Second International Conference on the Arts in Society

August 21 - 24, 2007

Kassel, Germany

Visit website for conference details: http://a07.cgpublisher.com/welcome.html

Humanities Scholar Helps Create Change Offers Thoughts on Digital Scholarship

"What is the value – to the humanities and to society – of more open scholarly communication? Open access removes barriers. I find this very politically attractive. The sharing of knowledge it allows helps us get at economic inequities – experienced both by smaller academic institutions and, of course, by developing countries. Everybody wins. More access and resource sharing lead to a democratized diffusion of knowledge. "
Linda Hutcheon Ph.D.

Quote from "Create Change" Thoughts on Digital Scholarship in the Humanities
Article Linda Hutcheon, University of Toronto
Go to Source for full article:
http://www.createchange.org/cases/humanities.html


See "Crossing Borders" blog summary article by Linda Hutcheon, Ph.D., Michael Hutcheon M.D.
from CCAHTE Journal
"Medicine and Arts the Teachings of Opera"
http://ccahtecrossingborders.blogspot.com/2007/05/if-we-accept-premise-that-medical.html

Transformative Learning Centre Transforms Lives, Raises Awareness about Power Relations, Class, Race and Gender

Circles of Transformation documents the Spirit Matters gathering, a landmark event organized by The Transformative Learning Centre in Spring 04. This package includes 6 hrs. of DVD's including reflective essays and commentary. See http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/view-item?item=12215

The Transformative Learning Centre, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Fosters Individual and Social Transformation

The centre's main goals are:

• To provide an interdepartmental structure for community-university partnerships in research and field development.

• To provide a forum for the discussion of interdisciplinary issues related to learning in community and global transformation.

• To provide a means for faculty and students to participate in specific networks requiring membership from a community-university base...

• To support interdepartmental instruction in Transformative Learning Studies and related areas.

"Transformative learning involves experiencing a deep, structural shift in basic premises of thought, feelings, and actions. It is a shift of consciousness that dramatically and permanently alters our way of being in the world. This shift includes our understanding of ourselves and our self-locations and our relationships with other humans and with the natural world. It also involves our understanding of power relations in interlocking structures of class, race and gender, our body awareness, our visions of alternative approaches to living, and our sense of possibilities for social justice, peace and personal joy. "

"Transformative learning helps us understand the world in a different way, changing the way we experience it and the way we act in our day-to-day lives. Transformative learning has an individual and a collective dimension, and includes both individual and social transformation.
In the Transformative Learning Centre we are inspired by the notion of grounded hope. We believe that one of the best ways to predict the future is to actively create it, moving together towards our collective visions by developing viable alternatives that recognize the limitations and possibilities (especially the possibilities!) of each particular context."

Above excerpts from http://tlc.oise.utoronto.ca/about.html#contact


The following information was sent to us by
Michelle Currie M.Ed. , our Ontario based student regional liaison representative for CCAHTE Journal.

PARTICIPATE, MEDITATE, CREATE

with Michelle Currie M.Ed.

Participate, Meditate, Create is an experiential workshop that explores the use of Meditative Arts (meditation and art) as a tool for social change.

Date & Time:

Friday, June 22nd 6:00-8:00

Saturday, June 23rd 1:00-4:00

Facilitator: Michelle Currie is a graduate of the Masters of Education Program at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, where she focused on the use of meditation and the arts for personal growth, social change and environmental consciousness.

INFO:

Transformative Learning Centre (Room 7-165)
Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology
Ontario Institute of Studies in Education
University of Toronto (OISE/UT) Fax (416) 926-4749

Email for info: Michelle Currie: meditativearts@yahoo.ca

More info: Transformative Learning Centre
http://tlc.oise.utoronto.ca/

Imagination and Ethics Reflected in Architecture Conference With a Difference

Reconciling Poetics and Ethics in Architecture Conference
The History of Theory of Architecture Program,
McGill University School of Architecture, Montreal, Quebec

September 13 - 15, 2007

The program for this conference begins with three challenging questions:

How can architects reconcile their wish to design a beautiful world and the imperative to create a better place for society? Is there a responsible place for the architect's personal imagination in a world of opposing views, cultures and political agendas? For whom should architect's design?

Just a few of the many topics and presentations to be featured:

• Empathy of the Other. Spaces of Empathy and Ethics
• Historical Studies and Imagination
• Narratives of Utopia
• The Spiritual Exercise of Architecture
• Ambulating Through Choreographed Landscapes
• Messy Urbanisms
• An Experiential Tale of Two Buildings

Reconciling Poetics and Ethics in Architecture will be held at the Canadian Centre for Architecture and McGill University. Among the highlights are: keynote address by Juhani Pallasmaa to be followed by a reception co-hosted by the Embassy of Finland; the exhibition “70 Architects” at the Centre de design at UQAM; tour of the CCA; plenary presentations by Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Lily Chi, Marco Frascari, and David Leatherbarrow; and the 20th Anniversary of History and Theory of Architecture Banquet.

See conference website for more information.
http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/theory/conference/index.html

Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences Bridging Communities Through Knowledge

May 26 - June 2

Making Public Knowledge, Making Knowledge Public

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Hosts Largest Humanities and Social Sciences Gathering in Canada

The Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is the largest annual academic gathering in Canada; its multidisciplinary character marks it as unique in the world.

Now in its 76th year, it is an important meeting place for new and established academics and researchers working in such diverse areas as anthropology, bibliotherapy, communication and disability studies, geography, history and philosophy of science, international development, social work, theatre research and much more.

"The Congress 2007 theme is “Bridging Communities: Making public knowledge – Making knowledge public.” Scholarly and public communities are becoming increasingly connected. All are navigating the complexities of globalization, genetic innovation, medical advances, digital culture, national identities. Our hope is that this Congress will shed light on the roles, responsibilities and intentions of humanists and social scientists in the evolving relationship between the academy and the public.
Within this over-arching theme and through various academic and cultural events on campus, Congress 2007 will place special emphasis on women, equity issues, Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal heritage, and partnerships with Aboriginal Peoples."
Peter MacKinnon

See website Congress 07

http://www.fedcan.ca/congress2007/

I was pleased to see one of the featured speakers at this year's Congress will be John Willinsky, Pacific Press Professor of Literacy and Technology at the University of British Columbia and author of Empire of Words: The Reign of the OED and a developer of Open Journals Systems software.

See http://www.lled.educ.ubc.ca/faculty/willinsky.htm

The Public Knowledge Project
http://pkp.sfu.ca/

Information about this presentation:

Thursday, May 31
9:30 TO 12:00, THORVALDSON BUILDING , ROOM 159

“The Canadian Research Community and Global Citizenship: Canadian Learned Journals and Making Knowledge Public”

Canadian Association of Learned Journals (CALJ)
This panel presentation will open discussion on Canada ’s role in fostering an increased global exchange of knowledge as a public good through innovative scholarly publishing projects. The keynote address will be delivered by John Willinsky, currently the Pacific Press Professor of Literacy and Technology and Distinguished University Scholar in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia .

Creativity in Education, Generating Innovation Through Art Process

Robert Kelly, Concept of Raven Demonstrates Creative Process in Action

Carrying on with our discussions about creative process and education I invited CCAHTE Journal Advisory Board Member Robert Kelly Ph.D., Associate Professor, educator and artist, University of Calgary, Fine Arts, to share his thoughts about Creativity in Education. Below Robert writes about his own work, "The Concept of Raven".


"The Concept of Raven studio exploration has evolved over the past several years. It has involved much research and several rounds of divergence and convergence in its development.
Personal practice has the potential to provide insight into generative and creative process and inevitably educational practice. The Concept of Raven series has occurred concurrently with other major studio explorations and continues today.

The instigating moment for this exploration was a conversation with a colleague who lived on Baffin Island. She shared a story about how Inuit and non-Inuit perceptions of the raven were so different. Having grown up in the north country where ravens were always present, this story resonated with images of my childhood. The anecdote of my colleague seemed to strike some kind of emotional chord. My recollection of the raven was one of a disheveled scavenger. Ruffled feathers around the neck and bold personality were not the most endearing characteristics. The raven was remembered mostly in a winter context, usually by itself, in the birch forest. This mischievous bird was a symbol in many ways of our collective perception of inferiority fuelled by our isolation and perpetually losing hockey teams. We seemed to inadvertently assume its irreverence as well.

This instigating moment is an example of mining a strong childhood perception. As art educators it is important to note that each student has a history as important as our own. These histories are important resources for the mining of ideas and themes.

The Dialogue of Idea Generation
This exploration was started with no fixed goal in sight. The early stages of this work were almost entirely exploratory and generative. A variety of scientific, religious and miscellaneous sources were collected and read. Continual exploring and gathering of source material occurred knowing that these thoughts would eventually find form. Statements of interest and intrigue about the raven were recorded in a sketchbook. As the list of statements grew, they seemed to take on a life and energy of their own. Each statement alluded to the human quality of this creature, a bird documented to be highly intelligent. The most intriguing statements were the ones that were ambiguous in nature and in some ways comedic. “Sometimes raven fly about and do stunts in the air as if enjoying themselves” is one of the first statements that was recorded. Some of the others that followed included “ ravens grow largely silent at the onset of breeding season” and “ravens have been known to steal fish from otters.” One of the main advantages of generating many ideas and giving them form is that a creative dialogue ensues between the artist and his or her unfolding thoughts. The artist gives thought form. The form informs the artist and a creative dynamic is set in motion. Art educators become part of this dialogue with their students. Students engaged in this dynamic dialogue alongside teachers who are also engaged in their own creative dialogue can make for a charged environment that enables idea generation.

"The artist gives thought form, the form informs the artist and creative dynamic is set in motion."
Robert Kelly

And more from Robert Kelly on creativity in education;

"Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives. Improvisation, invention and innovation reveal much about us that is both interesting and very human. Engaging in acts of creativity enables us to engage our life world more fully. The excitement of generating ideas, experimenting, and becoming vulnerable makes for a passionate world that runs across disciplines and all walks of life.
Our predominant learning culture of measurement and standardization is contrasted against a learning culture of creativity. How can these cultures co-exist? What enables individual creativity? What enables creativity within educational systems? What holds us back? "

The Concept of Raven uses the raven as icon to mirror the human condition. The series is not just a simple study of ravens. It is a diverse exploration of land, spirit and culture using raven as a vehicle. The raven serves as an icon for all three of these strands making it a convenient concept with which to explore ourselves.

Born in the shield country of northern Ontario, Kelly has an extensive background in the archaeology and ethnography of Canada’s indigenous peoples.

For more information contact Robert Kelly at rkelly@ucalgary.ca

Science, Art, and Humanities to Connect at Florida State University Film and Lit Conference

This just in from Florida State University,

Cyborg Science and Virtual Materialities in Literature and Film

January 31 - February 3, 2008


Florida State University Film and Literature Conference

"C.P. Snow, in 1959, wrote The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution, which discussed the increasing gulf between the sciences and the humanities. In 1971, he added a revision, to include a "third culture": technology. Long ago as it seems, Snow set up the parameters for contemporary ways of imagining the differences between a "science" and an "art," and the "objective" versus "subjective" debates that are so prevalent of modernist and poststructuralist paradigms. The 2008 FSU Film and Literature Conference is an attempt to return the issues raised by Snow, and to attempt to explore ways of "translating" across the gulf of these cultures, and thus perhaps generating new, and more productive ways of dealing with the issue of what is "objective" versus what is "subjective." There are actually more commonalities across the first two cultures that can be pointed out: scientists often talk about the "elegance" and simplicity of theories that "work;" and artists often talk of some source of "discipline" or rigor in some shape, whether that be called "form," or "line," for example. We would welcome any papers, discussion panels, perhaps even art installations or performance pieces that address these issues, of the translatability (or interconnections) between the sciences and the arts. "

This information from:
http://english3.fsu.edu/~kpicart/filmliteratureconf08/
Visit the website for more about this conference.

Medicine, Body, Technology, Installations May through June

This just in from Sandra Knol HCTP

Health Care Technology and Place

Whose Body is it, Anyway? (Curator Camille Turner)
Date: May 25 - June 16, 2007, Opening Saturday May 26, 8:00 pm
Location: InterAcess Electronic Media Arts Centre, 9 Ossington Avenue, Toronto

Installations:

Fatemaps: Would You Like To Know What Will Happen?
and Genital Embryogenesis, Jack Butler

Rough Cut, Monir Moniruzzaman

Whose Body is it Anyway? is an exhibition that explores the cultural impact of medicine on the body, in particular, the politics of power and issues of commodification and ownership of the body. It explores advancements in medical technology fueling a growing divide where fresh body parts can be purchased straight from the living bodies of the poor and bodies considered “deviant” can be surgically “corrected”. The exhibition contributes to emerging discourses within the growing field of new media art where culture intersects with science and medicine to challenge and critique the technological evolution of humanity.

This exhibition part of the Subtle Technologies Festival, University of Toronto
Exhibition Information: www.subtletechnologies.com/2007/?page_id=6

Art in this post from website Jack Butler Embryogenesis http://www.fatepaps.ca

More on Artist Jack Butler:

Jack Butler's art practice links visual art and medical science. He exhibits installations, video projections and computer animations internationally. His work is in public and private collections including the National Gallery of Canada. He is a founding member of Sanavik Inuit Cooperative, Baker Lake Nunavut. Butler has thirty years experience as a medical model builder and

published researcher in human development. He taught at Carnegie Mellon University at the Banff Centre and in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario.

Medicine, Art and Education/ Narrative Medicine, Poetry in Medical Education Offers a Place for Expression and Healing

Photo C. McLean

Narrative in Education and Practice at McGill Medical School

Maureen Rappaport MD FCCFP is a family doctor who splits her time between working in a busy community practice in Montreal, Quebec and teaching family medicine residents and medical students. She is also a writer of short stories and poetry mainly about caring for older persons and dying patients.

She believes in a balanced medical education that offers a place for the development of the mind as well as the nurturing of soul. "...We (our medical schools) have been criticized for a failure of heart, for lacking in the art of practice. Reading and writing short stories and poetry in a supportive group setting is one way for some students to discover what is in their hearts and to remember why they went into medicine."


Maureen Rappaport offers a creative writing course as an elective to fourth year medical
students at McGill University called "The Poetry of Practice." Students meet for two and a half hours twice a week for four weeks to read, write and discuss medical literature radically different from what is found in medical textbooks, clinical case notes and scientific journals.

She reports, "One cannot watch death and suffering and not be touched, but these feelings are hard to express, hard to articulate and many times impossible to acknowledge as students
run around the hospital not quite sure of what they're supposed to do as student doctors. For those who can access it poetry offers a language to express the inexpressible. ...For those who wrote, shared and listened in this context ..moments of bearing witness became medical acts. "
"The students in the two years I've held this course told me verbally and in written evaluations they found the course healing, a stress relieving activity, meaningful and a way to maintain
a sense of humanity, a way to resolve conflict and disturbing feelings and a wonderful way to bond with classmates and feel less alone about common experiences."

Homelessness, Social Action, Photovoice, Appeal for Cameras and Donations

Urgent! Participate, Act, Get Involved
Help Homeless Persons Voice Their Stories
Support Research Project with
Cameras and Donations


We blogged a story on May 8, 2007 from Toronto,
Ontario, "Researcher Raises
Awareness About Homelessness through
Photodocumentary, Photovoice, Story and Narrative
Methods (refer to post in sidebar) about researcher
and artist Nancy Viva Davis Halifax Ph.D. and her photovoice
project working with homeless persons on the streets
of Toronto with the Street Health Community Nursing
Foundation. Read more
at http://anagraphia.blogspot.com/index.html

This empowering arts informed project helps
homeless and underhoused persons photograph, record and
document true stories about the realities of living
and surviving in downtown Toronto.

"armed with a shoestring budget and cameras that
eventually had to be held together by elastic bands
a group of homeless men and women set out to
document their first hand experiences in Toronto...
Each of the photographs shows a place in a way that
disrupts the central concept of its daily use. "

"These forgotten people, how can we forget

people who are in plain sight? How are we

able to construct an account of life that leaves

them out of any rights
based society where justice matters? How can
we work against the collapse of hope?"
Nancy Viva Davis Halifax, Ph.D. Researcher, Artist

How can you help?

1. Put the cameras in the hands of the people

who can tell the stories. If you have a used camera,

or a new one, wrap it up
and send it today to:

Street Health,
338 Dundas Street East
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 2Al

Attention: Erika Khandor

2. If you are able, send a donation to Street Health,

visit website at www.streethealth.ca and click on "donations"
page for full instructions.

All cheques should be made out to Street Health

and should include
"PHOTOVOICE" in the memo line.

We hope you might consider participating in a very worthwhile

arts informed research project for hope and change.

"If I have my story I'm alive. If I share my voice with others I'm a human being."

CM

Social Work Research and Arts, New Initiative University of Toronto

Movement in Arts Research in Canada Gains Momentum
Visionary Initiative Underway in Arts
and Social Work Research
University of Toronto

CCAHTE Journal , (Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education ), Advisory Board has among its members leaders across disciplines in research, arts, health, training and education. We will be introducing our board members over the coming weeks offering some insight into their projects, research and ongoing work at the intersections of the arts, humanities and sciences.

The following article introduces the work of CCAHTE Advisory Board member Professor Adrienne Chambon.


Professor Adrienne Chambon, Faculty of Social Work,
University of Toronto, has particular interests in institutional
arrangements and subjectivities, critical theory and
developing social science knowledge through the arts.
In a recent article on "Social Work and the Arts" she spoke
about the new initiative at The University
of Toronto, "The Arts and Social Work Research Initiative"
and progressive new advances in arts research in Social Work and
the health sciences.

"More and more our faculty and students have been
making use of the arts in their projects...and we
wanted to build on the momentum and create a
catalyst for this kind of activity. Dr. Chambon
founded the Arts and Social Work Research Initiative
along with Professors Ernie Lightman and Izumi Sakamoto.
"This is the first time a school of Social Work has formalized
the trend to incorporate an arts-based approach
in research. It's a trend not only in
Social Work but also in the health sciences...
we're establishing the faculty as a leader in
this emerging area."

Already three faculty members have received funding
for major arts based research projects and important
new collaborations are underway.

Read more at http://www.socialwork.utoronto.ca/docs/File/Reach_Spring_07.pdf


And today FYI....more Open Access News:
Read "Why Open Medicine?"by James Maskalyk MD,
Faculty of Medicine,
University of Toronto http://www.openmedicine.ca/article/view/74/3
"Open Medicine" Editorial Vol 1, No. l (2007)


OA related QUOTES OF NOTE:

CIHR, Canadian Institutes of Health Research"The mandate of CIHR, as stated in the CIHR Act is: to excel in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened Canadian health care system.""....CIHR has a fundamental interest in ensuring that research outputs are available to the widest possible audience.CIHR's policy promoting access to research outputs rests on the foundation of the CIHR Act and reflects the core values articulated in CIHR's Blueprint for Health Research and Innovation, the organization's strategic plan, which states that:"the primary purpose of all research in the public domain is the creation of new knowledge in an environment that embodies the principles of freedom of inquiry and unrestricted dissemination of research results."

And from SSHRC, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada;"Today new information and communication technologies are beginning to change the way research results are published and disseminated. Open access journals published online made available to the reader without charge are allowing for increased and more broad based and efficient access to scholarly literature, and ultimately, knowledge."

Medicine and Arts, The Teachings of Opera in Health and Education

"If we accept the premise that medical practice occurs within a larger cultural context, then it is a short step to the realization that the larger cultural context is going to inform and influence the understanding of disease and those
who suffer from it-inside and outside medical circles-"

About "Medicine in/as Culture:
The Teachings of Opera"
by Michael Hutcheon MD ,
Linda Hutcheon, Ph.D.

Dr. Michael Hutcheon, Professor of Medicine and Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Education at the University Health Network and Linda Hutcheon Ph.D., Professor of English and Comparative Literature, work collaboratively across disciplines at the intersections of medicine and culture ..theirs is truly a marriage of medicine and the arts. In a recent article in CCAHTE Journal Michael and Linda Hutcheon wrote about opera and its potential applications in medical education.


"...opera offers medical insights not only through its revealing cultural representations. The actual experience of watching and listening to opera with its determined combination of verbal narrative, powerful music and dramatic performance is an intense one. Opera directly and movingly deals with themes ranging from the terror of death...to the longing for death (in Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde)..."

"..in educational terms studying this high impact kind of story in a medical setting not only teaches empathy and sympathy with the dying and the bereaved but is also helping those in the healing arts to come to terms with their own inevitable end."
"..our modern narratives of science and technology can only
go so far in teaching us about the death we must all finally face."

Quotes from the article Medicine in/as Culture,
The Teachings of Opera by Michael Hutcheon, MD and
Linda Hutcheon, Ph.D. , in CCAHTE Journal, March 07
Access complete March edition of CCAHTE
The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal at
http://www.cmclean.com




Michael and Linda Hutcheon have published a
number of articles and three books, Opera: Desire, Disease, Death,
Bodily Charm: Living Opera, and Opera: The Art of Dying
see website http://individual.utoronto.ca/hutcheons/books.html


Access the full article and complete CCAHTE Journal March 07 issue free at http://www.cmclean.com subscribe to CCAHTE journal free with an email ccahte@cmclean.com "please subscribe"

I thought you might appreciate watching and listening to this youtube video
Robert Alagna and Leontina Vaduva (La Boheme)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNSyvPN7EPQ

Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolade (final scene, orchestra) with Leonard Bernstein conducting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XlmJtnzwkY



"Few art forms are as thoroughly dependent as is tragic opera upon desire, suffering and death as narrative and emotional staples. The body..the live singing body...on stage gives voice to the drama of the suffering person."
Michael Hutcheon M.D. and Linda Hutcheon Ph.D.

Nutritional Science, Dietitians, Educators Venture Across Borders

Raising Awareness About Nutrition and

Health Issues Through Story and the Arts

Food for Thought

Jacqui Gingras was trained in a positivist tradition

but found her dietitian's training did not prepare

her for comments like,

"I hate my body! I won't eat that. It has too much fat.

I'm overwhelmed. I don't want to be here. I want to die."

Jacqui Gingris Ph.D., RD is an Assistant Professor at Ryerson

University's School of Nutrition and her research engages

autoethnographic, phenomenological and arts informed methods

as helpful approaches in understanding dietetic theory,

education and practice. The winner of the Ted Aoki Prize

for Outstanding Dissertation in Curriculum Studies

courageously ventured across traditional borders to

offer a progressive course for students at Ryerson called

"The Art of Storytelling Advances in Nutrition

Counselling Practice."

"The main text (story) used in this course

is an autoethnographic fiction written by

the instructor about dietetic students/practitioners,

education, and practice called, "Longing for Recognition."

This story will ideally provoke critical thinking about

food and nutrition practice and position storytelling

as a powerful medium to understand others with

whom the student will engage during her/his own

nutrition counselling practice. "2.

1. Quote from Gingras, Jacqueline R. Unkept Promises, Secrets

and Perils Within Dietetic Education and Practice, thesis Feb. 06

Visit www.ryerson.ca/~jgingras

2. From http://www.ryerson.ca/~jgingras/teaching.htm

And in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at The

University of Toronto a new pilot arts module was

introduced to graduate students in order to help explore

the arts as a means of raising awareness about food

and community health issues.

Ann Fox Ph.D., MHSc, RD developed the arts module

which was incorporated into the existing nutrition

program to determine how the arts could be used

in nutrition education.

Many arts based approached were used

such as using photo essays to explore urban

landscape related to physical activity, collage,

painting and poetry approaches..

Ann Fox reports, "for both the students and for me

the engagement of dimensions that often

remain untapped in conventional science-based

health studies contributed significantly to our

shared sense of discovery...Student feedback,

as well as my own reflection throughout, indicated

that the module was successful, not just in terms of

meeting the intended objectives, but also in

inspiring students to think and learn in different

ways."

For article "Giving Voice to My Own Astonishment"
by Jacqui Gingras, PhD. RD.
(New Paradigms in Nutritional Sciences)
see CCAHTE Journal, March 07,
http://www.cmclean.com, pg. 12

For the full article "Implementing a Pilot

Arts Module in Graduate Community Nutrition

Training" by Ann Fox see CCAHTE Journal, March 07

issue http://www.cmclean.com, pg. 13.

Health Professionals, Academics, Researchers, Educators Across Borders Visit "Crossing Borders" Blog

Global Interest in Intersections of Arts and Sciences

It has only been a few short weeks since we started
our CCAHTE Journal blog "Crossing Borders" and already
we have welcomed hundreds of international visitors and
free subscribers world wide as well as cross disciplinary
professionals across Canada and the U.S. Welcome all!
Here are just a few of the countries that have recently
been represented over the last
few days;

Denmark, Brazil, United Kingdom, Abu Dhabi,
Spain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Malta,
Kenya, Australia, France, Malasia

We also continue to welcome hundreds of visitors
across all regions of the U.S. as well as blog visitors
from Canada coast-to-coast.

Universities, hospitals, medical schools, research centres,
social service organizations the world over are actively
involved in arts related projects connected to research or
work in health, training, education and social change and many
are keenly interested in information about new work at the
intersections of the arts, humanities and sciences. It is inspiring
and encouraging for me to have an opportunity to
connect with this international community of progressive
and creative visitors, across borders.


Here are just a few of the comments we've recently received;

"I found out about the blog last weekend during a session at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. The blog and journal look fabulous and I'm so glad there are venues of these types for people doing such interesting work. I'll be sure to spread the word about the blog and journal to friends and colleagues. Thanks again. - Evan

"thanks for supporting the cause", Johnny Saldana

"this is very interesting. Would be fantastic
if we could have a mailing
list discussion group."
Rakesh Biswas, M.D.

"thanks so much..your work is so important
and well received."
Nancy Viva Davis Halifax

"thanks so much for the encouraging words
and publishing our launch on
your blog." Anita Palepu, M.D. "Open Medicine"

"I am undertaking my PhD at Melbourne University
in the dilemmas around working with multiple voices
amongst new and emerging culturally diverse communities,
with a focus on community arts projects. I am still
in the process of developing the methodology
and I came across your journal and it looks like
there could be some very interesting resources
that i could draw upon!
Sara Kirsner, University of Melbourne

thanks to you all and please tell your friends
and colleagues about us..
say hello in a post, tell us about your work,
thanks for visiting "Crossing Borders"
and come back soon!

Cheryl McLean, Publisher, Editor
CCAHTE Journal and "Crossing Borders" blog

Subscribe free to CCAHTE Journal and Crossing Borders Blog

with an email to ccahte@cmclean.com "please subscribe"

visit CCAHTE Journal website at http://www.cmclean.com

to review our recent March 07 issue "Medicine, Arts and Education"

Researcher Raises Awareness About Cancer and Homelessness Through Photodocumentary, Photovoice, Story and Narrative Methods

Urgent! From the Day in the Life Photography and Story Collective

Nancy Viva Davis Halifax is an interdisciplinary researcher, scholar and artist. Her work is located at the intersection of the arts (broadly conceived), the body, healthcare, and the ordinary places of daily living in the context of urban communities.
She completed her Post-doctoral Fellowship Innovations in Cancer Education, Using Drama, Storytelling and the Arts for Information Dissemination on the Internet working with people with colon cancer using documentary methods in the development of textual and photographic expressions related to the cultures of disability and illness challenging both medical and popular representations of the stigmatized body. This work shares a place of being and body not in accord with dominant medical, social and cultural discourses.

Nancy Viva Davis Halifax held conversations with
people living with colorectal cancer, interviewing them and asking them to represent their experiences through journal writing and photography. What they revealed is represented on

the website "Things That Matter" http://www.storiesthatmatter.com/ This web site is in the form of creative non-fiction and photographs. The stories are built on the experiences, photographs and language of the participants.

Nancy Viva Davis Halifax was also Principal Investigator on the Wellesley Central Urban Health Enabling Grant A day in the life: Photovoice and the social determinants of health, partnering with Street Health Community Nursing Foundation. Together they engaged in a community based research inquiry supporting a research agenda identified by a community of underhoused and homeless individuals. Through their inquiry they documented three social determinants of health: poverty, social exclusion and the lack of secure housing. This research resonated with her Post-doctoral work as she continued with her determined grace to work with vulnerable communities, translating knowledge using photodocumentary and narrative methods.

Source: Centre for Global EHealth Innovation

http://www.ehealthinnovation.org/user/165

Visit website "Stories That Matter"

http://www.storiesthatmatter.com/

Visit blog site by Nancy Davis Halifax, Anagraphia/Photography and Story
http://anagraphia.blogspot.com/index.html

What dreams appear here?
"I took down Urgent on Friday night. Wrapped it up. Literally. Looked over the comments and began to think about how we provide space for stories that are "out of place" in the larger social and cultural memories of a citizenry. Each of the photographs shows place in a way that disrupts central concepts of its daily use.These forgotten people - but how can we forget people who are in plain sight? How are we able to construct an account of life that leaves them out of any rights-based sociey where social justice matters? How have we forgotten their belonging? Their place?In this photograph a person re-creates their nightly ritual of going to sleep with a blanket, by taking off their shoes and carefully placing them by their side for the night. This space feels too open for my personal safety, yet it was chosen deliberately because it is safe. And I wonder what dreams appear here?"
Nancy Viva Davis Halifax, read more at blog http://anagraphia.blogspot.com/index.html



Read about Urgent! and see photos from The Day in the Life Photography and
Story Collective, from Reconstruction Studies in Contemporary Culture Realistic Possibilities of Passing Interest, Nancy Viva Davis Halifax, Fred Yurichuk http://reconstruction.eserver.org/071/halifaxyurichuk.shtml

Read Report "Failing the Homeless Barriers
in the Ontario Disability Support Program
for Homeless People With Disabilities"
http://www.streethealth.ca/Downloads/FailSum.pdf

Info. about Photovoice http://www.photovoice.com/

We featured a story about Nancy
in our June 06 issue of the CCAHTE Journal
"Honouring the Creative Arts in Life and in Practice"
access full June issue as well as recent and archived
issues free by subscribing with an
email "please subscribe" to ccahte@cmclean.com







And this news just in from Rebecca Fortin by way of Sandra Knol HCTP, University of Toronto

Students Use Photography and Blogging to
Raise Awareness about Young Parents/homelessness

"With my summer placement at Toronto Public Health, I am working on a
project called: I WAS HERE. This project puts digital cameras and
online blogging into the hands of young parents, who are experiencing
homelessness. I have just met all of the artists on Friday and they
are some of the strongest, most beautiful, and talented women you
could ever meet. This project has also produced a "declaration of
needs" and has received overwhelming attention from the City of Toronto.
There is an opening reception for the I WAS HERE exhibit at the
National Film Board this Thurs. at 6:00 pm (150 John Street). I will
be there, and I would love for you all to hear about the project first
hand. If you cant make it the photos will be exhibited for the entire
month of May as part of the Contact Festival."

Rebecca Fortin

See video Filmmaker in Residence NFB

http://www.nfb.ca/filmmakerinresidence

http://www.nfb.ca/filmmakerinresidence/blog/?page_id=9

See info about "I Was Here"

Disability Culture, Art, Activism Featured in Shamelessly Successful Film by Bonnie Sherr Klein

"Art, activism and disability are the starting point for what unfolds as a funny and intimate portrait of five surprising individuals. Director Bonnie Sherr Klein (Not a Love Story, and Speaking Our Peace) has been a pioneer of women's cinema and an inspiration to a generation of filmmakers around the world. SHAMELESS: The ART of Disability marks Klein's return to a career interrupted by a catastrophic stroke in 1987. Always the activist, she now turns the lens on the world of disability culture, and ultimately, the transformative power of art.

Joining Klein are a group of artists with diverse (dis)abilities.Humourist David Roche is taking his one man show off-Broadway, The Church of 80% Sincerity, in New York. Poet and scholar Catherine Frazeeis navigating a jam-packed schedule of teaching and speaking engagements. Dancer, choreographer and impresario Geoff McMurchy is producing KickstART!, an international festival of disability art. Sculptor and writer Persimmon Blackbridge is creating mixed mediaportraits from "meaningful junk".

"What the critics are saying about SHAMELESS:

"What emerges in SHAMELESS is an intimate look at five artists, all dealing with attitudes towards disability, all finding their way through a culture that views them with revulsion or even suggests they would be better off dead. Klein manages to pull it off, amazingly, without a hint of sentimentality."Matthew Hays, The Globe and Mail

"Other films of this genre are hopelessly influenced by the"us-and-them" approach. Bonnie has done a tremendous job of allowing the viewer in without putting the subjects in a circuscage."Lisa Bendall, Former Editor of Abilities Magazine, and Author. "

See a brief Youtube Video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQlYt_eVmdM

More information about SHAMELESS:

www.nfb.ca/shameless

Bonnie Sherr Klein's SHAMELESS: The ART of Disability

See it Sunday, May 13 at 5PM PT and 8PM ET on BRAVO (Canada only)

Northampton Conference Arts and Health, Drama in Research and Performance Highlighted

We heard today from Dr. Ross Prior about an
Arts and Health Conference in Northampton.
We are pleased to blog post this news for The University of Northampton,
CM.


Inspiring Transformations: The Arts and Health
Conference University of Northampton UK

An international conference hosted in collaboration with the Schools of The Arts and Health in September will focus on the interactive relationships of The Arts, Health and Sciences. The UK event will bring together professionals across disciplines to share research and experiences, explore the potential of partnerships, and establish ongoing collaborations.

Date: September 3-6, 2007
Location: The University of Northampton, UK (Avenue Campus)

Abstract deadline: June 1, 2007

This conference will especially be of interest to:
Applied theatre practitioners/researchers
Health professionals
Social scientists
Arts/theatre practitioners
Biomedical scientists
Arts/drama therapists
Neuroscientists
Psychologists
Theatre companies


Keynote speakers:

Gavin Clayton, director, MK, Arts for Health
Dr. Gaynor Sadio, Occupational Therapist, University of Brighton
Professor Bill Ribbans, Ph.D. Honorary Orthopaedic Surgeon to the English National Ballet
Professor Robert J. Landy, Ph.D. Drama Therapist, New York University

Website: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/artsandhealth/

For general inquiries please contact: Karen Haines,
telephone: +44 (0) 1604 892373, email: karen.haines@northampton.ac.uk

Remember Me for Birds And True Stories About Aging and Autonomy

I would like to inform our blog visitors that we recently downloaded excerpts from the research based performance, "Remember Me for Birds" about aging and mental health at Youtube.
The original M.A. performance took place for clinicians, geriatricians and social workers at The Rene Cassin Institute of Social Gerontology of Quebec in April 2003.

The research based performance advanced through several evolutions as it became a full one hour ethnodrama which toured for professional audiences, universities and medical schools between 03-05.

See a video clip from the performance about aging and mental health here.

See more performances and visit the blog about the book "Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice" here

Women, Breast Cancer, Dragon Boat Racing and Stories of Courage

"No, you say, dragons are but myths
in legends of knights and maidens.
Dragons don't exist.
But, I say, let me tell you of this dragon.
As surely as it walked this earth
it entered my life by stealth.
It threatened my life and health...forever."

Carolyn Parks Prologue
"The Eye of the Dragon"

Cancer has a face and a story in

"The Eye of the Dragon"

I attended a women's conference outside London, Ontario
today and had an opportunity to hear author, speaker and cancer survivor, Carolyn Parks speak about her book, "The Eye of the Dragon" and her experiences as a member of Calgary's first dragon boat racing team. The team, aptly named,"Sistership" was made up of women living with breast cancer. During six years of hard work and commitment, Sistership enjoyed success within the community as well as in many competitions.
In 2001 the team succeeded once again with
"The Beauty of Life Calendar"...a message of hope and enlightenment for those coping with the disease as patients or caregivers. But this was no ordinary calendar. The courageous team members of Sistership tastefully reveal both body and spirit in moving photographs by Alexis Wandler
"the camera's lens captured the spirit and beauty of the
women of Sistership...their resilience and strength while living with cancer."

Carolyn Park's book The Eye of the Dragon tells the true stories of
the women featured in the Beauty of Life Calendar. A selection of Wandler's photos are also featured. "To read this book is to learn that women are more than
their breasts, that women in midlife are sensuous and lush
creatures and that cancer has a face and a story."

Jan Koopmans, MSW, RSW, Adjunct Assistant Professor,
University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine, writes,
"I have recommended The Eye of the Dragon" to women
newly diagnosed with breast cancer, as well as long term survivors
and their families.
They tell me they feel encouraged and strengthened by the stories. A diagnosis of breast cancer is not necessary to appreciate this book. We can all be inspired by Carolyn and her "calendar girl" support team."

More about The Eye of the Dragon by Carolyn Parks

http://www.sandhillbooks.com/cgi-bin/sandhillbooks/00009.html

More about photographer Alexis Wandler

http://www.thruawomanseyes.com/html/fineart.htm

Report on Mental Health and the Arts Proposes Key Recommendations

This report summarizes the discussions at The National Art Centre Roundtable on mental health and the arts that took place September 27, 2006.

Read more and see roundtable recommendations:
http://www.nac-cna.ca/en/allaboutthenac/publications/corporate/roundtable_2006_e.pdf

Scars as Art Tell True Stories of Change and Transformation

Artist Ted Meyer's "Scar Art" Shared on Website

There's a story behind every scar

and Ted Meyer has transformed

his own scars and the scars of

others into compelling works of art.

The 35 mono-prints, taken directly

from the skin of his models, are

portraits of the "scar stories"that have

changed people's lives.

Los Angeles based artist Ted Meyer’s

work is also a reflection of his own

experiences as a surgical patient.

He has generously shared

his work in his accessible catalogue available for viewing

at his website. Check it out. I thought you might be interested in a virtual tour.

Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine Program University of Alberta Balances Scientific Knowledge and Compassionate Care

More Program News...Humanities and Medicine

The Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine

Program at the University of Alberta is directed

to engendering a balance of scientific knowledge and

compassionate care among students, residents and faculty.

It is aimed at fostering the development of well-rounded,

health professionals who are skilled, reflexive and caring

practitioners. It is also aimed at extending and enriching

learning opportunities for students and faculty

across the university, as well as those in the Edmonton

community regarding intersections between the arts,

humanities, health and medicine. These have included

such initiatives as the Art in Medicine Club, History

of Medicine Club, International Health and History

of Medicine student groups, Music Makes Good

Medicine, “Hear’s to Your Health” Concert

Series and the Syncope Jazz Band, among others.

The Art in Medicine Club was initiated at

the University of Alberta in order to complement

the trend toward patient-centered care.

By fusing medicine with artistic expression,

the project provides medical students with the

opportunity to step away from the clinical aspects

of disease, and to focus on its human facets. The

program has resulted in works of art, which

have been created with the intention of conveying

a greater understanding and empathy for individuals

living with schizophrenia.

Find out more about The Arts and Humanities in

Health and Medicine Program University of Alberta at

http://www.med.ualberta.ca/education/ahhm.cfm

Visit gallery:

http://www.msa.ualberta.ca/med2006/aim/

Subscribe free to the CCAHTE Journal at ccahte@cmclean.com

and access more information about this program in our September 06

CCAHTE Journal issue "The Poetry of Practice" Pg. 6 - 7.

http://www.cmclean.com.

Interdisciplinary Workshop Links Humanities, Arts and Science, Discussing Trends in Transdisciplinary Scholarship

HCTP Gathers Scientists, Humanists, Artists for Interdisciplinary Workshop


As we speak, Social and Physicial scientists, Educators,
Humanists and Artists are gathering today and tomorrow
in Toronto, Ontario, to discuss the relevance of the
Humanities and the Arts to work in Health Care,
Technology and Place (HCTP) the Strategic Research and Training
Program at The University of Toronto.

Attendees will be reflecting on how humanistic thinking could
influence scientific practices. For example, participants will
hear what artists have to say to a philosopher and a
human tissue engineer, what an expert in Geomatics
has to say to an opera singer, and what a disabled performance
artist/theorist conveys to a sociologist. Many other important
opportunities for the cross-fertilization of ideas models
and methods will be explored.

This intersection of ideas and dialogue between
professionals in the arts and sciences is yet another
important indication of the growing trend toward
cross disciplinary approaches in the arts, health, training
and education....
It should be a rich and productive two days of
discussion I'm sure.

Featured Video Music, Medicine and Art

I thought I would share with you this
youtube video on Music, Medicine and Art
featuring the Longwood Symphony Orchestra

"not only are they fine musicians they are
prominent members of the medical
community as well"
Jonathan McPhee
Music Director
Longwood Symphony Orchestra
Brookline, Massachusetts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMoyt35_wkk