19 September 2024

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Student Matters

Congratulations to 2024 August CCT M.A. graduate Ken Dowd.

Fall 2024 CCT Welcome and Reflective Practice Portfolio Overview (virtual)
Thursday, September 26th, 7:00-8:00pm ET
Incoming and returning CCT students are invited to join us for our fall 2024 welcome meeting, including general announcements about the Critical and Creative Thinking program and an overview of the Reflective Practice Portfolio. Meet others in the program and learn more about upcoming events and other resources and opportunities in the program. We will discuss the Reflective Practice Portfolio (RPP) as a requirement of the degree beyond the coursework itself.

Academic and Life Skills Workshops for UMass Boston Graduate Students (virtual sessions, UMB account required for login, all times Eastern):

• Stress Management and Self Care: Tuesday, September 24, 6 – 7 p.m. in Zoom: Register | Zoom link (Meeting ID: 942 8343 7334)
• Addressing Procrastination: Wednesday, October 23, 10 – 11 a.m. in Zoom: Register | Zoom link (Meeting ID: 933 7801 7577)
• Self-Compassion: Thursday, November 21, 10 – 11 a.m. in Zoom: Register | Zoom link (Meeting ID: 986 1774 4662)
• Time Management: Tuesday, December 3, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. in Zoom: Register | Zoom link (Meeting ID: 959 2377 1106)

CCT Events

Critical and Creative Thinking 2024: Our Work, In Progress — Mini-conference (virtual, with in-person option)
Friday, November 8th, 2024
Sessions from 9:30am through 5:00pm
Registration required: Register here to receive login instructions for virtual participation and to receive updates on schedules.
All CCT alums, faculty, and current students are invited to join us for this upcoming mini-conference hosted by the Graduate Program in Critical and Creative Thinking at UMass Boston. One of the defining features of the CCT program has always been the diversity of those in our community and the many ways that we express our support of critical and creative thinking in our workplaces, schools, and communities. Throughout the day, we will be hearing from graduates of the program and others in our community about ways that we are treating critical and creative thinking as a “work-in-progress” in our journeys as reflective practitioners and our efforts to engage in critical and creative thinking and foster it in our work and lives. For updates, please see the website.

Fall 2024 Dialogue Series on Reflective Practice in a Changing World (virtual)

• Monday, October 14th, 7:00-8:00pm ET: Reflective Practice for Linking Global and Local (RSVP to this session | more details on the theme) (postponed)
• Monday, December 9th, 7:00-8:00pm ET: Resistance, Refusal, Rejection (RSVP to this session | more details on the theme)

These dialogues are free and open to the public. Register above for an individual event to receive Zoom login information and reminders for that event.
In this series of dialogues, we consider the role of reflective practice for thinking critically and creatively about work and life. Reflective Practice is relevant to any field and refers to how we make connections between our past experience and future actions. For each engaging hour-long session, we focus on one theme that represents a common challenge to the reflective practitioner. We use a structured dialogue process to support each participant to recall and make sense of their experiences and then envision how to direct their practices toward ongoing and future encounters with that challenge.

Critical and Creative Thinking Information Sessions (virtual)

Prospective students are invited to join us for these brief information sessions, where you’ll hear an overview of the Critical and Creative Thinking program and be able to ask questions about the program, courses and requirements, and application procedures.

• Monday, September 30th, 5:00pm ET (RSVP here for Zoom login information)
• Thursday, November 14th, 5:00pm ET (RSVP here for Zoom login information)

Alum, Student, and CCT Associates Notables

All graduates of the Critical and Creative Thinking programs are invited to join our 2024-25 CCT Alum Studio (virtual participation). The studio uses dialogue and other discussion activities with a focus on grounding our work in critical and creative thinking and fostering thinking and reflective practice in the face of emerging challenges and opportunities. All alums are invited to participate in upcoming sessions; please sign up for the interest list here to receive updates and details about joining the sessions, which will meet throughout the academic year. Dialogue/discussion sessions are currently planned for the following dates. Topics and themes for meetings will vary based on past feedback and ongoing interest:

• Thursday, October 10, 2024, 12:00-1:00pm ET
• Friday, November 8, 2024, throughout the day (see above for the Our Work, in Progress mini-conference)
• Thursday, December 5, 2024 12:00-1:00pm ET
• February 2025 (4-week seminar, meeting once per week on Thursdays, 12:00-1:00pm ET, 2/6, 2/13, 2/20, 2/27)
• Thursday, March 13, 2025 12:00-1:00pm ET
• Thursday, April 10, 2025 12:00-1:00pm ET

CCT students, alums, and associates are encouraged to send items about accomplishments, new publications, or offerings to the Critical and Creative Thinking community to be included in future newsletters. Please submit items of interest to cct@umb.edu.

Events

Banned Books Week 2024, hosted by S3 Social Science Space
Webinar: September 26, 2024, 11:00am ET
As book bans and academic censorship escalate across the United States, this panel gathers experts to discuss the impact these bans have on current and future generations of learners. Panelists will address the necessary support that teachers, librarians, and other educators need in these uncertain times. Join us for this free webinar to find out what you can do to withstand and to even reverse this trend. Featuring author and educator, Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul, Christina Vortia, chief librarian of Howard University’s Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, and Lee Wind, author and CCO of the Indepenent Book Publishers Association. For more information and to register for the upcoming webinar, see here.

The UMass Amherst Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series presents our 2024-25 Series: What Are Universities For? Struggles for the Soul of Higher Education. This free public series brings together students, scholars, and community organizers to trace the historical roots of the crises in U.S. higher education and propose solutions for debt-saddled students, resource-starved communities, and others whose lives and futures depend on this bedrock social institution. Join us as we launch the series on Tuesday, September 24 with a keynote address by Trinity College’s Davarian L. Baldwin: Is Higher Education Good for Our Communities? Assessing the Past and Forging a New Path Forward.
The Feinberg Series is presented by the UMass Amherst history department in collaboration with more than two dozen university partners. See the website for session details and instructions on how to join.