Community Organizing

The tenth Performing the World (PTW) conference will be held in New York City, Friday, September 21 through Sunday, September 23, 2018. These are very uncertain days. So much is, or seems to be, falling apart – nations and government apparatus, norms of diplomacy and civil discourse, civil society, the glaciers...

The Future of Performance Psychology in Japan—what a privilege to be part of creating such a thing! In mid-August I made my third trip to Japan to share the methodology of social therapeutics with Japanese psychologists and educators. It was very exciting and gratifying to witness how people I had worked...

If you’ve ever taught or been a student (that's everyone, isn't it?), “Yes, and” as Teaching-Learning Methodology is a must read. It’s written by two University of North Carolina at Greensboro professors— Omar H. Ali, Dean of Lloyd International Honors College and Nadja B. Cech, Professor of Chemistry. In the article,...

The International Class is the signature program of the East Side Institute. I'm so proud to have taught and coached over 100 activists, educators, counselors, theatre artists and scholars over the years, and played a part in their development as leaders in a new kind of social activism. Read what one...

I just rewatched this wonderfully intimate and informative video of a plenary session at Performing the World 2012. It begins with some talented improvisors setting the scene, so to speak, for the conversation among five performance activists—Lin-Ching Hsia from Taiwan, Christine LaCerva from NYC, Charles Rozman from France, Lenora Fulani...

My last post, “Police and Teens, Connecting” (March 29, 2017 ) pointed to an article that appeared in The New York Times that same day. The article featured a unique kind of “connecting” of police and teens—Operation Conversation: Cops & Kids, a program of the All Stars Project in partnership with the...

I want to introduce you to a unique activist-scholar community that played an especially important role in my development. It's the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition (also known as LCHC or, simply, the Lab). Housed at the University of California San Diego since 1979, the Lab is a community of...

My Facebook feed this morning made me happy. Here’s why— That’s Marian Rich—long-time friend, colleague and member of the current  International Class of the East Side Institute—holding a copy of the new Second Edition of my book, Vygotsky at Work and Play. I’m excited for Marian and others to read it! Here’s...