on Innovation in Education www.ColumbiaSeminar.org The
focus of this Seminar is on the process of learning -- in individuals,
organizations, and society. Its scope includes learning
throughout the lifespan, and via major institutions such as mass media,
libraries, voluntary organizations, cyber-culture, and educational
systems.
For information about the Seminar: Ronald Gross at GrossAssoc@AOL.com Roster of Members, Associates, and Correspondents grossassoc@aol.com rom2@columbia.edu JAMES SLOAN ALLEN E-mail: jsallen@aol.com Publications: The Romance of Commerce and Culture (U.of Chicago Press); IArticles and reviews on the arts, ideas, and culture in numerous publications, including The New Criterion, The
Georgia Review, The Sewanee Review, The American Scholar, The Wall
Street Journal, USA Today, Design and Lifestyles India, Aspen Magazine ,and France Today Current Projects: Worldly Wisdom, a volume of essays on great books and good ideas; The Storytellers of Marrakesh, a volume of travel essays; She Went to the Elephant Races, a volume of travel stories; Life Line, a philosophical romance. JANET AVERY E-Mail: Vehicles@worldnet.att.net Current Projects and
Affiliations: Doctoral Candidate - The Union Institute (Cincinnait,
Ohio - Expected graduation date: October 2001; Serving two-year term on
the National Advisory Council of the U. S. Small Business
Administration (starting June 30, 2000). MAURICE BERGER E-mail: mberger104@aol.com Recent books: WHITE LIES:
RACE AND THE MYTHS OF WHITENESS (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999);
THE CRISIS OF CRITICISM (The New Press, 1998) CONSTRUCTING MASCULINITY
(Routledge, 1995) MODERN ART & SOCIETY (HarperCollins, 1994) HOW
ART BECOMES HISTORY (HarperCollins, 1992) LABYRINTHS: ROBERT MORRIS,
MINIMALISM, AND THE 1960s (Harper & Row, 1989) GRACE CAPORINO 213 California Road, Yorktown Hts, N.Y. 10598 Mandel Fellow of the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum; Adjunct Prof. of Holocaust Education in the
Graduate Program at Manhattanville College, Purchase, New York. Interest: Holocaust Studies WILLIAM CASPARY Associate Professor of Political Science, Washington University, St. Louis, and Visiting Scholar, Politics, New York University E mail: Caspary@aol.com Phone: 212-243-5909 Publications: DEWEY ON DEMOCRACY, Cornell University Press; journal articles. Current interests: Co-editor, GEO: Grassroots Economic Organizing Newsletter ELIZABETH COHN CHARLOTTE A. FLEISHER E-Mail: Cafhugs@aol.com CONSTANCE H. GEMSON E-mail: Chgemson@aol.com Publications: Essay in
"Creating From the Spirit: Living Each Day as a Creative Act; Poetry in
" 4 Centuries of Jewish Women's Spirituality". Articles in "New York
Newsday, Teachers Reading, and the National Business Employment Weekly" RICHARD GUMMERE Station Hill Road D. MARIE GRIECO RONALD GROSS E-mail: GrossAssoc@AOL.com Current Project: Socrates' Way; On-line columnist, ABOUT.COM. LESLIE S. JACOBSON DR. JOSEPH J. McGOWAN ROBERT McCLINTOCK John L. and Sue Ann Weinberg Professor in the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University. E-mail address: rom2@columbia.edu LINDA MEYER Publications: Helping Your Child Learn; articles and conference presentations. HARRY MOODY E-mail: HRMoody@yahoo.com Publications: The Five Stages of the Soul: Charting the Spiritual Passages that Shape Our Lives (Doubleday, 1997); Aging: Concepts and Controversies (3rd. Ed., Pine Forge-Sage, 1999); Ethics in an Aging Society (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1992); Abundance of Life: Human Development Policies for an Aging Society (Columbia Univ. Press, 1988). Current Projects: Books underway: Life-Review: Becoming the Person You Were Meant to Be; Handbook of Transpersonal Gerontology; empirical study
of transformative learning in Elderhostel. Director, Institute for
Human Values in Aging, Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College.
Chairman of the Board, Elderhostel. ZEEV E. NEUWIRTH. M.D. Publications: Articles in The
Lancet, Academic Medicine, The Journal of General Internal Medicine,
The Oxford Illustrated Companion to Medicine, Newsweek, and The New
York Times Current interests:
Doctor-Patient Relationships; Doctor-Family Relationships; Family &
Illness ; Healing the Healers (Helping clinicians care for themselves);
Listening as a Healing Intervention. PETER ROJCEWICZ MELANIE ROSEN New York Times College Scholarship Program SUE SALKO Founder/Director, Fluid Moves for Life; Consultant on Body/Mind Movement. Sue.Salko@Yahoo.com JIMMY SCHWARZ 435 E. 57 St. NYC 10022 ROBEN TOROSYAN, PH.D Assistant Director of the Center for Academic Excellence, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT. E-mail: roben@gmail.com, Phone: 203 254-4000 X. 3190 Most recent publication: "Show Me the Meta: Public Discourse and the Stewart Model of Critical Thinking", in J. Holt (Ed.), The Daily Show and Philosophy, Open Court/Blackwell, 1970. JANET I. WASSERMAN Publications: Co-compiler, Classified
and Annotated Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Immigration and
Acculturation of Jews from Central Europe to the USA since 1933, New York: K.G. Saur, 1981. Background on The University Seminars at Columbia University (www.columbia.edu/cu/seminars) "The
strength of its structure lies in the very multiplicity of its forms;
each a small living world in itself, the seminars can be
indestructible, as strong as the freedom and as flourishing as the play
of intellect they encourage." Margaret Mead "The
Seminars take each of us out of his or her ivory tower and expose us to
the informed and often brilliant thinking of our peers." Hannah Arendt The
seminars have as their central goal the integration of otherwise
fragmented knowledge, a pulling together of the many threads of
knowledge and experience through the stimulus of continuing
discussion. Frank Tannenbaum, Professor of Latin American History
at Columbia, founder of the University Seminars, and director until his
death in 1969, was an ardent believer in the potential for
enlightenment contained in meaningful dialogue. In an essay
entitled "Implications of an Education Movement," Tannenbaum
wrote: "The primary aim of the University Seminar is the attempt
to see things whole, to merge the disciplines for the purpose of
getting a unified view. The aim is synthesis, insight, wisdom,
the understanding of the full incidence of the ongoing phenomenon to
which any collegium is devoted." "Without
money, publicity, or organization, and following a course pretty much
uncompromisingly irrelevant to the needs of the front office, the
Seminar Movement seems to have no other strengths than that it is a
good idea." Paul Goodman Members
of the seminars are drawn from numerous departments in the faculties of
Columbia University, from other colleges and universities, and from
experts and specialists in nonacademic pursuits. Apart from the
members, seminars attract authorities in many fields of scholarship as
speakers and guests. Seminars range from small discussion groups
to larger bodies that, in some cases, have become regional centers for
intellectual exchange where such centers would not otherwise exist. Seminar activities, contributions, publications, etc. The
Seminar was recently asked to answer the two questions below, about its
activities, contributions, and publications, as part of a Long-Range
Planning exercise of the University Seminars Program. What has your seminar contributed to the intellectual world? The Seminar has produced or participated substantially in the development of the following books and published reports: Socrates' Way (Penguin/Putnam/Tarcher (2003) Peak Learning -- Revised Edition (Tarcher/Penguin-Putnam, 2001) Peak Learning (Tarcher, 1990) The Great School Debate: Which Way for American Education? (Doubleday, 1985) Independent Scholarship: Promise, Problems and Prospects (The College Board, 1983) Our
contributions to the intellectual world have been regularly reported in
a wide range of media, from The Christian Science Monitor to The New
Criterion magazine. Over the past year, for example,
reports of our sessions have appeared in journals ranging from ETC.: A
Review of General Semantics, to The Georgia Review, to the Proceedings
of the National Coalition of Independent Scholars. We
have co-sponsored three major national conferences, including the
"Education Summit" in at George Mason University. Results of our
deliberations have also been presented at many major conferences, such
as the National Conference on Higher Education and Workforce
Development sponsored by SUNY. The leading professional journal in our field, Lifelong Learning Today, has said of our work: "some of the most influential innovations in lifelong learning are being generated by the Seminar." What has your seminar contributed to the world of practical affairs and activities? Our
Seminar contributes to the world of practical affairs and activities by
regularly addressing specific issues which can be illuminated by the
scholarly, intellectual, and professional perspectives of our members. Since
the attack of September 11th, our members have been highly active in
responding to new local and national needs through teaching, speaking,
publishing, and consulting. Among other issues we are
actively involved in the provocative and consequential issue of
mandated "high-stakes" testing of New York State's schoolchildren,
including i with three ex-members of the Board of Regents who came out
of retirement to challenge the State Regents policies. These sessions
contributed demonstrably to the effectiveness of their efforts to
prevent disservice to students with disabilities, non-English-speaking
children, and others "at risk." Last year, we also examined the Education platforms of the major parties and the Green Party. Over
the years, our Seminar has been at the center of two significant
"movements" in American education and academe : the School Reform
movement which resulted in our major book THE GREAT SCHOOL DEBATE
(Simon and Schuster), and the Independent Scholarship movement which
resulted in our books INDEPENDENT SCHOLARSHIP: Policies, Practices, and
Problems (The College Board) and THE INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR'S HANDBOOK
(Addison-Wesley) and a national conference, network, and newsletter. Currently,
the Seminar is exploring the applicability of The Socratic Approach to
contemporary education, professional life, and politics. These
products of our Seminar have been commended in print by a wide range of
leaders and experts in our field and in intellectual life more broadly,
including the late Buckminster Fuller, Jonathan Kozol, Diane Ravitch,
John Goodlad, and Mary Hatwood Futrell when she was President of the
National Education Association.
University Seminar
Dates for upcoming meetings
Fall 2012 meeting dates (all Monday evenings at 7:00): 10/15, 11/12, 12/17.
The speaker on 10/15 will be Prof. Cheryl Mendel- son of Barnard, on
her book THE GOOD LIFE: The Moral Individual in an Antimoral World.
Location
The Seminar meets at the Gottesman Libraries at 525 West 120th St., New York City.
Members Roster
Contact information, etc.
(For members' use only.)
Background on the University Seminars Program
www.columbia.edu/cu/seminars/
Activities, publications, etc.
CO-CHAIRS:
Ronald Gross, author: Socrates' Way, Peak Learning, The Great School Debate; Facilitator of the Socratic Conversations at the Gottesman Libraries.
Robert McClintock, John L. and Sue
Ann Weinberg Professor in the Historical and Philosophical Foundations
of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Founder and Director, Vehicles, Inc.
212 722-1111 665-6321
Fax: 212 722-0019
1832 Madison Avenue
Rm 202
NY, NY 10035
Senior Fellow, The Vera List Center for Art & Politics, New School for Social Research
Daytime phone: 212. 866.7614
Home phone: Same
Fax phone: 212.663.1083
Address: 740 West End Avenue, Apt. 22A, New York, New York 10025
Current interests: I'm working on a book on the shifting nature of identity in the age of multiculturalism.
914 962-3683
E-Mail: gcap@bestweb.net
Assistant Professor of Nursing, Columbia University
Publications: FLIP AND SEE ECG (Saunders), and numerous peer-review journal articles.
Current interests: Nursing, medical, and healthcare education;
communication between patients and healthcare providers.
Affiliation: former educator/ psychotherapist
516-466-2124
160 Middle Neck Rd. Great Neck, N.Y. 11021
Current interests- spirituality, growth, education, etc.
Affiliations: Consultant at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Adjunct Faculty Member at LaGuardia Community College
Creative Writing Instructor at Isabellla Geriatric Center
Daytime phone: 212-717-3527
Home Phone 212-874-7788
Current interests: teaching writing for cancer survivors
Barrytown NY 12507
914-758-5088
E-mail: Rgummere@ webjogger.net
Project Consultant, Database on Archival Tapes,
International Film Seminars; Advisory Board, Library Connections
(Program to improve inner city school libraries)
E-mail address: dmarieg@con2.com
Phone: 212-862-7508
Fax phone: none
Address: 626 Riverside Dr. #17C, New York, NY 10031
Current projects: Creating a database on Robert Flaherty Film Seminar;
working on International Residencies Programs for filmmakers; working
with Gilder Foundation and Patrons Program of NYC Archdiocese to
improve libraries in inner city schools.
www.SocratesWay.com
Phone: 516-487-0235
Fax: 516-829-8426
Address: 17 Myrtle Drive, Great Neck, New York 11021
Books: The Great School Debate, Radical School Reform, High School, The Teacher and the Taught, Peak Learning, Invitation to Lifelong Learning, The New Professionals, Individualism, Independent Scholarship.
Professor of Health and Nutrition Sciences, Brooklyn College, CUNY
E-mail address jacobson@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Daytime phone 1-718-951-5707
Home phone -212-245-5292
Fax phone: 718-951-4670
Address: 200 Central Park South, NY 10019
Current interests e.g. Bioethics
President, Bellarmine University
Email: jmcgowan@bellarmine.edu
Daytime Phone: 502-452-8234
FAX: 502-452-8033
2001 Newburg Road, Louisville, KY 40205
Daytime phone: 212 678 3375
Home phone: 212 866 3368
FAX 212 678 8227
Address : 106 Morningside Drive, #62, New York, NY 10227
Publications: THE EDUCATORS MANIFESTO
Current projects: The City as Educator
Founder-Director
Meyer Learning Center
E-mail: MeyerLearningCenter@Juno.com
Telephone: 303-680-8727
Mailing Address: 4026 S. Parker Rd.
Aurora, CO. 80014
Phone: 845-365-0024
Address: P.O. Box 575, Palisades, NY 10964
Lenox Hill Hospital - Department of Medicine
Faculty Member , Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, NYU School of Medicine
Daytime phone: 212-434-2104
E-mail: zeevie@aol.com
Home phone: 212-628-9052
Fax phone 212-434-2446
Address: 200 East 82nd Street #19C New York, NY 10028
The Juillard School
60 Lincoln Center Plaza NY 10023
E-MAIL: PMR@JUILLIARD.EDU
229 West 43rd St.
NYC 10036
917 445-2361
melrose@nytimes.com
Home: 212 734-5574
Independent scholar
212 755-2233
Independent Scholar
President, National Coalition of Independent Scholars
E-mail: mae08ben02@aol.com
Phone/Fax: 212-222-2015
Address: 752 West End Ave #5H, New York, NY 10025-6231
Print articles: "Karoline Eberstaller: The Real Link Between Schubert and Bruckner?" The Schubertian, October 2000, 5-13; "Schubert as Painted by Gustav Klimt and Julius Schmid," The Schubertian, July 2001, 14-20; "Schubert at the Movies," The Schubertian, October 2001, 14-17., and others in print and on-line.
Current
Projects: "The Fate of Margarethe Schindler Legler"; "Julius Schmid:
Blundering Into Oblivion"; "Carl Moll, Vermeer and the Artist's
Dilemma."
Interests: Music history, esp. Austria; Art History, esp. Austria; the Intersection of Music and Art.
The
University Seminar Movement has flourished for over fifty years,
growing from the original five seminars in 1945 to approximately
seventy-five seminars today. Each seminar acts as an autonomous
and voluntary grouping of scholars and practitioners brought together
under the auspices of Columbia University by their dedication to a
particular line of investigation. The movement is not only
interdisciplinary, but inter-institutional, and involves members of the
community who might not otherwise participate in university activity.
Dr. Dee Dickinson, director of the international network New Horizons for Learning, has commented: "The Seminar exerts significant influence among leaders in research and innovative practice throughout the world."