All Dates and Times Listed Are in the Eastern U.S./Canada Time Zone | | | | |
Become a Developmentalist
(or maybe you already are!)
Join Lois Holzman and explore what it means to create growth—not by climbing ladders or advancing through biological or developmental stages, as psychology often teaches, but by building new stages of development together. Come practice, play, and push the boundaries with Lois.
Two time options available:
Sat, May 17, 10:30am or Thurs, May 22, 7pm
Fee: $100 | $50 | $25 | Pay What You Can
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Meet the Creators of
An Encyclopedia of RADICAL HELPING
Sat, June 14, 1:30 - 3pm
Fee: FREE (Suggested Donation $25)
Join us for a bold conversation with Chris Hoff (The Radical Therapist), Erin Segal & Julie Cho (Thick Press), and radical practitioners from around the world. Explore new ways of caring, healing, and building community—beyond diagnosis, beyond the clinic.
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A 5-Week Class w/ Dan Friedman
Mon, Jul 7 - Sun Aug 10
Zoom calls: Sundays, July 13 - Aug 10
12 - 1:30 PM
Fee: $195 | $145 | $45 | Pay What you Can
Explore how ethics shape—and reshape—the world we live in. This class invites organizers, activists, and changemakers to critically examine dominant values like competition, individualism, and self-interest, and consider revolutionary alternatives, starting with "each according to their ability, to each according to their need."
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What Does Freedom Mean to You?
Tune in to this powerful podcast conversation with Elaine B. Holtz—host of Women’s Spaces and President of the Sonoma County chapter of the National Organization for Women—as she speaks with Dr. Raquell Holmes, computational cell biologist and founder of the Freedom Festival, a nationwide celebration of freedom, creativity, and community that spans Juneteenth (June 19) to July 4th. Raquell shares the origins and vision of the Festival and invites us to explore freedom not just as history, but as something we build together.
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From Denmark to NYC:
Building a Movement for Playful Education
March 29 to April 5, the Institute welcomed 10 educators from Denmark’s Playful Learning program—a national initiative involving all six Danish universities to reimagine education with PLAY at its core. Organized by psychologist and ESI Associate, Esben Wilstrup, the visit was a dynamic exchange of practices, ideas, and inspiration. The group explored the power of play with ESI's Lleader of Education and Research, Carrie Lobman and faculty, Marian Rich; engaged with inquiry-based learning and the playworld approach at Brooklyn New School (PS 146) with Beth Ferholt; and co-created performance-based sessions with students at Rutgers University. The week sparked new connections and left the educators eager to advance a pedagogy of play that fosters curiosity, risk-taking, and collective growth.
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New Release: Performance Activism Japanese Edition
We’re excited to announce the Japanese publication of Performance Activism by Dan Friedman (Shinyosha, 2025), translated by Institute Associate, professor Yuji Moro. With its foundation in theater rather than psychology or education, the book offers a fresh perspective on applied performance, activism, and human development. It’s already generating excitement in Japan, where resources like this are rare—especially those that engage concepts like “Mantle of the Expert,” Theatre in Education, and performance as a cultural and developmental practice.
| | Sunday June 8 | 10:30am - 12:00pm | | | |
Join us for a joyful and inspiring celebration! Hear from this year’s International Class graduates—from Kenya, India, Morocco, Argentina, Nigeria, Canada, and the U.S.—who have spent the last 9 months building community, challenging old paradigms, and creating new possibilities for change in classrooms, clinics, theaters, activist spaces, and beyond.
If this kind of immersive experience speaks to you, schedule a Zoom call call with Melissa Meyer to explore whether the 2025/26 International Class is your year to jump in.
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  Host Desire Wandan talks with Abbie VanMeter, Executive Director of the CMM Institute, and Don Waisanen, Professor at Baruch College’s Marxe School. Their conversation introduces Coordinated Management of Meaning Institute (CMM)—a communication theory and practice that sees meaning as something we create together. “CMM and social therapeutics share an understanding of people as builders of the social world,” says VanMeter. This is a clear, concise introduction to a vital social constructionist approach—and its relevance to a world stuck in age-old communication traps. | | East Side Institute Initiatives & Alliances | |
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Emotional support group, 2nd Saturday of each month, at 2pm
Led by Harlem-based physician Jessie Fields, and social therapists Hugh Polk and Rachel Mickenberg. Free Registration.
Learn the skills of creating conversations, 3rd Wednesday of each month, in person, at 11am
With Harlem physician Jessie Fields, Community Health Advocate Allen Cox and Social Therapeutic coach, Marian Rich. Free at St. Philip's Church, 204 West 134 St., NYC
| | Friends of the East Side Institute | |
Self-Paced Course:
Provocative, unsettling, liberating, inspiring… all have been applied to the dialogues on the social construction of knowledge. The ideas have swept across the academic world and into personal and professional life. For many, they contain the ingredients for a promising life together on this planet.
In 6 modules, each with 3 short videos and reading materials, Ken Gergen introduces the transformative ideas of social construction, challenging traditional notions of objectivity, truth, and knowledge. Emphasizing that our views of reality emerge through our relationships, the course explores the powers and limitations of language, the design of dialogues, and the transformation of conflict. Learn more.
| | Creative Director: Ann Green | Graphic Design: Mieke Lippstreu | Video Production: Desire Wandan | | | | |
