Socratic Conversation with Ron Gross

Thursday, September 19th, 4:00 – 5:15 pm

Gottesman Library, Teachers College, Columbia University 525 West 120th St. Room 104b Russell Hall NOTE: Not our usual meeting space – different floor in the same building. (bet. Broadway and Amsterdam Ave. North side of 120th Street.) (#1 train to 116th St.) Please bring a photo ID required for entry to the building.

RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/124333282/

There will be a display of relevant books. Light refreshments will be available. Coffee and other beverages available downstairs as you enter the building.

Design Thinking has produced some of the most successful innovations in our lives and organizations, in realms ranging from technology to social change. In this Conversation we will explore what DT can mean for each of us, personally and professionally. You are already a Designer in your life and work – if you use your creativity, resourcefulness, and initiative to make changes in yourself and your environment. But you can become an even better Designer by enlarging your repertoire of techniques and strategies. We’ll get acquainted with the DT Toolkit for being creative-with-a-purpose, ranging from brain-storming, mind-mapping, and creative problem-solving, to the 5 whys, the systems approach, and failing fast through proto-typing. DT harnesses both creativity and rationality – it inspires, but crunches! It fosters empathy for people — but also encourages awareness of the systemic context. It strives to meld theory and practice. It is knowledge-based — but solution-focused, rather than purely academic. It has a "bias towards action". Indeed, we practice DT each time we gather for one of these Conversations, which are collaborative, free-flowing, egalitarian, culturally diverse, inter-disciplinary, critical, exploratory, and open-ended. Please join us to experience Design Thinking yourself if you haven’t already (or share your experiences with some of the strategies), and discuss how this approach can add to your strength.

To benefit from and contribute to this session, please spend 15 minutes watching the short (2-minute) videos at www.designthinkingforeducators.com and, if you like, download the FREE (but long) Handbook

Next session: Thursday, 10/24, Topic, TBA For more information about the Socratic Conversations: www.SocratesWay.com/join.html

Ronald Gross has been elected to the Hall of Fame of the International Adult and Continuing Education Association (www.halloffame.outreach.ou.edu).

The Hall of Fame, located at the University of Oklahoma’s Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education, “honors leaders in the fields of continuing education and adult learning (and) serves as a record and inspiration for the next generation of continuing education leaders. Election acknowledges that these men and women have made distinguished contributions to the field of adult and continuing education. These innovative leaders have believed passionately in the evolutionary power of education. All are themselves exemplary lifelong learners and have left lasting impressions on the students, institutions, and organizations they have served.”

Gross will be inducted on November 19th at the annual ceremony, held this year concomitant with the Sloan Consortium Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Currently, Gross co-chairs the University Seminar on Innovation in Education at Columbia University (www.columbiaseminar.org), where he also holds regular Socratic Conversations with students and faculty at Teacher’s College (www.socratesway.com/join.html). He also provides Creative Aging programs under a grant from the Greentree Fund (www.olderbetterwiser.com), and encourages more and better street-level conversations for New Yorkers through a voluntary association, Conversations New York (www.conversationsnewyork.com). He often champions lifelong learning by appearing as Socrates (www.SocratesWay.com).

Gross’ books in the field include The Lifelong Learner, Peak Learning, The Independent Scholar’s Handbook, Socrates’ Way, Radical School Reform, The New Old, The New Professionals, and Individualism.

Buckminster Fuller wrote about his work:

“If humanity is to pass safely through its present crisis on earth, it will be because a majority of individuals are now doing their own thinking. Ronald Gross has pioneered in improving the climate for such thinking.”

Gross has supported lifelong learning initiatives in Europe, the Far East, Israel, Canada, and Mexico, sponsored by agencies such as the European Foundation for Management Development, the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Ford and Rothschild Foundations.

• Wednesday, August 28, 2013

  6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

  Columbus Circle

  West
  59th St and Central Park West, New Yok, NY
  

• Please RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Philosophy-Circle-NYC/events/128861242/ and also note his instructions. Thank you.
• In the postcolonial era, which began much later in Europe than in the United States (France lost control of Algeria in the 1950-1960s), many European nations have grown large immigrant populations. Discussion of selective immigration (or a lower rate of it) were dismissed as far-right concerns for many decades, although in recent times, the issue has become open for broader discussion across the political spectrum (and parties that have not adapted to this have seen new competition).

  Pim Fortuyn (1948-2002), an openly gay Nederland politician, advocated for limits to immigration from Muslim countries, arguing that their social and political behaviour was limiting the tolerance in Nederlandish society for gays, teaching of science, and damaging the tolerant enlightenment ideals their society was built around. He was assassinated in the run up to an election by an activist who argued that he was using Muslims as scapegoats.

  What is the meaning of tolerance in society, and how do we navigate value conflicts in our political intuitions? Is ideal immigration policy different for small nations versus big nations, and should we expect immigrants to integrate? When subcultures effectively have their own government and laws (either because they’re in areas isolated from mainstream society or because they use arbitration and contracts to create new systems of law, consider Sharia or Halakah courts), is that a problem for a multicultural society? How should multiculturalism work? Should we think about oppression on a group or a individual level, or in a way that somehow includes both?

  These are a lot of topics. We’ll spend time on whatever issues the group seems to find interesting.

  Readings:

  http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/favell/Finlayson7-final.htm (this is a fairly difficult reading; don’t worry if you get stuck partway through)

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1184h0MXfdU – Debate over Fortuyn’s book, "Against the Islamisation of our Culture" (in Dutch, subtitled in English)

  http://elplandehiram.org/documentos/JoustingNYC/Politics_of_Recognition.pdf – Read as much of this as you like; it’s Charles Taylor’s "Politics of Recognition"

  Date and Place: This will be held in Central Park; we’ll meet at Columbus Circle, remain there for 20 minutes, and then find our way into the park; we’ll either keep walking or perhaps find a nice place to sit.

Discussing the Legacies of Gandhi, Mandela, and MLK, Jr.

• Sunday, August 18, 2013

  2:00 PM to 5:30 PM

This special event will be co-hosted with NYC Debate. Please RSVP at NYC Debate and at Conversations New York. Thank you.

Synopsis:

These three historical figures are the undisputed champions of the modern Civil Rights movement. Their actions and visions were premised on achieving equality and justice by nonviolent means. Their teachings and principles still remain influential for many people today. Yet, the three individuals contributed to the history of the Civil Rights movement at different times and in different parts of the world during the last century.

1. Who was the most influential figure? And why?

2. Did these figures influence or affect your personal life? Are those principles still relevant in the current context?

Join us for food, drinks, discussion, and debate.
Short social before start.
Greet old friends and meet new ones.

No purchases are required; however, Stone Creek would greatly appreciate your patronage as they are reserving their private party room for us. http://stonecreeknyc.com/ For the on time arrivals, light appetizers and refreshments will be provided complements of NYC Debate and Conversations New York.

Links to suggested reading:

Mahatma Gandhi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi

Nelson Mandela http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

"I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for, and to see realised. But my Lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." Nelson Mandela, defence statement during the Rivonia Trial, 1964. Also repeated during the closing of his speech delivered in Cape Town on the day he was released from prison 27 years later, on 11 February 1990.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mlk

"I have a Dream" Speech
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Hello Everyone… Please join us for this interesting and fun event this Sunday!-Laurence You are invited to a CNY “Talk About” event:

When: Sunday, July 28, 1 PM
Where: MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY
(We will meet on the stairs at the building entrance)

This “Talk About” will be a terrific two-for-one event. We will visit MoMA’s PS 1 in Queens and tour the new exhibit “EXPO 1: New York.” This exhibit features art that addresses issues surrounding climate-change and the environment.

Then, we will attend a PS 1 debate between David Auerbach (author/engineer), Evgeny Morozov (author of “The Net Delusion”) and Ben Wizner (Director of ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project). They will debate technology’s false utopias and progressive possibilities….

Finally, we will sit down for drinks and snacks at the PS 1 café and debate the meaning of what we have experienced.

Note: Entry to the PS 1 museum is “suggested donation” and free to MoMA members. We may have to pay $10 to attend the debate. I will update this shortly.

Please sign up here:
http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/124333212/?a=ra1_vl&_af_eid=124333212&_af=event

About the Moderator: Laurence Mailaender works in the technology industry, doing research aimed at improving wireless systems. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering, and spent 12 years as a researcher in Bell Labs. Currently he develops advanced communication and GPS-geolocation systems for customers in various agencies of the U.S. Government.

You are invited to a CNY “Talk About” event:

When: Sunday, July 28, 1 PM
Where: MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY
(We will meet on the stairs at the building entrance)

Hello everyone! This “Talk About” will be a terrific two-for-one event. We will visit MoMA’s PS 1 in Queens and tour the new exhibit “EXPO 1: New York.” This exhibit features art that addresses issues surrounding climate-change and the environment.

Then, we will attend a PS 1 debate between David Auerbach (author/engineer), Evgeny Morozov (author of “The Net Delusion”) and Ben Wizner (Director of ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project). They will debate technology’s false utopias and progressive possibilities….

Finally, we will sit down for drinks and snacks at the PS 1 café and debate the meaning of what we have experienced.

Note: Entry to the PS 1 museum is “suggested donation” and free to MoMA members. We may have to pay $10 to attend the debate. I will update this shortly.

Please sign up here:
http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/124333212/?a=ra1_vl&_af_eid=124333212&_af=event

About the Moderator: Laurence Mailaender works in the technology industry, doing research aimed at improving wireless systems. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering, and spent 12 years as a researcher in Bell Labs. Currently he develops advanced communication and GPS-geolocation systems for customers in various agencies of the U.S. Government.