College of Psychology and Humanistic Studies

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.

Call for papers: Peace education from the grassroots

Saybrook students are invited to submit an abstract for consideration in an upcoming publication on peace education. The finished volume will be published by Information Age Press as part of its peace education series.

The end of the twentieth century marked the beginning of an upsurge of interest in peace education. Starting in the 1950s, as exemplified in the United States with the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE), concerned citizens at the grassroots level developed peace education strategies to inform others about the dangers of violence and the need for peace. They mobilized to stop the build up of nuclear arms, to oppose the war in Vietnam, to cease support for cruel dictatorships, to support human rights, to endorse environmental sustainability, and to promote nonviolence.  These campaigns.  sprung up out of the hearts and minds of ordinary people concerned about their own welfare and the future of “Mother Earth.”

How Technological Justice Can Fight Global Poverty

Simon Trace is the CEO of the international development charity Practical Action, which works to help poor people in the developing world use technology to transform their lives.

Human development has gone hand-in-hand with technical change. Technology (defined for these purposes as both knowledge and tools) enables people to achieve well-being with less effort and drudgery, or at lower cost and with fewer resources. Technical innovation is essential for people to be able to make more effective use of the resources available to them and to respond to social, economic and environmental changes.

For those of us lucky enough to live today in one of the so-called “developed nations,” modern technology is so woven into the fabric of our daily lives that we barely notice how dependent we are on it. But remove even just one simple strand and things start to unravel very quickly, as a simple thought experiment demonstrates.

Ruth Richards, students, and alumni of Saybrook's Creatitivy Studies program featured in journal

I was honored to be asked by Cheryl Fracasso and Harris Friedman to contribute to a special Leaders and Mentors issue of Neuroquantology.  What a great way to highlight Creativity at Saybrook, and our new programs, I thought!  The attached article is called Creativity Revisited.

As per the format, I did need to say a few things about my own curious background and path, and added some useful research findings on creativity and mental health.   But I then switched to Saybrook, the development of our Creativity programs, and colorful figures such as Stan Krippner, and Steve Pritzker. 

The best part of all was when I got all of ten (10) Saybrook students/alums to write about their own experience, their own work with creativity, and their own visions for the future.  Clearly this (the last half) is the best part!  Judith Kolva, Ph.D., Alumna who just did the wonderful memoir for Saybrook's 40th anniversary, edited this last part, and put in her own amazing story. 

Denita Benyshek (who is almost done with her doctorate!) decided to write her own piece for Neuroquantology, which I hope you will see later on--along with her own original artwork.

See what you think (PDF).  Oh yes, there are stunning photos of these 10 Saybrook graduate students/alums, including Judith.  Are Saybrook Creativity graduate students naturally good looking? Seems so  :-) 

-- Ruth Richards

Saybrook doctoral candidate selected as upcoming conference presenter

Robert Jackson-Paton has been chosen as a presenter at the upcoming White Privilege Conference, occurring March 28-31 in Albuquerque, NM. The theme of the conference is Intersectionality: Vision, Commitment, and Sustainable Partnerships.

He will facilitate a workshop entitled Settlement Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Covered Wagon.

As with White privilege, invisible benefits—to Whites—accrue to White settlers through the ongoing occupation of Indigenous territories taken through a variety of dishonest means, and the transmission of that conquest through generations to the present day. The subsequent access to resources, land, wealth, education, and so on manifests as both White and settlement privilege. Environmentalism as a settler narrative will be a focus of discussion. Detailed analysis, personal narratives, as well as various interactive exercises will be provided to initiate the decolonization of White settlers in the United States, and begin conversations toward collective and individual healing.

Additionally, Jackson-Paton will be leading an all-day institute - along with Saybrook Professor Jürgen Kremer and David Raymond - on the topic Facing Collective Shadows: Accounting for and Healing from White Settlement.

Conflict transformation handbook available free online

 

The Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation is Berghof Conflict Research’s key publication. Constantly evolving and developing, this online platform presents cutting-edge knowledge and experience for scholars and practitioners working on transforming violent ethnopolitical conflict.

Since its inception in 1999, the Berghof Handbook is designed to present state-of-the-art research and practice in conflict transformation to an international audience. It has three primary aims:

• fostering critical discussion both among and between academics and practitioners;
• bridging the gap between theory and practice in the field of conflict transformation; and
• including a wide range of voices and perspectives from different regions throughout the world, as well as from multiple disciplines and faculties.