13 October 2023
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Student Matters
Applications for spring 2024 admission are being accepted with a due date of December 1, 2023. Admissions requirements and procedures can be reviewed here.
CCT Events
Fall 2023 Dialogue Series on Reflective Practice in a Changing World (online)
- Thurs. Oct. 19th, 7:00-8:00pm ET: Reflective Practice for Revisiting Purpose in Our Academic and Career Paths (RSVP to this session | more details on the theme)
- Wed. Nov. 15th, 7:00-8:00pm ET: Reflective Practice for Restoring Wellness in Dysfunctional Spaces (RSVP to this session | more details on the theme)
- Thurs. Dec. 14th, 7:00-8:00pm ET: Reflective Practice for Embracing Creative Risk (RSVP to this session | more details on the theme)
Join any number of these dialogues, free and open to the public. RSVP to 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.
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 here.
Events
Webinar: Storythinking: The New Science of Narrative Intelligence (presentation given October 11, 2023, 6:30-8:00pm ET). Part of the ColumbiaDC CUP series. In this presentation, Prof. Angus Fletcher (Project Narrative, Ohio State University) explains how and why our brains think in stories, which Fletcher identifies “storythinking.” He demonstrates that storythinking is fundamental to what makes us human and explores the nature of imagination, innovation, and creativity. See the recording of the presentation here.
Rethinking Critical Thinking and the Humanities
120th Annual Conference of PAMLA (Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association)
October 25-29, 2023
Portland, Oregon, US
For more information, see the website.
Opportunities and Resources
- Critical and Creative Thinking students are invited to participate with the Sustainable Solutions Lab Climate Justice Grad Student Network. The Sustainable Solutions Lab (SSL) institute at UMass Boston seeks to connect research and action in supporting equity and safety for historically excluded people in the face of climate change. See the web site and Twitter feed for more information about projects and events and for recordings/publications related to past work.
- Organizations supporting critical thinking:
Open Minds Foundation – nonprofit agency serving to educates the public about issues of critical thinking and reducing coercive control across society - The School of Thought International
Sage 2023 Critical Thinking Bootcamp – recordings and toolkit produced by the event that took place on August 8th, 2023.
Headagogy, with Steve Pearlman (podcast series from the Critical Thinking Institute)
Food for Thought
Video:
- The Physics of Music (Aeon)
- Teaching art or teaching to think like an artist? (Cindy Foley, TED)
- 7 steps of creative thinking (Raphael DiLuzio, TED)
Articles:
- How to Engage an Entrenched Believer: Why arguing with a denier will get you nowhere, and how to do it differently (Psychology Today)
- Universities Are Teaching Competing Math Philosophies to Future Teachers. Why That Matters (Education Week)
- The A.I. Wars Have Three Factions, and They All Crave Power (New York Times)
- A Little Bit of Science Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing (Nautilus)
- Freedom at work: There is always a demand for more jobs. But what makes a job good? For that, Immanuel Kant has an answer (Aeon)
- Will AI kill our creativity? It could – if we don’t start to value and protect the traits that make us human (The Conversation)
- Eight Lessons From My Research on Creativity – Robert Sternberg (Greater Good Magazine)
- Three ways higher education can become more hopeful in the post-pandemic, post-AI era (PhysOrg)
- Fifty Years Of Hip Hop: Celebrating A Cultural Phenomenon (Social Science Space)
- The Case For Critical Thinking: The COVID-19 Pandemic And An Urgent Call To Close The Critical Thinking Gap In Education (Forbes)
- The Curious Mind: Fostering Critical and Creative Thinking in Students (Faculty Focus Podcast, Episode 66)
- Poll: Most Americans Encounter Health Misinformation, and Most Aren’t Sure Whether It’s True or False (KFF)
- The Human Brain Project ends: What has been achieved (Human Brain Project)
- Philosopher Martha Nussbaum on How to Live with Our Human Fragility (The Marginalian)
- From “The Self” to “The Collective” (Number Magazine)
Research / New Publications:
- Magna Publications, The College Teacher’s Handbook: A Resource Collection for New Faculty
- Ryder, Philosophy of Education: Thinking & Learning through History & Practice
Humor
- The Simpsons Live Action Opening (YouTube)