Vygotsky at Work and Play in Educational, Therapeutic and Organizational Settings < Conferences

Events

Upcoming Events

Awards

Conferences

Recent Events

Vygotsky at Work and Play in Educational, Therapeutic and Organizational Settings

PRESENTERS:

Bette Braun is director of training at the East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy and the Social Therapy Group. A graduate of Smith College School of Social Work, Bette has been a practicing social therapist and group therapy supervisor for over 25 years.

Heather Cyrus is presently a lead teacher and science coordinator at FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety in Brooklyn, NY where she teaches Biology and General Science. She has been teaching for 14 years and received her BA in Biology at Brooklyn College and a Masters in Administration and Supervision from Touro College. As a teacher and an administrator to be, she plans to provide coaching to teachers who endeavor to create and implement a performatory approach to teaching science.

Lenora Fulani is co-founder of the All Stars Project, Inc. As co-executive producer of the All Stars Talent Show Network and co-director of the Joseph A. Forgione Development School for Youth , she leads its supplemental education programs and speaks to young people, parents, business leaders, educators and policy makers about the necessity of a new learning model for America and the crucial role of development in successful learning. Lenora received her PhD in developmental psychology from the CUNY Graduate Center and, prior to the All Stars, practiced as a social therapist in Harlem.

Edmund Gordon is the Richard March Hoe Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Education and Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is also the John M. Musser Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Yale University and senior scholar and advisor to the President of the College Board. In his distinguished career, he has provided conceptual leadership to major developments in public education, including Head Start, compensatory education, career education, school desegregation, alternatives in educational assessment, and supplementary education.

Lois Holzman is director and co-founder of the East Side Institute. As a Vygotskian, her concern is with the contributions his work can make to radically transform how education and psychotherapy are practiced and understood. Her research interests range from current trends in postmodern and critical psychology and education to the role of performance in community-building projects worldwide. Lois received her PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University. Her interest in the practical relevance of Vygotsky stems from her postgraduate work with Michael Cole at the Rockefeller University's Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition.

Elizabeth Kelly is director of assessment at Pace University. A developmental psychologist who has studied change in the workplace, education reform, cognitive development and communication for the past fifteen years, she received her PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center.

Maureen Kelly is a senior consultant with Performance of a Lifetime, the staff of which she joined after having worked in several leading financial institutions. She has an MA in organizational psychology from Columbia University's Teachers College and is a graduate of Institute's therapist training program. Maureen is also a therapist at the Brooklyn Social Therapy Group.

Kat Koppett is the founder of StoryNet, LLC and the author of "Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership and Learning." She has acted and improvised extensively on both U.S. coasts and holds a BFA from NYU and an masters degree in organizational psychology from Columbia University.

Christine LaCerva is director of the Brooklyn Social Therapy Group and the director of the therapist training program of the East Side Institute. A former special education teacher, Christine's therapy practice includes work with children with special needs and their families.

Pam Lewis is director of youth programs for the All Stars Project, Inc., the national producer of the All Stars Talent Show Network and co-director of the Joseph A. Forgione Development School for Youth. She has led the expansion of the All Stars youth programs to several U.S. cities and to Amsterdam. Pam graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in theater, and performs as actor and vocalist with the Castillo Theatre.

Carrie Lobman is an assistant professor of education at the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, and is a faculty member of the East Side Institute. Initially an early childhood teacher, she received her doctorate in curriculum and teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University, and graduated from the East Side Institute's therapist training program. Carrie's main interest is developing innovative, improvisational approaches to teaching and teacher education.

Matthew Lundquist is a second grade inclusion teacher at the Bronx Charter School for the Arts and a private learning specialist in Manhattan. He received his masters degrees in general and special education from Bank Street College of Education and in clinical social work from Columbia University. Matthew is currently a first-year student in the therapist training program at the East Side Institute.

Jim Martinez teaches computers at PS 126 in the Bronx. He left a career in computer technology to become a New York City Teaching Fellow after his experience as a program associate with the Joseph A. Forgione Development School for Youth. Jim will enter the doctoral program in urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center this fall.

Fred Newman is the co-founder and principal trainer of the East Side Institute. He has had a private psychotherapy practice for over thirty years, specializing in the development of group social therapy. He is also artistic director of the Castillo Theatre and co-founder of the All Stars Project, Inc. In his academic and theatrical writings, Fred explores modernism and postmodernism, the theory and practice of social therapy, the politics of psychology, and the ongoing relationship between philosophy and social change. He received his Ph.D. in analytic philosophy and foundations of mathematics from Stanford University.

Barbara O'Neill is a special education itinerant teacher and a practicing social therapist at The Social Therapy Group. An early childhood educator for ten years, she is currently a doctoral student in ___ Teachers College, Columbia University. Barbara's teaching and research interests are play and social-emotional development of children.

Gail Richardson, executive director of Best Practices in Education (BPE), has a doctorate in political theory and 25 years' experience in the nonprofit sector, specializing in international and inter-state exchange projects in education and the environment. At BPE, she builds international programs in mathematics education that have direct impact on improving teaching and learning in U.S. classrooms. Gail has served as program director of a national child advocacy organization, created an international early childhood education program for the French-American Foundation, served as research director of an environmental organization, and taught at The City College of New York.

Kim Sabo is an evaluation consultant and leader in the emerging field of youth participatory evaluation. Drawing upon her training in developmental and environmental psychology, she introduces adults and young people, their programs and their communities to creative participation, reflection and evaluation through her company Kim Sabo Consulting. Kim received her PhD in environmental psychology from the CUNY Graduate Center. Her edited volume, Youth Participatory Evaluation: A Field in the Making, was published as part of Jossey-Bass' New Directions For Evaluation series in 2003.

Cathy Salit is president and CEO of Performance of a Lifetime, a consulting and training firm that uses the skills of theatre and improvisation to help organizations function more effectively. In addition to working with Fortune 500 companies and nonprofits, Cathy is a speaker and trainer at organizational development and other professional conferences. An accomplished singer, actor, director and improvisational comic, she appears frequently on the Castillo Theatre stage.

Anastasia P. Samaras is associate professor in the Initiatives in Educational Transformation Master's program for practicing teachers at George Mason University, Virginia. Her research and practice involves a self-study of Vygotskian applications in teacher education, including interdisciplinary faculty teaming, faculty induction into learning communities, and self-study of teaching for professional development.

Ana Marjanovic-Shane is a research psychologist interested in the interplay of imagination, art, creativity, play, language and the construction of meaning. Working with the paradigm of cultural historical activity theory, she is the current president of the American Educational Research Association's Cultural Historical Research Special Interest Group and is president and program director of the Cultural Educational Center "ZMAJ" for children of Yugoslavian origin. Ana works as research and information supervisor for the City of Philadelphia's Office of Mental Health/Mental Retardation.

Elina Lampert-Shepel is assistant professor at Mercy College Graduate School of Education, New Teacher Residency Program, and a doctoral student and instructor in the curriculum and teaching department at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she is conducting cross-cultural research on teachers' reflective actions in Russian and American Dewey schools. Before coming to the U.S., Elina was dean of the School of Education at Eureka University in Moscow, where she coordinated the development and implementation of the teacher education program based on Vygotskian cultural-historical principles and activity theory.

Barbara Silverman is director of mental health services at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, a social therapist at the Brooklyn Social Therapy Group, and the East Side Institute's training coordinator. At Erasmus, she created the nationally recognized group therapy program, "Let's Talk About It," and is a frequent national speaker on innovative approaches to adolescent mental health. Barbara received her MSW from Adelphi University's School of Social Work.

Jeff Smithson is a believer/participant in "theater-of-place" and encourages everyone he encounters to discover her or his "inner performer." His current performance venues include hospitals in New England. Through work with the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Program and The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp's Hospital Outreach Program, Jeff entertains and engages kids and their creativity.

Anna Stetsenko is associate professor and head of the PhD program in developmental psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center. She earned her PhD from Moscow State University and has worked in and published on Vygotskian cultural historical activity theory since the early 1980s in universities and research centers in Moscow, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Anna's research focuses on learning and development, the development of mind, the self, and the history of psychology, addressing and re-conceptualizing these topics from the standpoint of activity theory.

Eduardo Vianna is a PhD candidate in the developmental psychology program at the CUNY Graduate Center. His current research focuses on applying cultural-historical psychology and critical social theory as guiding tools to transform a residential program for adolescents though the implementation of collaborative learning activities. In the fall Eduardo will join the faculty of the Social Science Department of LaGuardia Community College, CUNY.

Brannon Woodfin is assistant director of "Let's Talk About It" at Erasmus Hall High School Student Health Center in Brooklyn. He is a spoken word artist who has performed extensively throughout North America. In New York he can be seen at the Bowery Poetry Center and in the All Stars Hip-Hop Cabaret currently running at the All Stars Project.