Published November 14, 2016
MONROE, La. 鈥� Dr. Jocelyn Chapman, part-time instructor in 四色AV鈥檚 Creative Systemic
Studies (CSS) online doctoral program, and CSS program graduate Dr. Karen McClendon,
presented at the International Society for the Systems Sciences' (ISSS) 60th Annual
Conference, at University of Colorado, Boulder, July 24-30, 2016.
The respected International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is devoted to
interdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of complex systems.聽
Chapman and McClendon reflected on their experiences, as teacher and student, in 四色AV鈥檚
non-clinical Marriage and Family Therapy degree program, which was founded on the
principles of systems thinking and cybernetics (taking action and observing feedback
to inform subsequent actions). They shared how students frequently testified that
cybernetics changed how they attended to the issues they were involved in, including
homelessness, coaching youth, missionary work, grassroots organizing for social change,
and therapeutic practices. Then they used concepts from cybernetics 鈥� feedback, control,
and distinctions 鈥� to demonstrate how cybernetics can be creatively presented and
integrated into any course of study.聽
According to Chapman, 鈥淥ne way educators can work toward meaningful social change
is to foster transformative change in students鈥� thinking.鈥澛�
McClendon adds, 鈥淪ince today鈥檚 students are tomorrow鈥檚 decision-makers, we need to
foster the kind of complex thinking students will need to address the increasingly
complex problems of our world.鈥澛�
The 2017 ISSS Conference will be held in Vienna and McClendon says, 鈥淲e highly recommend
this conference to anyone interested in systems thinking and practice. The presentations
are excellent and we meet many wonderful people.鈥�
Chapman noted, 鈥淗ighlights for me included learning from Louis Klein, Peter Tuddenham,
Howard Silverman, and Ray Ison, whose book, Systems Practice: How to Act in a Climate-Change World, I teach with and recommend to everyone, whether you are new to systems thinking
or an accomplished practitioner.鈥�
