New tools for understanding a turbulent world - Thomas Homer-Dixon

Today's social sciences have difficulty providing conceptual, analytic and predictive tools that help policy-makers and the public address contemporary global problems such as financial crises, energy shocks, food price spikes and climate change. In his Big Thinking lecture at Congress 2012, Thomas Homer-Dixon provides some guideposts to understanding complexity science and its potential relevance to practical social science. He suggests that policy advice from the social sciences often assumes individual rationality, an aggregation of individual rational choice into group behavior, the progression of social systems towards equilibrium, and, ultimately, calculable risk. Homer-Dixon argues that humankind's most critical problems arise from emergent complex social and natural systems marked by deep uncertainty, positive and negative feedbacks and frequent instability.

 

Thomas Homer-Dixon holds the CIGI Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Canada. He is Director of the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation and Professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development in the Faculty of Environment. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, he received his PhD from MIT in international relations and defense and arms control policy in 1989. His books include The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization (2006), which won the 2006 National Business Book Award, The Ingenuity Gap (2000), winner of the 2001 Governor General's Non-fiction Award, and Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (1999), which won the Caldwell Prize of the American Political Science Association. His recent research has focused on threats to global security in the 21st century and how societies adapt to complex economic, ecological, and technological change.

Dialectical Thinking as an Approach to Integration

The Development of Dialectical Thinking as an Approach to Integration

By Michael Basseches

This article offers a description of dialectical thinking as a psychological phenomenon that reflects adult intellectual development. While relating this psychological phenomenon to the various dialectical philosophical perspectives from which the description is derived, the article conceptualizes dialectical thinking as a form of organization of thought, various aspects of which can be identified in individual adults' approaches to conceptualizing a range of problems, rather than as one particular stream of intellectual history.

The article provides a range of examples of dialectical analyses, contrasting them with more formalistic analyses, in order to convey the power, adequacy, and significance of dialectical thinking for the sorts of challenges that this journal embraces. It suggests that events in all areas of life demand recognition of the limitations of closed-system approaches to analysis. Approaches based instead on the organizing principle of dialectic integrate dimensions of contradiction, change and system-transformation over time in a way that supports people's adaptation when structures under girding their sense of self/world coherence are challenged. Higher education and psychotherapy are considered as examples of potential contexts for adult intellectual development, and the conditions that foster such development in these contexts are discussed.

The article as a whole makes the case for consciously attempting to foster such development in all our work as an approach to integration.

Read the Entire Paper Here: Integral Review - Issue 1 (2005)

Water Blogged: Blog Action Day

From Archive Fire:

Our deepest fears are not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure.

Today is Blog Action Day 2010. This year's theme is WATER. Throughout the day I will be providing links to some of the best posts appearing online participating in Blog Action Day 2010. I’ll update this post often with new entries. Many of these posts are beautifully written, passionately expressed and incredibly informed, so take the time to read those that interest you most. Enjoy.

Learm More: Here

Organicism, AQAL and Integral Theory

Organicism 
By Giorgio Piacenza Cabrera

Abstract: This paper presents Archie J. Bahm’s “Organicism” as a Second Tier Metatheory based upon the analysis of intuited polarity . It shows that AQAL (or Integral Metatheory) can benefit from a more deductive (and Metaphysical) approach that relates with the logical-relational aspects inhering at the core of Integral concepts such as “hierarchy” “inclusiveness” and the central “holon,” aspects whose continued development were somewhat forgotten due to AQAL’s current emphasis on experientially verifiable external patterns.

Organicism complements Integral Theory and has fundamental divisions mirroring Ken Wilber’s quadratic holon aspects. Interestingly, unlike Wilber discovering universal holon patterns through observation of piles of answers of methods and theories visibly displayed before him during a brainstorming retreat, the a priori rational patterns in Organicism were discovered mostly by analytic exercise through the method of polar analysis. In this sense we can affirm that Organicism shows that deduction can indeed complement induction in the creation of Integral Theories (which are also theories of theories or metatheories). In my view, this has important consequences in relation to giving priority to the work of uncovering Exterior-based patterns through Integral Methodological Pluralism vs. giving priority to pattern forming essences that are prior to exteriority but can be disclosed by the use of reason. What is certain for me is that the patterns coincide and complement each other and this in itself is important to explore and inspect much further.

In another paper (“Integral Quadrants in History”) I show that some modern era individuals and -quite possible- a pre-hispanic culture also arrived to similar (and complementary) discoveries in relation to the quadratic aspects which seem to be discoverable through keen dialectic intellectual processes which are also available to mystery, deduction and reflection.

Organicim is a 2nd Tier philosophy developed before the early 1950’s by the late emeritus professor Archie J. Bahm. It makes use of the experienced, dynamic, polar relations of existence which are mapped along 2 axes defined by 4 extreme polar values. The fact that polar relations come naturally to the intuitive mind and that, thereafter, these can be carefully analyzed eventually leading us the discovery of patterns that complement Integral Theory’s quadrants, needs also to be observed.

As I understand and extrapolate from Organicim, the origin of holons is tied with the dynamic of complementary poles and two of any complementary pair gives rise to 4 extreme polar values basically corresponding to Integral Theory’s “Four Corners of the Kosmos.” These 4 extreme polar values (called by Archie J. Bahm extreme one pole-ism, extreme other pole-ism, extreme aspectism and extreme duality) express 4 basic polar and holon-associated relations which match AQAL’s “Interior” “Exterior” “Individual” and Collective” observed dimensions of existence. The ultimate result is a conceptual method for complexly dealing with complex existence.

I think that, essentially, Bahm’s Organicism was developed through a thorough logical analysis of the intuited polarities that become apparent when reflecting upon experience. In a sense we could call Organicism a Theory that came about through a priori deduction. In contrast, -if I understood Ken Wilber’s explanation adequately- the quadratic aspects of AQAL Theory were discovered by observing already formed patterns that grouped various theories. In other words, generally speaking, AQAL (and more in relation to quadrants) was discovered more through an a posteriori observation of the facts or through induction. Since Organicism is based on a more thorough logical analysis that begins with the inextricable relations of fundamental polarities, it seems to complement the pattern-recognition procedures involving AQAL Theory.

Read More: Here

Charles Leadbeater: Education Innovation and Creative Learning

Charles Leadbeater went looking for radical new forms of education -- and found them in the slums of Rio and Kibera, where some of the world's poorest kids are finding transformative new ways to learn. And this informal, disruptive new kind of school, he says, is what all schools need to become.

Charles Leadbeater is a leading authority on innovation and creativity. He has advised companies, cities and governments around the world on innovation strategy and drew on that experience in writing his latest book We-think: the power of mass creativity, which charts the rise of mass, participative approaches to innovation from science and open source software, to computer games and political campaigning.

Learn More: Ted.Com

The Power of Balance

The Power of Balance: Transforming Self, Society and Scientific Inquiry

By William R. Torbert

Since the dawn of the modern age, each intellectual and cultural arena has established its own criterion of success and has sought to maximize attainment of that ideal without reference to the other arenas of life. In politics, the ideal is power; in economics, utility; in art, beauty; in science, empirical truth. These ideals ignore one another, speak past one another, and sometimes clash. "Might makes right," "Profit maximization," "Art for art's sake," and "Knowledge for its own sake" or "pure science" are all slogans that are at once isolationist and imperialistic.

With such ideals, the different arenas of life may, at best, come into an accidental balance of power, or equilibrium, for a given person or culture at a given time or place. Such a balance of power is static, precarious, and necessarily temporary (if not altogether fictitious). As with the scales of justice, the slightest variation on any side can oscillate into radical imbalance.

By contrast, the ancients made the dynamic balance of the whole the ideal-whether the whole be the pantheon of gods, the whole person, or the city. Instead of a balance of power, these ancients sought the power of balance. Plato's Republic, for example, is about the search for the power of balance, both in the conduct of politics and in the education of leaders. Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian offers an intimate portrait of a Roman emperor seeking (and only occasionally discovering) the power of balance.

The power to create a whole without obliterating differences (whether that whole be a self, a family, a city, or a global community) and to balance wholes of different kinds is inherently integrative, mutual, inquiring, and ethical. The power by which parts seek to dominate other parts is inherently disintegrative, hierarchical, uninquiring, and corrupting.

Since Machiavelli and Hobbes and throughout the modem period, power has been treated, almost exclusively, as a necessary evil that restricts the freedom of those over whom it is exercised and that requires countervailing powers-a balance of powers-if it is not to become increasingly corrupt-perhaps absolutely evil-and squash all freedom.

By contrast, the theory of power presented in this book views such unilateral force as the lowest, least effective, and least legitimate form of power. Unilateral force is necessary in relation to those with whom we recognize no other type of power; and unilateral force can, if exercised with the artistry of the power of balance, set the stage for more effectual and more mutual power relations…

Read the More Here:

The Power of Balance: Transforming Self, Society and Scientific Inquiry (1991)

Blogging Integral Research

The Integral Research Group is an innovative and critically informed non-profit research and development venture. Our mission is to collect and conduct multi-methodological research on human development, social justice and planetary sustainability.

On our blog you will find leading-edge research, theory, multimedia resources and various other integrally-informed content and information.

The IRG is currently looking for people to join us in sharing important research and knowledge - by becoming an associate and begin blogging here or cross-posting from your own site. If you or someone you know is adept at gathering innovative and relevant research and information please contact us directly to become a regular contributor to this site. Thank you.

Eric O. Bronze
Executive Director
IRG - Integral Research Group

100 Incredible Lectures

100 Incredible Lectures from the World’s Top Scientists
By Sarah Russel
Unless you’re enrolled at a top university or are an elite member of the science and engineering inner circle, you’re probably left out of most of the exciting research explored by the world’s greatest scientists. But thanks to the Internet, and our list of 100 incredible lectures, you’ve now got access to the cutting edge theories and projects that are changing the world.

Read More: Here

Here are some our favorties:

Richard Dawkins on our "queer" universe: Listen to this talk from biologist Richard
Dawkins to consider the strangeness of our universe, and how there are so many
things out there we can’t comprehend.

Kary Mullis on what scientists do: Biochemist Kary Mullis references the 17th century as he talks about the nature of discovery and experimentation.

Lee Smolin on science and democracy: Physicist Lee Smolin discusses how democratic (or not) the scientific community it.

A Passion for Discovery: Peter Freund of the University of Chicago considers the
entanglement of physics experiments and their effect on the behavior of
scientists.

A New Age of Exploration: From Earth to Mars: This video isn’t just about space exploration: it’s about the new age of experimentation and research.

A New Kind of Science – Stephen Wolfram: Stephen Wolfram’s talk A New Kind of Science, credits simple computer experiments with challenging him to look at research in a new way.

WTC Lecture – collapse of WTC Buildings: Steven E. Jones discusses the collapse of the World Trade Towers from a physics perspective.

Machine Learning: Discover how machines "learn" due to statistical patterns, learning theory, adaptive control and more.

The Second Law and Energy: Listen to Steven Chu’s talk about thermodynamics.

Molecular Biology: Macromolecular Synthesis and Cellular Function: Qiang Zhou from Berkeley discusses new findings in DNA research.

Evolution of the Human Species: The discussion about evolution is still active. This lecture considers evolution from genetic and fossil records.

Craig Venter on DNA and the sea: Biodiversity and genomics scientist Craig Venter
talks about starting to writing the genetic code instead of just reading it.

How Bacteria Cause Disease: Warren Levinson explains how bacteria are transmitted.

The Origin of the Human Mind: Insights from Brain Imaging and
Evolution: Find out how the human mind continues to evolve.

Biological Principles of Swarm Intelligence: Guy Theraulaz discusses animal psychology and swarm intelligence.

Psychology, Sex and Evolution: This lecture combines psychology and
biology to find an answer to how preoccupied we are with sex.

Dynamics on and of Biological Networks: Case Studies on the Machinery of Life: Stefan Bornholdt discusses molecular networks in this lecture.

The Physical World: Topics in these lectures from The Open University include
quantum physics, Einstein, helicopter flight and more.

The Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy: Nobel Prize-winning Charles H. Townes talks about what’s next in terms of deep galaxy exploration.

What is the simplest quantum field theory?: In this lecture, Freddy Cachazo brings forth ideas of simpler quantum field theories.

Stephen Hawking asks big questions about the universe: Stephen Hawking asks questions about the beginnings of the universe, where humans came from and more.

The Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether and the Unification of Force: Anticipating a New Golden Age: Frank Wilczek introduces listeners to his new physics theory.

The Second Law and Cosmology: Max Tegmark asks questions about entropy, temperature and equilibrium when studying the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

David Deutsch on our place in the cosmos: Scientist David Deutsch urges the greater scientific community to seriously consider global warming.

Planet Water: Complexity and Organization in Earth Systems: Rafael Bras is credited with launching the science of hydrology and discusses water complexity here.

E.O. Wilson on saving life on Earth: Biologist E.O. Wilson entreats society to become more educated on natural life on Earth.

The U.S. Energy Crisis and the Role of New Nuclear Plants: Thomas A. Christopher considers the effects of nuclear plants on the energy and environmental crises.

CO2 beyond tomorrow: a fundamental approach: This panel featuring Helmut List aims to predict future CO2 emissions effects.

In Antarctica: The Global Warming: Sebastian Copeland explains how Antarctica is a microcosm for what will happen to the rest of the world due to global warming.

Climate change from the scientific point of view: Listen to a scientist’s view of what’s
going on in the development in climate change.

Saul Griffith on everyday inventions: Listen to inventor Saul Griffith discuss the importance and elegance of designing everyday materials.

Ray Kurzweil on how technology will transform us: Ray Kurzweil introduces the idea of a future populated with nanobots.

Technology and Social Responsibility: Larry Page and Sergey Brin hold technology projects, researchers and companies to a higher standard in this lecture.

Living with Catastrophic Terrorism: Can Science and Technology Make the U.S. Safer?: Lewis M. Branscomb is actually a public policy professor and co-chair at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, but this lecture takes on a critical debate about the importance of science and technology in government.

Juan Enriquez shares mindboggling science: Juan Enriquez explains how forward
thinking and science are going to pull us out of any crises or disasters.

Craig Venter is on the verge of creating synthetic life: Discover how synthetic
chromosomes may be in the future.

To upgrade is human: How can technology help human evolution? Gregory Stock
considers customized human babies and the future of adoption.

Helen Fisher studies the brain in love: If you’ve ever wondered about the physical
changes that the brain goes through when you’re in love, watch this lecture.

Science Education in the 21st Century: Using the Tools of Science to Teach Science:
Dr. Carl Wierman is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who comments on the future of science education.

Probability for Life Science: This mix of math and life science covers probability and beyond.

Psychology in Human-Computer Interaction: David Kieras considers human-computer interaction in this talk.

Renaissance Physicists: Steven Weinberg isn’t too optimistic about the future of science and discusses the characteristics that define a truly ambitious scientist.

Enjoy!

Zero Point Collapse

Zero Point of Systemic Collapse

By Chris Hedges

We stand on the cusp of one of humanity’s most dangerous moments. Aleksandr Herzen, speaking a century ago to a group of anarchists about how to overthrow the czar, reminded his listeners that it was not their job to save a dying system but to replace it: “We think we are the doctors. We are the disease.” All resistance must recognize that the body politic and global capitalism are dead. We should stop wasting energy trying to reform or appeal to it. This does not mean the end of resistance, but it does mean very different forms of resistance. It means turning our energies toward building sustainable communities to weather the coming crisis, since we will be unable to survive and resist without a cooperative effort.

These communities, if they retreat into a pure survivalist mode without linking themselves to the concentric circles of the wider community, the state and the planet, will become as morally and spiritually bankrupt as the corporate forces arrayed against us. All infrastructures we build, like the monasteries in the Middle Ages, should seek to keep alive the intellectual and artistic traditions that make a civil society, humanism and the common good possible. Access to parcels of agricultural land will be paramount. We will have to grasp, as the medieval monks did, that we cannot alter the larger culture around us, at least in the short term, but we may be able to retain the moral codes and culture for generations beyond ours. Resistance will be reduced to small, often imperceptible acts of defiance, as those who retained their integrity discovered in the long night of 20th-century fascism and communism.

We stand on the cusp of one of the bleakest periods in human history when the bright lights of a civilization blink out and we will descend for decades, if not centuries, into barbarity. The elites have successfully convinced us that we no longer have the capacity to understand the revealed truths presented before us or to fight back against the chaos caused by economic and environmental catastrophe. As long as the mass of bewildered and frightened people, fed images that permit them to perpetually hallucinate, exist in this state of barbarism, they may periodically strike out with a blind fury against increased state repression, widespread poverty and food shortages. But they will lack the ability and self-confidence to challenge in big and small ways the structures of control. The fantasy of widespread popular revolts and mass movements breaking the hegemony of the corporate state is just that – a fantasy.

Read More: Here

Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times, is the author of several books including the best sellers War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning and his latest, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle. He is married to the Canadian actress Eunice Wong. They have a son, Konrad, who is also a Canadian.

Epistemological Pluralism

Epistemological Pluralism: Reorganizing Interdisciplinary Research

By Thaddeus R. Miller, Timothy D. Baird, Caitlin M. Littlefield, Gary Kofinas, F. Stuart Chapin III, and Charles L. Redman

Despite progress in interdisciplinary research, difficulties remain. In this paper, we argue that scholars, educators, and practitioners need to critically rethink the ways in which interdisciplinary research and training are conducted. We present epistemological pluralism as an approach for conducting innovative, collaborative research and study. Epistemological pluralism recognizes that, in any given research context, there may be several valuable ways of knowing, and that accommodating this plurality can lead to more successful integrated study. This approach is particularly useful in the study and management of social–ecological systems.

Through resilience theory's adaptive cycle, we demonstrate how a focus on epistemological pluralism can facilitate the reorganization of interdisciplinary research and avoid the build-up of significant, but insufficiently integrative, disciplinary-dominated research. Finally, using two case studies—urban ecology and social–ecological research in Alaska—we highlight how interdisciplinary work is impeded when divergent epistemologies are not recognized and valued, and that by incorporating a pluralistic framework, these issues can be better explored, resulting in more integrated understanding.

Read More: Here

Intersubjectivity and Interobjectivity in the Kosmos

The Ways We Are in This Together: Intersubjectivity and Interobjectivity in the Holonic Kosmos

by Ken Wilber

In "An Integral Age at the Leading Edge", we summarized the evidence suggesting that a cultural elite, representing less that 2% of the adult population, was entering psychosocial waves of development that could best be described as integral, and that this 2% might very well be the harbinger of integral waves of consciousness to follow in the culture at large. It is a paradoxical situation, in a sense, in that this "elite" is the first to actually embrace a radical inclusiveness, an inclusive not shared by the other 98% of the population at this time (although they, too, might develop into this inclusive and integral orientation). But the integral waves of consciousness, however conceived, have at least one thing in common: an understanding that "Everybody is right."

This means that the chief activity of integral cognition is not looking at all of the available theories--whether premodern, modern, or postmodern--and then asking, "Which one of those is the most accurate or acceptable?," but rather consists in asking, "How can all of those be right?" The fact is, all of the various theories, practices, and established paradigms--in the sciences, arts, and humanities--are already being practiced: they are already arising in a Kosmos that clearly allows them to arise, and the question is not, which of those is the correct one, but what is the structure of the Kosmos such that it allows all of those to arise in the first place? What is the architecture of a universe that includes so many wonderful rooms?

One such suggested architecture of the Kosmos is called AQAL (pronounced "ah-qwil," short for "all quadrants, all levels, all lines, all states, all types..."). The pragmatic correlate of AQAL metatheory is a set of practices (or meta-paradigms) referred to as Integral Methodological Pluralism, which attempts to honor and include the many important modes of human inquiry already arising in this spacious Kosmos.

We particularly focused on the quadratic aspects of this methodological pluralism, where "quadratic" refers to four of the most basic dimensions of being-in-the-world, dimensions that are so fundamental they have become embedded in natural languages as variations on first-, second-, and third-person pronouns (which can be summarized as "I," "we," "it," and "its"). As we saw, these represent the inside and outside of the singular and the plural: hence, the four quadrants ( subjective or "I," objective or "it," intersubjective or "we," and interobjective or "its"). A few aspects of these four dimensions are indicated in figure 1.

We also saw that human beings, over the decades and sometimes centuries, have developed time-honored methods of inquiry that enact, bring forth, and illumine these basic dimensions of being-in-the-world. For example, phenomenology and introspection enact, bring forth, and illumine the first-person singular dimensions of being-in-the-world ("I" or subjectivity, the UL quadrant); hermeneutics and collaborative inquiry enact, bring forth, and illumine the first- and second-person plural dimensions of being-in-the-world ("thou/we" or intersubjectivity, the LL quadrant); empiricism and behaviorism enact, bring forth, and illumine the third-person singular dimensions of being-in-the-world ("it" or objectivity, the UR quadrant); and ecology, functionalism, and systems theory enact, bring forth, and illumine the third-person plural dimensions of being-in-the-world ("its" or interobjectivity, the LR quadrant). Of course, there are many other important modes of inquiry, but those are a few of the historically most significant, and certainly ones that any integral methodological pluralism would want to address.

Read More: Here

NOTE: This is Excerpt C of draft material Wilber released a number of years ago. For more such excerpts go to Wilber's Shambala website.

Integral Ecology and Forest Innovation in British Columbia

Humanity, Forest Ecology, and the Future in a British Columbia Valley: A Case Study

by Stephan Martineau.

“One of the most important and challenging issues facing humanity in the 21st century is the increasingly complex human-ecology interface”, says Stephan Martineau.

In this article, Stephan suggests the potential that integral mediation and integral ecology hold in addressing this interface. Stephan distinguishes two categories of ecological challenges, removed and local tangible, and indicates that they require adapting methodologies to address them. Using a local tangible challenge—a 35-year old conflict over land use issues in the Slocan Valley, British Columbia, Canada—as an example, Stephan outlines an integral mediation approach.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: HERE / OR AT: THE INTEGRAL REVIEW

Experiments in Second Tier Community

From Pacific Integral:

Collective Individualism: Experiments in Second Tier Community

by Terri O'Fallon, Venita Ramirez, Jesse McKay and Kari Mays

This paper describes an ongoing experiment in fostering development through an integrally informed educational program, called Generating Transformative Change in Human Systems (GTC). This program forms the structure for second-tier communities whose aim is to liberate greater service in the world, while holding the ongoing development of participants, facilitators, and the systems to which they are related.

In this presentation we will provide an introduction to the history and characteristics of the GTC program, present initial research findings of its impact and suggest questions for further research. Since the initial results of our research with the Leadership Development Framework (LDF) shows developmental shifts in program participants that exceeded our expectations, we offer suggestions for further research that explore the reasons for the implied impact the program is having on its participants’ development.

Read More: Here

Integral Life Coaching

From Integral Life:

Integral Life is launching our brand new coaching service in July. One of the questions we are being asked is why Integral Coaching is different from all the other coaching programs out there. This week we are pleased to let you listen in to a conversation between Joanne Hunt, co-founder of Integral Coaching Canada and her client Huy Lam. If you are interested in what the Integral Coaching method is like, this set of four videos is a must see.

Huy is also launching his Coaching blog later this week on Integrallife.com. Be sure to check it out!

The Coaching Topic

In this first clip Joanne and Huy talk about the topic he chose for his Integral Coaching experience.

Metaphors Aid in Transformation

In this piece, Joanne and Huy explore the power of metaphor in the Integral Coaching method, devising analogies to describe our "current" and "new ways of being."

Current Way of Being: White Crane

In this piece, Joanne and Huy discuss his current way of being metaphor… White Crane!

New Way of Being: Braveheart

In this piece, Joanne and Huy discuss his new way of being metaphor… Braveheart!

Integral Education from Next Step Integral

From Next Step Integral:

Integral Education
FROM CRADLE TO KOSMOS
Exploring the leading edge of educational theory and practiceAugust 2–7, 2009 - Whidbey Institute, Whidbey Island, WA

Integral education stands out as one of the most pertinent and practical means of creating positive change in ourselves and the world. This seminar will bring educators of all age groups together from around the globe, educators who are seeking the necessary vision, skills, and processes to fully serve students and the world that we inhabit.

Integral education is an emerging field, propelled by people who seek to push the envelope of what education can be. The seminar will provide an inspiring environment to meet with colleagues and to network with a small but growing community that clearly understands that addressing a more complete spectrum of personal, cultural, and systemic realities at play in education is one of the most powerful ways to begin effecting the changes we hope to see in the world.

Some of the core questions we will be asking ourselves are

• How can education coherently address the whole human being, a being of body, mind, and spirit, immersed in cultural meaning making, social structures, and natural systems?
• How can we embody an integral perspective in all aspects of curriculum, teaching stances, activities, and assessment?
• In a universe unfolding into increasing consciousness and complexity, how can we work not only to develop current capacities, but also to create the conditions for the emergence of more complex perspectives in the future?

<< More about the Seminar Here >>

Towards an Integral Sensibility in Education

From Ted.Com:

Mae Jemison is an astronaut, a doctor, an art collector, a dancer ... Telling stories from her own education and from her time in space, she calls on educators to teach both the arts and sciences, both intuition and logic, as one -- to create bold thinkers.

A Guide For The Academically Perplexed

Integral Education: A Guide For The Academically Perplexed

By Lynne Feldman

"In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." -- Eric Hoffer

We are indeed in times of change, and at an historical first. All of the world's cultures are now available to us, with the totality of human knowledge open to our study. What an auspicious and robust setting for post-secondary study; how fortunate are the students and the professors who are seeking the experience, wisdom, and patterns of the past for their edification and for those of future generations! Computers proliferate, bringing knowledge to most of the planet, and globalization feeds the desire to access that knowledge. Certainly the universities of the future will thrive in this rich environment.

And yet…the books, articles and reports from our civilization's great centers of learning do not report the feeling of fulfillment of humanity's lust for knowledge. At this extraordinary moment we find instead the grumblings and irritations of educational participants and leaders that indicate more of a feeling of deficiency than of needs finally met.

Read More: Here