Category Archives: Lois Holzman

International educators discover ‘spaces to become a head taller’

Educators from the US and several other countries, in town for the 11th International Transformative Learning Conference, at Teachers College, Columbia University, spent a pre-conference afternoon with Institute director Lois Holzman. Her workshop, entitled Spaces to Become A Head Taller introduced the Vygotskian-influenced, performatory … Continue reading

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A ‘Revolutionary Vygotsky’ takes the stage at ISCAR Summit in Sydney

The Institute’s director of pedagogy and Rutgers Univ. early childhood education faculty Carrie Lobman was among presenters at The 4th Congress of the International Society for Cultural and Activity Research in Sydney, Australia. The conference drew some 400 scholars and researchers in the … Continue reading

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Play’s the Thing in Japan

Institute Director Lois Holzman recently returned from an invited speaking tour to Japan organized by colleagues there with whom she has been building relationships since her first visit to Japan organized in 2012 by Professor Yuji Moro of the University of Tsukuba. Moro was … Continue reading

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Holzman recipient of lifetime achievement award from AERA Cultural Historical Research SIG

  The Cultural Historical Research Special Interest Group (SIG) of the American Educational Research Association has named Lois Holzman as the recipient of its prestigious lifetime achievement award. Holzman’s award will be presented at the AERA annual meeting in Chicago, 2015, where she will deliver an … Continue reading

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Developmentalists take the stage at American Educational Research Association

Some 14,000 educators flocked to Philadelphia for meetings of the American Educational Research Association — among them several hundred Vygotskians — members of the Cultural Historical Research Special Interest Group (SIG), who staged some of the more innovative presentations under the … Continue reading

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Lois Holzman named series editor for Palgrave Studies on Play, Performance, Learning and Development

Institute director Lois Holzman was recently named series editor for a new collection of books — the Palgrave Studies in Play, Performance, Learning and Development.  In announcing the new series, Palgrave Macmillan describes it as “a needed home for cross-disciplinary scholarship linking play and performance … Continue reading

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Conversation w Peter Smagorinsky Launches ‘Making a Conceptual Revolution’ Salon

The Institute welcomed  Peter Smagorinsky, Distinguished Research Professor in English Education at the University of Georgia, to New York for a salon-style conversation with Institute director Lois Holzman and a diverse audience of invited guests.  In introducing Smagorinsky, Holzman noted: Peter has taken … Continue reading

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Play Day! Holzman to present at TedXNavesink

Lois Holzman will be a featured speaker at the upcoming TedX Navesink in Red Bank, N.J., May 10. It’s a day-long forum featuring several dozen presentations and entertainment dedicated to exploring the power and potential of PLAY!   Here’s how Lois describes her talk … Continue reading

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Holzman’s “The Overweight Brain” makes online debut

Lois Holzman’s latest book project — The Overweight Brain: How Our Obsession with Knowing Keeps Us from Getting Smart Enough to Make a Better World — made its online debut at LoisHolzman.org with the publication of a provocative first installment. Conceived as … Continue reading

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New International Class makes first visit to NYC

The Institute welcomed its 2013-2014 International Class, which gathered in New York City for a week of whirlwind activity. The smiling faces in the photo above belong to (front row, l. to r.) Jelena Aleksic (Serbia), Ksenija Milic (Serbia), Lois Holzman (ESI director, NYC), … Continue reading

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Japan study group performs Holzman’s ‘Vygotsky at Work and Play’

This just in from our colleague in Japan —  developmental psychology professor Yuji Moro at the University of Tsukuba.  Dr. Moro reports that he has organized a reading group to study Lois Holzman’s 2011 text, Vygotsky at Work and Play. The … Continue reading

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Community speaks-out on Psychiatric Diagnoses at Harlem Week

The Institute and Social Therapy Group  were out with 12 volunteers talking to strollers at the Harlem Week street fair and conducting a community poll on people’s attitudes toward psychiatric diagnosis and labeling.  Gwen Lowenheim (pictured above l. with volunteer … Continue reading

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Lev Vygotsky Revolutionary Scientist is a Classic (edition)

Twenty years after its debut, Fred Newman’s and Lois Holzman’s 1993 title, Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist, has been published by Psychology Press as a Classic Edition — i.e., among a series of psychology texts designed to present “fundamental ideas to a new generation.” The … Continue reading

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Japanese colleagues try out performance of revolutionary conversationalists

Thirteen educators, psychologists, researchers and graduate students from universities across Japan recently completed a two-month online seminar with Lois Holzman, in which they pursued the study of performatory, developmental methodology and its Vygotskian roots. Entitled, Social Therapeutics: Breaking Through Alienation and Reinitiating Development, the course … Continue reading

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Vygotskians CHAT @ AERA Professional Development Course

Institute director of pedagogy and Rutgers University faculty Carrie Lobman co-led a professional development and training course entitled, Cultural Historical Activity Theory Methodologies in the 21st Century: The Intersections of Theory, Research, Policy and Praxis at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in San Francisco. Lobman is co-Program … Continue reading

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Fulani, Holzman address subjective side of poverty @ AERA

Nearly 15,000 educational researchers gathered in San Francisco at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association to grapple with issues of Education and Poverty (the conference theme). A highlight of the meeting was a special presidential session organized and … Continue reading

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Ctty Meeting & Fundraiser caps spring fundraising drive

The Institute celebrated an annual rite of spring with its 6th annual Community Meeting and Fundraiser.   The festive gathering — a hallmark of the Institute’s financial independence — brought together 75+ shareholders and friends along with new colleagues and supporters.  The fundraising event … Continue reading

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Holzman and Gildin to address educational innovators in Singapore

Institute director Lois Holzman and All Stars Project VP for Education Initiatives Bonny Gildin, are invited presenters at the Redesigning Pedagogy International Conference in the Republic of Singapore, June 3-5, sponsored by the National Institute of Education (NIE). Holzman and Gildin will be joined by … Continue reading

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8 Students from Japan to South Africa join a postmodern psychology play

How do you teach a postmodern psychology? Or more specifically, how do you design a seminar to engage the foundations, politics, philosophy and community-based applications of the social therapeutic approach? (Presumably, pop quizzes and multiple-choice tests are out…) Institute faculty Lois … Continue reading

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Now a Classic: Lev Vygotsky Revolutionary Scientist

  Twenty years after its original publication, Fred Newman and Lois Holzman’s Lev Vygotsky Revolutionary Scientist will be re-published this coming August  as a Routledge Psychology Press, Classic Edition. The book, which was translated into Portuguese in 2002, presents Vygotsky as a brilliant Marxist methodologist unique … Continue reading

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The Therapeutic Power of Performance — watch the video

Lois Holzman blogs about The Therapeutic Power of Performance — the subject of a special plenary session at Performing the World 2012:  Can Performance Change Save the World featuring Hector Aristizabal, Lenora Fulani, Artin Göncü, Lin Ching-Hsia,  Christine LaCerva and Charles Rojzman. Says Holzman: I live performance and … Continue reading

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Volker Bunzendahl: Performing Hope in an Alienated World

Read Lois Holzman’s loving obituary for longtime friend,  Volker Bunzendahl… November 19, 2012 This morning I learned that a dear friend of mine passed away last week. Volker was an exuberant  and passionate psychologist and human being… He will be … Continue reading

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International Class 2012-13: Playful, philosophical agents of social change

On the heels of Performing the World, October 4-7,  and vibrant conversations on performance and social change, the Institute’s 2012-2013 International Class convened in New York City for the first of three residencies.  Members of this playful and passionate class of … Continue reading

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Lois Holzman travels to Japan as guest faculty

At the invitation of colleague Professor Yuji Moro, Institute director Lois Holzman will visit Japan August 24 through September 3, where she will lead the  Japanese Society of Developmental Psychology‘s  International Workshop,  deliver a keynote  at the Annual Meeting of the  Japanese Association of  Qualitative … Continue reading

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Marxist psychologists in Mexico: Energized and disgruntled

In a recent post, Lois Holzman reports on the 2nd Marxism and Psychology Conference in Morelia, Mexico, where she presented along with colleagues Wellington de Oliveira (São Paulo) and Miguel Cortés and Jorge Burciaga (from Juárez, Mexico) on,  From Critical to Practical-Critical Psychology: Activating and Developing People and Community in … Continue reading

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The Human Cost of Bad Science: Therapists need new tools

The Human Cost of Diagnosis forum brought together Columbia University’s Gil Eyal, the Institute’s Lois Holzman, and Social Therapy Group director Christine LaCerva at NYU’s Vanderbilt Hall. The audience of 100+ therapists, educators, parents and others were treated to three ways of looking at … Continue reading

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International Class graduates complete ‘developmental’ course of study

Faculty and graduates of the Institute’s 2011-2012 International Class gathered in New York City for a graduation ceremony to mark the completion of their 10-month course of study. Pictured above (back row l. to r.) Christine Helm, Andrew Burton, Kim … Continue reading

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Otto Award Winner Hector Aristizábal explores therapeutic power of performance

Lois Holzman greeted 2012 Otto Award winner Hector Aristizábal at a reception for the honorees at the Castillo Theatre (above).  Aristizábal, a Colombian psychologist and founder of Los Angeles-based ImaginAction, uses performance and theatre games to help people deal with trauma. In accepting his award, he shared with the … Continue reading

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“Discursive Perspectives in Therapeutic Practice,” alternatives to medical psychiatry

Andy Lock and Tom Strong’s new book, Discursive Perspectives in Therapeutic Practice is hot off the presses. It includes a chapter by Lois Holzman and Fred Newman, Activity and performance (and their discourses) in social therapeutic method. Other featured authors include: Kenneth J. … Continue reading

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Gil Eyal, Lois Holzman, Christine LaCerva to discuss human cost of diagnosis

On Friday, June 8, the Institute will host a conversation with Columbia University sociologist Gil Eyal, developmental psychologist Lois Holzman and social therapist Christine LaCerva , to address the Human Cost of Diagnosis. What are the history, politics and economics of diagnoses? Where is … Continue reading

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Two weeks to grieve, says DSM-5

Arizona State University professor and researcher Dr. Joanne Cacciatore challenges proposed changes to the “bereavement exclusion,” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which establishes the (normal) amount of time you’re allowed to grieve the loss of a loved … Continue reading

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Holzman and Friedman Head to Scandinavia

Lois Holzman will travel to Denmark and Sweden this week to lead a series of workshops and talks organized by colleagues in the Performing the World Community. In Copenhagen, psychologist Esben Wilstrup, a 2009 graduate of the Institute’s International Class, has … Continue reading

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Holzman screens favorite TED Talks at UX

Everybody wanted to talk about learning environments — and how to build good ones!  Thirty-five UX students from neighborhoods across NYC joined UX Global Outreach Chair Lois Holzman for a screening of one of her favorite TED Talks by educator Sugata Mitra, entitled … Continue reading

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Holzman: DSM Is a Hoax

Lois Holzman comes out swinging in her latest post, There’s No Science in the DSM, citing the growing controversy surrounding proposed diagnostic changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual — a debate that has grabbed the attention of The New … Continue reading

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“Master Teacher…” Barbara Taylor 1922-2012

  Barbara Taylor passed away on January 6, 2012 — just five days after her 90th birthday. An impassioned educator and educational reformer, Barbara (or BT as so many called her) was a catalyst for the Institute’s work in education and youth development. Barbara … Continue reading

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Not crazy about DSM (I,II, III, IV or V)

See Lois Holzman’s latest post on the growing controversy surrounding the proposed 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) — “the diagnostic bible for mental health professionals the world over—and a cash cow for the American Psychiatric … Continue reading

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Holzman reports on trip to Serbia — challenging hold of societal identities…

Institute director Lois Holzman reports at LoisHolzman.org on a recent visit to Serbia which included activities with colleagues old and new. As she has since 1997, Holzman attended annual meetings of Zdravo da Ste (“Hi Neighbor”) — a group of 100+ psychologists, educators, … Continue reading

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Lobman chronicles year of revolutionary conversations…

Carrie Lobman’s latest post on ImprovisationalLearning.org looks back on a year brimming with Revolutionary Conversation and offers highlights from some of the 28 formal classes and workshops the Institute produced in 2011 (among them, “Breakthroughs in Youth Development” with Lenora Fulani, Pam Lewis and … Continue reading

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Holzman hosts Boys’ Towns of Italy delegation at UX

Lois Holzman, chair of Global Outreach Department at UX (the All Stars Project’s university-style development program), welcomed Dr. Porfirio Grazioli, President of the Rome-based Boys’ Towns of Italy, alumni Francesco Bassano and Carol Marcoccia, and U.S. Executive Director Carrie Sackett, on Saturday, Dec. … Continue reading

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Jackie Salit: “Independents believe this is supposed to be a democracy…”

Why are more and more Americans declaring themselves ‘independent?’   Who are the independents, and  what do they stand for? What does it mean to be a member of an anti-party? How do we transform a political culture which assumes that … Continue reading

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Lois Holzman, Fred Newman and the Practice of Method (in China)

Lois Holzman returned from China, after speaking at the Third International Conference on Contemporary Capitalism Studies in Hangzhou and conducting a postgraduate seminar at Nanjing University with students in the Dept. of Philosophy and Center for Studies of Marxist Social … Continue reading

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Nov. 20th deadline for online program in social therapeutics

Applications for the 20-week, Social Therapeutics Online Certificate Program led by ESI faculty, Lois Holzman, Carrie Lobman and Christine Helm, are being accepted through November 20th. Find out more here.     “Among the topics….human development and group creativity; the enhancement … Continue reading

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Lois Holzman to present at conference in Hangzhou, China

Institute director Lois Holzman will be a guest presenter at the Third International Academic Conference on Contemporary Capitalism Studies in Hangzhou, China, October 22-23, 2011. The conference is organized by the Center for the Study of Marxist Social Theory at … Continue reading

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“A truly postmodern zone of proximal development….”

Lois Holzman blogs about the All Stars Project’s UX, “a free, open-to-all, university-style development center.” “This new project creates its curriculum from suggestions for courses from those who want to learn and ideas from those who want to teach something…” See UX schedule … Continue reading

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Alumni ‘perform the world’ in Novi Sad, Dhaka, Taipei, Lagos, Kolkata, rural Uganda and Hamilton, ON

Hot off the virtual presses, the July issue of Reports from the Field  presents some of the latest developments in the work of colleagues in communities and universities across the globe.  Read more here.  Director Lois Holzman comments: Many who … Continue reading

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Lois Holzman to screen favorite Ted Talks at UX

Dr. Lois Holzman, who chairs the UX Global Outreach Department at All Stars Project, will share with UX students some of her favorite TED Talks videos. In the first screening on Wed., July 13, she will show two talks by creativity … Continue reading

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Lois Holzman to keynote at Experiential Education conference in November

Institute director Lois Holzman will be a keynote presenter at the 39th annual international conference of the Association for Experiential Education, Nov 3-6, in Jacksonville, Florida.

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