360˚ to be offered in the fall semester of 2011:</p>
<p>Contemplative Practices: – A 360° on the Cultivation of Purpose, Mindfulness and Silence taught by Marc Schulz (Psychology), Hank Glassman (BiCo East Asian Studies, Haverford), and Michelle Francl (Chemistry)</p>
<p>This 360˚ comprises three classes plus an independent study (fourth course) that share an interest in contemplative or mindfulness traditions and practice. The course brings together historical, cultural, psychological and religious perspectives. Mindfulness is an important aspect of Eastern religious and Christian monastic traditions. With its recent introduction as a key component of Western therapeutic attempts to remediate psychological difficulties or cope with stress, it has also become a central focus of much psychological research and theory. The three shared courses will twine together in significant and determined ways, but the unique perspective of each will offer a broad view of the topic. Three distinct images suggest themselves as examples of the nodes of observation – 1) the solid and stable figure of the medieval Zen monk seated in full lotus forming an oval with his hands his mind resting in the mystery of being; 2) the mystic Christian hermit of third century Syria who makes silence her practice as a “desert mother” and through reflection and humility awakens to God; 3) the brain researcher working in the lab and in therapeutic settings, who finds that the meditating brain offers unexpected benefits.</p>
<p>360˚s to be offered in the spring semester of 2012:</p>
<p>Urban Sustainability: Complexities and Changes – A 360˚ taught by Carola Hein (Growth and Structure of Cities), Victor Donnay (Mathematics), and Jody Cohen (Education)</p>
<p>Today we are facing numerous and interrelated challenges to the urban and natural environment, including rapid climate change, rising population numbers, and the extreme socio-economic differences that go hand in hand with them. Initiatives from green building to education for sustainability are aimed at reconsidering what is needed to adapt cities to current challenges and requirements. To assess how planning and design interventions, changes in governance, or education can be most successful, and to provide students with concrete tools to assess the impact of the choices human beings make, this 360˚ offers a multi-disciplinary investigation of urban and educational policies and implementation issues that are crucial to issues of urban sustainability. Mathematical modeling provides frameworks to examine the evolution and current state of cities in terms of their built environments, their ecological footprints, and their educational systems. We envision that such a multi-perspectival analysis will open the way for fresh insights into current and possible activism and help participants frame their thinking and actions aimed at improving sustainability within and beyond urban spaces.</p>
<p>Literacies of Child Development – A 360˚ taught by Pim Higginson (French and Francophone Studies), Alice Lesnick (Education), and Rob Wosniak (Psychology)</p>
<p>This 360˚ will explore how children grow and develop in different contexts (e.g. schools, communities, households) and cultures (e.g., the United States, West Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa) and how this growth and development are conceptualized and represented – in texts and theories – mainly by adults, across cultures and fields of study. Led by faculty members in the fields of Education, French and Francophone studies, and Psychology, this 360˚ offer students an opportunity not only to see and hear children anew — an abiding challenge for adults — but also to think about and engage in supporting child development, particularly important as youth oppression persists in myriad forms and children’s rights remain unfulfilled. This 360˚ will make visible and put into dialogue the different ways in which disciplines construct children and childhood. It will also provide opportunities for students to apply their variously informed understanding to creating curricula for children and learning how curricula are created in West Africa.