The Western Institute for Social Research (WISR -- pronounced "wiser") offers individualized BS, MS and EdD degree programs for working adults living in the Bay Area, throughout the US and around the world. Tuition is an affordable $625/month, our MS in Psychology leads to the State MFT and LPCC licenses, and students may design interdisciplinary and tailored-made areas of study within Education and Social Change, and Community Leadership and Justice. WISR faculty are a distinctive group, who combine intellectual rigor with practical know-how, and they are eager to guide, mentor, support and collaborate with each student in personalized ways.
Institutional Loans ($225/month) and Limited Number of Work-Study Positions now available. Also contact us to find out about a Special Tuition Reduction in our Cohort Group Bachelor’s Program.
Encourage friends and prospective students to visit: www.wisr.edu/welcome to learn more.
Look for updates to this flyer monthly online: http://www.wisr.edu/hot-news/ and find us on Facebook.
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INTERDISCIPLINARY SEMINAR(S) are a way for WISR students to learn about core subjects of social change, writing, multiculturalism, adult/higher education, community leadership and social action-research. Community members are welcome to participate as well.
Students are strongly requested to participate in at least one seminar each month, unless they have an unavoidable conflict. Students who have enrolled on or after October 1, 2016 are required to do so. Students also have the option of creating seminars on topics of interest, of forming their own peer discussion groups, and developing regular collaborations with other WISR students.
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 METHODS OF
PARTICIPATORY ACTION-RESEARCH
Sunday, February 12th 10-1pm
John Bilorusky, PhD, WISR Faculty, Dr. Sudia Paloma McCaleb, EdD, Facilitators. This is the second in a recent series of seminars on action-research. Participation in the previous seminar is not necessary. Because Action-Research is a core requirement for all WISR degree programs, ALL students are expected to make every effort to participate, either on site or by video conference or phone (see information below).
Also, students are encouraged to read the core, required readings in action research as preparation for the seminar. These readings are outlined, with a link to each reading, in a document available online (in both Word and pdf format--see below):
http://www.wisr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Core-Readings-on-Participatory-Action-Research-for-WISR.docx
http://www.wisr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Core-Readings-on-Participatory-Action-Research-for-WISR.pdf
Students will also have the opportunity to discuss their projects and studies that are in progress, and to get feedback on their current studies and plans.
Please join this meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/412985101
You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (872) 240-3311
Access Code: 412-985-101
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COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
Monday, February 13, 6-8pm
Vera Labat, MPH, & Michael McAvoy, MA, WISR Faculty, co-facilitators.
Please begin to read Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire. Students should also be prepared to discuss their current projects and what questions they have.
Vera Labat worked for many years in the field of public health, especially in the field of immunization for the City of Berkeley and as a health consultant to Berkeley schools. She taught community health at the University of California, San Francisco, and taught in the School of Medicine at the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. She was the second Executive Director of the Over 60 Health Clinic in Berkeley in the late 1970s. Vera has served on WISR’s faculty for most of the past thirty years.
Michael McAvoy works in narrative medicine which has to do with storytelling in relation to health. He has been an activist for many years as well. He worked for three decades at New College in San Francisco, serving for a while as Dean of the Humanities Program and co-Academic Vice President. Currently, Michael is also seeking ways to theorize and create a social movement which combines a spiritual change in consciousness, with healing ourselves and others, while also resisting injustice, in line with Martin Luther King’s vision for a universal “beloved community.”
Please RSVP: mmcavoy@wisr.edu if you plan to participate by webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
Log in at:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/116294877
You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (646) 749-3112
Access Code: 116-294-877
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COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
Monday, February 13, 6-8pm
Vera Labat, MPH, & Michael McAvoy, MA, WISR Faculty, co-facilitators.
Please begin to read Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire. Students should also be prepared to discuss their current projects and what questions they have.
Vera Labat worked for many years in the field of public health, especially in the field of immunization for the City of Berkeley and as a health consultant to Berkeley schools. She taught community health at the University of California, San Francisco, and taught in the School of Medicine at the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. She was the second Executive Director of the Over 60 Health Clinic in Berkeley in the late 1970s. Vera has served on WISR’s faculty for most of the past thirty years.
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Michael McAvoy works in narrative medicine which has to do with storytelling in relation to health. He has been an activist for many years as well. He worked for three decades at New College in San Francisco, serving for a while as Dean of the Humanities Program and co-Academic Vice President. Currently, Michael is also seeking ways to theorize and create a social movement which combines a spiritual change in consciousness, with healing ourselves and others, while also resisting injustice, in line with Martin Luther King’s vision for a universal “beloved community.”
Please RSVP: mmcavoy@wisr.edu if you plan to participate by webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone. Log in at:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/116294877
You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (646) 749-3112
Access Code: 116-294-877
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 WRITING FOR REAL: A CLASS THAT GIVES INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE WRITING SUPPORT
Mondays, February 20 & 27, 7-8pm
WISR faculty member Torry Dickinson, PhD is offering individual and collective writing assistance to all WISR students. This writing course will help students work alone and together to build connections through words, ideas, collaboration, and knowledge gained through engagement in social change.
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If students are interested in participating, they're encouraged to email Torry (dickins@ksu.edu) and send her one to five pages of something they are writing. Or they can email her one to five pages about a writing idea. Students should let Torry know the seminar dates that they expect to participate. The instructor will email these writings to students in the seven seminars. She'll also send you the link to sign in or to call in to each class.
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Torry is an interdisciplinary teacher, researcher, writer, and social-change practitioner who has a Ph.D. in sociology. She serves as professor emeritus in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, Sociology, and Nonviolence Studies at Kansas State University. If you're interested, contact WISR for her short bibliography of relating to post-colonial writings, feminism, environmentalism and social change.
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MARRIAGE FAMILY THERAPY (MFT) SEMINARS are for students pursuing an MFT license. Other interested persons are welcome but you are requested to RSVP the faculty member (see email contact info below) in advance. They are typically held at WISR from 10am to 2pm (unless listed otherwise) with a short break so bring a lunch. MFT students must participate in a total of 48 such seminars in order to graduate. These required seminars for our MS program lead to the State of California’s MFT and LPCC licenses and are now available by telephone conference call and video webinar.
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FAMILY COUNSELING WITH
INDIVIDUALS (FCI)
Saturday, February 4, 10am 2pm
Brian Gerrard, PhD, WISR Faculty
When you have a client with a serious family/relationship problem, but the other person(s) won’t come in for counseling, what should you do?
This seminar on advanced methods of marriage and family therapy approaches will teach you how to do Family Counseling with Individuals (FCI) using traditional evidence-based CBT techniques. The seminar will use a tell-show-do approach in which the technique is explained, demonstrated, and practiced. You will leave the seminar with a clear understanding of how to use the technique to help your client improve his/her relationships. Part 1 will present conceptual models for organizing techniques and selecting relationship change behaviors, and describe techniques for changing meaning.
Please RSVP gerrardba@outlook.com
if you plan to participate by webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone. Log on to this meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/257258877
You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (408) 650-3123
Access Code: 257-258-877
The next seminar led by Brian Gerrard will be March 18th.
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CROSS-CULTURAL COUNSELING
Saturday, February 18, 10am-2pm
Ronald Mah, MA, LMFT, PhD, WISR Faculty.
We will study the importance of cultural, racial, ethnic, and subgroup values and beliefs, and how they affect individuals, interpersonal relations, family life, and the therapeutic process. This will include an examination of the wide range of ethnic backgrounds and the cultural mores and values common in California.
We will also study multicultural development and cross-cultural interaction, including experiences of race, ethnicity, class, spirituality and/or religion, sexual orientation, gender, and disability and their incorporation into the psychotherapeutic process. We will study multicultural counseling theories and techniques, including strategies for working with and advocating for diverse populations. This includes the study of human behavior within the social context of socioeconomic status and other contextual issues affecting social position and an understanding of the effects of socioeconomic status on treatment and available resources.
Please RSVP by e-mail to Ronald at ronald@ronaldmah.com if you plan to participate by webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone and provide a number where you can be reached that morning in case of technical difficulties. Log on to this meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/953602173
You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (571) 317-3122
Access Code: 953-602-173
LIBRARY RESOURCES SEMINAR
Saturday March 25th, 10am-1pm
This seminar will also count for MFT attendance in March. (See above for more details.)
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WISR LIBRARY NEWS
Upcoming in March:
LIBRARY RESOURCES SEMINAR
Saturday March 25th, 10am-1pm
John Bilorusky, PhD & Cynthia Roberson, MLIS (Library Director), Facilitators.
Cynthia will discuss library resources currently available to WISR students including onsite and offsite resources. Students may use this seminar to discuss their studies and projects and ask questions about how the WISR library can assist them. (Video/Call in info to be announced.)
Needed: Volunteers to Catalog WISR’s Library!
As part of WISR’s pursuit of national accreditation, we are in the midst of cataloging the books in WISR’s library. We very much need a half dozen, or more, people who can volunteer about 4 hours per week for at least several months. If you are interested or have questions, contact WISR’s librarian, Cynthia Roberson, MLIS at librarian@wisr.edu or John Bilorusky at johnb@wisr.edu .
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Prospective students and Community Learners are invited to attend these seminars.
Contact WISR if you need a ride from the BART or want to carpool.
Please avoid wearing perfume or cologne to WISR gatherings as requested by those with asthma & allergies.
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 ANNOUNCEMENTS
WISR Press: The inaugural issue, Multiculturalism, of The Journal of the Western Institute for Social Research can be purchased by e-book at Bookbaby.com, and order a hard copy at Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble of start a discussion at Goodreads.
Included are articles on such topics as: multicultural therapy, ethnographies of learning, Chinese learners working in groups, the role of language in multicultural relationships,as well as the role of language in indigenous education among the Omaha people, and action-oriented research methods to pursue racially and ethnically inclusive historical analyses.
Articles were the result of the inquiries of faculty, students and alumni of the Western Institute for Social Research (WISR). Since 1975, WISR has successfully supported the creative, community involvement efforts of hundreds of adult learners--through its highly personalized, socially progressive and interdisciplinary BS, MS and EdD programs. WISR students and the communities with which they are involved, reflect great geographic, intellectual and cultural diversity. WISR’s extraordinary students and faculty together have created a dynamic and inquiring learning community where “Multicultural is WISeR.”
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