Wordle Makes New Creative Connections

To see our CCAHTE Wordle design click
the sidebar to your right under the heading " CCAHTE Wordle."

What a difference a wordle can make. Create some text, maybe a number of words that define a project you are currently working on, or try highlighting some words from a course, a lecture or a speech. Working on your research? Try some "independent brainstorming", list some questions, concepts or ideas. This cool text tool can act as an idea starter or a great launch point for new ideas. Try wordling...I think you'll like it.

From the Wordle website:

"Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends. "

Check out the Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education WORDLE:

A really creative tool. Thanks to Wordle at: http://wordle.net/.

OnTheRoadMedia Penetrating Journalism, Stunning Simplicity, Stories for Change

Photo from OnTheRoad Media site C. McLean

Yesterday I received an email from Laura Lo Forti requesting a subscription for The Canadian Creative Arts and Health Training and Education Journal. As I often do, I checked out the website information provided and found myself at the site of "OnTheRoadMedia" the multi media production and storytelling team founded by Lo Forti and photojournalist Justin Mott.

Laura Lo Forti is an Italian freelance journalism and multi media producer based in New York and is involved in several compelling digital storytelling projects designed to empower

disadvantaged communities. Justin Mott is a photojournalist who currently resides in Hanoi Vietnam. His personal assignments have been featured in "Time", "Newsweek" and "The New York Times". Also part of this progressive media team is Ehrin Macksey who helps handle multi media design for OnTheRoadMedia.

There are three powerful examples of projects available to view at the website;

"Third Generation Agent Orange", "4 Monks and a Baby", "Facing a Wall Nu's Story".

Breaking through the modern day "info overload" with raw and stunning simplicity, this talented team of young and progressive artist journalists have brought to light those stories that seldom have a voice. Moving black and white photography, superb sound production quality reflecting the sounds of the people places and environments, simple facts and statements in white print against a black backdrop drive the story powerfully forward....clean outstanding communicating, cuts to the heart of it. This work can be painful to witness but it is hopeful work. Digital storytelling at its best opening the road for social change. CM

Check out the website here:

See Justin Mott's photoblog .

Narrative and Story Featured in Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal

Photo by C. McLean "Reclamation"

Cheryl McLean

Dr. Rita Charon, Director of Narrative Medicine at Columbia University, an internist and literary theorist, writes; “I realized that the narrative skills I was learning in my English studies made me a better doctor. I could listen to what my patients tell me with a greater ability to follow the narrative thread of their story, to recognize the governing images and metaphors, to adopt the patients’ or family members point of view, to identify the sub-texts present in all stories…any doctor, any medical student can improve his or her capacity for empathy, reflection and professionalism through serious narrative methods of study in reading, writing, reflecting and bearing witness to one another’s ordeals.”

We published an article in the September 2006 issue of The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal "The Poetry of Practice" written by Maureen Rappaport MD FCCFP, McGill University, Montreal Quebec. She writes about the creative writing course she teaches as an elective to fourth year medical students. The group was created to help offer a safe place for students to express their feelings about their experiences with patients in the hospital. In the article Rappaport writes, "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. Poetry offers a language to express the inexpressible. For those who wrote, shared and listened in this context, these moments of bearing witness became medical acts."

In the book “Grief and the Healing Arts” and the chapter, “To Know of Suffering and Teaching of Empathy” by Sandra Bertman and Melvin J. Krant, it is also suggested that creative literature such as fiction and poetry may help “promote a humanistic or empathetic grasp of the hurt and pain that often accompanies illness”.

Narrative and story can offer a place to communicate those difficult thoughts and feelings that may have few other channels for expression. This also holds true for the stories of the caregiver or patient advocate. In our September 07 issue of CCAHTE , we featured an article written by Jadranka Novosel (CCAHTE Publisher's Student Support Program Feature Story pg. 26 - 32).

Jadranka Novosel was 29 when her husband David, 33 years old, died of terminal cancer. She expresses her feelings in the article;

"My entire identity as "the wife of a terminal cancer patient" was gone. My other "selves" as student and employee I had let slip long before. I was an empty shell without the luxury of being dead."

Through this powerful narrative Jadranka Novosel chose to share her personal story with the world as an act of love, recounting her personal experience, as she had lived it, to help others.

She closes with the words,

"in the end, the joy, hope and exuberance I credited to my husband remains alive in me. That I choose to remain is my legacy and the greatest love story of all."

Hope lives through the power of story. Through our work with The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal there is perhaps no greater goal than to provide an opportunity for a worldwide community to join in the circle and bear witness to the universally human stories we publish, to offer these stories a place and to help in our way to make the inexpressible, expressible.

Full article is available to read at:

http://cmclean.com

September 06 CCAHTE issue

Subscribe free at ccahte@cmclean.com "please subscribe"

Humour in Healthcare

Much has been written about the values of humour for health and healing. It has been suggested that laughter can be a significant factor in the healing process and in pain control.

I recently received this note about Dr. Bernie Warren's upcoming event/workshops from Glenys McQueen Fuentes, Fine and Performing Arts at Brock. CM



Dear Cheryl,

First of all, as a subscriber (to CCAHTE Journal) I want to take the opportunity to send along many thanks for providing such a comprehensive and enlightening journal!! It is a needed and appreciated addition to both theory and practice!

Please find attached a poster (click poster for details) for an upcoming event that we are having at Brock University. As it says, on Friday, Sept. 12th, Dr. Bernie Warren, Director of the Drama in Education and Community Program at the University of Windsor, will give a lecture and extended talk-back on the history, theory and practice of Clown-Doctoring.

Bernie is also an expert in Eastern martial arts, and he will be giving two workshops in Qigong, a healing martial art form. One will be directed mainly at Dramatic Arts students from Brock, but the other, a sit-down stress-reliever, will be conducted for faculty, staff and students from across the university, as well as other interested participants.

More Info:

Glenys McQueen-Fuentes
Associate Professor
Department of Dramatic Arts
School of Fine and Performing Arts
Brock University
email: gfuentes@brocku.ca

Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE) New Book Review Policy

An open letter to authors, editors and publishers from Cheryl McLean, publisher ,The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE)


I am pleased at the number of requests we receive weekly at The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal (CCAHTE) from authors, editors and publishers requesting book reviews.

At CCAHTE we receive hundreds of requests for book reviews. As we are so frequently approached to review many excellent new books and texts related to the creative arts in health, training and education , and our limited schedules cannot accommodate all of the requests we receive, we have developed a new policy with regard to book reviews.


1. first step, you will be asked to read this post.

2. next, send us a synopsis about your book to ccahte@cmclean.com and link us to any news about it. A sample chapter would be ideal.

3. Based on the synopsis you could be asked to send your book directly to the CCAHTE Office.

A payment by certified cheque or money order of $100 to cover administrative costs should be sent with your package.

C. McLean, Publisher CCAHTE Journal
c/o 165 Huntington Cr.
Dorchester, Ontario
NOL lG3

Once we receive your book we will complete a formal book review. The review will be published in our upcoming CCAHTE, Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal issue in our book review section.

In addition, we will also arrange to publish a summary post about your book at the Arts and Health "Crossing Borders" BLOG at ccahtecrossingborders.blogspot.com. Our blog is accessed daily by international visitors specifically interested in our interdisciplinary field.

Why do we charge a fee for reviews? We are an open access journal available and accessible free worldwide and we do not charge for subscriber memberships or subscriptions. Services such as reviews help sustain our publishing operations.

Background for Editors and Publishers:

Established March 06, CCAHTE Journal is the Canadian based international and interdisciplinary open access, peer reviewed journal of the creative arts in health, training and education. Our ongoing mission is to disseminate quality information and research about the creative arts in action and practice in health, training and education. In addition to our qualified network of professional subscribers, CCAHTE, The Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal, is accessible worldwide and is listed with DOAJ , the internationally recognized directory of academic open access journals.

Our CCAHTE Journal Advisory Board is made up of leading scholars, educators, healthcare professionals and scientists as well as artist/researchers active in the arts, health, training and education.

Who accesses CCAHTE Journal?
Among our "by request" subscribers are physicians, psychiatrists, social scientists, researchers, academics, nurse educators, activists, dramatists, visual artists, music and dance therapists, professional musicians, teachers, adult educators, social workers, mental health professionals, counselors, chaplains, therapists, students as well as those involved in education, health policy and social change... our subscribers also represent universities, schools of education, colleges, leading medical schools, hospitals and health organizations in Canada the U.S. and internationally.
Thanks sincerely to all of you for your interest in CCAHTE Journal. It is very encouraging to know so many new books are being written about the creative arts in health, training and education. This I believe is another important indication demonstrating the worldwide interest in the work in action and practice.

Thanks all and hope you are enjoying these precious summer days in August,

Cheryl McLean, Publisher CCAHTE Journal

Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal

The Canadian based, international and interdisciplinary open access peer reviewed journal of the creative arts in health, training and education.

Creative Expression, Creative Education New Book Opens Way for Innovation and Change

Creative Expression, Creative Education: Creativity As A Primary Rationale For Education
Book by Robert Kelly and Carl Leggo opens the way for innovation, creativity and change in education

Robert Kelly, Fine Arts, University of Calgary , and a member of the CCAHTE Journal Advisory Board, will soon be releasing a new book with Carl Leggo, University of British Columbia, “Creative Expression,Creative Education,” which will feature contributions from close to 20 creative thinkers sharing their experiences and bearing witness to acts of creativity in practice.

The Creative Expression, Creative Education book project involves twenty well known creative producers from across Canada who bear witness to their ways of creating. These examples of contemporary creative expression come from a wide range of disciplines. Novelists, poets, playwrights, visual artists, composers, directors and choreographers combine to present their unique perspectives on creativity. This first hand research into creative practice provides a backdrop for a work that is a manifesto for creativity as a primary rationale for education.

The examples of contemporary creative practice are melded with creativity theory to establish a vocabulary and understanding for creative practice in an educational setting.

Robert Kelly is an artist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art at the University of Calgary. His research encompasses artistic process, creativity theory, design, and curriculum theory.

Carl Leggo ,a contributor to our September 07 issue of CCAHTE Journal, is a poet and Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on the experiences of educators, especially how to promote heartful and hopeful relationships in educational communities.

For info. about this book: Info: rkelly@ucalgary.ca


"Contemporary educational practice struggles to deal with the juggernaut of the hyper-consumption of information as disciplines become increasingly dense with content. What is the usefulness of accumulating masses of information without equipping learners with a disposition that enables the application of knowledge for the purposes of exploring and creating? Mass consumption is the main engine of the Information age, with fact as its currency. The Conceptual Age is driven by creativity, in which ideas are the primary currency. Idea generation and idea growth and development are the indispensable cores of creativity as ideas are shared and grown into new and wondrous forms."

Robert Kelly, Creative Expression, Creative Education

Beginning September 23rd on Tuesday evenings for 10 weeks - Creativity and Educational Practice, a 500-level credit course through the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary. Register now. info: rkelly@ucalgary.ca

visit Robert Kelly's website

Hospice of London Marathon Run September

HALF MARATHON RACE

September 20, 2008

In support of Hospice of London (Ontario)

Bayshore Home Health

Hospice Half Marathon 10K, 5K run and 2.5K hike for hospice

More info here: http://www.eventsonline.ca/events/hospice_london/

More news about Hopsice of London and the new "memory walkway".

Funded by the United Way of London and Middlesex, Hospice of London is a not for profit agency that provides comfort and caring support to meet the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual needs of people living with a life threatening illness and their families. Hospice also provides support for people who are recently bereaved. There is no fee for service.

New project underway....

MEMORY WALKWAY "A lasting legacy for a loved one..." Renovations are moving forward on the first Home for Hospice in the City of London. Located at 837 Talbot Street, this 2.2 acre, park-like setting is steeped in history dating back to 1836. One of the key aspects of this project will be the “Memory Walkway.” The walkway will be an integral part of this unique, inspiring landscape surrounding the therapeutic garden and providing a quiet place for families, clients and Londoners to enjoy.

More about this project here: http://www.hospiceoflondon.com/lovedones/walkway/

Elliot Eisner Award Recognizes Value of Research in Art Education

Call for Nominations!

The 2008 Elliot Eisner Doctoral Research Award in Art Education

The purpose of The Elliot Eisner Doctoral Research Award is to recognize the value of doctoral research to the profession of art education and its related disciplines, to advocate on behalf of such research, and to foster continued support of doctoral research in art education. Nominees for the award are limited to students who have completed and successfully defended doctoral dissertations in art education during the calendar year in which the award is advertised.

The award winner will be announced officially at the next National Art Education Association convention.

The nomination application must include all of the following:

• a letter from the mentor/advisor or committee member
• a nominee cover letter and a 1000 word dissertation abstract written by the nominee
• a digital copy of the dissertation

The mentor/advisor nomination letter should discuss the significance of the doctoral student’s research to the profession and field of art education, and include evidence that the dissertation has been completed and successfully defended.

The cover letter and a 1000 word abstract of the doctoral research, both written by the doctoral student, should accompany the letter of nomination. All nomination materials should be submitted as a PDF e-mail attachments to the Elliot Eisner Doctoral Research Award review committee on or before January 1, 2009. The Executive Board of Seminar for Research in ArtEducation will appoint the review committee. Nominations are due on or before January 1, 2009.

The award review committee will evaluate all complete applications received by the nomination deadline and will announce the name of the award recipient in February 2009. The award recipient will be recognized during the annual Seminar for Research in Art Education sponsored“Marilyn Zurmuehlen Working Papers” session at the 2009 National Art Education Association convention.

(This notice is a summary only. Please contact below for full details.)

Questions about the award and application process should be directed to:B. Stephen Carpenter, II, President,Seminar for Research in Art Education bscarpenter@tamu.edu

The Elliot Eisner Doctoral Research Award is co-sponsored by the Seminar for Research in Art Education andVisual Arts Research.

"It is to the artistic to which we must turn, not as a rejection of the scientific, but because with both we can achieve binocular vision. Looking through one eye never did provide much depth of field."

Elliot W. Eisner, 1981, Stanford University from "On the Difference Between Scientific and Artistic Approaches to Qualitative Research" (p. 9)