THE SUMMER SEMINAR ON

CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

8 July – 5 August 2012 at the

Institute for Social & European Studies Kőszeg, Hungary

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Understanding The World We Live In

As never before in human history, we need to understand the world we are immersed in, and more importantly the enormous difficulty we face in making meaningful sense of our current condition. The Summer Seminar on Critical Thinking in the 21st Century is meant to assist you in developing a critical analytical narrative that will help you to make sense of our world.

Given the overwhelming amount of information in disconnected bits that we often find ourselves swimming in, it has become increasingly difficult to develop a coherent sense of what is happening in the actual world rather than in the limited virtual worlds we increasingly seem to inhabit. The tsunami of information that we are now subjected to may mean that ever more frequently human minds have a mass of bits of information strewn

incoherently about in a manner that mimics the images of the devastation that followed the horrific 2011 tsunami In Japan.

The explosion of information that has occurred since World War II seems to grow ever larger. A recent study indicated that using digital and analog devices we are now able to store 295 exabytes (put 20 zeros after the 295) of information which is 315 times the number of grains of sand in the world.

According to Science Daily, humans successfully sent 1.9 zetabytes of information in 2007 through broadcast technology such as televisions and GPS units. That's equivalent to every person in the world reading 174 newspapers every day.

Why a seminar on critical thinking in

the 21st century?

Information theorists argue that information is independent of meaning because, as Freeman Dyson has noted, “information could be handled with greater freedom if it was treated as a mathematical abstraction independent of meaning.” Dyson also argues that it is the immense size of the databases that gives us “a feeling of meaninglessness”, but that is “our task as humans to bring meaning back into this wasteland.”

Thus, the task of the Summer Seminar is to provide students with the foundation upon which they can begin to create narratives about the human project in which meaning is again central, and in the words of Jurgen Habermas, develop the “common ethical-political dimension that would be necessary for a corresponding global community.”

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Details of the Seminar Program

The Summer Seminar is a 4-week residential program of intensive reading, writing, reflection, and discussion. Seminar sessions will meet for three hours each morning from Monday through Saturday, and two evenings during each week. Generally students will be expected to read at least two assigned books as well as supplementary articles each week; write one or two short essays per week; and, submit a final extended paper within a month of the seminar’s conclusion.

As is implied from the above, there will be no time for excursions including weekends during the seminar, so that those who may feel the need for touristic experiences should schedule them before or after the seminar. Similarly, daily use of the internet will be very restricted in order to focus on seminar content. So if a prospective applicant is addicted to Facebook and other social networking sites, we suggest that you do not apply, and that you might instead read The Winter of Our Disconnect by Susan Maushart.

Location

The Summer Seminar on Critical Thinking in the 21st Century will be held in the facilities of the Institute for Social & European Studies (ISES) in the picturesque medieval city of Köszeg, Hungary on the border with the Austrian province of Burgenland in the foothills of the Alps. ISES facilities include a beautiful Sigray palace, the Europe House, and the new Advanced Studies Centre and Library located in the Sgraffitto House in Jurisics Square. Köszeg is approximately 3 hours from Budapest and 1 hour plus south of Vienna.

About The Seminar

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Faculty

Dr. James Skelly (Seminar Coordinator), University of Ulster, N. Ireland, & Coordinator for Peace & Justice Programming, BCA Study Abroad

Professor David Coombes, University of Limerick, Ireland

Dr. Jody Jensen, Director of International relations, ISES

Dr. Carl Jubran, President, Institute for American Universities, France

Professor J.D. Mininger, Vytautus Magnus University, Lithuania

Professor Ferenc Miszlivetz, UNESCO Chair, and Founder of ISES

Application Process, Credits, & Fees

The number of participants in the seminar will be limited to no more than 20 students. Therefore, selection of students to participate will be rigorous and early applications are recommended. The program is open to advanced undergraduates, recent graduates, and MA level students. Students who think they would like to participate or want further information should contact Dr. James Skelly. Interviews will be arranged as part of the application process, as well as the submission of supporting documents – jamesmskelly@gmail.com

The deadline for applications is 15 May 2012.