Creating a Workshop Prospectus for Nonviolent Social Change Training Introduction The hope for the following is different from a traditional nonviolence workshop in that it incorporates a rough reflexive teaching curriculum to allow participants to critically analyze themselves as well as past state violence and the potential for future state violence that they may encounter, and a reflexive history lesson that explores the possibilities… Read More
A Life Worthy of Human Dignity: Requirements, Values, and Assumptions Introduction A life worthy of human dignity. The statement is at once impassioned, relative, and worthy of an ethics analysis. The elements that make each of our lives worth living may be different for each of us, but all of them are connected in ways that extend beyond the analysis of this paper. Nussbaum (2011)… Read More
An Analysis and Critique of Fromm’s Sane Society, the Dalai Lama’s Ethics, and an Alternative Approach [Note: After speaking with my professor last night (15 June 2017), I realize I was extremely harsh with Fromm’s text, and it may be something I should revisit in the future. Additionally, I apparently made sweeping generalizations that have no basis in the text, so when you read this, please keep that in mind. I… Read More
An Overview and Analysis of The Feminism and Nonviolence Study Group Introduction While it is probably safe to theorize that violence has been an inherent characteristic of the human race, it is then also safe to assume that nonviolence did not make its human debut via Gandhi, Thoreau, Tolstoy, King or a myriad of others (Wikipedia, 2017). While Gandhi’s borrowed principles are valid for the analysis… Read More
The Portrait of a Global Citizen Introduction Certainly, to begin describing a global citizen of the United States would require mandatory overseas residency in one to three countries over the course of two years for every citizen of the United States to help them gain a perspective of the world’s stages and not the current views of a portion of native-born… Read More
The Scientific Revolutions of Thomas Kuhn: Paradigm Shifts Explained Introduction What is a paradigm shift within a scientific revolution or indeed outside of a scientific revolution? If I take an extremely liberal viewpoint, the recent political regime change in the United States was a paradigm shift. But that would be stretching the definition to its breaking point as many have abused the term for… Read More
The Ethics of Disagreement: The Abortion Issue Introduction You already have an opinion about abortion. Even I do. I chose such a difficult topic to force myself into the difficult position of analyzing a subject from positions that I don’t ordinarily consider. The journey won’t be easy and I may fail, but this will be the beginnings of a dialogue that I… Read More
How Do Italians View Creativity: A Critical Analysis Abstract Most people consider Italian creativity to be art, sculpture, music and literature. While these are valid, they exclude the creativity of everyday, industry, innovation, science, and education. This analysis will utilize a humanistic psychology perspective that investigates creativity of the everyday through industrial and business innovation, urban life, science, and education. This analysis will… Read More
A Critical Review of Hays’ Community activists’ perceptions of citizenship roles in an urban community Hays, R. A. (2007). Community activists’ perceptions of citizenship roles in an urban community: A case study of attitudes that affect community engagement. Journal of Urban Affairs, 29(4), 401-424 Introduction Allen Hays (Hays, 2007) looks at the connections and barriers between community activism (community-based organizations) and political participation in a small urban community to… Read More
The Neighborhood Windshield Tour and the Community Power Structure of Columbus, GA Introduction I have lived in Georgia twice, once from 1994 in South Georgia in and around Savannah and again from 2010 to the present, in Atlanta, the capitol, and Columbus, a primarily industrial city of over 200,000 (United States Census Bureau, 2016). In that time, I have had an opportunity to contrast and compare the… Read More
Neuroscience and Consciousness: A Critical Overview of Literature Abstract What follows is a critical overview of key articles from 2001 – 2011 that investigate the intersection of consciousness and neuroscience. While analysis of many of the articles will be addressed from a perspective of humanistic psychology, some articles will not necessarily lend themselves to this approach, and a general critical approach will be… Read More
Personal Reflections on My Role within Unconquered Minds and a Critique of Minkler & Hancock’s Community health assessment or healthy community assessment: Whose community? Whose health? Whose assessment? Understanding Health, Community, and Community Health How health, community, and community health are examined, utilized, and defined depend upon the representatives of the community involved. All are key, all are vital, and all are based upon the perspective of key individuals and groups. A politician will obviously differ from a health care provider, a social… Read More
Three Responses to #BlackLivesMatter, Individual Evolution, and Institutionalized Racism (A Tribute to Sandra Bland) and My Replies (Below are three responses to my previous essay. My responses are in italics.) N.’s Response: Michael, I just read your paper with great interest. You make a number of important points. However, you say repeatedly that not every group needs to follow all of the 10 steps [required according to IndividualEvolution.org] to be successful. However,… Read More
#BlackLivesMatter, Individual Evolution, and Institutionalized Racism (A Tribute to Sandra Bland) “Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.” -Assata Shakur. While I am certainly not qualified to compose a proper tribute to Sandra Bland, I am qualified as a social psychologist to analyze some elements of #BlackLivesMatter in… Read More
The Psychology of Coordination and Common Knowledge Research Study Review (Or as I would like to call it, The Intersection of Common Knowledge with Sexism and Racism, but that will have to wait for my own research study. This was written in response to a request from the VU University Amsterdam admissions department as part of the Social Psychology master’s degree application. I need to write… Read More
Body Suspension As Individual (R)evolution While on one level the entire continuum of experiencing body suspension immediately incorporates IndividualEvolution.org’s (IE) heart, head, and hand, the wholeness of it also profoundly and radically transcends individual evolution and becomes an individual revolution, as I like to call it. It incorporates IE’s scientific method of inquiry, reaches beyond its body, mind, and spirit,… Read More
Summary of The Cultural Context of Cognition: What the Implicit Association Test Tells Us About How Culture Works by Hana Shepherd N.B. This summary is a “follow up” on my reaction to the Implicit Associations Test that I wrote of earlier. I wanted to summarize a journal article that presented a different perspective than mine even though I am still in disagreement with the intention and what I feel is a bias in the tests that… Read More
What Is Institutional Ethnography? What is institutional ethnography? At a basic level, institutional ethnography is the study of the social organization of everyday life. What it does not do is objectify the subjects or people into objectifications of the everyday world that one is studying. The social ontology of institutional ethnography, its underlying fundamental, essential principle, is that the… Read More
Inequality Viewed Through The Rromani Experience While general study can encompass a wide subject area, it does not cover every nuance of our population. The subject of inequality touches upon almost everyone in our society and others, barring the standard bearer of privilege, the wealthy white Anglo-Saxon Protestant male, but we can only discuss general aspects of that inequality within a… Read More