The Saybrook Forum

Saybrook University introduces PhD program focusing on Creativity Studies

A complex fast changing world demands new, creative approaches to everything from corporate strategies to food preparation:  Saybrook University is pleased to announce the creation of a unique psychology PhD program specializing Creativity Studies.

Saybrook has a long connection with the study of creativity:  one of its founders was legendary psychologist Rollo May, who wrote The Courage to Create, and significant work on creativity was also performed by Saybrook faculty such as Abraham Maslow. 

Today Saybrook is home to many of the leading contemporary scholars studying creativity, including Ruth Richards, Editor of Everyday Creativity, and Steven Pritzker, Co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Creativity.  Together, they are creating a community that helps students become scholars in their own right.

The program will appeal to students interested in studying every aspect of creativity, including the traditional arts as well as a variety of other fields such as organizational creativity, mental health, education and social transformation. The curriculum will also include research into aspects of everyday creativity including, family life, daily decision making, and relationships. This study of creativity will be both academic and hands on:  as they become scholars of creativity theory, students will also apply what they learn to enhancing their own creative process and providing learning skills to help others.

Saybook's Donna Nassor appointed as a New York representative of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA)

Psychology/Social Transformation PhD student Donna Nassor has been appointed as a New York representative of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA), a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) since the 1980s. In her new position, Donna will be responsible for attending meetings and committee functions, offering advice as a civil society representative in direct contact with UN representatives.

NGOs may apply to be in consultative status with ECOSOC, with its rights and responsibilities varying depending on whether they are classified as general, specific expertise, or roster. Some years ago, due to the efforts of peace scholar Elise Boulding, IPRA was granted consultative status as a roster organization. ECOSOC serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States and the United Nations system. As a roster organization, IPRA is granted passes for two organizational heads, for one main representative and four additional ones at New York headquarters and the Vienna and Geneva offices. These representatives bring IPRA's voice to the UN by providing input on the final documents of the ECOSOC commissions through participation in the NGO caucuses that are formed during their conferences and in so doing introduce a discourse that is an alternative to the dominant one on various issues. They can also take part in activities organized by the Conference on NGOs in consultative status with the UN (CONGO), a network of organizations which work together to bring NGO expertise into the discussions of governments in UN fora.

Since 1964 IPRA has been pursuing interdisciplinary research into the most pressing issues related to sustainable peace around the world today. As a network of scholars, practitioners and decision-makers from all continents, they strive to stay at the cutting edge of the state of the art of peace. By linking its regional associations throughout the world, IPRA is about building communities of inquiry. Donna will bring Saybrook's committment to scholarly humanistic research and transformative social change to her consulting work with IPRA and ECOSOC

Rollo May's last book, "The Psychology of Existence," to be re-issued

McGraw-Hill has announced that it is re-issuing The Psychology of Existence, the last book that pioneering existential psychologist Rollo May wrote in 2004.

May was one of the founders of Saybrook University, and wrote The Psychology of Existence with Kirk Schneider, a Saybrook graduate who is now also a member of Saybrook's faculty.

The New Existentialists has an interview with Schneider about the continued relevance of The Psychology of Existence, along with a discussion about what it was like to work with May in the last days of his life, getting him a copy of the gally proofs to review just two days before his death.

Read the interview here.

Saybrook University to Sponsor Chip Conley "Emotional Equations" Book Signing Events

San Francisco, CA, January 5, 2012 – Saybrook University announced today that it is sponsoring signing events for Chip Conley’s new book, “Emotional Equations” (January 10, Free Press). In the book, Conley, dynamic entrepreneur and author of the bestselling “Peak”, has developed a new lexicon for an emotionally intelligent age by introducing brilliantly simple formulas to help us explore and articulate something that challenges and connects us all: our emotions. Illustrating how to gain greater perspective and create the perfect equation for any situation, equations like “Joy = Love - Fear” and “Despair = Suffering - Meaning” have been reviewed for mathematical and psychological accuracy by leading experts. Conley shows us how to solve these equations (and how to formulate our own) through life examples and stories of inspiring people and role models who worked them through in their own lives.

 

The three Saybrook University sponsored events will be held in:

·         San Francisco  January 11

·         Los Angeles     January 25

·         New York        February 23

 

In addition to the above events, Chip Conley will be the keynote speaker at Saybrook University’s residential conference on January 14, 2012. This conference brings together faculty and students from Saybrook’s Graduate Colleges of Psychology and Humanistic Studies and Mind-Body Medicine for intensive classes and workshops in multiple disciplines. Chip Conley will also be the keynote speaker at Saybrook University’s LIOS Graduate College (Leadership Institute of Seattle) graduation on June 18, 2012 in Seattle, Washington.

Saybrook University Appoints Chip Conley as its first Scholar-Practitioner in Residence

Mark Schulman, Ph.D., president of Saybrook University today announced the appointment of Chip Conley, award- winning San Francisco entrepreneur and noted author, as the institution’s inaugural scholar-practitioner in residence. The Saybrook University scholar-practitioner in residence program emphasizes the importance of life-long learning, creative curiosity in support of new knowledge, and the application of this knowledge in service to the larger community.

The program is grounded in Saybrook University’s core humanistic values honoring the infinite potential of human beings to grow and change in meaningful ways, regardless of the challenges they face. Saybrook University’s scholar-practitioner in residence program joins a growing number of such programs across the country to bring the lived experience of professional practice and expertise into the realm of higher education – combining “the library and the street”- to prepare graduates to adapt, invent, and reinvent themselves, their organizations, and their communities in response to change and the challenges of the 21st century.

Chip Conley is the founder of Joie de Vivre, California’s preeminent boutique hotel company now growing across the country. Influenced by Abraham Maslow’s theories of humanistic psychology, exemplified by the oft-cited pyramid representing the hierarchy of human needs, Conley revamped his business model to focus on the intangible, higher needs of his company’s three main constituencies – employees, customers and investors. He credits this shift for helping Joie de Vivre triple its annual revenues between 2001 and 2008. He was honored with the Most Innovative CEO in the Bay Area award by “The San Francisco Business Times” based upon this performance.

In announcing the appointment, Mark Schulman stated:

Saybrook Conference Sessions Open To Prospective Students This January

Join us at an upcoming conference session to engage in an integral part of the Saybrook experience. For 40 years Saybrook University has offered distance education for graduate students. Combining online and residential instruction, our programs foster close contact amongst faculty and learners while offering flexibility. A key component of Saybrook's learning model, residential conference sessions bring faculty and students together, spurring intellectual creativity, collaboration, and mentorship.

Prospective students may attend and observe two sessions at the SFO Westin Hotel in Millbrae, California:

Sunday, January 15, 2012 -- 9:15 am - 12:00 pm PST

Courses and Seminars:
Renewing the Encounter Between the Human Sciences, the Arts, and the Humanities
Introduction to Person-Centered Expressive Arts for Healing and Social Change
Buddhist Pathways to Health
Systems Practice: From Systems Thinking to Systems Being
Generative and Strategic Dialogue: Intro to ORG 7044
Trauma and Transformation: The “Human”

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 -- 9:15 am - 12:00 pm PST

Courses and Seminars:
Trauma and Transformation: Social Dimensions
Intermediate Training and Education in Hypnosis (5620)
Movement, Exercise, and Health
Researching Organizations and their Complexity: Exploring Methods That Support a Systems Approach to Change
City of San Francisco Initiative: A Collaborative Project Opportunity
Creativity and Writing: Beyond the Norm

Attendees will also have the opportunity to meet with faculty and Admissions representatives. To learn more and register, please RSVP HERE!

Saybrook faculty member George Kent publishes two new books on food production

 

Saybrook Professor George Kent - who teaches STR 6585 "The Human Right to Adequate Food" - has published Ending Hunger Worldwide, a book that challenges the naïve notion that everyone wants hunger to end. Rather, hunger ensures that some people will work for very low pay, so employers make good profits and consumers enjoy cheap goods. Hunger analysts typically focus on agriculture yields and interventions with capsules and supplements. They rarely acknowledge that hunger is a deeply social issue that is shaped by the ways in which people treat each other. The central concept that drives the book is that in strong communities, people don’t go hungry. Strong communities have high levels of concern about one another’s well-being. People may provide food to one another when that is necessary, but more fundamentally, they ensure that all have decent opportunities to provide for themselves.There is no shortage of food in the world; there is a shortage of opportunities.

Kent's other recent publication, Regulating Infant Formula, assesses the widespread assumption that the government or some international agency is monitoring the quality of infant formula. Government agencies sometimes raise alarms when a batch of formula is seriously contaminated, but they are not monitoring the product to ensure the health of children. More than half the infant formula used in the U.S. is provided by the government, at no cost to the families. The government monitors the economic impact on the manufacturers, but not the impact on the health of children. It has been estimated that more than 900 children in the U.S. die each year because they have been fed with infant formula.

Professor Kent was invited last year by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to speak on Ending on Hunger Worldwide for its Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition. The report from this event is available as a pdf for download.

Saybrook becomes first university to sign petition against planned changes for the DSM-5

Saybrook faculty and administration have voted to endorse the Society for Humanistic Psychology's Open Letter to the DSM-5 committee.

Saybrook is the first university to sign the petition in support of this letter.

The Society for Humanistic Psychology’s letter recognizes and honors the complexity of the human condition, while advocating for the human right to not be unnecessarily pathologized.

We are deeply appreciative of the work the Society for Humanistic Psychology has done for this cause, and are heartened by the many voices joining in by signing the petition. We are also pleased to see many students, faculty, and administrators of Saybrook University have already signed the petition.

Saybrook Faculty have been instrumental in the development and organization of the petition. The president-elect of the Society for Humanistic Psychology is Saybrook faculty member Louis Hoffman;  Saybrook’s PsyD program director, Shawn Rubin, sits on the SHP board;  and David Elkins, the current president of the SHP, is a founding member of The New Existentialists, a Saybrook organized movement in existential-humanistic psychology.

The view from Occupy Oakland

(The following description of Occupy Oakland, just prior to the police action of Oct. 25, is provided by Psychology PhD student Makenna Berry, a regular contributor to Saybrook's psychology blog The New Existentialists)

History?

More like our story. It has become the story of 100’s swelling to include 1000’s who have come together in downtown Oakland. I speaking about the families, elders, youth, workers, teachers, nurses…everyone that I could imagine that lives in Oakland and from our surrounding cities who have come to speak, witness and participate in what has been called the most significant social movement seen in years.

No. This is not just a band of disenchanted students camping out in a public park. It’s so much more and I believe that we must either participate or at minimum take note.

The challenge is describing what Occupy is, because frankly, Occupy on a national scale is the people who are there. One can’t really know the people unless you are there with us.

But I can try.

It has been a week since Occupy Oakland hit the international news. The morning the first tent city was dismantled the Occupy Oakland movement was seen by many as not being much. It was viewed cautiously as a movement with no leader, no agenda and by some on the outside, with no point.

I had been watching and listening to the community beat. I felt that there was much more here than folks were realizing. The next day at 4pm I joined 100’s of others at the steps of the Oakland Public Library. The People’s Mic was on.

APA article on Existential-Humanistic psychology prominently features Saybrook faculty, alumni, and students

"Searching for Meaning" is the first article in the flagship publication of the American Psychological Association to specifically examine Existential-Humanistic Psychology -- and it features interviews with Saybrook faculty Kirk Schneider and Orah Krug, along with the published work of PhD student Elliot Benjamin.

It also clearly illustrates why Existential and Humanistic psychology are returning to prominence: treating the symptoms of depression, malaise, and insecurity are often not enough. A healthy life involves the search for meaning and purpose -- something medically oriented psychology cannot provide.

As the intellectual home of Existential-Humanistic psychology since its inception (the article mentions that it was founded in large part by Rollo May and Abraham Maslow -- both of whom taught at Saybrook at its founding), Saybrook is proud to be part of this crucial recognition of why it matters that psychologists be able to work with their patients as people, and not just lists of symptoms.

Faculty member Kirk Schneider has written a brief comment on the APA article on The New Existentialists, where the APA Monitor article is also available as a PDF.