Dr. Ruben Rabinsky’s
Critical and Creative Thinking
Webpage
© 2004 by Ruben Rabinsky
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o Home
o Bio & Contact Info
o The Relation between Critical & Creative Thinking
o Critical Thinking across the Curriculum
o Articles & Books
o Seminars & Workshops
o News
o Links
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When I was in graduate school in 1994 at the University of Miami, I had the privilege of being asked by the Philosophy Department’s Chair and my dissertation director, Dr. Alan Goldman, to teach a new course in Critical Thinking and Informal Logic which was being offered at UM. The course introduced me to the methods and techniques of informal logic, fallacy theory, and the nature of argumentation. Teaching the course was a unique, wonderful pedagogical experience, and I was fortunate to have had Dr. Harvey Siegel as a mentor in this new field in which I became interested in. Today, this Web Page is being launched in the hopes that it will generate greater awareness of, and interest in, the many ways in which the study of Critical Thinking and Informal Logic may continue to enrich the education of all students (at both the college and pre-college level). While the Informal Logic and Critical Thinking Movement has its roots back in the late 1960’s, important theoretical work and practical innovations continue to enrich the philosophical study of argumentation theory, as well as school curricula throughout the world. Those of us who will be contributing to this Web Page seek to disseminate news, ideas, and practical strategies for the teaching of Critical Thinking across the curriculum. Moreover, we seek to explore the relation between Critical and Creative Thinking, as these two modes of thinking are often inter-related in constructive and fruitful ways. We hope and look forward to participating and contributing to the growth of this exciting field.
-- Ruben Rabinsky, Ph.D.
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Biographical Sketch
Ruben Rabinsky, Ph.D. Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Miami
Ruben Rabinsky received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Miami in 1998. His dissertation, Philosophy of Journalism: On The Theory and Practice of the News Enterprise, explores a variety of issues in the epistemology of journalism and media ethics, including questions concerning the nature of journalism and news, the nature of objectivity and bias in the news (and the reasons for journalist’s obligations to be objective), as well as the concept of propaganda. In the fall of 2004, he became a Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Miami. He has taught courses on classical and contemporary issues in Ethics and Applied Ethics (including Business Ethics, and Environmental Ethics), as well as courses in Critical Thinking and Informal Logic, the Introduction to Philosophy, and general Humanities courses (which explore the relation between literature, film, and philosophy). His research interests focus on interrelated issues in media philosophy, ethics, social and political philosophy, informal logic, and aesthetics. While in graduate school, he won awards from UM’s Philosophy Department and the College of Arts & Sciences, for excellence in teaching and outstanding work as a graduate student. He was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Environmental Ethics (2001-2003) by the University of Miami’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Center. Presently, he continues to explore both the pedagogical theory of, and practical strategies for, teaching Critical and Creative Thinking courses; of special interest to him are the role of epistemology in reasoning courses, and topics in argumentation and fallacy theory. He is developing a series of introductory philosophy books for pre-college students, which are designed to contribute to the existing literature in the fields of Philosophy for Children, and Critical Thinking across the Curriculum. His hobbies are painting and playing chess. He enjoys the experience of art, and is working on a collection of essays on the philosophical study of aesthetics from the perspectives of both existentialism and analytical philosophy. He is fluent in Spanish.
Contact Info
Ruben Rabinsky, Ph.D. Department of Philosophy University of Miami P.O. Box 248054 Coral Gables, FL 33124
UM’s Philosophy Department phone#: (305) 284-4757 Dr. Rabinsky’s office extension: (305) 284-5315 Voice Mail: (305) 227-1840 E-mail: rrabinsky@miami.edu
In this section we explore the
relation between critical and creative thinking. We will present
original essays which analyze this relation, as well as review
select essays published in other educational and philosophical
journals. Our goal is to illuminate the nature of the relation(s) between critical and creative thought, and to explore whether (and, if so, how) courses in critical reasoning may be enriched pedagogically by the inclusion of material specifically devoted to enhancing the student’s creative formulation of ideas, hypotheses, and arguments. [Page under construction]
Critical Thinking across the Curriculum
We believe that the methods and tools of the critical thinker may be applied successfully throughout all academic subjects across the curriculum. Presently, there is a substantial literature on strategies and techniques for teaching students how to develop the application of their critical reasoning throughout a range of academic subjects. Our research in this field will attempt to contribute to existing work conducted by philosophers at Montclair State University (including Drs. Matthew Lipman, Mark Weinstein, and Joanne Matkowski), who have pioneered research the application of critical reasoning across the disciplines at its Institute for Critical Thinking, and is also the headquarters for the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children. Texts such as Dr. Richard Paul’s Critical Thiniking Handbook series (published by the Foundation for Critical Thinking), for grades K – 12, may serve as models for innovative ways to remodel lesson plans for fostering critical reasoning in language arts, social studies, and science. We hope to expand the dialogue on the topic of critical thinking throughout the disciplines in this section of our Webpage.
[Page under construction]
Articles & Books
In this section we will include an updated list of new books and articles on both critical and creative thinking; we will also review periodically a select number of these new works. Also, we will make available on-line some original works by our collaborators, on the subjects of Critical and Creative Thinking and pedagogical strategies for teaching students how to apply critical reasoning throughout the curriculum. The books written by our collaborators will be available for purchase on-line. [Page under construction]
Periodically throughout the year, our collaborators will offer a series of workshops and seminars for teachers; these workshops are designed to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas concerning strategies for teaching both critical and creative thinking. We will feature invited guest speakers, and prepare course materials and syllabi for interested teachers. Fees for the seminars and workshops are subject to change. [Page under construction]
News
In this section we will include recent news on events relating to scholarly developments in the fields of Informal Logic, Argumentation and Fallacy theory, as well as Critical and Creative Thinking pedagogy. [Page under construction]
Links
We will update periodically a list of websites related to the theory and practice of Informal Logic, and Critical and Creative Thinking pedagogy. Below we list a few noteworthy sites:
The Institute for Critical Thinking at Montclair State University: www.chss.montclair.edu/ict/homepage.html
The Foundation for Critical Thinking:
The Association for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking (AILACT): [Page under construction] |
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