College of Psychology and Humanistic Studies

How to learn nonviolent resistance as King did

by Mary Elizabeth King

Original post can be found on the Waging Nonviolence website

How does one learn nonviolent resistance? The same way that Martin Luther King Jr. did—by study, reading and interrogating seasoned tutors. King would eventually become the person most responsible for advancing and popularizing Gandhi’s ideas in the United States, by persuading black Americans to adapt the strategies used against British imperialism in India to their own struggles. Yet he was not the first to bring this knowledge from the subcontinent.

By the 1930s and 1940s, via ocean voyages and propeller airplanes, a constant flow of prominent black leaders were traveling to India. College presidents, professors, pastors and journalists journeyed to India to meet Gandhi and study how to forge mass struggle with nonviolent means. Returning to the United States, they wrote articles, preached, lectured and passed key documents from hand to hand for study by other black leaders.

Learning from failure to improve peace education work

 By ELTON SKENDAJ, Visiting Research Fellow, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame

Original post found in the Global Campaign for Peace Education Newsletter, February 2012 issue.

I write this as a research fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame, where reflection and action in peace research are encouraged. In a review of current practices of peace education by US Institute of Peace, the writers celebrate the diversity of peace practice, but sound a note of caution that we need better evaluation of the strategies that work in peace education. In this spirit of reflection, I want to make a plea for learning from our failures and sharing information about when our strategies work and when they don’t. As peace educators, we often share information about what we consider successful outcomes of our efforts, and failures to achieve the peace we seek are used to justify the claim that more peace education activities are needed.

Stanley Krippner and Steven Pritzker will Teach Personal Mythology Workshop at Esalen May 18-20

Your personal myths—the hidden themes and stories of your life—could be subconsciously shaping the way you live today. Personal myths are generated from family, society, and your own experience. When you become aware of your guiding personal myths, you can examine them to determine whether they are more functional than dysfunctional. This process can help you identify myths that no longer serve you, which reduces the power they have to influence your thinking and decisions.

This workshop is based on the award-winning book The Mythic Path, written by David Feinstein and Stanley Krippner. 

You will participate in a series of personal rituals designed to help you scrutinize your own myths in light of the culture (or cultures) in which you grew up. We’ll embark on a five-stage process of discovery using psychodrama, writing, dreamwork, and artwork to journey into the past and possible futures, and we’ll explore how personal myths affect each moment of the present. 

Join us for an opportunity to understand more about yourself, which may help you develop options that have the potential to change your life. If you've taken this course at Saybrook University or at a workshop elsewhere, you know how powerful it can be so recommend the experience to friends who you think may find it helpful. Discovering the guiding stories of your past can help you create a vision for your future.

For further information please go to: 

http://webapp.esalen.org/workshops/11097

Personal Mythology is an elective in both the M.A. and PhD in Psychology with a Specialization in Creativity Studies at Saybrook University. For additional information go to these links:

http://www.saybrook.edu/phs/academicprograms/psy/cshttp://www.saybrook.edu/phs/academicprograms/psy/phdcs

 

 

Whitney Houston, creativity, and drug use -- When is Enough Enough?

by Steven R. Pritzker

When I was producing television, I met Whitney Houston. She was suggested by a network for a guest role on a show I was producing. I had never heard of her so they sent over a copy of her singing "I'm Saving All My Love for You." Before the song was over, I knew that I was willing to give her a shot even though she had never acted before. Not only was she a fantastic singer, but she really jumped off the screen with a luminous energy.

The week that we did the taping, Whitney couldn't have been nicer. She was about 20 at the time and seemed to be surprised and delighted at her new found fame. As I've watched her very public struggle with drugs and an abusive marriage, it has been heartbreaking. How did that joyous talented young woman turn into a pathetic drug addict?

Of course it is a common story in the entertainment business and especially among musicians. Quincy Jones, the renowned music producer, said on CBS News that he "was angry about her drug use" but recalled the similar problems of Ray Charles and Jimi Hendrix. He offered his opinion that he doesn't think there's going to be any change in the music industry in a clip available at http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7398559n&tag=mncol;lst;1

Guide to international careers in conflict resolution and development

This is an edited version of a post by Craig Zelizer on the Peace and Collaborative Development Network.

Finding the right job in conflict resolution, international development and related fields requires a combination of the right experience and training, an understanding of the field, developing strong connections and a bit of serendipity. In addition to academic and/or professional training, it is essential to have an understanding of how conflict resolution works in practice. Many people working in conflict related jobs, will not find employment with "conflict resolution organizations" but with organizations in others sectors (international development, education, environment, business) working on conflict related jobs. Thus it is also important in the job search to broaden your scope to include international development organizations, government and intergovernmental institutions, for-profit and business institutions, educational institutions, and more.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Psychology and the Occupy Movement - Synergies for Social Change

 
PsySR’s 30th Anniversary Conference: July 12-14, 2012 – Washington, DC
 

Conference Information: www.psysr.org/conference2012

We invite psychologists, researchers, students, activists, and artists to submit proposals for Psychologists for Social Responsibility’s July 2012 Conference in Washington, DC: “Psychology and the Occupy Movement:  Synergies for Social Change.”
 
The Occupy Movement in the United States, inspired by the earlier Arab Spring uprisings in North Africa and the Wisconsin Movement, is using creative, nonviolent methods to decry inequities in our society. It is enlisting citizens from all walks of life to right injustices of wealth and power and to stop the use of violence to perpetuate these injustices. This 30th anniversary PsySR conference will explore the relationship between psychology and the Occupy Movement and the synergies this relationship can generate in the service of social justice.  We will focus on three areas:

Natalie Rogers' new book explores expressive arts for social change

“Creativity is like freedom: once you taste it, you cannot life without it. It is a transformational force, enhancing self-esteem and self-empowerment.” --  Natalie Rogers

Natalie Rogers, PhD, founder of the transformational Creative Connection® system of person-centered expressive arts has published an all-in-one guide to group facilitation titled: The Creative Connection for Groups ~ Person-Centered Expressive Arts for Healing and Social Change, which, I believe, has the power to impact personal and global transformation and healing. 

Every step of her unique, intermodal expressive arts process is explained in a way which allows readers to take part in the exercises as if they were participating in a workshop intensive. The tools, procedures, and resources designed to initiate creative action have all been included, making it a ‘must have’ book for anyone ready to stimulate growth through expressive creative action. This book is a soulful wake-up call for a world in crisis which requires new ways of seeing, acting, and being to begin the journey toward peace through community engagement. Natalie Rogers writes: “Using creative expression to get acquainted with oneself – one’ values, thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams – is imperative in today’s world” (p. 4). The next step – using expressive arts to build community and move in the direction of inner and world peace – is the goal closest to Rogers’ heart. The underlying theme of the book is encouragement of expressive arts being used in groups as a vehicle for personal growth, transpersonal work, and building a sense of belonging and community (Rogers, 2011, p. 208).

Saybrook alumnae raise funds for South African NGO through fair trade coffee sales

Tammy Hanks and Priscilla Schlottman -- both of whom completed doctoral degrees in Psychology/Social Transformation at Saybrook -- serve as Director and Clinical Director of the Zulu Orphan Alliance (ZOA), a nonprofit organization founded by volunteer psychologists, therapists, social workers, and medical professionals.  Current Saybrook student Donna Nassor sits on the board of ZOA, helping the organization provide a network of ongoing support to orphaned and vulnerable children living near Adams Mission, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.

ZOA supports the Bhekanisizwe (which is Zulu for "look after the nation") Center where where 26 orphans are housed and an additional 30 orphans and other vulnerable children receive meals and basic needs.  What makes ZOA unique among aid groups is that, beyond the provision of basic needs like food, shelter, and medical care, we also offer free access to therapeutic modalities - particularly art therapy and expressive therapies that can be adapted in culturally senstive and appropriate ways that transcend ethnic barriers.

Saybrook students invited to apply for the Diane Weston Scholarship

APPLICATION DEADLINE: February 17, 2012

In 2012 BAAPT will offer scholarships to two students pursuing master’s degree in psychology, social work, organizational development, counseling or a related field. Diane Weston, a past president and long-time member of BAAPT, was a social psychology instructor at SFSU and SJSU. Diane was diagnosed with advanced-stage cancer during her 2007-2008 term as president of the Bay Area chapter of the Association for Psychological Type. A scholarship fund was established in her name through financial contributions from BAAPT members and a matching gift from the Charles Schwab Foundation.

Saybrook Student Aurora Sidney-Ando Leads Art for Peace Project

Art for Peace: An Evolving Mural Project is about collaboration, dialogue, and insight
using visual arts. The means for encouraging harmonious interaction and
effective communication is through mural projects that have no end date leaving
them in a perpetual state of evolution. This project is based on three beliefs:

1. Visual arts can be used as a communication tool.

2. Clear communication moves us closer to peaceful interactions.

3. There is a reciprocal relationship between what we see and what we think and
feel.

These mural projects for peace are about encouraging intentional thoughts
towards peace. Everyone is welcome to participate and paint or write their
ideas on what is needed to move us closer to social harmony. This project is
about creating and encouraging beauty within communities and it is about
empowering people to share what they think with others in a creative visual
format.