Download wisr-conference-2016.. - Western Institute for Social Research

Abstracts with Bios for 2016 Conference
Beyond Behavioral Medicine: Larry Berkelhammer, PhD, will define and describe the
importance of self-compassion, self-forgiveness, loving self-care, self-empowerment, and selfefficacy. Without those attributes, people live limited lives, never reaching their full potential
and never contribute their best to make the world a better place. Those attributes can be
cultivated when people are taught and given direction and support on how to practice gaining
acquisition of specific life skills. In my presentation, interspersed with interactive dialog, Larry
will provide the audience with a brief experiential introduction to practices they can adopt, which
will help them to cultivate those qualities and skills in order to no longer suffer with selfcriticism, shame, and obsessive thought patterns. They will learn how to identify and gain
distance from unhealthy beliefs.
Following a life-altering experience of self-healing, Larry Berkelhammer changed
careers from business to mind-body medicine in order to learn all he could about how the mind
can heal the body and then teach those skills to others suffering with chronic medical conditions.
He trained with the following world leaders in this field: O. Carl Simonton MD, Jeanne
Achterberg PhD, Frank Lawless PhD, Lawrence LeShan PhD, James S Gordon MD, James FT
Bugental PhD, Erik Peper PhD, and Ron Kurtz. His BA & PhD are from WISR.
Discussion of Draft Campus Effectiveness Plan--Building on WISR's Past, Analyzing the
Present and Moving Forward into the Future: John Bilorusky, PhD, WISR President,
Faculty Member, and Co-Founder, will present, for discussion, his draft of WISR's "Campus
Effectiveness Plan" (CEP). This draft is based on feedback received from a recent questionnaire
to Faculty, Students, Alumni and Board regarding: 1) WISR's main strengths that should be
retained and further supported, and 2) areas where WISR could need improvement. It is also
based on discussions, and on recent improvements in progress, about WISR's future and current
opportunities and challenges, during the past two years at monthly faculty meetings, frequent
executive committee meetings, and periodic Board meetings, as well as in ongoing informal
conversations among members of WISR's learning community. The CEP provides a plan for the
next steps in WISR's future--that is mindful of WISR's distinctive mission and learning methods,
our collective experience over the past 41 years, and analyses of current and future opportunities
and challenges. At the end of September, the CEP will be formally submitted to the Accrediting
Council of Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) as an important next step in WISR's
efforts to seek national accreditation.
John Bilorusky has a BA cum laude, General Studies and Physics from the University of
Colorado, 1967; an MA in Sociology of Education from the University of California at Berkeley,
1968 and a PhD, Higher Education from UC Berkeley, 1972. John is President of WISR, was a
co-founder of WISR in 1975, and has served full-time on WISR’s faculty ever since. Before that,
he taught social sciences at the University of California, Berkeley and community services at the
University of Cincinnati. He is the author of many published articles and papers on higher
education and social change, adult learning, and practical, community-based and participatory
research methods. He has served as a consultant for community agencies in the area of
participatory action-research. He has conducted evaluations of liberal arts colleges and
educational innovations, performed public policy research, and helped others to
create community-involved colleges. John is Chair of the Board of the Association of Private
Postsecondary Education in California.
Higher Education, Knowledge Building and Leadership: How Can Academics Take
Responsibility for Social Change? Che Kum Clement, PhD will present about knowledge
society and knowledge economy today place cognitive resources at the centre of human activity
and social dynamics. The production of knowledge today covers a vast range of activities inter
alia universities, public laboratories, research centers, and think-tanks run by civil society
groups, industry and the private sector, which has critical implications for a country’s knowledge
base. This paper attempts to look at the role and responsibilities of universities and other higher
education institutions as a place where today’s youths who are the future nation builders can be
educated to acquire knowledge. Universities and higher education institutions need to educate
tomorrow’s youths in such a way that upon graduation they should be equipped with
competencies which can influence them contribute in developing and change the society in
which they live. This implies that academics need to take as obligation to acquire wisdom to
understand how different disciplines and different cultures are interconnected with issues that
may determine the faith of its citizens during transmission of knowledge. Therefore, universities
should be a place where students should learn how to change their society as a means to bring
long term happiness and prosperity to their countries and to today’s troubled world.
Che Kum Clement is a Board member, and also African regional representative of
(UNIP), United Network on Innovation and Professional Development in Technical and
Vocational Education and Training (TVET) working in collaboration with UNESCO-UNEVOC.
He is also the president of Cameroon Association for Technical Education and Vocational
Training (CATEVOT). Che Kum is the founding President and life member of IUT Alumni
Association.
Che Kum’s research interest is in the development of the capacity of teachers of technical
and vocational education and also in developing the capacity of youth in the area of TVET as a
means of social change. Che Kum has published many papers in international conferences in
USA, UK, Russia, Israel, China, Malaysia, Thailand, to name a few, and has also published
many papers in refereed journals in the area of Technical and Vocational Education and
Training.
Workforce Development for Careers in the Legal Field - Legal Secretary Vocational
Training Program: Dalia Liang Moore, WISR MS Student.
The attorney support field is an untapped potential for workforce development programs
that target communities with certain characteristics; for example: immigrants with basic English
proficiency, welfare-to-work parents, at-risk youth and adults. These communities are in dire
need for job training that’s low-cost, short-term, and results-driven. The San Francisco Bay Area
is a national hub for legal transactions worldwide. There are more than 248,000 attorneys in
California, according to the State Bar’s website. Jobs are plentiful for legal support staff from a
wide variety of specialization that meet different people’s interests. Jobs in the legal field tend to
be well-paid and well respected. In this Powerpoint, she will talk about the efforts she has
undertaken, since she enrolled at WISR in May 2015, in creating a Legal Secretaries Vocational
Training Program to help emancipated youth and incarcerated women.
Dalia Liang Moore is a seasoned legal support professional with an unwavering
commitment to social justice. During her two decades of employment in the legal field, she has
provided full-scale litigation support services to government agency attorneys, public interest
attorneys, as well as private and pro bono attorneys in an abundance of cases: employment,
taxation, eminent domain, special education, disability rights, elder protection and health care
law, and complex civil litigation.
Dalia speaks fluent Spanish and Chinese, and in the late 80s and 90s, was translator and
advocate to battered women and immigrant women of sex crimes. Dalia also helped at-risk
youth stay in school and counseled persons with HIV/AIDS and terminal cancer.
In Spring-2006, Dalia graduated, with high honors, from San Francisco State
University’s Paralegal Studies Program. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational
Behavior from University of San Francisco (Class of 2009).
Dalia lives in the East Bay with her husband Tyler, her two children Kyle and Leon, and
their dog HoneyButt.
For profiles of faculty on panels and collaborative seminars, see our website:
http://www.wisr.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty-profiles/