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PERFORMANCE OF A NEWSLETTER
The Online Newsletter of the East Side Institute
Issue # 39, July 2009
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Psychology News to Inspire and Use
Editors: Mary Fridley and Melissa Meyer
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We've had an event-full few months at the Institute. We held 19 classes, workshops, films and events, trained dozens of people in our various programs, and hosted prominent visitors. We fanned out across the city to speak with New Yorkers in colleges and universities, think tanks and museums, city streets and parks. (Oh, and we made a trip to China and Taiwan!)
These Institute gatherings showcased the broad applicability of the performatory-philosophical methodology of social therapeutics to numerous institutional settings, professions, intellectual movements and policy issues, and brought people from different disciplines and backgrounds together to perform conversation. We hope you had a chance to participate in some of them or you can in the future.
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***Conversations with a Black Minority focuses on schooling, learning and development (when and why they are at odds)***
The challenging and inspiring team of Lenora Fulani, Alvaader Frazier, Pam Lewis, and Gloria Strickland were back for a second five weeks of "Conversations with a Black Minority: Postmodern Marxists in Dialogue about a New and Innovative Approach to 'Black' Psychology." Fifty professionals and community activists took part in the class, which focused on how in the organization of education, particularly of Black children, politics has too often interfered with learning and development. According to Strickland, "People wanted to learn more about what we as postmodernists mean by development, both practically and theoretically. They asked a lot of questions and grappled with the relationship of poverty and underdevelopment in the Black community." Among the materials discussed in the class was a recently published special report, "Achievement Gap or Development Gap: 'Outliers' and Outsiders Reconsider an Old Problem," written by Fulani and Gabrielle Kurlander, president of the All Stars Project, Inc. The report is available at http://www.allstars.org/content/Achievement_Gap.pdf.The series will resume in the fall.
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***Revolutionary Conversations Series Launches***
The Institute began its Revolutionary Conversations series, conceived by the Institute's co-founder Dr. Fred Newman, which will share the social therapeutics of Fred Newman and Lois Holzman (the Institute's director and co-founder). This series of classes will be offered year-round and will be taught by the Institute's faculty and staff and affiliated social therapists in New York, California, Pennsylvania, Boston, Georgia and Ontario, Canada. Each will focus on a particular aspect or application of social therapeutics. The first Revolutionary Conversations class "A Holistic and Cultural Approach to Psychiatric Medicine" led by Dr. Hugh Polk, a psychiatrist and social therapist with the Social Therapy Group, is already underway. "How the International Performance Movement was Born," an online seminar with Melissa Meyer, the Institute's programs coordinator and "Philosophizing with a Small p" with Dr. Rafael Mendez, a social therapist with the Social Therapy Group will be start July 31 and August 5 respectively. Go to www.eastsideinstitute.org and click on "Events" for class details and to register.
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***Health Care Meets Social Therapeutics***
The developmental methodology of social therapeutics has been utilized in both institutionalized and informal health care settings for years. This spring, we held three events that highlighted this work and the talented professionals who are leading it.
In May we hosted "The Performance of Resiliency: Supporting Oncology Nurses at Johns Hopkins Hospital," which featured Sharon Krumm, the Director of Nursing at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, who, together with Cathy Salit and Maureen Kelly from Performance of a Lifetime, presented on a multi-year initiative launched by Kimmel to promote resiliency among oncology nurses. The panelists and audience members, many of whom worked in health care, explored the need for nurses to reflect on, explore, and create new performances of nursing that include their subjective responses. (Click here for YouTube video)
In the first of a series called "What's philosophy got to do with your health?" Susan Massad a physician and Institute board member, moderated a conversation with Eric Cassell, an internationally renowned physician-teacher, bioethicist and author. Dr. Massad, a practicing general internist with an expertise in postmodern, humanistic approaches to the practice of medicine, explored with Dr. Cassell the doctor-patient relationship and the subjective needs of people who are ill. (Click here for YouTube video)
The series continued in June with "Whose Sickness Is It, Anyway?" a workshop in which Dr. Massad moderated a conversation with Institute faculty member and social therapist Barbara Silverman and social therapy patient Robin Sayetta, about the evolution of the social therapeutic health team--a group of people with differing abilities and experiences of illness who share ownership of an individual's illness. The workshop leaders and the 45 people in attendance discussed how the health team method challenges our assumptions about the privacy of pain, suffering and disability.
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***Innovative Educators Perform***
The Institute has been creating and promoting developmental learning methodologies for decades. This spring we held two workshops with innovative educators who are continuing to advance learning environments where they work and play. The first workshop, "How I Spent My School Year (Developing)," included alumnae from the Institute's Developing Teachers Fellowship Program. The second entitled "Teachers and Learners: Roles or Relationships?" was led by Performing the World presenters Kirstin Bratt and KT Huckabee.
In "How I Spent My School Year (Developing)" Carrie Lobman, the director of the Developing Teachers Fellowship Program, and the program's alumnae shared their work through a combination of improvisational performances and an interview with Lois Holzman. The educators, who work in schools in New York and New Jersey, shared ways in which their training at the Institute has allowed them to be more creative and humanistic with students in the classroom.
"Teachers and Learners: Roles or Relationships?" explored the challenges faced by teachers and students interested in developing relational (not role-determined) learning environments in an interactive performance workshop led by Kirstin Bratt, teacher educator at Penn State Altoona, and KT Huckabee, assistant professor and coordinator of Penn State's Dance Studies and Integrative Arts. Participants included university-based teacher educators, public school teachers and performance artists. The workshop grew out of an ongoing dialogue the Institute has been having with Bratt and Huckabee on the relationship between creativity and learning and the need for non-cognitive learning environments.
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***Vygotsky: Mediation or Revolution?***
Lev Vygotsky: One Man's Legacy through his Life and Theory, a documentary about the life, theory and practice of the early Soviet psychologist, enjoyed its New York premiere at a showing co-hosted by the Institute and the All Stars Project in June. The film, by Valerie Lowe, features interviews with several of the world's leading Vygotskian scholars, including Michael Cole, Lois Holzman, Alex Koluzin, Vera John-Steiner, and James Wertsch. The evening brought together 80 educators, social workers and psychologists whose work has been influenced by Vygotsky and ordinary New Yorkers whose only exposure to him has been through their involvement in the development community. Post-show, Holzman fielded questions from the audience, including one which highlighted the difference between mediation (considered by many Vygotskians to be one of his most important discoveries) and revolutionary activity as understood/practiced by Holzman and Newman. The film is available for purchase by universities, colleges, agencies and organizations. Go to: http://www.vygotskydocumentary.com/
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***Innovative Developmentalists Report from the Field***
"Reports from the Field" in June featured members of the Institute's 2008-09 International Class, Dikeledi (Maggie) Moremi, a psychologist who works with children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and their grandparent and caretakers in South Africa, and Peter Nsubuga, the founder of Hope for Youth Uganda. They inspired the audience with pictures and words that showed their commitment to bringing development and performance to children and families living in extreme poverty.
Reports from the Field is the monthly series of conversations between Lois Holzman and innovative developmentalists from the US and around the world, has featured the following guests: International Class members Prativa Sengupta, a psychologist from Calcutta, India and Simon De Abreu, an arts activist from Hamilton, Ontario (click here for YouTube video); activist attorney Harry Kresky and organizational consultant and children's rights advocate Kim Sabo-Flores (click here for YouTube video); Gail Elberg, director of Talented Volunteers for the All Stars Project; and Christine LaCerva, director of The Social Therapy Group (click here for YouTube video). The series will resume in the fall.
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***Cinematic Philosophizing***
Our monthly Friday night "Philm: Philosophy and Film @ the East Side Institute" featured Waking Life, directed by Richard Linklater; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, directed by Tom Stoppard; Nothing Really Happens (Memories of Aging Strippers), directed by Fred Newman and Wittgenstein, directed by Derek Jarman. Hosted by Rafael Mendez and Institute faculty member Chris Helm, the series was inspired by Rebecca Schwarz, film buff and student, and Institute supporter. According to one "Philm" goer, "it's the best of both worlds - creative films that play with your perceptions and assumptions - and the opportunity to have some really interesting conversations with a bunch of New Yorkers you'd never otherwise get to meet."
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***Congratulations to Institute Graduates***
Congratulations to all the Institute graduates -- including 8 in The International Class, 5 in the Developing Teachers Fellowship Program and 1 in the Therapist Training Program. Graduates were social workers, psychologists, classroom educators, community organizers and museum educators, from the United States, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, India, the Philippines, South Africa, and Uganda. Through a photo slideshow and performed collage, they shared their work in the field, training experiences with the Institute, and future plans with an audience of friends and family. Therapist Training Program graduate, now social therapist, Rachel Mickenberg will be practicing at the Social Therapy Group. Expect to read news of the others in future issues of this newsletter.
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***Institute Asks New Yorkers How They're Doing***
In May, Institute staff took to the parks and streets of lower Manhattan with a survey designed to "take the temperature" on how New Yorkers are doing in the midst of the financial crisis. Close to 200 residents of the Big Apple took the time to speak with us. It's clear that the financial crisis and an overall climate of uncertainty are taking their toll emotionally on New Yorkers. Many recognize the importance of dealing with their increased stress in a more social and relational fashion - so much so that half of those we spoke to want to stay in touch, and expressed interest in a six-week Summertime Development Group that begins July 8. For details, call 718-797-3220 or email Christine LaCerva at clacerva@socialtherapygroup.com.
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***Holzman in China, Taiwan***
Lois Holzman traveled to China and Taiwan in May at the invitation of Lin-Ching Hsia, professor of psychology at Fu-Jen University in Taipei and a long-time community organizer. Dr. Hsia was a Fulbright Scholar with the Institute nearly ten years ago, and since then several interchanges between the development community and Hsia's community organizations have taken place.
In Nanjing, China, Hsia and Holzman presented at the International Society of Theoretical Psychology conference. Their joint presentation on therapeutic and emotional growth issues from both Taiwanese and U.S. social therapeutic perspectives was attended by dozens of Chinese university students, who raised issues of family tensions and personal growth. Holzman then traveled to Taiwan and spent four days visiting numerous social service/social change projects founded by Hsia and her colleagues. Hosted by Powpee Lee (an International Class alumni) and Jung Che Chang (a Performing the World participant), Holzman was given a grassroots tour of Taiwan, visiting a workers' university, immigrant women's and sex worker centers, an afterschool program, aboriginal communities, and independent labor and political organizations. Holzman commented, "It was a privilege to have this unique experience of talking openly and in depth with dedicated activists, and witness their organizing work first hand. I was touched by everyone's eagerness to learn about how and what we've built in the community."
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***Holzman, Lobman Out and About***
In New
York, Holzman continued a speaking tour launched just after the
publication of her most recent book, Vygotsky at Work and Play. Since
March, Holzman has spoken with a diverse audience of undergraduates,
graduate students, faculty and staffs at colleges and universities
throughout the city. While the topics of these talks varied - "Play is
the Thing," "Learning in Groups," "Language Learning as Vygotskian
Performance" - and the conversations went in many different directions,
they all related to Vygotskian concepts that have inspired Holzman and
the development community she has helped to build. Audiences have been
particularly excited by what Holzman has to say about play throughout
the life span and the emotionality of learning. Those familiar with
Vygotsky's writings were especially intrigued by the Institute's
extension of his "tool-and-result" method and his notion of language
completing (not expressing) thought.
Holzman also spoke at the
54th Annual Conference of the International Linguistic Association in
April at St. Johns University's Manhattan campus. The conference, with
its theme of Imagination and Language in Learning and Teaching, was
dedicated to the memory of Vygotsky. Holzman was one of several
speakers who focus on these aspects of Vygotsky's psychology. Others
included Elina Lampert-Shepel of Mercy College in New York; Ana
Marjanovic-Shane of Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia; Dorothy
Robbins, of the University of Central Missouri; and keynote speaker
Elena Kravtsova of the Vygotsky Institute of Psychology and The Russian
State University for the Humanities in Moscow (Kravtsova is also
Vygotsky's granddaughter). Along with her husband, psychologist Gennady
Kravtsov, Kravtsova created Project Golden Key, an educational practice
and network of schools in Russia that Holzman featured in her book,
Schools for Growth: Radical Alternatives to Current Educational Models. At a visit to the Institute after the conference,
the group planned upcoming activities for the International Vygotsky
Society, and Kravtsova invited Holzman to be a keynote speaker at its
November 2009 conference in Moscow.
One month earlier, Holzman
and Carrie Lobman attended the American Educational
Research Association (AERA) annual conference in San Diego. As
co-program chair of the association's Cultural-Historical Research
Special Interest Group (along with Kevin O'Connor from the University
of Rochester), Holzman organized a session on cultural historical
activity theoretic approaches to learning outside of school. A panel of
innovative researchers in this area - Michael Cole, Kris Gutiérrez (AERA president-elect), Hugh Mehan, Carolyn Panofsky, Olga Vasquez, and
Holzman - engaged the audience in lively discussion on how they became
involved in outside of school learning, its value for children and
community, and its relationship to school learning.
Holzman was also one of eight
presenters at the symposium, "Sociocultural Approaches to the Study of
Emotions." This topic has been central to the Institute's work for
decades and is gaining interest among educational researchers.
Meanwhile, Lobman's presentations included a workshop entitled,
"Creating Environments the Tool and Result Way: An Interactive
Symposium." Lobman had prepared a video highlighting three
tool-and-result developmental environments: the Developing Teachers
Fellowship Program, The International Class, and the All Stars
Project's Youth OnStage! Joining her live for the presentation were
Esben Wilstrup (International Class 2008/9 graduate) and Jill
McLaughlin (Developing Teachers Fellowship Program alumna).
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***Lobman and Farmer "Complete Don't Compete" at Network for Peace Conference***
In June, Lobman and Institute faculty member Esther Farmer presented at the 2009 Network for Peace through Dialogue conference in New York City. Their session, "Complete Don't Compete! A New Approach to Dialoguing with Conflict," focused on the "rich intersections of the methods, processes, and actions of dialogue that lead to change." Lobman and Farmer worked with participants on learning to improvisationally "complete" (build on) conversations so that something new is created. A lively dialogue included many views on differences between "creating conversation" and "expressing oneself."
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***Making the Institute's Work Possible***
In April, 92 friends and supporters came together for the Institute's Community Meeting and Fundraiser. In his remarks, co-founder Fred Newman asked everyone in the room to not only donate financially but also to help bring out social therapeutics to their friends, family and colleagues. "We need to do more outreach and the only process we have for doing this is you," Newman said. "We need to get word out because there is a great internal struggle taking place in the field of psychology over what's going to become of it...and we have something to contribute to this dialogue. We've come up with some very creative ideas, but these ideas mean nothing unless they get into the hands of people who can benefit from them." The event raised $45,000. (Click here for Dr. Newman's remarks on YouTube) If you would like to make a contribution in support of the Institute's work, CLICK HERE or call Melissa Meyer at 212.941.8906, ext 304.
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***Become a Fan of the Institute - It's Easy!**
The East Side Institute now has a page on Facebook and a channel on YouTube! If you - or people you know - wish to get regular updates about upcoming events, go to our Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/ESI-facebook and click on "become a fan." If you'd like to view video clips from the Institute's many activities and conversations, please visit http://www.youtube.com/user/EastSideInstitute and enjoy the show!
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