LEWIS JORDAN, PhD
EDUCATOR, PERFORMER
SUBJECT INTERESTS
INTEGRAL STUDIES, MULTICULTURAL THOUGHT, MUSIC, POETRY, PERFORMANCE, IMPROVISATION
The liberating arts call for cultural studies that are interdisciplinary, from great books to great texts in a variety of forms, involving students as participants in their own knowledge creation.
TEACHING STYLE
GROUP LEARNING, TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION, CREATIVITY, IMPROVISATION
How we learn from one another, how we learn about one another, and how we learn: These are questions that pertain to our survival as well as our thriving in harmony with all who share our world; they are questions of justice. Teachers must be and be known as lifelong learners.
EDUCATION
June, 1967 B.A., Liberal Arts. St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD.
An undergraduate program based on the classic tutorial and seminar model, with the Great Books of the Western World as text.
May, 2000 Ph.D., Integral Studies, with emphasis in Learning and Change in Human Systems. California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA.
A graduate program working within a cohort model that integrated the intellectual and spiritual insights of Western and Eastern traditions in study and practice. Dissertation: Improvisation, A Lesson in: Improvisation and Its Relation to Learning
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2000– LECTURER/ADJUNCT FACULTY
Collegiate Seminar, Integral Program; Leadership Studies [SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS], Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, CA.
Instructor for undergraduate core curriculum seminars in the Great Books; Instructor for Euclid’s Elements; Freshman cohort advisor; Designed and taught an intensive four-week course on “The Improvisational Context”; Co-taught graduate course on The Practice of Building a Learning Community.
2009 INSTRUCTOR
Improvisation [SCHOOL OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND TRANSFORMATION], California Institute of Integral Studies, S.F., CA.
Instructor for an elective course, an inquiry into improvisation and the contexts that foster it.
2001–2007 LECTURER
Seminar, Mathematics [SCHOOL OF EXTENDED EDUCATION], Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, CA.
Instructor for Multicultural Thought seminar; Designed reader for and taught Mathematics course in the BA Completion and BA Law programs.
1998–99 ADJUNCT FACULTY
Distance Ph.D. Program in Transformative Learning, California Institute of Integral Studies, S.F., CA.
Taught research methodology in Integral Studies Doctoral (ISD) program; Helped students develop research proposals; Designed and taught course in Indigenous and Traditional Worldviews.
1996 INSTRUCTOR
Bachelor of Arts Completion Program California Institute of Integral Studies, S.F., CA. Taught mathematics for adult students in Bachelor of Arts Completion program.
1993-00 POET/TEACHER
California Poets in the Schools (CPITS) Teaching poetry in public schools, institutions and after-school programs, from Marin Juvenile Hall to Roosevelt Middle School to Lafayette Elementary School.
SPECIAL INSTITUTES
July, 2006, 2007; July, 2009 INSTRUCTOR
Summer Institute for the Gifted (SIG), UC Berkeley campus July, 2009 Taught introductory philosophy courses to middle- and high-school students; algebra; consumer awareness to elementary school students.
FACILITATION
2002–03 CO-FACILITATOR
Leadership for a Changing World (LCW) Facilitated co-operative inquiry group of LCW awardees/grassroots community leaders, as part of the NYU research component of a Ford Foundation project.
PRESENTATIONS / CONFERENCES
April, 2001 Improvisation and Authority.
Presented paper at Conference on The Idea of “the Great Books”: Canon and Community, On and Off Campus, sponsored by the Great Books Foundation and the University of Illinois, Chicago, IL.
March, 2000 Perfecting the Moment: A Cross-Disciplinary Look at Improvisation.
A performance/panel at the Headlands Center of the Arts, in Sausalito, California. Featured were improvisers speaking on their work and performing. Miya Masaoka, India Cooke, Sara Shelton Mann, Genny Lim and Bob Ernst represented improvisation in the fields of music, dance, poetic and theatrical disciplines.
August, 1999 Improvisation, A Lesson in.
Facilitated a workshop at and participated in the organization of the 2nd Annual International Transformative Learning Conference, Dominican College, San Rafael, CA.
May, 1999 Improvisation, A Lesson in.
Presented dissertation research at AERC African American Pre-Conference, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL.
1999 Four-part interdisciplinary series
At the Noh Space in San Francisco: music with poetry, dance, drama and a performance mural, including Alejandro Murguía, devorah major, Genny Lim, Akinyele Sadiq, Joe Vance and Miranda Bergman.
1994 “Language By Any Means Necessary”
A presentation (on KPFA-FM and at the Headlands in Sausalito, CA.) in words and music, composed and improvised, featuring Charles Alston (voice), Q.R. Hand (poetry), myself on alto saxophone, Juan Ceballos (flute), Dhyani Dharma Mas (guitar), Lisle Ellis (acoustic bass), and Donald Robinson (drums).
PERFORMANCE / MUSIC, THEATER, POETRY
1974–present
MUSIC
Alto, baritone saxophones; alto clarinet; poetic recitation.
Music at Large: a series dedicated to interdisciplinary and multicultural productions, with musicians, dancers, actors and poets.
United Front: founded instrumental ensemble of multicultural, improvisatory music and words, which recorded and toured internationally.
Mark Izu-Lewis Jordan Duet: toured and recorded internationally.
Worked with performers from the many branches of improvisational music and performance, including Charles Tyler, Sachiko Nakamura, Anthony Braxton, devorah major, Karlton Hester, Mark Izu, Danny Glover, Genny Lim, Cecil Taylor, Jimmy Biala, John-Carlos Perea, Jon Jang, Francis Wong, Istvan Grencsó, Robert Benko, Nikolaus Neuser, Kay Luebke, Almut Kühne, Ed Montgomery and others.
THEATER
Wrote, composed for and performed in …But Time Will Take You Out at the Eureka Theater.
Co-wrote and acted in Type O and Seven Steps to Go with SoundSeen (“Zen cabaret” with Aoki, Izu, Jordan and Nakamura).
Composed and performed music for production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Venus (Saint Mary’s College production).
POETRY
wordWind Chorus (poetry/music): words/text/poetry, a chorus of voices and music delivering the meaning in poetry.
RECORDINGS
Critical Mass (Jordan and Music at Large).
The Keys to the High Way (Jordan and Music at Large).
face it (Jordan and Music at Large).
this is where i came in (Jordan and Music at Large).
Local Time (Grencsó-Jordan).
Homespun in Black and White (Grencsó-Jordan).
More Travels of a Zen Baptist (Jordan).
we are of the saying (wordWind Chorus).
Circle of Fire (Izu).
Travels of a Zen Baptist (Izu-Jordan).
Live in Berlin; Ohm: Unit of Resistance; Path with a Heart (United Front).
FILM
Featured in film documentary on United Front, Outside in Sight.
Appearance and additional music for Steven Okazaki’s Living on Tokyo Time.