Summer 1998 Courses, M.A. Whole Systems Design

Whole Systems Design is a challenging new field of academic inquiry, designed for adults who wish to develop themselves professionally as creative designers of complex human activity systems. The program is competency-based utilizing course work, individualized study, and experiential learning. The degree process is modeled on the creative process, which assures that the student's learning experience is more than an aggregation or summation of discrete course work. The student is at the heart of the degree structure and actively participates in the program as a self-directed learner within a community of learners.

WIN505G: WSD Individual Design Lab: Divergence (3)

Limited to and required for all WSD students

The intention of Divergence is for the student to select degree committee members and explore unfamiliar intellectual territory without prejudging the utility or meaning of this new learning, guided by the student's personal interest and passions and in consultation with faculty and field advisors. The student forms a working relationship with a faculty advisor, prepares an Integrated Self-Assessment, plans and implements a formal degree committee meeting, and carries out an action plan designed in consultation with the degree committee. The student will explore interests across disciplinary, professional, or other boundaries of inquiry and gain diverse perspectives and new forms of knowledge, as well as new abilities. These goals can be accomplished through the design of independent studies and other learning activities.

Limited to and required for all WSD students

The intention of Convergence is for the student to form the primary core questions that define the domain and boundaries of inquiry in the form of opportunities and issues which are the focus of the Graduate Project. The questions are developed in consultation with the student's Degree Committee. The student will prepare an Integrated Self-Assessment, plan and implement a formal degree committee meeting, and carry out an action plan designed in consultation with the degree committee. The first draft of the individualized Knowledge Area Contract is developed, which, in addition to other independent learning activities, is intended to frame and provide context for the Candidacy work which follows.

Limited to and required for all WSD students

The intention of the Design Development Lab of the Whole Systems Design degree process is for the student to initiate Graduate Project ideas, which ideas are the product of the cognitive leap experienced during the "Aha" phase of design inquiry. The student will prepare an Integrated Self-Assessment, plan and implement a formal degree committee meeting, and carry out an action plan designed in consultation with the Degree Committee. The student prepares appropriate and cohesive documentation that describes the Graduate Project, its context, and the evaluation method to be used. Working with a client/clients, the student designs the Graduate Project that embodies and demonstrates his/her understanding of Whole Systems Design and the student's capabilities as a Whole Systems Designer. The Graduate Project is based on creative insight into the resolution of questions and is then used to demonstrate and verify competencies and creative/critical thinking skills. Learning activities, independent studies, demonstration of learning, and project documentation in this phase provide the foundation on which a Candidacy status will be granted.

Limited to and required for all WSD students

Innovation includes the implementation of the Graduate Project design. The Graduate Project is then tested in a real world setting, evaluated, and further refined. While putting some important aspect of the design at risk in the real world and finding the appropriate setting for testing these ideas, the student actively reflects upon the success of the implementation. Feedback is received from both the Client(s) and Degree Committee. Synthesis is the opportunity for the student to cohesively reflect upon the totality of the student's degree program, identify emergent qualities, and communicate learnings and overall experience. The student's final documentation includes a professional action plan for taking the new learning into the world.

Rodney E. Donaldson (3) L12 Tue. 4:00-10:00 pm

Class meets 7/7, 7/14, 7/21, 7/28 and 8/4

Prerequisite: Systems Epistemology

The purpose of this course is to explore in depth the nature and implications of epistemology in the domains of art, religion, biology, ethology, organizational development, personal experience, and whole systems design. An experiential laboratory for deepening the understandings gained in Systems Epistemology, the course will focus on data and experience, enriched by a very small amount of reading. Topics may include ethics, aesthetics, the sacred, implicit contexts, emotion, language, ecological determinism, the epistemology immanent in assorted animals and plants, responsibility and freedom, constitutive and transcendental ontologies and their roles in human interaction, and other class interests - all with a view to strengthening wholistic systemic epistemological habits.

Farouk Y. Seif (3) L12

Wed. 4:00-7:00 pm on 8/5, 8/12, 9/2, 9/9 plus one weekend retreat on Aug. 22 & 23

Prerequisite: Immersion into Whole Systems Design. Non-WSD students need written permission of instructor.

A deeper understanding of design as a practice of wholeness has generally been ignored by the prevailing tendency in design traditions. The work of love (Agape, Eros, Philios) has also been neglected in most design education and profession. Though designing in the true sense of the word is a philomorphic (form-loving) activity, little is known about the relationships between wholeness, love, and design. The indivisible triad of Whole-Systems-Design also brings the notion of whole into the forefront of our attention. The purpose of this seminar is to provide a context for a rigorous inquiry into the nature of Wholophilia as an active love for wholeness materialized through the act of design. Our focus will be on whole-loving, the intention and desire for the unfolding whole in a manner which implies a unison of aesthetics and spirituality, order and love. We will explore the concept of Wholophilia in two different but integrated ways: as a prerequisite for systems thinking, and as a manifestation of design action. Our dialogue and inquiry into the realm of Wholophilia will be guided by the following topics:

1. Nature and purpose of design
2. Wholeness, love, and the nature of order
3. Cosmology, spirituality, and the phenomenon of wholeness
4. Guiding principles of Wholophilia
5. The dynamics of Wholophilia and the process of creating whole
6. Wholeness and love as essential design skills
7. The source of connections between aesthetics and wholeness
8. Self-expression and the expression on behalf of the others

Betsy Geist (3-5) L12

4:00-9:30 pm on 7/6, 7/13, 7/27, 8/3, 9/9 plus 1:00-7:00 pm on 7/20

(Schedule may change due to speakers availability, please check at registration)

Prerequisite: Immersion into Whole Systems Design. Non-WSD students need some background in design and systems theory AND written permission of instructor.

This course is designed as an inquiry into our relationships with our surroundings - asking such questions as: What is the nature of the places we create? How are we different in different locations? What do we draw from a place? What experiences does it offer? What experiences may be precluded? The course is intended to develop greater awareness of our relationships with place, so as to be more perceptive and systemic designers. Places - both built and natural - may affect our sense of self, our sense of safety, the kind of work we get done, the ways we interact with other people, even our ability to function as citizens in a democratic society. Building from our sensory experience of place, we will explore Seattle as a place we hold in common - an evolving synthesis of its naturally occurring location, conscious and unconscious human design, and relationship with its larger environment. The course will include a walking tour of downtown Seattle, and a variety of guest speakers. The course may be taken for 5 credits by students wishing to participate in the Whidbey Institute's "Spirit of Place" Retreat, or 4 credits by students wishing to do an additional substantive project.

The OSR Program in Whole Systems Design provides the opportunity for learners to achieve excellence as designers and leaders of change, with particular emphasis on change within organizations. Each OSR cohort is a dynamic learning community of students, core faculty, and renowned visiting faculty. Meeting in a monthly weekend format for seven consecutive quarters, students learn to recognize the synergistic qualities and opportunities inherent in living systems. Through collaborative planning, designing, and presentation sessions, they develop the professional courage to move theory to practical action in order to help individuals, groups, organizations, and communities manage their own transformation and renewal. Graduates receive a Diploma of Competency awarded by the visiting faculty as well as a Master of Arts in Whole Systems Design from Antioch University.

This is the fourth quarter of OSR IX, a two-year learning community cohort. Limited to students enrolled in the Organization Systems Renewal Program in Whole Systems Design.

The intent of this course is to provide participants with the opportunity for independent study, application of change leadership skills, and design development leading to change consultation projects. Students will be developing and demonstrating the ability to create and implement a whole systems design, and to apply consultative leadership skills in organizational settings. Personal development will be continued through the integration of theory and practice of wholistic wellness at individual and organizational levels.

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