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First, Naomi Wolf revolutionized our understanding of the relationship between "beauty"and female identity. Now, for the first time on DVD for your classroom, Naomi Wolf presents her definitive treatise on THE BEAUTY MYTH: The Culture of Beauty, Psychology, & the Self.
On a sweeping historical canvas, from the Industrial Revolution to today's multi-billion-dollar diet and cosmetic industries, Wolf exposes the Beauty Myth as a distinct cultural narrative - a fiction that "beauty" exists objectively and universally.
Having set her stage, Wolf next reveals why "beauty" must be understood within the power structures of political and economic systems - and how "beauty" is used as a kind of currency, like money itself. She incisively illustrates how beauty is a story about female identity told through a cultural system of images: a potent narrative designed to sell products and support a hierarchical system of social relations - with devastating conse-quences for female well-being, and for our most intimate relationships.
From the first printing press to today's women's magazines, Wolf illuminates how, as women made powerful strides in economic and political spheres, the Beauty Myth took hold as a new set of fictions, and as a new sphere of control. She reveals how "beauty" came to replace domesticity as a core social virtue, with its own injunctions and prescriptions, not unlike religion itself. With wit and clarity, Wolf illustrates why the Beauty Myth has nothing to do with appearances - but, instead, with channeling female identity into an ever-narrowing sphere of consumption, competition, and anxiety.
From workplace equality and sexual harassment, to cosmetic surgery and eating disorders, to the very core of social and romantic relationships, Wolf powerfully illuminates the psycho-logical and physiological ravages of the Beauty Myth.
Naomi Wolf wraps this extraordinary 6-part DVD presentation within a stirring vision of how we might transcend the Beauty Myth by shedding light on the cultural and economic systems that perpetuate it.
Six-part DVD for easy reference:
1. Revolution & Subversion
2. The Ideal & "Preoccupation"
3. The Calorie Obsession
4. Modified Bodies & Sexuality
5. Aging as Disease
6. Reclaiming Beauty & Identity
Using history of education, history of technology, and educational theory, Neil Postman paints a brilliantly challenging response to the modern crisis of education.
He reveals how in popular culture and schooling alike, there has been an erosion of traditional American narratives which once gave a coherent sense of purpose to learning. He exposes the new narratives of 'economic utility', 'consumership', 'technology', and 'multiculturalism'--and how these threaten the possibility of meaningful education.
Neil Postman presents his provocative redefinition of the crisis facing American education--and his definitive response to the problem now confronting us.
This program was produced in front of a live audience, and has been used in colleges, universities, and schools across the US.
For more than 30 years, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced CHICK-sent-me-high-ee) has studied states of "optimal experience"--those times when we report feelings of deep concetration and fulfillment--when we transcend our ordinary consciousness, and become so completely involved that we lose our senses of time and self. In this state, we are at the peak of our abilities. In this state, we are in Flow.
Csikszenthmihalyi's theory of Flow and his seminal work on creativity have revolutionized modern psychology, the social sciences, and even corporate management.
Now, join host Howard Gardner (Multiple Intelligences theory) as he leads your students on the intellectual journey through the life and mind of Mihaly Csikszenthmihalyi.
From war-torn Italy to a chance encounter with Carl Jung to a swimming accident in Hawaii that would catalyze the formation of "positive psychology," Mihaly Csikszenthmihalyi's fascninating story charts the course of a sweeping intellectual adventure. It is a story that plots decades of insights and breakthroughs that would ultimately crystallize in the theory of Flow, and his definitive treatise on creativity.
First, Deborah Tannen revolutionized our understanding of gender and communication. Now, Tannen takes your students on an intellectual journey to the core of how men and women use language, and why communication between the sexes so often goes awry.
Taking a linguistic approach that sheds light on psychology, Tannen uses everything from scholarly research to familiar examples from everyday life as her canvas. In this illuminating and entertaining presentation, Tannen draws a road map through the complex maze of why we speak the way we do, and why others so frequently don't hear what we mean.
From patterns formed in childhood, to the "conversational rituals" of adulthood, Tannen reveals how "conversational style" lies at the core of myths, stereotypes, and miscommunication between the sexes.
From why HE won't stop and ask for directions, to why SHE thinks he's not listening (even when he is), Deborah Tannen's extraordinary and challenging presentation will inspire your students to discuss, debate, and rethink the nature of communication and gender.
First, Steven Pinker illuminated the human Language Instinct with unprecedented wit and wisdom. Now, he takes your students on an intellectual journey to the core of How the Mind Works.
In this exclusive presentation for the classroom, Pinker presents his definitive treatise on what the mind is, how it evolved, and how it allows us to see, think, and feel.
With three key ideas -- Computation, Evolution, and Specialization -- Pinker unlocks the mysteries of the human brain through reverse engineering.
From how the Computational Theory of Mind defines intelligence and accounts for behaviour, to how we have evolved intuitive theories about biology, physics, and psychology, Pinker paints a radical new picture of why we do what we do, think what we think, and feel what we feel.
Why is the thought of eating worms disgusting? Why do people believe in ghosts and spirits? How do we see? Why is a face with make-up more attractive? Why do we crave junk food? Why do fools fall in love?
As entertaining as he is provocative, Steven Pinker draws on everything from movie dialogue and science fiction, to optical illusions, religion, and the mathematical theory of games. On that canvas, he paints a sweeping synthesis of cognitive science and evolutionary biology, with insights ranging from neuroscience to economics to social psychology.
This extraordinary and challenging presentation will inspire your students to discuss, debate, and rethink the nature of How the Mind Works.
One of the most gifted thinkers of our time, Noam Chomsky has revolutionized our understanding of language, its use and its acquisition. Now, Language & Mind brings Chomsky into your classroom, where he takes your students on a guided tour through his epoch-making ideas.
The theories of Noam Chomsky propose that the human brain is endowed with an innate "language faculty" and that part of this biological endowment is a set of principles common to all languages--otherwise known as the "theory of Universal Grammar."
From Aristotle to Gallileo to Descartes to Hume--to the cognitive revolution of the 1950s and the most recent work in clinical and developmental psychology--Chomsky charts the history of philisophical inquiry in the nature of Language & Mind.
A foundational and essential presentation for curricula in linguistics, psychology, or philosophy, this provocative presentation will inspire your students to discuss, debate, and rethink the nature of Language & Mind.
In Five Minds for the Future, Howard Gardner examines how contemporary trends - globalization, the biological and digital revolutions, and lifelong learning - will affect education and human thought; he also puts forth his theory of the five minds that should be valorized in our time ("disciplined," "synthesizing," "creating," "respectful," and "ethical"). He shares the research findings of the GoodWork Project and looks ahead to how we might nurture and cultivate ethics and good work in the years ahead.
Part 1. Megatrends
Part 2. Five Minds: The Cognitive Sphere
Part 3. The Sphere of Human Relations
Part 4. The "Triple Helix" of Good Work
Part 5. Minds in a Digital Age
Howard Gardner introduces his theory of Multiple Intelligences; explores the theory's claims, implications, and common myths; and examines the question of assessment as well as how our thinking about intelligences may evolve.
Part 1. Intelligence & Intelligences
Part 2. MI: The Analogy of 8 Computers
Part 3. Claims & Implications
Part 4. Myths & Reality
Part 5. Assessment
Part 6. Intelligences in the Future
In Understanding, Howard Gardner delves into notions of understanding, the meaning of the scholarly disciplines, and the possibilities and challenges of interdisciplinary thinking. He explores how the disciplines (including their knowledge, skills, concepts, and methods) are applied in new situations to understand phenomena both familiar and strange.
Part 1. Disciplines, Performances, & Understanding
Part 2. The Unschooled Mind
Part 3. The Disciplined Mind
Part 4. MI Meets Understanding
Part 5. What Disciplinary Thinking is Not
Part 6. Interdisciplinary Thinking
Part 7. Understanding in the Digital Age
What is consciousness? Why does it remain a mystery? In The Magic of Consciousness, Daniel Dennett takes your students on a fascinating journey backstage, behind the mind's curtain, to reveal the inner workings of the magic show we call consciousness- and why it evolved.
Setting his stage with "the problem of consciousness," Dennett illuminates how human biases have, for centuries, insisted that consciousness must be irreducibly mysterious--like "real" magic. Of course, "real" magic refers to magic which does not really exist and can not really be performed.
Now, using evolutionary and cognitive science as his canvas, Dennett illustrates why understanding consciousness means understanding the "stage-magic" of the mind -- the kind of magic that actually does exist and is not so "magical" after all. The kind of magic performed by a magician- the human brain.
Drawing on everything from neuroscience to the world of art, Dennett reverse-engineers the stage magic of the mind: From the experience of deja vu, to magic tricks and optical illusions. In doing so, Dennett powerfully demonstrates that once we begin to see how the brain creates "illusions" we can begin to imagine how it creates consciousness.
This exclusive presentation for the classroom by Daniel Dennett will provoke, entertain, and inspire your students to think about The Magic of Consciousness in entirely new ways.
New dimensions: First, Howard Gardner revolutionized how we think about "intelligence" and "understanding." Now, with MI:MILLENNIUM, Gardner expands, and builds upon the foundations of MI theory--bringing twenty years of research, and the history of "intelligence" theory into a timely new focus.
In this dynamic presentation for the classroom, Gardner reveals entirely new dimensions of MI, including: a verified eighth intelligence and the possibility of a ninth intelligence; new ideas about "entry points to disciplinary understanding;" what happens to the "intelligences" as we grow older; his most recent work identifying "three axes" of intelligence; and the nature of "good work."
New directions: Looking to the future, Gardner raises new questions about intelligence in the new millennium, including how broadly "intelligence" should be defined, who will get to define it, and the profound signifigance of globalization, computers, and artificial intelligence (AI) on how we will learn, and what kinds of intelligences will be critical in the near future.
New implications: In the new millennium, MI theory takes on profoundly human dimensions, as Gardner explores the critical link between intelligence and ethics. In turn, he brings into sharp focus the implications of advancement in genetic and brain science--and suggests what classrooms, teaching, and assessment will look like in the coming years as "traditionalists" lose their hold on the defintion of intelligence.
MI:MILLENNIUM brings a timely new focus to "intelligence," "understanding," and MI theory--for the practical questions of today, and the ethical questions of tomorrow.
Noam Chomsky revolutionized our understanding of language, cognition, and the nature of the human mind. Now, for the first time on DVD for the classroom, join host Howard Gardner (Multiple Intelligences theory) as he leads your students on a fascinating journey through the life and mind of Noam Chomsky.
From an epiphany on a 1953 boating trip, to a radical break with behaviorism and structural linguistics, Noam Chomsky's fascinating story charts the course of a sweeping intellectual adventure. It is a story that plots decades of insights and breakthroughs that would ultimately crystallize in the theory of Generative Grammar -- Chomsky's definitive treatise on the principles of language and the nature of mind.
From why the obscure field of linguistics captured his interest 50 years ago, to his critique of scientific "objectivism," Chomsky reveals why language must be viewed as a "biological system," and what makes it a "species property." In turn, he demonstrates how language is both a model for other aspects of cognition, and at the core of human nature, and evolution.
On a sweeping canvas of human history, Chomsky performs a "thought experiment" and argues how the biologically endowed language organ was responsible for the sudden burst of human creativity, artistic production, and migration 75,000 years ago -- and why this language faculty must have preceded communication itself.
From his seminal contributions to the cognitive revolution, to systematic scientific approaches to language, and even politics, Chomsky takes your students on a fascinating tour: from psychology to physics, from evolution to international affairs, and from the meaning of science itself to the very nature of man.
Enlightening and terrifically entertaining, THE MIND OF NOAM CHOMSKY will inspire your students to rethink, to question, and to understand language, cognition, and the mind in entirely new ways.THE MIND OF NOAM CHOMSKY is an essential presentation for curricula in psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and the cognitive sciences.
Deborah Tannen revolutionized our understanding of gender and communication. Now, Tannen takes your students on an intellectual journey to the core of how men and women use language, and why communication between the sexes so often goes awry.
Debunking the misconception that communication would be transparent if we simply "said what we meant," Tannen counters by suggesting that we do say what we mean--only we say it in our own "conversational style".
On a canvas of disciplines from linguistics and psychology, to anthropology and communication, Tannen paints a fascinating picture of the conversational "signals," "devices," and "rituals" that structure our every interaction.
Against a backdrop of ethnic, gender, and other cultural factors, Tannen demonstrates how conversational signals send "metamessages" that "frame" the meaning of what we say. And why, when conversational styles differ, the frame we intend may not be the one perceived.
