Links &
References
Key materials
- Ancient
land - current connections - Graham Ellis-Smith shares his story
which lead to him developing experiential ways for people to rediscover
their indigenous heart
- Cultural
adaptation in outdoor programming - Sheila Fabrizio and James Neill
present the idea that participating in outdoor education programs is
akin to entering a new country/culture, and thus the stages of
adaptation to culture are relevant, particularly with regard to
preventing chronic culture shock and supporting participants through the
transformative process of adapting behavioral, psychologically,
socially, and emotionally, to a new culture
- Edward
O. Wilson's Biophilia Hypothesis - Wilson argues that we have a
genetically innate affinity with nature
- Social ecology eclectic (SEE): The interconnectedness of
everything - Stuart Hill, University of Western Sydney; also see Stuart
Hill's UWS staff profile and references
- Experiential
& outdoor education for social & eco-sustainability - James
Neill's vision for an outdoor education in which instructors are
shaman's guiding people into skills and consciousness for creating a
sustainable evolutionary future
- Indigenous
knowledge & rites of passage in outdoor education - Examples and
links to examples of indigenous knowledge and practices such as rites of
passage being used in outdoor education
- Evolutionary
psychology: Psychological aspects of human evolution - James Neill
describes the evolutionary psychology, which is similarly termed
sociobiology, the idea that human psychology can be understood as
arising from the principles of evolution described by Charles Darwin
- Garden
therapy: Just looking at natural vistas may improve your physical,
mental health - Michael Waldhaltz, The Wall Street Journal,
September 11, 2003
- Permaculture
& Outdoor Education - Suggests common principles between
permaculture (cooperating with nature to create sustainable lifestyles)
and outdoor education (learning about self, others & nature by
adventuring in the outdoors)
- Permaculture
Principles - Permaculture is a way of cooperating with nature so
that productive & sustainable biosystems can be created for human
living
- Wilderness &
outdoor education - explores wilderness philosophy and theories of
outdoor education which have a nature-based theme
- Exposure
to nature makes people healthier - Dr. Howard Frumkin has written a
literature review that suggests that there are clear physical health
benefits from exposure to nature and draws on E. O. Wilson's biophilia
hypothesis to explain the findings. The full article published in
American
Journal of Preventative Medicine is downloadable.
- Wilderdom:
Simple Living in Nature for Personal & Systemic Transformation -
advances a philosophy of people leaving the suburbs to eke out a more
heart-filled existence living simply and sustainability in natural
surrounds (with a "business" framework)
- World facts about
the universe & the history of human activity on earth - raw
facts about the age of the earth, evolution of humans, and human
activity on earth
Links to Interesting Material
What's new?
David Abram: Cultural ecologist and philosopher
(The Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education, 2004)
Abram, author of "The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception
and Language in a More-than-Human World" weaves the mysteries of nature
back into the human psyche. The barrier between human and nature
disappears. A key player in the deep ecology movement, Abram's
book has received wide acclaim as a "life and world changer".
Cultural Psychology
Evolution
- Atavism -
dictionary definition / Wikpedia
on Atatvism - note the negative connotations associated with early
evolutionary forms; a form of "racial" prejudice? deep-rooted fear
of atavism in modern society
- Pictures
of human evolution - Bringing the story of human evolution to visual
life
Philosophy of Dwelling, House & Space
- The
psychological value of open space
- Thinking
in Exile Or Otherwise Than Being: About Heidegger's notion of
"dwelling" and "being", includes philosophical understanding of the role
of the dwelling (for security to think)
- Architecture
& Home: A discussion of Heidegger's essay "Building Dwelling
Thinking" (1951) - Martin Heidegger, one of the strongest critics of
modern technology, uses the house in one essay as an example for his
thesis that technology has falsified human life
- Notes
Towards a Philosophy of Architectural Space - Michael Paul Jones -
Discusses Heidegger and Mead's philosophy of the space create by the
house. Mead's theories imply that the house, unlike the animal
nest or den, is a space with human meaning rather than merely biological
significance.
- If the environmental psychology findings about the positive benefits
of viewing nature are true, then post-modern house design requires
fundamental transformation in order to impregnate the lived space with
organic nature (soil, flora, fauna, entire biosystems) inside the
dwelling; this fits with the principles of permaculture. The
house was originally designed to as an extra layer of skin or clothing
with more airspace. In recent times the house has become an
endless exercise in abstracting human consciousness from the
fundamentally intimate and necessary rhythms of nature. Palatial
living is hollow and people get lost in themselves. Some other
substitutes may work e.g., self-created art; and those with cultivated
shamanistic faculties may be able to develop natural self-scapes via
connection to archetypal symbols stores within the unconscious and
somatically. Forays into camping and other exercises in minimalistic housing journeys may also have similar effects, but
ultimately this idle tourism is somewhat vain; searching for the
wilderness beyond the threshold of present existence. In recent
book, "The New Nature", Tim Low describes the successful responses
of flora and fauna to feral invasion; and how the new nature is right on
our doorsteps, if only we look and watch and understand the new
biosystems adapting (as they always have) to every-changing
circumstances.
Garden Therapy / Horticultural Therapy
Indigenous Life & Practices
Nature Tourism
Outdoor Education
- Australian
identity and the effect of outdoor education programs - Nola Purdie
and James Neill report the fascinating finding that students who
self-reported themselves as more "Australian" also reported greater
personal development benefits from a state-run outdoor education
program; the implication is clearly that a lack of cultural relevance
can limit the impacts of outdoor education programs
- Earth's Eco
Expeditions - example of USA program using wilderness enounters with
Western eco-psychology / spiritual guides
Ecopsychology
Medical Science
- The Heart's Code: Tapping the Wisdom and Power of Our Heart Energy:
The New Findings About Cellular Memories and Their Role in the
Mind/Body/Spirit Connection - Paul Pearsall (Books by Paul
Pearsall) - Pearsall describes research emerging from heart
transplant patients which suggests evidence for cellular memories stored
in the heart
Shamanism
Links to use for Research
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References to explore
McIntyre, N. (1999). Investigating
adventure experiences: An experiential sampling approach.
Scisco Conscientia, 1(1), 1-13
Murphy, D. & Stich, S. (in press?). Griffiths,
elimination & psychopathology. Metascience.
Ray, J. J., & Singh, S. (1980). Effects of individual
differences on productivity among farmers in India. The Journal of
Social Psychology, 112, 11-17. |