In our world, the arts are no longer some parallel experience you have along the way, but rather a powerful source of insight and transformation feeding directly into the thinking, feeling and acting of daily life - full of possibility, truth and optimism. — John Cimino

In September 2005, Creative Leaps International will keynote the 2005 world conference of the International Organizational Development Association (IODA) in Gunajuato, Mexico. The conference will focus on issues of leadership, imagination and social consciousness as informed by the seminal thinking of Maxine Greene, renowned philosopher of education and the arts. Noted for her outspoken views on applying imagination courageously in the social sphere, Dr. Greene has inspired generations of educators, social activists and artists throughout the United States and abroad.

“We can’t separate imagination from the ethical, the political, the social,” says Greene. “It is our opening to what is not yet, what might be, new possibilities.” But she adds, “Not all imagination is benevolent. There is also dark imagination. We need experience with destructive imagination before we can engage constructive imagination. It starts with dread, with noticing. We must bear witness…What comes before social justice is the perception of injustice—the saying, ‘This is inhumane.’ Then, we ask what can we do to repair it—to make it better. This is social imagination.”

The Creative Leaps team will design its keynote presentation, the Concert of Ideas™, to explore the implications of Dr. Greene’s insights and the profound questions they raise. A catalyst for innovative thinking and dialogue, the Concert of Ideas™ is a signature presentation of Creative Leaps International that includes music, poetry, and theatre. The Concert of Ideas™ specially designed for the IODA conference will center upon keynote ideas from Dr. Greene and other provocative thinkers across the centuries and around the globe.

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Releasing the Imagination by Maxine Greene (Book Review)