"Changing Life"


a working group fostering critical thinking about the life and environmental sciences



Hosted by the Program in Critical and Creative Thinking
Graduate College of Education
University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02125
Organizer: Peter J. Taylor (peter.taylor@umb.edu),
with assistance from Glenn Adelson Harvard Environment and Public Policy Program (gadelson@husc.harvard.edu)

Changing concepts of life and changing possibilities for the living are developed and negotiated in many sites and situations--from biotech labs to global climate models, intellectual property agreements to grassroots movements, boardrooms to classrooms. The "Changing Life" working group aims to share insights, experience, experiments, struggles, and plans about influencing science and environmental education, popularization, and citizen activism. To this end members of the group will take turns to lead discussion around a paper, syllabus, or lesson plan and/or to lead the other participants in activities derived from or adaptable to classrooms and other contexts. Eventually, the group could decide to take on a more public role in responding to developments in the life and environmental sciences in their changing social context.

Meetings
We are meeting from 4.30-6.30pm on the first Sunday of the month in Room 105 of the Geological Museum--the right hand of the three doors of the Harvard Museums at 24-26 Oxford St., Cambridge, followed by dinner for those who can make the extra time.
The first meeting on February 7th was based on Peter Taylor's manuscript, "Critical tensions and non-standard lessons from the 'tragedy of the commons'," for Teaching Global Environmental Politics As If Education Mattered, edited by Michael Maniates.
On March 7th. Glenn Adelson of the Harvard Environment & Public Policy Program (gadelson@husc.harvard.edu) will lead a discussion on field trips that bring biodiversity students in contact with those making a living exploiting, managing, or protecting natural resources.

Please contact Peter Taylor if you are interested in joining the working group or know of other people in the Boston area whom we might invite to join.

Background
Hosting this working group (and related workshops in the future) reflects an emergent focus of the program in Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT) on science in its social context. This complements CCT's long-standing emphasis on conceptual discovery and justification in science, and acknowledges the social justice concerns that have motivated the work of many CCT students, faculty, and alums. Of course, the Boston area is rich in scholarly programs on history and philosophy of science, and has been home to important initiatives in citizen activism around scientific developments (e.g., Science for the People, Union of Concerned Scientists, Council for Responsible Genetics). In this setting, CCT hopes nevertheless to make a distinctive contribution by bringing critical thinking about science in its social context to bear on science and environmental education.