Infusing Critical Thinking in Religion and Realism

In the explosive interconnected communication global information age

Conference on Religion and Realism

Presented on November, 2014Dr. Frederick A. Ricci

Professor of Organizational Leadership

OUR FOCUS:

Importance of Infusing Critical Thinking into

• Religion

• Realism

And YOU: Professors, Practitioners, and Researchers in Religious Education

Critical Thinking

Google Results: About 8,470,000

results (0.35 seconds)

Ken Petreess, Harvard Professor,

wrote a paper on definitions of

critical thinking.

• CRITICAL THINKING: AN EXTENDED DEFINITION

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3673/is_200404/ai_n9345203

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from or generated by observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

• Someone with critical thinking skills is able to achieve the following :

understand the logical connections between ideas

identify, construct and evaluate arguments detect inconsistencies and common mistakes

in reasoning solve problems systematically identify the relevance and importance of

ideas reflect on the justification of one's own

beliefs and value

• http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/ct.php

Some Characteristics of Thinkers

• RERR:

• Reasoning in a logical manner

• Evaluating what is written or spoken

• Reflecting on individual thoughts and ideas

• Re-reasoning as questions are posed to clarify understanding.

Example of RERR:

Good Example: Marco Conti, The Life and Works of Potamius of Lisbon, (Instrumenta Patristica XXXII) (ISBN 2-503-50688-7) Brepols, Turnhout 1998.Reviewed in:Medieval Review (Review available on line)Revue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique 95.2 (2000) p.701-702Journal of Theological Studies 51 (Part One) New Series (2000) p. 336-338Euphrosyne 28 (2000)Classical Review 55 (2005), 161-163.

Critical Thinking and Religion

• Religious Life and Critical Thought: Do They Need Each Other?

• “To remain free of delusion, religious experience must incorporate critical thought as a cleansing tool, while critical thought needs religion to understand its higher usefulness.”

• Reinsmith suggests that there is a positive aspect of critical thinking within the religious area.

• Uses Buddhist mediation practice which he indicates that the areas of observation, mindfulness and health doubt can “foster authentic religious development in a sincere practioner:

• http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/BDLM/toModule.do?prefix=/search&page=/search_detail.jsp?seq=346166

• Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines• Volume 14, Issue 4, Summer 1995• William Reinsmith• Pages 66-73• DOI: 10.5840/inquiryctnews199514421• Religious Life and Critical Thought

Do They Need Each Other?

Academic Study of Religion to Critical Thinking Pedagogy and Literature

• Study Results:

• “Religion enriches critical thinking pedagogy with regard to problems associated with worldviews on reasoning. “

Good Example: Cleo Kearns: “…….theology is useful as well as necessary, and it is so because it is not only naturally at home with literature and religion but also challenges current discourses, stances and assumptions.

• “….good theology is not only critically sophisticated but historically non-reductive, existentially engaged, and often celebratory…”

Kearns, Cleo; Religion, Literature, and Theology: Potentials and Problems, Author(s): Source: Religion & Literature,Vol. 41, No. 2 (summer 2009), pp. 62-67

• https://www.academia.edu/5912957/Religion_Literature_and_Theology_Potentials_and_Problems

Academics and Critical Thinking Importance

“Just as education should be infused

with critical thinking, so too should

critical thinking be infused with the

philosophy of the academic study

of religion, and the fruits of its

inquiry. “

Ref: Reasoning and Religion: The Relevance of the

Academic Study of Religion to Critical Thinking Pedagogy

http://hdl.handle.net/10289/5325

Good Example; Active Academic Study

Davor Džalto is Associate Professor of Art History, Religious

Studies & Iconography at The American University of Rome, and

President of The Institute for the Study of Culture & Christianity.

The Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture (ISCC) examines the intersection of religion, and particularly the Christian faith, and its surrounding culture. Through annual conferences, lectures, and other events, ISCC strives to engage the academy and thinking people of faith in dialogue in all areas of cultural endeavor, including history, science, music, literature, religion, and the arts.

Religion and Internet

• Maurizio Ferraris “The Internet is an empire on which the sun never sets.” p. 120, New Realism Documentality and the Emergence of Normativity.

• As internet use rises, religious affiliations decline.

Religion Discussion sites:

• http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/04/09/is-the-internet-killing-religion/

• http://www.pewforum.org/2012/10/09/nones-on-the-rise/

• http://www.city-data.com/forum/atheism-agnosticism/2007558-why-religion-declining-worldwide-2.html

What is needed: More religious Web sites providing both information and an area where this information can be lived and communicated.• http://archiv.ub.uni-

heidelberg.de/volltextserver/5823/

Looking for New Religion?Atheism Growing?

• Is Atheism growing? NEW

• Atheism is commonly described just as an absence of religious beliefs.

Stephen LeDrew: “Atheists in fact hold a set of worldviews and beliefs of their own” Explores these worldviews, that may play the same role in the atheists’ lives, that religion traditionally plays in society.

• Types of Atheism? Read Stehpen LeDrew discusses new Atheism in his article: The Evolution of Atheism Scientific and Humanistic approaches.

• http://hhs.sagepub.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/content/25/3/70.full.pdf+html

Americans who do not identify with any religion …..growing at a rapid pace. 1/5 of the U.S. population under 30…religiously unaffiliated.

Internet and ReligionSimilar Conclusions: Allen Downey’s , a computer scientist at the Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts Concluded: Increase in Internet use in the last two decades has caused a significant drop in religious affiliation• .• Ref.

• ]http://www.technologyreview.com/view/526111/how-the-internet-is-taking-away-americas-religion/

• http://thefuturebuzz.com/2014/04/15/mit-shares-our-conclusion-about-religion-the-internet/#sthash.HNG7GB42.dpuf

the drop in religious upbringing,

the increase in college-level education and

the increase in internet use

• that together explain about 50 percent of the drop in religious affiliation

• http://www.technologyreview.com/view/526111/how-the-internet-is-taking-away-americas-religion/

• .

• Positive Aspect: Internet allows new information about people of other religious affiliations

The Globalization of ReligionNeed for Critical Thinking: New Thought on Religion

• All religions can reach beyond national borders, and allow new religious movements and development. Projected a more turbulent rate of change.

• “The point is that each religion contained elements of truth that needed to be appreciated and that formed the basis for a re-discovered universal brotherhood.” Vatican Files, 93. Who Are We to Judge? The Synod on the New Forms of the Family, October 31st, 2014

• http://vaticanfiles.org/2014/10/93-who-are-we-to-judge-the-synod-on-the-new-forms-of-the-family/

•

Information Age

• Many religious

organizations now utilize

so-called "new media"

multimedia information transmitted instantaneously, in multiple formats to multiple destinations.

Globalized Religion

Is a process of realignment which involves:

• First, it implies the inevitable transformation of individual religious organizations;

• Second, it can be expected that new characteristics will be produced in the contents of doctrines, rituals, and practices;

• Third, globalization will be accompanied by changes in the human beings supporting religions, particularly in their intellectual perspectives.”

• The Information Age and the Globalization of Religion, INOUE Nobutaka

http://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/global/06inoue2.htmll

Critical Thinking: Internet as a valid resource?

• Misinformation? Disinformation? Inaccurate Information?

• Interesting:• Results of Study: The major finding is that 37.1 per cent of the

students answered all questions from a web site containing inaccurate information and as many as 77 per cent of the students answered 6 questions or more (out of 10) from an inaccurate web site (Table 6).

• Adult students who are overly accepting of the Internet information and are therefore potential candidates in making critical ‘life’ decisions based upon untrustworthy, unreliable, non-sourced and non-objective material. If this finding is replicated, it points to a serious problem.

Educators need to remedy this problem

• Ref: Internet Education Journal vol 4, No. 1 2002, http:iej.cjb.net• http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/iej/articles/v4n1/paris/paper.pdf

Why Infuse Critical Thinking?

Develops an ability to consider evidence carefully.

Formulates a thinking process.

Prepares one to seek, question and embrace new discussions:

Clear Example:

• Louis Ruprecht in “In Back to the Past, “

• “A final question comes into focus now: Who is it that this howling conflict between Mark and John has not been noticed before? If the fingerprints have always been in the scriptural clay, then why haven’t we seen them before? The answer is……….”

• The Tragic Gospel: How John Corrupted the Heard of Christianity> https://thebibleisnotholy.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/this-tragic-gospel_how-john-corrupted-the-heart-of-christianity-2008.pdf

Why all Religious Educators Should Cultivate

Critical ThinkingPromote effective decision-making and encourages:

• engagement • integrity-ethics • empathy • responsibility.

• Appreciate the value of reflective judgment

• Understand the role of religious educators in helping students to develop thinking skills.

• Express improved confidence in their own critical thinking and reflective judgment

• Articulate strategies for creating/adapting critical thinking which promote reflective judgment

• Importance of critical thinking within all organizations:

• Embraces new thinking.

• Basis for self-empowerment.

• Strengthens leadership.

Preparation for future success

• NEED: Foresee the continuing role toward development of thinking as new technologies continue to emerge.

• Executives need to focus on thinking creatively, critically, and with curiosity using focused questions to manage risk, improve, productivity, and coordinate employee talents in a time of rapidly changing organizational environments. (Karr: 2009)

Critical Thinking for Assessing Decisions

• Critical Thinking provides religious education professors to teach students knowledge and skills to assess decisions:

WHY?• Separates truth from opinion.• Assists in analysis, evaluation, and

integration of strategic decisions.• Directs one to make correct

administrative decisions that answer the right questions, manage risk, and improve productivity.

• Expands communications within the accelerating global communications.

CT and the Brain.

• Neurotransmitters? chemicals that transmit signals from one neuron to another target neuron to produce critical thinking.

• Critical Thinking – a neurotransmitter Brain Flow: Analyzing, synthesizing, developing strategies, planning outcomes and solving problems,

• Brain activity occurs as people think and experience emotions (Alridge, 2015)

Religious Educators Encouraging Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking allows brain to accept, reject or suspend judgments in order to reach a final decision

Provides opportunities to encourage thinking skills during discussions, dialogue, and decision making.

.

Brian Nail:• “Critical religion may be able to offer certain

intellectual resources for critiquing the political and economic models which are currently being outstripped.”

• “…..it is necessary to challenge the intellectual and disciplinary boundaries, which have historically served to distance modern socio-economic theory from other forms of intellectual inquiry. “

• https://www.academia.edu/7323996/Critical_Religion_and_Economic_Discourse

Embracing Critical Thinking 5 Critical Steps

Step 1: Lead the way:Become a Mentor

.• Think thinking…

Practice critical thinking

• At conferences, team events, group meetings, planning projects, financial report, and reviewing trends and projections for the university or organization.

Practice by

Identifying organizational and instructional practices,• Asking appropriate questions,• Analyzing and synthesizing information,• Evaluating decision process and results.

Good Example: Graham Ward: Quote: “I think the prophetic vision of the Christian church is a future-focused vision. It’s not a utopian vision but it has utopian aspects to it. As Christians, what we’re announcing is the future to come and that’s what we should be living toward”

• http://theotherjournal.com/2012/06/05/imagining-a-different-future-an-interview-with-graham-ward/

Lead by Infuse new approaches

• Create a checklist

• Suggested Example:Ask Yourself: ARE YOU

Aware of situational contexts and evaluating decision implications.

Asking questions and listening to the responses.

Understanding the variety of values, opinions, and decisions of others.

Using open mindedness and flexibility in decision making.

Able to accept critiques from others and accepting and internalizing them.

Evaluating others’ assumptions before challenging them.

Understanding processes before trying to change them.

Knowing followers’ weaknesses and strengths and using them accordingly in their direction and empowerment.

Having purpose and knowing organizational values and mission when decisions are made.

Being involved with others by meeting them in their present state rather than for their potential.

Encouraging critical followers. Taking informed action.• (Jenkins & Cutchens, 2011)

2. Stress Importance of Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking…

• Translates abstract ideas into tangible results

• Evaluates all ideas in an objective manner

• Solves problems more effectively and efficiently

Results: Make dramatically better decisions

• “Continuously discussing the thought processes within and among religions, cultures, government, business, education, societal systems with others is the key to discovering new methods to eliminate current problems and enhance future society.”

Why Critical Thinking is Important• Encourages a mental path

To understand To examine evidence To consider implications To question assumptions To explore perspectives

Reference:

http://www.blurtit.com/q526651.html

• Good Example: Graham Ward: Polydoxy as a volume ends on the word “vision”, and I do not want to deny the vision, and the desire for transformation that drives the vision and informs the vision. But vision is not enough. Vision can spin fine words and it needs to engender fine actions. So to whom is this polydoxical vision addressed? What communities of lived Christian faith is it speaking to and attempting to inspire? Or is all this liberal academic good intentionalism? “Receiving the Gift” Graham Ward.

• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/doi/10.1111/moth.12122/full

Critical Thinking Prepares for Change

Technology New discoveries New techniques

developed and established

• “-- even though the Bible is the same, the world has changed, so the way the world relates to it changes;

• while denominations and people may in many ways remain the same, there are also substantial changes that require adaptation.”

Good Example: Dr. Ivica ZizicAssociate Professor of Anthropology and LiturgyPontifical Liturgical Institute, S. Anselmo - Rome

Excerpt: THE GROUND OF THE IMAGE

Philosophy and Ritual from critical reflection to renewed attention

• “The essential is hidden from sight and passes by way of the voices, by a touch of voice that makes the intimate and the unborn leap in their invisibility.“

What associations indicate

• Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) survey

of business and non-profit leaders found that 93% believe "a demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than [a job candidate’s] undergraduate major." More than 75% of those surveyed say they want more emphasis on critical thinking, complex problem solving, written and oral communication, and applied knowledge in real-world settings for all colleges and universities. http://www.aacu.org/leap/documents/2013_EmployerSurvey.pdf

3: Promote higher forms of thinking: Bloom Taxonomy of Learning Domains

Psychologist Dr. Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy 1956, to promote higher

forms of thinking:

“The Learning Process is analyzing and evaluating concepts, processes,

procedures, and principles, and not just remembering facts (rote learning).”: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html#sthash.jgVRjnqG.dpuf

Good Example:- “Examining the relationship between religion and politics can point to two

important elements that both religion and politics, in their institutional

manifestations, share: 1) the “will to power,” and 2) the communitarian

dimension of human existence. “ - Davor Džalto, Religion, Politics, and Beyond: The Pussy Riot Case- http://instifdt.bg.ac.rs/opus4/frontdoor/index/index/docId/434

Bloom’s Taxonomy sample questions for Executives or Students

1: Knowledge Exhibits previously learned material by

recalling facts, terms, basic concepts and answers.

What is . . . ?

When did ____ happen?

How would you explain . . . ?

Why did . .. ?

How would you describe . .. ?

2: Comprehension Demonstrating understanding of

facts and ideas by organising, comparing, translating,

interpreting, giving descriptions and stating main ideas.

How would you compare . .. ? contrast.. ?

Explain in your own words . . . ?

What facts or ideas show . .. ?

What evidence is there that…?

3: Application Solving problems by applying acquired

knowledge, facts, techniques and rules in a different way.

What examples can you find to . . . ?

How would you show your understanding of. .. ?

What approach would you use to ... ?

What might have happened if. . . ?

4: Analysis Examining and breaking information

into parts by identifying motives or causes; making

inferences and finding evidence to support

generalisations.

What inference can you make from. . . ?

How would you classify . . . ?

How would you categorise . .. ?

Can you identify the difference parts... ?

5: Evaluation Presenting and defending opinions

by making judgments about information, validity of

ideas or quality of work based on a set of criteria.

How would you compare ……?

Which do you think is better….?

Evaluate contribution of ….. to …………….

What was the value or importance of …….. in

…………..?

What would you have recommended if you had been

……?

6: Creation / Synthesis: Compiling

information together in a different way by

combining elements in a new pattern or proposing

alternative solutions.

What might have happened if… ?

Can you propose an alternative interpretation to that

of ……. . ?

Is there a marmite solution [1] here?

http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/How_to_Ask_Questions_that_Prompt_

Critical_Thinking

Both provide higher orders of thinking

Merging Bloom and Internet

Promoting higher forms of thinking

Questions Arousing excitement and curiosity• What do we already know • How does …affect..• How does…tie in with….• What was learned• Why is the…important• What is a counterargument

for……

• Have participants share and interact with these questions and statements:

Good Examples:

Graham Ward: “The question raised here is where is this figure of Christ as the ‘epistemological principle’ and the ‘pure act’ to be found? How do we have access to the principle or the pure act so that we recognise them to be such? In these terms are we not dealing with logical inferences, speculative inferences, that Barth himself has made on the basis of his exegeses of the Scriptures? Are we not dealing with a construction, a portrayal of Christ that is Barth’s own?” Ward, G. (2008). Christ and culture. John Wiley & Sons.

.

Dennis Costa: “Though standing in a real continuity with those natural, causal agents, human psyche knows itself as existing discontinuously from them and as enacting, in and through the dimension of time, kinds of knowledge and types of experience which display complex potentialities that appear to be irreducible, or, at the least, not fully measurable: in art, in science, and also in cultic action.”

• Costa, D. (2012). A Pre-Modern Description of Emergence: Albertus Magnus on Human Foetal Development. KronoScope, 12(2), 245-256.

http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/15685241-12341238

4. Expose Cultural Conditioning

Does Cultural Conditioning block individual’s ability to think critically?

Answer: Sometimes.

Awareness of cultural conditioning:

• Differences of opinion often based on backgrounds or “cultural conditioning”

• Thought process and decision-making process often is influenced by background or heritage

• Question: Is cultural conditioning influenced by or influencing the information on the internet?

Prepare for Change:Religion, Globalization, and Culture

• Vision of globalization applied to religion

..change from the conventional form of religion linked intimately to the histories and cultures of respective nations and ethnic groups to the activities of individual religious groups will take on the increasing characteristic of free competition globally.•

Results: Witnessing great transformations in the traditional structure of the historical religions.

Also the Establishment of Networks

• http://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/global/06inoue2.html

• Cultures hungry and ready for the information age• Increasing numbers of people becoming consumers of

information

• Also transmitters of information in their own right.

• “ The practice of Critical Religion not only offers certain intellectual benefits which comes from exploring the boundaries between various disciplines; but it also offers an opportunity to respond to a pressing social responsibility to critically question the strategies by which religious and secular communities have sought to secure for themselves a tomorrow which is less than certain for many.” Critical Religion and Economic Discourse.https://www.academia.edu/7323996/Critical_Religion_and_Economic_Discourse

Critical Thinkingis What Every Person Needs To Survive in a Rapidly Changing World.

Geographical and Social extend “reach’• Religious groups are forced to adapt:•

• Establishments of networks.• we will see steady change from the conventional

form of religion linked intimately to the histories and cultures of respective nations and ethnic groups.

• Activities of individual religious groups will take on the increasing characteristic of free competition on a global scale. Further, there is also the possibility of witnessing great transformations in the traditional structure of the historical religions

• Emergence of Stateless Religious: existing without clear country of origin or headquarters

The Information Age:

…..easier to gain access to information regarding the teachings and activities of other religions

…..easier to form new religious movements without the necessity of being bound to a single tradition in one's own society, merely by adopting personally appealing elements from a variety of sources.

Characterized by the presence of mutual organic relations between the various national branches, and oriented toward continual enlargement of the organization as a whole.

http://www.religionfacts.com/big_religion

_chart.htm

Cultural Conditioning and Critical Thinking Interaction.

• Good Example:• Slawomir Sztajer: …”The

universality of religion is cultural by nature—all cultures know to science involve certain religious ideas or practices. …The cognitive scientists of religion focus on the way in which the human mind operates in the first place, and particularly on the cognitive mechanisms underlying religiosity. P. 20”

• Sztajer, S. (2014). The concept of homo religiosus and its philosophical interpretations. Polskie Towarzystwo

Religioznawcze.

5. Surge Critical Thinking within the Virtual World

Why critical thinking skills?

Essential to cipher the information communications and distinguish fact from opinion. To Recognize salient sifting through misleading,

incorrect, uninformed or irrelevant data. To Encourage to formulate logical thinking

process. To Understand cultural conditioning and thought

process.

The information age

easier to gain access to

information regarding the

teachings and activities of other

religions.

Critical Thinking develops new thinking …

• Ready for new, emerging and future technologies

• Apply theory to practice with all new information technology

• .

• When surfing the net in obtaining information.

• When reading online tweets, discussions, news, etc.

• INFLUENCE: NEW WORLDWIDE EDUCATION and thoughts tweets, emails, webcasts, MOOCS, etc.

When necessary to professional success.

Critical Thinking Knowledge within religious global interconnected world

• Builds cohesive teams and communities.

• Good Example: Leonardo De Chirico: “The wisdom, the depth, the wideness of the sapiential tradition of the church is throughout apparent in its written forms. Moreover, catholic magisterial documents are usually articulated in a language so meditated, pondered and polished that often require subsequent readings in order to be grasped. It has to be recognised that the Vatican, among many other things, produces also masterful pieces of theological elaboration. “

http://vaticanfiles.org/1999/09/the-cross-and-the-eucharist-according-to-the-catechism-of-the-catholic-church/

On-line communications….• Seeking alternative explanations,

debating, and questioning options prior to final group decisions.

• Becoming focused thinkers.• Regrouping back to the intent of the

issues, questions, and discussions.• Encouraging team members to be

willing to consider options and other points of view.

• Preparing for teamwork necessary toward reaching the best decisions.

• Critical Thinking: Analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and draw conclusions toward reaching a rational judgment in each step within the group dynamics process.

Results of Information Age: Reading Worldwide

• Globalization makes it inevitable that the form of missionary activities, human relationships, and the content of religious information communicated will be transformed.

• INOUE Nobutaka, General editor,Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University,1997Part II

• The Information Age and the Globalization of http://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/global/06inoue2.html

As the information age progresses, growing numbers of people will view religion through more critical lensesEXAMPLE: Louis Ruprecht’s thought-provoking books online: Tragic Posture and Tragic Vision: Against the

Modern Failure of Nerve, (Continuum, 1994) Afterwords: Hellenism, Modernism and the

Myth of Decadence (SUNY, 1996) Symposia: Plato, the Erotic and Moral Value,

(SUNY, 1999) Was Greek Thought Religious? On the Use and

Abuse of Hellenism, From Rome to Romanticism, (Palgrave, 2002)

God Gardened East: A Gardener's Meditation on the Dynamics of Genesis, Cascade Books (January 2008).

This Tragic Gospel: How John Corrupted the Heart of Christianity, (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2008)

Winckelmann and the Vatican's First Profane Museum , (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011)

The Network Society

• Today’s Information Age Requires:

• Mobility preparedness• Adaptability to Innovation• Flexibility toward Effective Leadership • Agility in Moving quickly• Change: Where you need to go.

• Critical Thinking: “the most important skills needed both for employers and employees now and for the future. ..Ranked even higher than innovation or IT knowledge.”

• Chartrand, Ishikwa, and Flanigan

Faith coupled with Critical Thinking

Faith Will continue to identify and

articulate the moral, ethical, and spiritual values underpinning policy issues;

Shape a progressive stance in which these values are clear;

Increase public awareness and understanding of these values.

• Retrieved: Twitter @CAPfaith.

The Virtual World and academic institutions

• Although search engines have become the present day gateway to information,

• “ education within academic institutions will continue to be the economic engine of a society attracting those with knowledge providing research and innovation to our world while contributing to our global economy.” (Ricci, 2012, p. 155).

CRITICAL THINKING

• Emerging Nations will continue to request new and better educated leaders possessing critical thinking skills

• It’s the KEY TO Religious SURVIVAL

Summary:YOU: The Professional Critical Thinker • …change and rethink

organizational structures

• …. prepare for mobility, innovation, flexibility, agility, and change,

• ….encourage self-empowerment, creative and new design thinking

• …..lead toward growth and innovation in a networked global society.

•

.

Critical Thinking is one’s best asset

toward survival in a

Rapidly Changing World.

Critical Thinking: Your call

• Focus on Infusing Critical Thinking in Religion and Realism in the interconnected age.

•Have the ability to inspire and energize others to perform at their highest level individually and collectively

• “ Certainly all historical experience confirms the truth --

that man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for

the impossible.”• (Christos N. Tsironis web page:

http://tsironis.weebly.com/•

• There’s nothing more important than growing people.

Conference on Religion and Realism

Grazie:Frederick A. Ricci (Nova Southeastern University)

Chair, Dr. Davor Džalto, Religious Studies Program

American University of Rome

Participants• Graham Ward (Oxford University)• Maurizio Ferraris (University of Turin)• Marco Conti, ( American University of Rome)• Brian V. Nail (University of Luxemburg)• Louis Arthur Ruprecht (Georgia State

University)• Cleo Kearns (New York University) • Leonardo De Chirico (The American

University of Rome)• Sławomir Sztajer (Adam Mickiewicz

University Poznań)• Stephen LeDrew (Uppsala University)• Dennis Costa (Boston University• Ivica Žižić (Pontifical University of S.

Anselmo)• Christos N. Tsironis (Aristotle University

Thessaloniki)• Frederick A. Ricci (Nova Southeastern

University)

YouTube on Discussion

Religion and Realism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZpJ7yUPwdU&index=2&list=PLB933

6E570939389C

Useful references on critical thinking• Brown, T. (2008, June). Design thinking. Harvard Business Review: The Magazine. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2008/06/design-thinking/

• Budryk, Z. (2013). More than a major. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/10/survey-finds-business-executives-arent-focused-majors-those-they-hire

• Burnette, C. (2005). What is design thinking? Retrieved from http://www.idesignthinking.com/01whyteach/01whyteach.html

• Burnette, C. (2009). A theory of design thinking. FAIA Prepared in response to the Torquay Conference on Design Thinking, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia, Nov 1, 2009.

• Changing Minds. (2012). Socratic questions. Retrieved from http://changingminds.org/ techniques/questioning/socratic_questions.htm

• Chartrand, J., Ishikawa H., & Flanigan, S. (2009). Critical thinking means business: Learn to apply and develop the NEW #1 workplace skill. Pearson Education, Retrieved from http://www.talentlens.com/en/ downloads/whitepapers/ Pearson_TalentLens_Critical_Thinking_Means_Business.pdf

• Dass, T. K. (1994, October). Educating tomorrow’s managers: The role of critical thinking. The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 2, 333-360. Retrieved from http://aux.zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/tkdas/publications/das_ijoa94_criticalthinking.pdf

• Fast Company Staff. (2014). Design thinking: What is that? Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/919258/design-thinking-what

• Foundation for Critical Thinking. (2007). To analyze critical thinking, we must analyze and question its elemental structures. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm

• Foundation for Critical Thinking. (2013). Critical thinking: Where to begin. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-thinking-where-to-begin/796

• Humphreys, Debra, (2013) . Employers More Interested in Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Than College Major,aacu.org.

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Additional Online Reference Websites:

• http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/how-to-promote-critical-thinkin-with-online-discussion-forums/

• http://www.saylor.org/courses/phil102/

• http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/how-to-promote-critical-thinking-with-online-discussion-forums/

• http://austhink.com/critical/

• http://www.editlib.org/p/36242/ ]

• http://www.editlib.org/noaccess/36242/

• Emerging Technology From the arXiv, April 4, 2014, How the internet is taking away America's religion http://www.technologyreview.com/view/526111/how-the-internet-is-taking-away-americas-religion/

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• For discussion purposes only