Hongyu Wang is Professor in Curriculum Studies at Oklahoma State University. She recently organized nonviolence education conference "A Call of Our Time: Awakenings to Nonviolence in Curriculum and Education" held at OSU-Tulsa March 8-10, 2024. Her most recent book is Awakenings to the Calling of Nonviolence in Curriculum Studies (2024). The book launch YouTube video link is: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoBqmHByuqoek9d4OF8VacA
See book launch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRW3BwKwvc0. In curriculum studies, we pay... more See book launch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRW3BwKwvc0. In curriculum studies, we pay critical attention to violence in various forms; why not to nonviolence? This original and inspirational book foregrounds nonviolence as a positive force in education through multidimensional, complex, and interdisciplinary lenses. Starlight for shifting relational dynamics in a time of darkness and crises to co-create mutual-flourishing pathways, nonviolence not only has an inherent capacity to treat the roots of violence but is also built on a deeply rooted sense of interconnectedness that fosters individual and communal integration. “Nonviolence or nonexistence” is an urgent call.
This book (with writings that span a decade) conceptualizes nonviolence education through multilayered, evolving, and cross-disciplinary perspectives, centering on nonviolent relationality that engages with differences within the self and with the other (including the non-human other) to bridge inner work and outer work, transcend dualism and divisions, and transform pedagogy and curriculum dynamics. Drawing upon international and indigenous wisdom, Gandhi-King philosophies of nonviolent social change, theories of the human psyche and currere, post-structural theories, and feminism, this book explicates nonviolence as curriculum and educational renewal in an ongoing process, infused by attuned, improvised, creative, and integrative energy that holds tensions, cultivates compassion, and inspires awakenings.
Contemporary Daoism, Organic Relationality, and Curriculum of Integrative Creativity, 2021
Youtube book launch can be found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oel3t6Id07Q. Creativity in the ... more Youtube book launch can be found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oel3t6Id07Q. Creativity in the West is often perceived as "cutting edge" and "ground-breaking" in a singular act of giving birth to the new. However, to what degree has this model of breaking away from others and the world contributed to the current crisis in education, society, and ecology even before the tragic COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it? How can our reimagining of creativity contribute to the mutual flourishing of humanity and of relations between humans and the planet? Daoist creativity, based upon relationality and interdependence, has much to offer to today's curriculum as a complicated conversation to sustain life and renew the world. Integrative, emergent, embodied, co-creative, and ecological, Daoist creativity has a built-in opening to difference through the organic relationality of Yin/Yang dynamics.
Using a life history approach, this book discusses four university professors' (two Chinese, two ... more Using a life history approach, this book discusses four university professors' (two Chinese, two Americans) cross-cultural engagement in life and education. Nonviolence emerges as a central thread of curriculum vision from this study.
Negotiating a cross-cultural and gendered dialogue between and among Foucault, Confucius, and Kri... more Negotiating a cross-cultural and gendered dialogue between and among Foucault, Confucius, and Kristeva, this book explore the issue of subjectivity and education.
Abstract The feminist motif “thinking back through our mothers” calls us to claim the mother’s he... more Abstract The feminist motif “thinking back through our mothers” calls us to claim the mother’s heritage, not to identify with her, not to repudiate her, but to become ourselves in a middle ground. In this article, the thread of thinking back through our mothers for a curriculum of organic relationality crosses different times and places and includes different racial, sexual, class, linguistic, and national contexts. I weave this thread thematically along three major lines. First, I explore the role of interconnectedness and relational dynamics as central to such a curriculum. Second, I discuss creative tensionality between mothers and daughters as generative and having implications for reclaiming the classroom in a space of simultaneous un/attachment, un/burdening, and non/belonging. Third, I argue that nonviolent relations across differences is the site for building a curriculum community that welcomes the alterity of the other and grows compassionate relationships. While drawing upon diverse women writers and feminist curriculum scholars, I also weave in autobiographical stories about my mother, who is a retired teacher educator in China. While this ongoing weaving does not lead to one singular blended product, gratitude despite difficulty emerges as one path to claim the maternal legacy.
Abstract This article juxtaposes the notion of wuwei in Daoism and philosophical principles of se... more Abstract This article juxtaposes the notion of wuwei in Daoism and philosophical principles of self-organization in systems theory to re-imagine classroom dynamics in which pedagogical relationships, students’ interactions with texts, and peer interplay come together to enable an open system of education, learning, and growth. Wuwei is a way of governing and leadership, while self-organization is the emergence of new structures at the global level as a result of local interactions. The combination of top-down and bottom-up processes contributes to create a dynamic classroom. The contemporary Neo-Daoists’ concerns with creating conditions for wuwei to happen can be addressed by principles of self-organization, while wuwei provides a philosophical underpinning that is informative to systems theories. This article first introduces the Daoist notion of wuwei, then articulate important principles of self-organization theory, and further juxtapose the two in both resonance and dissonance in four aspects: the role of change, the role of diversity, the role of the individual person, and the role of the teacher’s wuwei leadership in the self-organizing classroom. In the last section, the article discusses how to shift classroom dynamics toward emergent, relational, and creative pathways, including creating conditions for self-organization and wuwei to happen in the classroom.
This paper provides a cross-cultural reading of two contemporary philosophers'—Feng Youlan (1... more This paper provides a cross-cultural reading of two contemporary philosophers'—Feng Youlan (1895-1990) and Alan Watts's (1915-1973)—life and thought to inform today's cross-cultural and intercultural education. This paper discusses Feng and Watts's openings to another culture and their contributions to integrating Eastern and Western thought, and in particular focuses on their intellectual transitional periods when the connections and the tension between life and thought were highlighted. This life history analysis initiates an East/West dialogue at the level of educational thought through an experiential approach.
Drawing upon the Jungian theory of the transcendent function and the yin-yang dynamics in Daoism,... more Drawing upon the Jungian theory of the transcendent function and the yin-yang dynamics in Daoism, this paper explores cross-cultural philosophical foundations for engaging psychic and inner transformation and their implications for vitalizing the inner landscape of education. There are inherent connections as well as differences between these two theories: First, the fundamental principle of integrating opposites is central to both, although Jungian theory probes deeper into the psychic life to heal fragmentation while Daoism’s non-dual personhood has a stronger sense of interconnectedness. Second, both engage in social critique and self-critique, but there is a certain difference between lifting repression in Jungian transcendence and emptying out suppression in Daoism. Third, the two intersect at going beyond the confinement of the intellect to include embodied, aesthetic, and meditative activities for integration. The final section of the paper focuses on re-imagining the inner l...
See book launch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRW3BwKwvc0. In curriculum studies, we pay... more See book launch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRW3BwKwvc0. In curriculum studies, we pay critical attention to violence in various forms; why not to nonviolence? This original and inspirational book foregrounds nonviolence as a positive force in education through multidimensional, complex, and interdisciplinary lenses. Starlight for shifting relational dynamics in a time of darkness and crises to co-create mutual-flourishing pathways, nonviolence not only has an inherent capacity to treat the roots of violence but is also built on a deeply rooted sense of interconnectedness that fosters individual and communal integration. “Nonviolence or nonexistence” is an urgent call.
This book (with writings that span a decade) conceptualizes nonviolence education through multilayered, evolving, and cross-disciplinary perspectives, centering on nonviolent relationality that engages with differences within the self and with the other (including the non-human other) to bridge inner work and outer work, transcend dualism and divisions, and transform pedagogy and curriculum dynamics. Drawing upon international and indigenous wisdom, Gandhi-King philosophies of nonviolent social change, theories of the human psyche and currere, post-structural theories, and feminism, this book explicates nonviolence as curriculum and educational renewal in an ongoing process, infused by attuned, improvised, creative, and integrative energy that holds tensions, cultivates compassion, and inspires awakenings.
Contemporary Daoism, Organic Relationality, and Curriculum of Integrative Creativity, 2021
Youtube book launch can be found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oel3t6Id07Q. Creativity in the ... more Youtube book launch can be found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oel3t6Id07Q. Creativity in the West is often perceived as "cutting edge" and "ground-breaking" in a singular act of giving birth to the new. However, to what degree has this model of breaking away from others and the world contributed to the current crisis in education, society, and ecology even before the tragic COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it? How can our reimagining of creativity contribute to the mutual flourishing of humanity and of relations between humans and the planet? Daoist creativity, based upon relationality and interdependence, has much to offer to today's curriculum as a complicated conversation to sustain life and renew the world. Integrative, emergent, embodied, co-creative, and ecological, Daoist creativity has a built-in opening to difference through the organic relationality of Yin/Yang dynamics.
Using a life history approach, this book discusses four university professors' (two Chinese, two ... more Using a life history approach, this book discusses four university professors' (two Chinese, two Americans) cross-cultural engagement in life and education. Nonviolence emerges as a central thread of curriculum vision from this study.
Negotiating a cross-cultural and gendered dialogue between and among Foucault, Confucius, and Kri... more Negotiating a cross-cultural and gendered dialogue between and among Foucault, Confucius, and Kristeva, this book explore the issue of subjectivity and education.
Abstract The feminist motif “thinking back through our mothers” calls us to claim the mother’s he... more Abstract The feminist motif “thinking back through our mothers” calls us to claim the mother’s heritage, not to identify with her, not to repudiate her, but to become ourselves in a middle ground. In this article, the thread of thinking back through our mothers for a curriculum of organic relationality crosses different times and places and includes different racial, sexual, class, linguistic, and national contexts. I weave this thread thematically along three major lines. First, I explore the role of interconnectedness and relational dynamics as central to such a curriculum. Second, I discuss creative tensionality between mothers and daughters as generative and having implications for reclaiming the classroom in a space of simultaneous un/attachment, un/burdening, and non/belonging. Third, I argue that nonviolent relations across differences is the site for building a curriculum community that welcomes the alterity of the other and grows compassionate relationships. While drawing upon diverse women writers and feminist curriculum scholars, I also weave in autobiographical stories about my mother, who is a retired teacher educator in China. While this ongoing weaving does not lead to one singular blended product, gratitude despite difficulty emerges as one path to claim the maternal legacy.
Abstract This article juxtaposes the notion of wuwei in Daoism and philosophical principles of se... more Abstract This article juxtaposes the notion of wuwei in Daoism and philosophical principles of self-organization in systems theory to re-imagine classroom dynamics in which pedagogical relationships, students’ interactions with texts, and peer interplay come together to enable an open system of education, learning, and growth. Wuwei is a way of governing and leadership, while self-organization is the emergence of new structures at the global level as a result of local interactions. The combination of top-down and bottom-up processes contributes to create a dynamic classroom. The contemporary Neo-Daoists’ concerns with creating conditions for wuwei to happen can be addressed by principles of self-organization, while wuwei provides a philosophical underpinning that is informative to systems theories. This article first introduces the Daoist notion of wuwei, then articulate important principles of self-organization theory, and further juxtapose the two in both resonance and dissonance in four aspects: the role of change, the role of diversity, the role of the individual person, and the role of the teacher’s wuwei leadership in the self-organizing classroom. In the last section, the article discusses how to shift classroom dynamics toward emergent, relational, and creative pathways, including creating conditions for self-organization and wuwei to happen in the classroom.
This paper provides a cross-cultural reading of two contemporary philosophers'—Feng Youlan (1... more This paper provides a cross-cultural reading of two contemporary philosophers'—Feng Youlan (1895-1990) and Alan Watts's (1915-1973)—life and thought to inform today's cross-cultural and intercultural education. This paper discusses Feng and Watts's openings to another culture and their contributions to integrating Eastern and Western thought, and in particular focuses on their intellectual transitional periods when the connections and the tension between life and thought were highlighted. This life history analysis initiates an East/West dialogue at the level of educational thought through an experiential approach.
Drawing upon the Jungian theory of the transcendent function and the yin-yang dynamics in Daoism,... more Drawing upon the Jungian theory of the transcendent function and the yin-yang dynamics in Daoism, this paper explores cross-cultural philosophical foundations for engaging psychic and inner transformation and their implications for vitalizing the inner landscape of education. There are inherent connections as well as differences between these two theories: First, the fundamental principle of integrating opposites is central to both, although Jungian theory probes deeper into the psychic life to heal fragmentation while Daoism’s non-dual personhood has a stronger sense of interconnectedness. Second, both engage in social critique and self-critique, but there is a certain difference between lifting repression in Jungian transcendence and emptying out suppression in Daoism. Third, the two intersect at going beyond the confinement of the intellect to include embodied, aesthetic, and meditative activities for integration. The final section of the paper focuses on re-imagining the inner l...
Contents: D. Jardine, Foreword: "The Sickness of the West". Preface: Openings Into a Cu... more Contents: D. Jardine, Foreword: "The Sickness of the West". Preface: Openings Into a Curriculum of the Way. D.G. Smith, "...the Farthest West Is But the Farthest East": The Long Way of Oriental / Occidental Engagement. H. Bai, A. Cohen, Breathing Qi (Ch'i), Following Tao: Transforming This Violence-Ridden World. C. Eppert, Fear, (Educational) Fictions of Character, & Buddhist Insights for an Arts-Based Witnessing Curriculum. R. Hattam, Socially-Engaged Buddhism as a Provocation for Critical Pedagogy in "Unsettling Times". j. jagodzinski, The Gaze of the Teacher: Eye-to-Eye With Lacan, Derrida and the Zen of Dogen and Nishitani. T. Kaneda, Shanti, Peacefulness of Mind. X. Li, My Lived Stories of Poetic Thinking and Taoist Knowing. P.M. Hendry, Engendering Wisdom: Listening to Kuan Yin and Julian of Norwich. Y. Nakagawa, Eastern Wisdom and Holistic Education: Multidimensional Reality and the Way of Awareness. J. Piirto, Krishnamurti and Me: Meditations on His Philosophy of Curriculum and on India. K. Roy, Radical Times: Perspectives on the Qualitative Character of Duration. D. Vokey, Hearing, Contemplating, Meditating: In Search of the Transformative Integration of Heart and Mind. H. Wang, The Strength of the Feminine, the Lyrics of the Chinese Woman's Self and the Power of Education. H. Zhang, Toward a Confucian Vision of Curriculum. M.A. Doll, Afterword: Teaching Along the Way.
This paper uses a qualitative analysis of participants' currere writings and interview t... more This paper uses a qualitative analysis of participants' currere writings and interview transcripts to conceptualize the educational meaning of time. Its focus is to understand how the temporality of currere works for the transformative change of students in teacher education and its implications for teacher education. Themes include the role of memory about childhood and school experiences, working through difficult emotions for vision, different patterns of temporality for change, international and multicultural dimensions, and the aporia of the present to make currere an ongoing process. Furthermore, the conceptual frame of external time, internal time and pedagogical time, and their interplay emerges from data analysis and calls for teacher educators' attention to the fundamental role of temporality in transformative education.
This paper explores the challenges and possibilities of teaching nonviolence in teacher education... more This paper explores the challenges and possibilities of teaching nonviolence in teacher education. Using qualitative teacher research, this paper discusses teacher education students' responses to the notion of nonviolence and how to create beneficial pedagogical conditions for students to learn nonviolence and its meanings for education. The data were collected from three graduate classes that, to different degrees, addressed the role of nonviolence in education. Three shifts in students' understanding of nonviolence as a result of their learning are identified: the shift from a narrow to a broad understanding, the shift from a passive view to a proactive view, and the shift from looking outside to looking inside and engaging in emotional work. The pedagogical conditions that facilitated these shifts are also discussed, including strategies for engaging students' inner work, creating experiential relationships with the other, and transforming classroom relational dynamics. This study also suggests the need not to approach violence and nonviolence as binary but to approach nonviolence as a daily practice to continuously unlearn violence and promote nonviolent relationships. Implications of this study for teacher education are discussed last.
This article juxtaposes the notion of wuwei in Daoism and philosophical principles of self-organi... more This article juxtaposes the notion of wuwei in Daoism and philosophical principles of self-organization in systems theory to re-imagine classroom dynamics in which pedagogical relationships, students’ interactions with texts, and peer interplay come together to enable an open system of education, learning, and growth. Wuwei is a way of governing and leadership, while self-organization is the emergence of new structures at the global level as a result of local interactions. The combination of topdown and bottom-up processes contributes to create a dynamic classroom. The contemporary Neo-Daoists’ concerns with creating conditions for wuwei to happen can be addressed by principles of self-organization, while wuwei provides a philosophical underpinning that is informative to systems theories. This article first introduces the Daoist notion of wuwei, then articulate important principles of self-organization theory, and further juxtapose the two in both resonance and dissonance in four aspects: the role of change, the role of diversity, the role of the individual person, and the role of the teacher’s wuwei leadership in the selforganizing classroom. In the last section, the article discusses how to shift classroom dynamics toward emergent, relational, and creative pathways, including creating conditions for self-organization and wuwei to happen in the classroom.
This paper draws upon both Carl Jung's theory of the psyche and nonviolence philosophy to reexami... more This paper draws upon both Carl Jung's theory of the psyche and nonviolence philosophy to reexamine curriculum dynamics in the context of teacher education. An integra-tive psychic life is enabled by the transcendent function of assimilating the unconscious to expand the horizon of consciousness while the integrative power of nonviolence heals the wounds of violence and promotes compassionate relationships. These theories follow different directions-the primary focus of Jung's theory is the individual person and that of nonviolence theory is humane relationality-but their underlying philosophical principles also intersect in ways that have important implications for today's education. This paper focuses on three major intersections: the thread of interconnectedness is the undercurrent of an integrative psychic life and the underlying foundation for nonviolent relations; the shadow awareness within the individual psyche creates a social space for compassionate relationships with others; and complementary modes of psychic and nonviolent integration provide multiple pathways for teacher educators' pedagogy and students' self-education. After elaborating on these intersecting aspects and their curriculum implications, the final section discusses curriculum dynamics for subjective and social transformation through analysing the interactive relationships between and among teacher educators, students, texts, and contexts. Keywords Jungian theory · Nonviolence philosophy · Curriculum dynamics · Teacher education · International wisdom traditions This paper draws upon both Carl Jung's theory of the psyche and nonviolence philosophy to reexamine curriculum dynamics in the context of teacher education. The Jungian theory is about individualized pathways of integrating the conscious and the unconscious, while nonviolence theory is about integrating the body and the mind within the self and developing compassionate relationships with others. For the past decade I have elaborated the meanings of nonviolence philosophy for curriculum studies in various contexts, and intentionally chosen the word 'nonviolence' over 'non-violence' to emphasize its positive
Nonviolence Education Conference Call for Proposal, 2024
How do we in the field of education respond to today's social, cultural, international, and envir... more How do we in the field of education respond to today's social, cultural, international, and environmental crises, with mass shootings, war, racism, gendered violence, censorship, polarization, and climate disasters relentlessly challenging us in this "post"-pandemic era? Nonviolence has become a call in our time to address the existential condition of humanity through the central thread of interconnectedness that dissolves violence and supports sustainable creativity. As nonviolence is under-theorized and seldom discussed in curriculum studies, this international conference intends to gather scholars, educators, students, community-based practitioners, artists, and peace activists from diverse backgrounds to elaborate what nonviolence means for transforming curriculum theorizing and everyday practices in education (K-20 education, community education, and self-education). All those who are interested in nonviolence, peace studies, and nonviolence education are invited to participate in the conference.
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Books by Hongyu Wang
This book (with writings that span a decade) conceptualizes nonviolence education through multilayered, evolving, and cross-disciplinary perspectives, centering on nonviolent relationality that engages with differences within the self and with the other (including the non-human other) to bridge inner work and outer work, transcend dualism and divisions, and transform pedagogy and curriculum dynamics. Drawing upon international and indigenous wisdom, Gandhi-King philosophies of nonviolent social change, theories of the human psyche and currere, post-structural theories, and feminism, this book explicates nonviolence as curriculum and educational renewal in an ongoing process, infused by attuned, improvised, creative, and integrative energy that holds tensions, cultivates compassion, and inspires awakenings.
Papers by Hongyu Wang
This book (with writings that span a decade) conceptualizes nonviolence education through multilayered, evolving, and cross-disciplinary perspectives, centering on nonviolent relationality that engages with differences within the self and with the other (including the non-human other) to bridge inner work and outer work, transcend dualism and divisions, and transform pedagogy and curriculum dynamics. Drawing upon international and indigenous wisdom, Gandhi-King philosophies of nonviolent social change, theories of the human psyche and currere, post-structural theories, and feminism, this book explicates nonviolence as curriculum and educational renewal in an ongoing process, infused by attuned, improvised, creative, and integrative energy that holds tensions, cultivates compassion, and inspires awakenings.