Towards a science of ideas: An inquiry into the emergence, evolution and expansion of ideas and their translation into action

Edited by Guido Enthoven, Institute for Social Innovation, Netherlands et al.

Ideas are the basic building blocks that construct the world we live in. Yet despite the abundance of literature on creativity and innovation, there has been little reflection on ideas as such, their nature and their working mechanisms. This book provides foundations for a reflection focused specifically on ideas - what they are, how they emerge, develop, interact, gain acceptance and become translated into actions. In doing so the book moves beyond the mainstream approaches, offering new, promising theoretical angles, presenting original findings and initiating a research agenda for a science of ideas. This book provides a fresh perspective on how to conceptualize and study ideas and their working mechanisms by treating ideas as the main object of the study and by bringing together a group of original thinkers, scholars, and philosophers to move beyond the mainstream academic discourse on creativity and innovation.

Forgiveness Confronts Race, Relationships, and the Social

The Philosophy of Forgiveness - Volume V

Edited by Court D. Lewis, Pellissippi State Community College

'Forgiveness Confronts Race, Relationships, and the Social', Volume V of Vernon Press’s The Philosophy of Forgiveness series, is an exercise in listening. Listening to others, and not just waiting for them to stop speaking, requires a willingness to recognize the worth of the other and to believe that what they say is worthy of consideration. Much like reading a book, one must strive to quiet the constant voice in one’s head in order to hear and process the information communicated. Listening is not always easy, and it takes considerable practice, but it is one of the most effective means for developing understanding and growing as an intellectual and moral person. Literature dealing with forgiveness lacks many important voices, including those from First Peoples, African American, LatinX, and LGTBQ+ , and many others, and the authors of 'Forgiveness Confronts Race, Relationships, and the Social' begin the task of closing these gaps, discussing topics from folk and other social and political issues to racism, systems of oppression, and religion. The authors were asked to explore forgiveness from their own understandings of underrepresented aspects of forgiveness, and readers will hopefully be enlightened and inspired to make their own diverse voices of forgiveness heard, creating a true dialogue of diversity and wisdom.

So You Want to be a Dean? Pathways to the Deanship

Edited by Kate Conley, William & Mary and Shaily Menon, University of New Haven

This volume comprises chapters by humanist and interdisciplinary arts and sciences faculty who became academic deans, with reflections on how they used their position to further the liberal arts, fulfill special projects, and play a leadership role in shared governance on their campuses. These chapters shed light on how these colleagues were motivated to join the administration in public and private, large and small institutions, how their career pathways led them there, what their jobs entailed, what was some of the satisfaction they derived from their work, and, in some cases, how they felt about the experience. So You Want to be a Dean? provides a critical update to the experience of academic leadership at American colleges and universities during the pandemic because of the focus on leading a liberal arts faculty through Covid-19. The core focus of the volume is on the experience of leadership through personal reflections provided by academic leaders, the spark that motivates them to serve their colleagues and their university in their capacity as deans. This volume will greatly benefit mid-career academics in all fields working at American liberal arts colleges and universities who are curious about possible pathways into administration for faculty and the rewards that such career choices may hold.

The Changing Faces of Higher Education

From Boomers to Millennials

Edited by Mitchell B. Mackinem, Wingate University et al.

In a time of rapid change and arising challenges, Millennials are the latest generation to enter high education institutions as junior faculty, administrators, researchers, and scholars. As with each generation they bring new values, perspectives, technological expertise, and expectations. Higher education is facing potentially overwhelming challenges in finances, student debt, relevance, non-traditional hiring, with some institutions facing closure. Academic leaders, often Baby Boomers, attempt to meet these challenges while still tied to traditions from a bygone time. The Changing Faces of Higher Education gives voice to Millennial academics and their perspective of higher education. This thought-provoking volume provides the insights and lessons from Millennials working in higher education across various subfields. The contributing authors speak from divergent institutions including small mid-western private colleges to larger East coast public institutions and many locations in-between. The contributing authors are not limited to faculty but covers a range of professionals working in higher education. While diverse, all the authors focus on the challenges in teaching, mentorship, and leadership, challenges related to diversity, and improving technology and research. The thirteen chapters in this book address ongoing challenges faced by Millennials working in higher education, offers advice and best practices, and addresses the ways that Millennials serve as a bridge between their “Boomer” colleagues and Gen Z who make up the majority of currently enrolled college students. Each chapter presents the experiences of the author(s) and the strategies utilized to navigate the increasingly fast changing landscape of higher education.

The Making and Breaking of Minds: How social interactions shape the human mind

Isabella Sarto-Jackson, Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Austria

The human brain has a truly remarkable capacity. It reorganizes itself, flexibly adjusting to fluctuating environmental conditions – a process called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity provides the basis for wide-ranging learning and memory processes that are particularly profuse during childhood and adolescence. At the same time, the exceptional malleability of the developing brain leaves it highly vulnerable to negative impact from the surroundings. Abusive or neglecting social environments, as well as socioeconomic deprivation and poverty, cause toxic stress and complex traumas that can severely compromise cognitive development, emotional processing, self-perception, and executive brain functions. The neurophysiological changes entailed impair emotional regulation, lead to heightened anxiety, and afflict attachment and the formation of social bonds. Neuroplastic changes following severely adverse experiences are not something that a person grows out of and gets over. These experiences alter the neurobiological and biochemical makeup and cause people to live in an emotionally relabeled world in which the evaluation of any social cue, their behavior, cognition, and state of mind are biased towards the negative. Even more worrying, detrimental neurophysiological consequences are not limited to the traumatized individual but are often transmitted to subsequent generations through a process of social niche construction, thereby creating a vicious cycle. Thus, the making and breaking forces of the brain are epitomized by parents, alloparents, peers, and our socioeconomic niche. This book expounds on the formative role that the social environment plays in healthy brain development, especially during infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Based on scientific findings, the book advocates for bold measures and responsible stewardship to combat child abuse, maltreatment, and child poverty. By bringing together insights from neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and social education work, it lays out a fact-based, transdisciplinary endeavor that aims at rising to the societal challenge of providing a rewarding perspective to youth at risk. It will be a valuable resource for academics from social education, pedagogy, cognitive science, neuroscience, as well as professionals in the fields of social work, pedagogy, education, child welfare.