News2008December

=CCT News=

13 December 08
See also previous news, alum news and exchanges, items for the upcoming news, and [|CCT calendar]. Inform cct@umb.edu if you have news OR want to be emailed when there's a new news compilation (no more than once/month) OR want to be removed from such mailings.

Contents: Student matters, CCT community, CCT events, alums, other events, opportunities, resources, food for thought, humor

__**Student Matters**__

Continuing students who have not registered for courses by December 30 will be registered by the Program for courses in their course plan. This will save you having to pay a late fee of $50 and will help prevent courses from being canceled for lack of numbers. You can change or drop your enrollment at any time using WISER.

Students admitted and matriculating in January should make every effort to schedule an entrance interview on January 23rd, between 12 & 1.30 and 3.45 & 5.15 (http://cct.wikispaces.com/ptofficehours), which will give the Program a chance to introduce them to a "set of steps to prepare CCT students to complete a synthesis during their final semester (or very soon after)", http://www.cct.umb.edu/SupportToCompletion.html

Students already in the program should take note of these steps and support. Interviews will be scheduled early in the semester to discuss them with you.

Students who would like to be considered for a Graduate Assistantship for the spring, should view http://www.cct.umb.edu/resources.html#GA and submit http://www.cct.umb.edu/GAapplication.pdf. There is no guarantee that an assistantship will open up in the College of Ed, but, if one does, it is best to have your application already on file for the faculty members to look at.

__**CCT Community**__

Peter Taylor's courses in CCT & Public Policy are now available to the public on the UMB Open Course Ware project at [|http://ocw.umb.edu].

//**Please spread the word about courses that have room for non-matriculated students**// > Critical Thinking; Creative Thinking; Dialogue Processes; Creative Thinking, Collaboration and Organizational Change > These courses are not face2face, but are not simply "online" -- they combine many modes of interaction. Register via http://www.ccde.umb.edu/credit/spring09/gr/crcrth/
 * January '09 for-credit, face2face "Dialogue Processes" graduate course from UMass Boston's Critical & Creative Thinking Program, is still open for registration, http://ccde.umb.edu/credit/winter09/gr/crcrth/
 * Spring course starting 28th January: Authentic Problem Solving Using Inquiry-Based Approaches (CrCrTh611), http://www.cct.umb.edu/courses.html#611. To register, see http://www.cct.umb.edu/nonmatric.html
 * Spring Courses starting 2nd February -- stand alone or taken as part of a Graduate Certificate in "Creative Thinking at Work" (http://www.cct.umb.edu/CTAWcert.html)

__**CCT Events**__

CCT end-of-year gathering/Open House: Looking Out For Each Other: Thinking Our Way Through an Economic Funk When: Monday, December 15, 2008. 6:30pm-9:00pm. Where: UMass-Boston, Campus Center, McCormack 2-628C (Listen in at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/16894; see tips ) Join us as we get inspired about what it means to think in a time of uncertainty in the economic world. All participants are welcome to bring: We'll enjoy the fellowship of the CCTers as we read aloud to each other and share the other items we bring. (Co-organized by the CCT Network.)
 * some potluck food or refreshment or holiday cheer item to share
 * a piece of writing, music, image, object, or other item to share that represents something to you about what it means to "look out for each other."

CCT Community start-of-spring-semester Open House When: January 23, 5.30-8:00pm Where: Place & topic TBA, but pencil it in now. (Co-organized by the CCT Network.)

Also on January 23, 2.20-3.30, as part of the annual UMB conference on Teaching for Transformation: Place TBD (at UMB) - information will be available by the time of the conference. A dialogue process session in which current and former CCT students reflect on the influence of the field of Critical & Creative Thinking on our practice, changes in the field, and ideas about future directions of development. Through Internet access, graduates who are no longer in the Boston area will be able to participate -- **volunteers welcome**!
 * "Changing Practices of/through Critical & Creative Thinking: Looking Back, Looking Forward"**

__**Alum and CCT associates Notes**__

Frank Carvino defended his archaeology thesis on 11/26: "From Coast to Consumer: The archaeology of smuggling in 18th century New England"

Suzanne Clark's students at Berklee College of Music presented on their work in the The Creative Flame course on December 12.

**__Events__**

The Annual Conference on Teaching for Transformation will take place on Friday, January 23rd, as mentioned above.

__**Opportunities**__

**__Resources__**

The most current UMass-Boston [|Community Front Page].

__**Humor**__

Dissertations are long and boring. By contrast, everybody likes haiku. So why not write your dissertation as a haiku? http://www.dissertationhaiku.com/ > Write, submit and wait. > You wonder who reads this stuff. > You’re published again!

__**Food for Thought**__

Two recent Globe articles: the importance of teaching critical and creative thinking to prepare students for the 21st century (hallelujah) and incorporating critical thinking tasks into MCAS. Opinion: The relative lack of preparation teachers receive in teaching thinking is a deficiency that higher education has needed to address all too long. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/11/19/teaching_students_21st_century_skills/ http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/19/mcas_testing_may_expand/

A way to think about our work: "In honor of those who came before us In solidarity with those who are with us In hope for those who come after us" (From the program book for the Besere Velt concert on 4 December)

The idea of the Highlander Center, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_uubBxDB4A, "As a teacher... what you hope is that the ball gets taken away from you..."

From the Johns Hopkins Public Health magazine: [|What If we addressed the problem of gun violence as if it were a public health issue, such as pollution?...]