20 June 2025

Also see: news archives | sign up for email newsletter | submit items for future news

Student Matters

Summer 2025 courses are open for registration for continuing students — register by June 23rd. See the Course Descriptions for more information:

• CrCrTh 627, Issues and Controversies in Antiracist and Multicultural Education; July 14-August 21, 2025; online only, virtual meetings on Wednesdays, 4:00-6:45pm ET

Congratulations to May 2025 Critical and Creative Thinking graduates!: Andrea Burgess, Negar Ghaderi, Darius Peyton, Rayne Rickards, and Sherrie Torrey. We also congratulate Darius Peyton as the awardee of the 2025 Critical and Creative Thinking Award for Personal and Professional Development.

Fall 2025 Courses – registration opens for guest students later in the summer:

• CrCrTh 601,Critical Thinking; September 3-December 10, 2025; online only; virtual meetings on Wednesdays at 4:00-6:45pm ET.
• CrCrTh 615, Holistic and Transformative Teaching; September 2-December 9, 2025; hybrid format with meetings on Tuesdays, 4:00-6:45pm ET.
• CrCrTh 616, Dialogue Processes; September 2-December 12, 2025; online only, asynchronous.
• CrCrTh 692, Processes of Research and Engagement; September 4-December 11, 2025; hybrid format with meetings on Thursdays, 4:00-6:45pm ET.

CCT Events

Free Reflective Practice Seminar (virtual): Creative Practice and the Beginner’s Mind
Hosted by the Graduate Program in Critical and Creative Thinking, UMass Boston
Free and open to all. 
Runs July 1-29 with weekly virtual meetings in Zoom on Tuesdays, 4:00-4:45pm on July 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
Registration required here. Also see the full description and details.
In this practice-oriented seminar, we will explore the experience of engaging with a creative practice as a beginner and then reflect together on our observations about our self-directed learning. Each participant will identify one specific creative or artistic practice according to their own interest and then commit to experimenting with this practice throughout the seminar. The practice should be something new to you, where you consider yourself a beginner (or early novice) with no formal training or professional experience. During the brief (30-45 minute) weekly virtual check-ins, we will reflect on the process together as we notice what happens in our creative thinking during this period of learning. Because the weekly check-ins support our reflection through sharing about our experiences and listening to others, we ask that those who register for the seminar commit to attending most of them. 

Alum, Student, and CCT Associates Notables

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

Creative Problem Solving Institute 2025
June 22-26, 2025, Buffalo State University, Buffalo, NY
Hosted by the Creative Education Foundation
Join us for a week filled with inspiration, innovation, and hands-on learning. We’re offering our signature core workshops, including: Foundations of Creative Problem Solving, Creative Problem Solving Tools, and CPS Facilitation Techniques. Plus, explore unique creative immersion experiences in the mornings and customize your afternoons with a wide variety of breakout workshops designed to spark new ideas.
For more information and registration details, see the website.

31st Annual Science of Consciousness Conference 2025
Barcelona, Spain, July 6-11, 2025
See the website for schedule and registration information.
The Science of Consciousness (‘TSC’) conference is the world’s longest running inter-disciplinary gathering on the study of consciousness, the nature of existence and our place in the universe. Over the past thirty years approaches to understanding consciousness have diverged along two distinct paths: 1) ‘neurocomputational’ views of the brain as a complex computer of simple neurons, a view compatible with AI systems becoming conscious, and 2) ‘funda-mental’ views in which consciousness is intrinsic to the universe, connected to the brain through quantum biology. Exploring the funda-mental view, TSC embraces neuroscience biology far more rigorously than AI-compatible simple neurons. Ironically, conscious AI may be most likely to occur in biomimetic quantum computers. Sponsored by the University of Arizona Center for Consciousness Studies.

Workforce Readiness Conference (virtual)
Live Online: August 12, 2025
On-Demand Access: Through November 14, 2025
This dynamic, one-day virtual event from the creators of the Teaching Professor Conference allows you to gain practical strategies, fresh insights, and inspiration to better equip students with the skills, competencies, and real-world experiences employers value most.
See the website to register.