Tests on Blackboard; Tuesday, October 9th, visit anytime between 11:30am and 1:30pm, Campus Center room 2315
Academic Integrity: Turnitin; Wednesday, October 24, visit anytime between 11:30am and 1:30pm, Campus Center room 2315
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:
Why we say “OK” (YouTube)
Articles:
Susan Sontag on Storytelling, What It Means to Be a Moral Human Being, and Her Advice to Writers (BrainPickings)
A Project-Based Learning Spectrum: 25 Questions To Guide Your PBL Planning (Teach Thought)
Bringing Computational Thinking into the Primary Classroom (The Learner's Way)
A Little-Known Program has Lifted Ninth Grade Performance in Virtually Every Type of School (Pacific Standard)
Should We Dim the Skies to Save the World? (The Atlantic)
Chores by Design (Permaculture News)
Healthy Toys For Healthy Minds - Minimalist Toys Encourage Creativity And Healthy Brain Development Compared To High-Tech Toys (Medical News Today)
Why Brazil's Museum Fire Matters (Scientific American)
The Table of Disruptive Technologies: A dashboard of 100 wonderful (and possibly worrying) ways the world might change in the foreseeable future (Imperial College of London)
Physician Solves Mystery of Mona Lisa's Smile While Waiting in Louvre Line (Inverse)
Animated math (3 Blue 1 Brown)
How technology is changing what it means to be human (CNN)
The Foolishness Of Fail Fast, Fail Often (Forbes)
Rilke on Inspiration and the Combinatorial Nature of Creativity (BrainPickings)
Discovering Better Ways to Learn as an Adult (KQED MindShift)
Humor
A dad took his 2-year-old's most memorable words and illustrated them beautifully (Upworthy)