Nov

21

NCORE - National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education

November 21, 2008 | posted by Ryan | Leave a Comment

As you may note from an earlier post, a group of students and I (Ryan Rominger) presented at the 2008 National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE). We were fortunate enough to travel to Orlando, FL and enjoy the sun while engaging in ever-so-needed dialogue around race and ethnicity in education. Admittedly, conversations also included race and ethnicity in politics, cultural interactions, and other social institutions.

Our presentation focused on the research our group conducted over a year within our own psychology graduate school, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Our cooperative inquiry research focused on six facets of assessing diversity - curricular review (through syllabus analysis), student course evaluations, a brief student survey, faculty interviews, re-analysis of a recent “cultural assessment” which included a section on diversity, and our own reflections both as researchers and as community participants.

We found a number of trends, a couple of which as a faculty I find particularly interesting. One is that More »

[Posted in Publications & Research]


Oct

9

Update

October 9, 2008 | posted by Ryan | Leave a Comment

Just a quick update. It has been quite a busy summer and fall season, for both myself and for Multiple Angles. MA has been involved with a meditation study at Yahoo!, a cystic fibrosis study at Stanford, and a structural reorganization as we move toward incorporation. We are shooting for incorporation by the end of the year - we’ll keep you posted!

Personally I (Ryan Rominger) have moved into a formal Core Executive Faculty within the Global Programs (distance learning program) at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Part of this move was to take on the role of Associate Dissertation Director and help reform our dissertation departments into one unified dissertation department serving the 3 Ph.D. programs at the school. We are currently serving 155 students and will likely be up to 175 by holiday break, and 190 by the end of the academic year. In addition to the organizational change, the Director and I were charged with re-creating the forms, policies, and procedures for the entire dissertation process. Whew!

Besides the teaching and Associate Dissertation Director role, I am acting as the faculty trainer for our new online learning management system - (Angel Learning). It is quite a nice system, similar to eCollege, but the transition from our (ITP’s) old system to this new system has required quite a bit of training on my part so that I could train the Faculty! ;) It has been fun, of course, as it pertains to online education and technology.

Meanwhile, there have been conference presentations (in particular the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education held in Orlando, FL this past year) and papers (1. Diversity Bibliography and Resources published through Division 2 - Society for the Teaching of Psychology - of the American Psychological Association Div. Biblio 2. Exploring the Aftereffects of the Near-Death Experience: A Summative Report to be published by the Journal of Near-Death Studies Exploring Aftereffects). So, yea, busy. However, it has been a good busy and quite a bit of fun amid the chaos. I look forward to getting back into blogging on this site, so stay tuned.

[Posted in General Interest & Shameless Plugs & Technology]


Mar

31

Wisdom Therapy™: Reducing Anxiety at Home and at Work

March 31, 2008 | posted by Ryan | Leave a Comment

Here is an upcoming workshop, which will be held at the Stanford School of Medicine. This workshop will be taught by one of our Multiple Angles partners, Shani Robins.

Stanford School of Medicine Health Improvement Program Workshop

Wisdom Therapy™: Reducing Anxiety and Anger
at Home and at Work

Wisdom Therapy has been scientifically established as a comprehensive and effective program for addressing the cognitive, behavioral, physiological, and social components that tend to give rise to and anxiety at work and at home. Wisdom Therapy is an integration of modern cognitive-behavioral techniques, meditation, relaxation practices, and problem-solving perspectives associated with traditions. The goals of this day-long course are to teach the reducing one’s anger and anxiety and consequently improving life satisfaction and health.

The instructor Shani Robins, PhD is a licensed psychologist, author of numerous scientific journal articles and book chapters. has given presentations worldwide. He is an Assistant Professor the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, President of the Wisdom Therapy Institute, and a member of Integrated Healing Arts.

Date: Saturday, 4/19
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Fee: $175
Location: Hoover Pavilion, #400
Instructor: Shani Robins,
Class Code: wt-01
STAP Fund: YES

To Register, please use links below:

http://hip.stanford.edu/classes/register.html
or
http://hip.stanford.edu/ec_hipwebpages/reg_files/any_reg.php

Can also navigate there from: http://hip.stanford.edu/

[Posted in Anxiety & General Interest & Wisdom Therapy™]


Oct

30

Using Wikis for Business, Education, and Personal Use

October 30, 2007 | posted by Ryan | 1 Comment

Wikis, for those of you who do not know, are small programs that allow users to create content on the internet that is viewable by browsers. The content is loosely tied together, often searchable, and most times is open to public revision of the content. One of the most common wikis is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia (http://www.wikipedia.org).

Wikis are now being used in a large variety of ways, including as business web pages and as means for students and teachers to collaboratively create content for courses (be it to deliver course material or to post papers or even to create their own specialized topical wiki). Additionally, individuals are using wikis as a type of public mind-map, personal web page, or basic organizational space to help them keep projects in line.

To see examples of the use of wikis or to find out more…. More »

[Posted in General Interest & Technology]


Jun

25

Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Action Orientation

June 25, 2007 | posted by Ryan | Leave a Comment

Through our consulting, Scott and I have found an interesting relationship between procrastination, perfectionism, and action orientation. This sacred triangle has helped us help others - through figuring out where on the “triangle” one is at to learning how to balance all sides of the triangle. Quite often one or two of the three will be overemphasized, and quite often those who come to us have the procrastination-perfectionism combination. Admittedly there are many elements that affect procrastination, as indicated in many popular books on the subject.

However, when dealing with individuals in graduate schools, those conducting research, or those in the business field, it has been quite helpful to start with this simple triangle and then work into deeper issues of, for example, “am I *good enough* (whichever level you want to take that on) to succeed.” At other times we have found that intentional distractions, and even unintentional distractions, are really alternative ways of engaging the topic at hand.

Let me give an example. More »

[Posted in General Interest & Resources]


May

10

Two New Hypnosis Sessions by Dr. Hastings!!

May 10, 2007 | posted by Ryan | 4 Comments

Hi All.
We now have two new hypnosis sessions for sale in our MA4CS “Stuff” website store. Dr. Arthur Hastings has been a clinical hypnotherapist for over 20 years. He is also a core faculty at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (and has acted in many capacities for the small graduate psychology school, including past president). When I had knee surgery, this is the guy I went to for a pre-surgery hypnosis session! So, check out the new hypnosis session in the store, and enjoy!

[Posted in General Interest & Resources & Site Updates]


May

4

Overcoming Writing Blocks

May 4, 2007 | posted by Ryan | Leave a Comment

Have you ever had a time when writing just didn’t feel right, or that the mere act of sitting down to write was enough to bring back memories of chores long since forgotten? Maybe you are a cleaner, needing to clean before sinking into your writing project. Maybe you are a solitary writer, or on the flip side, need the extra stimulation of a coffee shop? Well, fortunately there has been A LOT written about writers block (almost an oxymoron isn’t it!).

In my experience writing my dissertation (a large research project I had to complete in order to graduate with my Ph.D.), there were times that I absolutely fought against the urge to write. I knew that I wanted to write, even that I had to write, but that didn’t help me write. I would either find other things to do, sit and stare at my screen, or write something small then edit it for several hours. These behaviors were entirely unproductive, and did not help me to get to the goal of having a completed piece of work.

During our consulting we have found several ways to overcome writers block. One of my favorites is More »

[Posted in General Interest & Research & Resources]


Apr

9

Research as Spiritual Practice

April 9, 2007 | posted by Ryan | Leave a Comment

Can research in itself be a spiritual practice? Considering the connection between much philosophy and religion - the search for truth - and epistomology - the study of how we know - maybe it is possible to see research as a spiritual practice. Dr. Peter Reason discusses this topic in an online “article” which he prepared for a conference at the University of Surrey in 2000. This discussion piece, titled Action Research as Spiritual Practice compares the process of action research with Rev. Matthew Fox’s Four Paths of Creation Spirituality: Via Positiva, Via Negativa, Via Creativa, & Via Transformativa. This piece is thought provoking, gripping, and potentially transformative itself for the way we all do research. I highly recommend this articles, along with much of Dr. Reason’s work.

For the article, just click the link above. For a direct link to Peter Reason’s personal website, including many of the articles he has written click here.

[Posted in Research & Resources]


Mar

30

Forum: Qualitative Social Research

March 30, 2007 | posted by Ryan | Leave a Comment

http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs/fqs-eng.htm

Just found this resource - a free, multilingual open-access journal on qualitative research. If you are looking for qualitative research articles, discussions, and debates from different countries, here is the place. Check it out.

[Posted in Research & Resources]


Mar

30

General Inductive Approach to Qual Data Analysis

March 30, 2007 | posted by Ryan | Leave a Comment

In this article David Thomas, University of Aukland, New Zeland, writes of the general type of qualitative data analysis found in many research articles. According to Thomas, some researchers do not feel the need to immerse themselves within a particular tradition with specific jargon. I believe the value in this article comes in its basic approach to describing qualitative analysis. This would be a great article for those just learning the practical coding associated with qualitative analysis. If you want a digital copy of the article, it can be found here (from Online QDA): http://www.health.auckland.ac.nz/hrmas/resources/Inductive2003.pdf

[Posted in Research]


keep looking »

  • Blogs/Podcasts We Like

    • ITP Library Research Weblog - various research resources
    • Shrink Rap Radio - Podcasts by experienced therapist talking with notible folks in the field about everything you could think of.
    • The Merlin Show - A video podcast featuring Merlin Mann. Topics include: technology, communication, productivity, etc.


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