Verbal Level
Co-Sponsored with
FIONS,
Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences
Leonard Shlain, MD
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess
The multimedia PowerPoint presentation containing over 400 images drawn from art proposes that the rise of alphabetic literacy - the process of reading and writing - fundamentally reconfigured the human brain, and brought about profound changes in history, myth and gender relations. Making remarkable connections among brain function, myth and anthropology, Dr. Shlain shows why pre-literate cultures were principally informed by holistic, right-brin modes that venerated the Goddess, feminine values, and images. Writing particularly alphabets drove cultures toward linear left-brain thinking. This shift upset the balance between men and women, initiating the decline of the feminine and also ushered in the reign of patriarchy and misogyny. Examining the cultures of the Israelites, Greeks, Christians, and Muslims, he reinterprets many myths and parables in light of his theory. Shlain traces the affect of literacy on the Dark Ages, Mary, Gutenberg, the Reformation, and the Witchcraze.
Dr. Shlain ends with an optimistic appraisal that the proliferation of images in film, TV, graphics and computers is once again reconfiguring the brain by encouraging right hemispheric modes of thought that are encouraging the re-emergence of the feminine.
A provocative inspiring and visually arresting presentation, filled with startling historical anecdotes with fresh compelling ideas. It is a paradigm-shattering work that will transform your view of history and the mind.
Leonard Shlain is the Chairman of Laparoscopic Surgery at the California Pacific medical Center in San Francisco. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed, award-winning book, Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time and Light. His most recent work, Sex, time & Power: How Women's Sexuality Changed the Course of Human Evolution explores the reasons why Homo Sapiens evolved so far away from other animals in several key attributes. Viking/Penguin will publish it in August, 2003.
FIONS
Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences
Our Co-Sponsor March 13
Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon, founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1973 to study mind, consciousness, and ways of knowing. Members in New York City founded FIONS in 1988 to collaborate with IONS and explore the many ways "consciousness" governs every aspect of life FIONS offers its members and the public, talks, workshops, courses, and informal discussion groups to bring together informal discussion groups to bring together science and spirit through dialogue and practice.
Interest and research in this subject has grown phenomenally in the last twenty years or so, as have the number of courses, books and articles. A frequent focus of this heightened interest s on the real advantages of "problem solving" or "win-win" negotiation. This presentation will teach you when and how these newer techniques can be applied along with the best of the time honored techniques for more traditional bargaining.
Our speaker, Frank j. Scardilli is uniquely qualified to help us be better negotiators. He is Chief Circuit Mediator U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, where for the last 25 years he has professionally negotiated/mediated thousands of cases of all types, some involving stakes as high as multi-millions of dollars. He has won his prestigious Court's highest honor, the "Second Circuit Merit Award" which "signifies the esteem the Second Circuit holds for his mastery of the art of negotiation and ability to solve difficult legal problems." He is also adjunct professor at the Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law where for the past 14 years he has taught "Negotiation and Conflict Resolution" - a course consistently ranked by students among the best in the school. he has also been honored by the establishment of a Chair in his name at the Law School.
He has trained judges across the nation in negotiation and mediation, has lectured at the United Nations, to Bar Associations, over a dozen colleges and universities as well as being a full-time visiting professor for one year at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration where he was honored by being asked to continue on the faculty.
A 1949 graduate of the Yale Law School, he was a Fulbright Scholar in international and comparative law at the University of Rome, studied at Cambridge University on a full tuition and board scholarship and holds a Master of Laws degree from New York University. He was also a weekly TV guest lecturer on Law for Non-Lawyers. A member of the NY, NJ and DC Bars he has practiced extensively in both the private and public sectors and is listed in Who's Who in American Law.
Thursday, March 13, 6:30 PM
| Harry Maynard | Frank Scardilli |
| Gerard Nierenberg | Nan Wright |
| Irene Ross-Mayper |
Other Board members and the terms they are serving:
|
Ron Amend -2 |
Martin Levinson - 1 |
|
Rose Augustine - 1 |
Katherine Liepe-Levinson - 1 |
|
George Barenholtz - 2 |
Juliet Nierenberg - 1 |
|
Pearl Eppy - 2 |
Sophie Oakes - 1 |
|
Allen Flagg - 2 |
Roben Torosyan - 1 |
|
Tom Hogan - 2 |
Members may vote in person or by absentee ballot, which may be requested. Contact the Society at 212-532-1467.
Michael Fandal
When Michael Fandal retired from the NYPD as a police officer with 20 years of service in 1993 he had already adopted an alter ego that would bring him much acclaim. As Ernest Desire the Clown, this Manhattan resident who was last assigned to the 13th Precinct has traveled to Israel on several goodwill missions. As a private citizen he is a substitute high school teacher, as well as an instructor at a juvenile detention facility in the Bronx. He also teaches English as a second language to adults, hosts a public access television show, and runs in New York City marathons.
"I'm a stereotype smasher," he says. "You have to combine levity with gravity. I bridge opposites and go right down the middle. While still a police officer, that was a great way to ease tensions."
________________________
"The world we have created is a product of our thinking."
Albert Einstein
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