Science Leadership Institute III – Solan

Science Leadership Institute – III

This meeting of the monk leaders in science education will emphasize study group learning and continue instruction on modern scientific cosmology. Activities and lectures on cosmology will be instructed by Chris Impey, Ph.D. (Distinguished Professor, University of Arizona).

The cosmology sessions will build on Chris’s teachings from last year with a focus on historical and conceptual models of the universe, scales of space and time, and the limits of cosmology.Writing workshops, learning biographies, and strategies for developing science exhibition will be taught by Stephanie Norby, Ph.D. (Educational Director, Smithsonian Institute) and Richard Sterling (Professor, University of California).

This institute will continue to emphasize shareable science and study group work at the monks home monasteries. Richard and Stephanie will be facilitating structured opportunities for monks to reflect on and share study group learning experiences, assess previous assignments, and plan for further study group work.

Venue:

Bon tradition is the oldest of all the Tibetan religion starting many years before the start of Buddhism in Tibet. It has its own strong legacy of education and training in philosophy, monastic discipline, ritual and meditation.The Menri monastery is located in the lap of Himalayas located at an altitude of 1450metres.

Access by road and air: Nearest airport is Chandigarh (48km), Shimla (68km) and Delhi (315km).

Instructors:

Chris Impey is a Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. His research interests include active galaxies, gravitational lenses, and dark matter, and he finds his attention rarely held by anything closer than a billion light years away. He is involved in curriculum development and learning online and in virtual worlds. He joined the program in 2008 to teach the monks cosmology and to work with them on the profound mysteries of time and space.

Richard Sterling is the Executive Director Emeritus of the National Writing Project (NWP) and currently Interim Associate Dean for Teacher Education and Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Graduate School of Education. Since 2003, he has served as chair of the Advisory Panel to the College Board’s National Commission on Writing. Formerly he was the founder and director of the Institute for Literacy Studies at Lehman College, an Organized Research Unit at the City University of New York, and a member of the faculty at Lehman College. He was also founder and director of the New York City Writing Project and the New York City Mathematics Project, both of which are housed within the Institute for Literacy Studies.

Stephanie L. Norby is the director of the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies. As the director of SCEMS, she oversees pan-institutional educational initiatives including publications, websites, events, and partnerships. Previously she was director of curriculum, professional development and assessment in the Kansas City, Missouri School District. She received her bachelor of science degree from the University of California at Davis and a master’s of history degree at the University of Missouri. She also attended graduate school at the University of California Long Beach in education at the University of Kansas in museum studies.