Culture

15 May

Posted at 19:35h in Activity Theory, Community Organizing, Creativity, Culture, Education, Human Development, Learning Environments, Performance Movement, Philosophy, Politics, Postmodern Marxism, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Social Therapeutics, Training/Classes

With deepening social and political crises worldwide, many who want to make a difference find that they need more. They search for new tools, methods, conceptions and approaches to move forward. Since 2004, the Institute’s flagship program, The International Class, has attracted over 100 passionate and creative scholars, researchers, clinicians and...

01 May

Posted at 14:55h in Creativity, Culture, Education, Events, Language, Play, Psychology of Becoming, Speaking Engagements

I was one of four invited speakers at the Applied Linguistics Winter Conference last week, the theme of which was Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. Preparing my talk took me back to my academic roots as a researcher of early language development. It also took me back to my organizer-activist roots as...

19 Apr

Posted at 20:59h in Activity Theory, Community Organizing, Culture, Human Development, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Speaking Engagements

Being/Becoming an Activist Scholar: Lessons From Cultural-Historical Activity Research  This past week I participated in a symposium at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference held in NYC, along with two distinguished co-presenters, Kris Guitierrez and Anna Stetsenko. A diverse group of younger scholars served as interviewers, with many in the audience...

28 Jan

Posted at 00:42h in Culture, Language, Psychology of Becoming

“Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.”   So said Mark Twain, a wise and witty man with a singular way with words. I’ve long thought Twain is giving us excellent advice and these days it’s especially compelling. Whether in the newspaper,...

23 Oct

Posted at 15:41h in Applied Theatre, Clowning, Community Organizing, Creativity, Culture, Education, Events, Health Care, Human Development, Learning Environments, Outside of School, Performance Movement, Performing the World, Philosophy, Play, Politics, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Theatre, What's New, Youth Development

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...

11 Oct

Posted at 22:50h in Creativity, Culture, I Like This, Politics, What's New, Words to Ponder

Today's words are from Jackie Salit, President of IndependentVoting.org, the country’s leading strategy and organizing center for independents. Jackie's columns, talks and conversations cut through the mist that the news and its talking heads cover us with. This quote is from her essay, "Making Sense of the Senseless"  (October 11, 2017).   "The...

05 Oct

Posted at 14:40h in Culture, I Like This, What's New, Words to Ponder

Today's words are from Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963), the Turkish poet, novelist and playwright who was repeatedly arrested for his political beliefs and spent much of his adult life in prison or in exile. ON LIVING Living is no laughing matter: you must live with great seriousness like a squirrel, for example— I mean without looking...