Transformative Studies

Transformative leaders are people who create a transformative learning environment and act as catalyst to engaged with transitions and change management. We all have an opportunity to play a role in Social Transformation – personal change and social change goes together. The article is an introduction to the what, the who, the where and the how of the paradigm and its application.

This primer serves as an introduction to the work of Longpath Labs, a futures think tank and innovations lab that seeks to leverage the transformative opportunities of the Intertidal—the complex adaptive space between paradigms—to help cultivate long-term ways of thinking, behaving, and being. With an aim toward collective flourishing and a concern for both immediate and far futures, Longpath asserts that a shift in mindset is essential. A Longpath Mindset is initiated by mindful self-awareness and three core practices: futures thinking, transgenerational empathy, and telos-alignment.

In May of 2006, needs analysis at ACS, a constructivist clinic classroom in Orlando, Florida, demonstrated that students enrolled in a constructivist learning community needed comprehensive instruction in self-management. ACS offers instruction in 39 other topic areas. The problem was to provide meaningful, structured, and thorough instruction that correlated with required classroom learning.  In 2007, sample TSM modules were tested with classroom learners to determine effectiveness and relevance to the learning needs of a population of college students and skilled professionals.  An online learning product, Transformative Self Management (TSM), was designed, based on two years of intensive collaborative community inquiry, critique and dialogue. Extensive formative evaluation and surveying of students continued through May of 2008 when the learning product went online. A management and innovation project, described in this paper, details the implementation and evaluation of this online product, which will take place from August to December of 2008.

There are many, both within the discipline and without, who would argue that an ethnographic field study in linguistic anthropology dedicated to the study of Sindarin, or "High Elvish," a dialectic constructed by legendary fantasy writer and Philologist, J.R.R. Tolkien, most noted for his historical contributions to literature such as The Hobit, Lord of the Rings, and other landmark achievements such as his early work, the Silmarillium, where the languages of Tolkien's "imaginarium: began to development into extremely advanced constructed languages, commonly known today as "conlangs." It is my firm position as a scholar, but also as an interdisciplinary scientist, that constructed  languages on the order of Tolkien's races of "Middle-Earth" do indeed qualify as legitimate languages in the study of linguistics as well as anthropology.  With a fierce desire to approach my first active linguistic ethnographic study, from an angle that I could truly make my own, I was hit with the notion of learning the beautiful and complex language of Tolkien's most advanced and refined race of Elves. Before beginning this five-week-long intensive study, but it quickly became somewhat of a personal cause I have come to support quite passionately. I would have loved to spend five months or even five years on it once I got started.  I have provided the highly condensed results of hat field study, as submitted for my final project thesis.  I would like to personally thank Professor Jason Fancher for supporting the idea from the very start, facilitating the entire process which, by necessity called for broadening a very specific set of requirement guidelines relating to the study, and honoring my hard work with an "A" grade.  From the start, there was a fair amount of controversy among my peers and others in the academic community, but once the research  praising the dedication and started to pile up, and I had the chance to demonstrate how far-reaching the field extended, it became obvious to most who read it, that conlangs have been a popular field of study among linguists for generations; both Elves and Men alike!
I hope you enjoy the read, which is only a fraction of the research compiled but I was already more than 4 or 5 times the assigned page limit.
Mae Govannen! (well met!)
John T. Metts
Psychology/Anthropology Depts.
Ashford University San Diego, CA
High Mage and Peredhil Scribe of Rivendell

Since the 1960’s, Vajrayāna has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity, both in Western and modern Asian countries. This closely parallels the logarithmic growth in holistic, alternative and bioenergy medicine in the West during this same period. These two approaches to human betterment, healing and transformation share many areas of mutual concern. Yet in spite of many Vajrayāna rituals focusing on health, vitality and longevity, there has been surprisingly little dialogue with alternative medicine. There is much to be gained by looking at their common ground, particularly how the extensive research into bioenergetic healing modalities impacts our understanding of Vajrayāna. Two core components of Vajrayāna as he basis of a meaningful exchange: creative visualization vs. generative stage (bskyed rim) and sound therapy in relation to mantra recitation (sngags). For each we discuss their differing goals, methodology and the accumulation of scientific evidence and clinical experience from a Western perspective. We can then draw conclusions about what they can learn from each other, theoretically and practically. Through such mutual interchange, Vajrayāna may become much more understandable and accessible for millions worldwide.

Em Silva e Souza (2018, p. 147), práticas pedagógicas transformadoras são definidas como ações educativas “fundamentadas
numa educação intencionalmente crítica, que ao fomentar uma postura questionadora e articulada de criar sentido do mundo promove oportunidades de aprendizagem para além da língua em si”. A partir disso, apresento algumas de minhas experiências docentes e vivências
como coordenadora de curso, e também pesquisas que tenho desenvolvido. Advogo ser imprescindível levar em conta a não
neutralidade das práticas pedagógicas implementadas nos contextos educacionais, ressaltando que a escola é um lugar ideal para o desenvolvimento da conscientização e senso de responsabilização – o que é essencial para se viver com esperança.

Jazz is integrally tied to race, with African Americans central in its origin and creation. Over the years jazz has become associated with Buddhism, as evidenced in the lives of renowned living artists such as Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, and legendary others like John Coltrane. This article aims to contribute to an ongoing dialogue about what jazz and Buddhism as models for transformative social creativity and social engagement can offer a world of increasingly complex crises exacerbated by racism, ethnic, sex and religious exclusionism, and isolationist, anti–immigrant ultra-nationalism. Drawing on transformative processes derived from a pastiche of Buddhist jazz artist narratives, the written works of SGI Buddhist leader and peacebuilder Daisaku Ikeda, and various renowned jazz artists, critics and scholars, and against a backdrop of unpredictability, an imagined Buddhist jazz ethos emerges as a tool for navigating between the old and new, traditional and uncertain, familiar and untrodden offering hope for a more peaceful and harmonious coexistence.

Urban transformation research forms an emergent interdisciplinary field with open boundaries that combines complex system studies and urban studies. It explores patterns and dynamics of change linking cities and diverse socio-technical systems and social-ecological systems across levels and scales, and develops new forms of intervention to foster their sustainability. This paper identifies and maps out the current status in this field and derives strategic recommendations for future research. It delineates a spectrum of recurrent epistemologies concerned with either system change, urban change or urban/system interactions, linked to an emphasis on urban metabolism, resilient communities and ecosystems, grassroots innovations or urban innovation systems. Moreover, seven key factors co-shaping urban transformations are recognized (agency, politics, capacity, policy, experiments, foresight and geography). To better exploit potential synergies between existing strands and address gaps in the light of imminent urban sustainability challenges, future urban transformation research should 1) Share a relational perspective that connects the above epistemologies; 2) Identify and engage with the spatial-institutional challenges of urban transformations; 3) Move towards multi-system approaches linking various sectors and domains; and 4) Focus on transformative capacity and its agency components as an empowering lever and guide for systemic urban change.

As never before, nearly every aspect of our lives in modern Western society is influenced by a web of institutions. Whether driving to work, making a deposit at the bank, or shopping for groceries, our lives are inextricably linked to the institutional construct known as a corporation. Society has become fiercely aware of and opinionated about the deeds and values of corporate entities (The Harris Poll, 2016). Though it may seem so, corporations are not faceless establishments, but are made up of human persons guided by boards of directors whose leadership in the boardroom becomes an expression of a corporation interacting with this living planet.

Governance systems, defined as the process by which corporations are made responsive to the rights and wishes of stakeholders are at a critical juncture (Lorsch, 2012b). Corporate governance has been cited by many as fundamentally flawed (Turnbull, 2010), entrenched in old patterns of thinking (Scharmer & Kaufer, 2013), and in need of new insights (Sonnenfeld, 2002). This theoretical study establishes the need for a paradigmatic shift in corporate governance—one that might embolden corporations to live into their fullest potential of shaping a regenerative society, one in which life creates conditions for life, one that serves the well-being of the whole (Senge, Smith, Kruschwitz, Laur & Schley, 2008).

I imagine corporate governance realized through a participatory paradigm. I offer specific characteristics of this mindset: reflexive knowing, generative engagement, creative enactment, and mutual regard that, when practiced in the boardroom, are likely to foster needed new insights capable of reframing and repurposing the work of governing. A new model for corporate governance is not offered; rather, I suggest boardroom practices grounded in relationship and powered by integral knowing, which will benefit governance, no matter the model. What if corporations, guided by governing boards exercising a participatory perspective, used their significant influence toward shaping a society that fosters human flourishing?

This article examines the liberatory aspects of Womanism and Black Feminism in the work of artist Carrie Mae Weems. Weems, artist and anthropologist, creates artwork that highlights the issues of oppression and giving voice to worldwide issues. Under the theoretical lens of Womanism, the article utilizes Arts-Based-Educational Research (ABER), a non-traditional methodology, which aligns with Womanism to provide insight into past and present issues of liberation and equity. Womanism, Black women's feminism, and ABER have the potential to bring issues of equity and social justice out of the academies and into the everyday world for those most in need of liberation.

In this proceedings paper, self-study research methodology is applied toward an understanding of social presence as transformative learning in my educative practice online with graduate adult education students. The paper offers a brief account of social presence and transformative learning theories in response to research questions about adult educator roles in support of transformative learning through social presence, and the educator's transformative process with attention to an integrative, or holistic, approach to transformative learning, inclusive of its extrarational and spiritual realms.

Today, Philippine society is confronted by different types of social problems that require solidarity with the poor, marginalized groups, and nature. In this regard, what can Filipino theologians do to address these
challenges? Carlito “Karl” Gaspar, in thinking theologically, proposes to rediscover the precolonial Filipino spirituality to address the social issues. For Gaspar, precolonial Filipino spirituality is a transformativeoriented
spirituality and inherently Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan (For God, People, Nature).
Gaspar argues that reclaiming the roots of our connection with precolonial spirituality could lead us towards
developing solidarity with the poor, with marginalized groups, and with nature. Analyzing Gaspar’s
The Masses Are Messiah: Contemplating the Filipino Soul (2010) as resource dissipation, this paper is an
invitation to explore precolonial Filipino spirituality as a source to transform power structures. The paper is
divided into five parts: First, the paper gives a brief introduction to the life and work of Karl Gaspar. Second,
the paper offers an overview of Gaspar’s book, The Masses Are Messiah. Third, the paper discusses Gaspar’s
transformative spirituality. Lastly, the paper advances the precolonial Filipino spirituality as a potential
source for a holistic model of Filipino spirituality, especially for Filipino Pentecostal spirituality. Therefore,
Filipino Pentecostal spirituality becomes meaningful, useful, and relevant in the Philippine context.

Among the four epistemological origins of John's christological tensions (the evangelist as a dialectical thinker, John's Mosaic-Agency schema, John's dialectical situation, the rhetorical design of John's narrative), its cognitive origins are among the most significant in accounting for John's distinctive presentation of Jesus as the Christ. First published in Horizons in Biblical Theology; An International Dialogue 17 (1995): 1-24, this essay was also published in Psychology and the Bible; A New Way to Read the Scriptures, edited by J. Harold Ellens (4 Volumes, Westport/London: Praeger Publishers, 2004), Vol. 3, pp. 127-49.

What motivates individuals to take part in anarchistic movements and spaces?  For those who do, what occurs during engagement in anarchy?  By collecting the oral histories of anarchistic activists, this study indicates how crisis, personal and collective, is a not only a motivating factor for why individuals join and engage in anarchistic movements and spaces, but how crises are, in turn, radically transformed through engagement in anarchical practice.  To understand this process, this study explores crisis through the development of an eco-anarchistic dialectical framework—negate-subvert-create—to indicate how the crises of capital are embodied, consciously negated, subverted politically, and ultimately transformed through engagement in anarchy.  Anarchy is accordingly conceptualized as a liminal spatio-temporality that allows individuals to reconnect their selves to their potentials to become something beyond the ecological destructive and dominant social world.  These newfound potentials are realized through the embodiment of communitas, or collective liminality—a natural communality that individuals reconnect to engaging in anarchy.  I end with an exploration of the possible outcomes and potential futures of anarchy by situating the current political, economic, social and ecological crises occurring around the globe within the eco-anarchistic framework developed in this study.  Here, I indicate the importance of engaging in care practices and creating care-networks as a necessary outcome and future political practice for anarchistic movements as a way to mitigate and ultimately transform the crises of capital.

Historically and philosophically, 'progress' captures the idea of continuous improvement in a population's standard of living or something else of value. Although 'progress' is in good currency in our culture—indeed, the myth of progress drives our culture—the plight of (much of) humanity, ecological forebodings, and postmodern sensibilities all suggest the notion of progress is a nonsense or a con. Materialist science, and the ideology of economic growth as panacea, underpin the prevailing myth of progress, which does not serve us well.  This essay suggests that the myth can be renewed if it embraces ways of knowing and being that are holistic and integral, rooted in the convergence of complexity theory and quantum science with wisdom traditions, such as Taoism.  Only then can our collective actions be genuinely transformational—that is, make a difference that makes a difference.

A practical contemplation on medialized walks as a storytelling affecting physical appearances, inspired by the experience of a digitally transmitted walk on Sunday, may 24 2020 at 10 am BST and 9 pm MHT. A gathering of about 40 participants sharing online the experience of following Prof. Meitaka Kendall-Lekkas, as activist and chairman of business department from the College of Marshall Island, Viviana and Mark Uriona, as participatory film maker from Brandenburg/Germany and Prof.Hannes Brunner, as artist from the Weißensee Academy of Art in Berlin, contemplating the living situation in Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands and its geological base affected by the climate crisis. I Plato's places for a dialogue-the sacred grove to promenade II An exchange of fluidity-Kant's Categories on the curb side III An insurance policy for digital thinking IV Technology is Nature

Traumatic experiences are not unique to war veterans, survivors of genocide, the wrongfully convicted, or those with visible disabilities. A better understanding of their experiences in overcoming these adversities – and growing from them – can help us all to create space for transformation in our lives, and the lives of others. The way we communicate, or talk about life experiences (including traumatic events), has a significant impact on the way they are experienced and responded to. This includes making meaning of traumatic events in the context of other life experiences, reconstructing/co-constructing a new worldview that takes into account permanent changes or expanded consciousness, and incorporating somatic or embodied experience in the transformation process. This paper will address the factors that may make positive change after adversity possible, and discuss some of the ways that supportive space, complex communication, and somatic awareness can help to make this happen on a broader scale.

The COVID pandemic has radically transformed campus life. This paper addresses  questions about the role student affairs should play in transformative learning and comprehensive advising, building on our roots in counseling college students. What does "campus life" mean when so few are on campus and most campuses are in cyberspace?

The influx of returning veterans in higher education that began in 2009 (with the inception of the post-9/11 GI Bill) has unleashed potentially reflexive transformative forces in the worlds of higher education, employment, and among veterans and their organizations and programs. Early findings of research into the social impact of returning veterans point towards an underlying phenomenon of personal development and growth as an alternative to cultural perceptions of widespread mental health issues among veterans, and the essential role of multiple mentors in facilitating this growth. Coming to a better understanding how these social and communication dynamics are playing out with this cohort in education and employment contexts -and outside of formal organizational structures -is essential to improving the processes by which veterans are positively supported in transition from military service to becoming productive and integrated members and future leaders in American society. This...

"Deep" metaphors can be seen to underlie "surface" reality. By becoming conscious of these, we are in a better position to see what possible futures they point to. We are also able to choose alternative metaphors that align more readily with our preferred futures. "Human as machine" and "human as ape" are metaphors that can be seen to uphold the dominant Western worldview. It is proposed here that through embracing a different metaphor – "human as dolphin" – a culturally transformative process would be facilitated.

Abstract:  The influx of returning veterans in higher education that began in 2009 (with the inception of the post-9/11 GI Bill) has unleashed potentially reflexive transformative forces in the worlds of higher education, employment, and among veterans and their organizations and programs. Early findings of research into the social impact of returning veterans point towards an underlying phenomenon of personal development and growth as an alternative to cultural perceptions of widespread mental health issues among veterans, and the essential role of multiple mentors in facilitating this growth. Coming to a better understanding how these social and communication dynamics are playing out with this cohort in education and employment contexts - and outside of formal organizational structures - is essential to improving the processes by which veterans are positively supported in transition from military service to becoming productive and integrated members and future leaders in American society. This paper examines this phenomenon as an outcome of coordinated processes of communication, and application of theories of transformative learning.