About the Institute
Our mission is to contribute to the making of better social worlds by reflecting on current patterns of communication and building better ones. We know that the skills necessary for making better social worlds are unevenly distributed and often in shortest supply when needed most. We are dedicated to improving this situation by promoting abilities, skills, and ways of being that enable us to act compassionately, mindfully, and wisely into the complex worlds in which we live.
The Institute’s goal is best expressed as learning together how to develop and share a cosmopolitan sensibility regarding our communication practices. This cosmopolitan sensibility can be expressed in several ways, including the idea that we remain profoundly curious about, and open to, the many ways of being human, seeing each way as one reality among many, and appreciating that all are constructed in different ongoing patterns of communicating.
In all of these efforts, the goal is to shift our taken-for-granted view of communication (as a simple tool for exchanging ideas and information) to a more complex understanding of the creative power of communication. In practical terms, these shifts are facilitated using tools and models inspired and informed by the Theory of the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM).
The Institute itself represents a diverse community of individuals, groups and organizations who use the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) theory to inform and enhance their work. We engage with, and learn from one another, through a variety of online and in-person forums. Individual scholars and practitioners, educators and thought leaders, and institutional advocates comprise the core of the Institute’s supporters. However, the Institute’s programs and events are open to everyone.
As the institutional home and on-going keeper of CMM’s living history, the Institute partners with people, organizations and projects that represent significant, relevant, and applicable ways to institutionalize better patterns of communication.
The public benefit 501(c)3 Institute provides:
- Opportunities for collaboration, research, and teaching, including our joint graduate student fellowship program with Columbia University and joint conferences held with like-minded organisations such as the UK Association for Family Therapy
- Professional development programs for emerging and established CMM practitioners, including our annual CMMi Fellowship program
- Development and implementation of demonstration projects, showing how we can make better social worlds, especially demonstrated in our long-term CosmoKidz and Cosmopolis projects
- Worldwide networking and information sharing most notably conducted through our Learning Exchanges and occasional webinars
- Fresh insights about CMM’s capacity to transform contemporary social issues and covered in the CMMi Press publication program
- Advocacy for the continued improvement of personal and public communication in all walks of life, through our publications, our sponsored projects and our networking
- Support for the continued development of CMM as a practical theory and as a way of being in the world
The Board of Stewards
The Institute is overseen by an international Board of Stewards. The members of the board voluntarily contribute their time and expertise to fulfilling the vision of the Institute. At various times, the members take on specific responsibilities for particular projects and activities that suit their passions and their time available. The current responsibilities include:
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| Barton Buechner, PhD | CMMi Fellows, CMMI Secretary |
| Beth Fisher-Yoshida, PhD | CMMi Fellows, AC4 Fellows, CMMi Editorial Collective |
| Marit Eikaas Haavimb, MABPSS | CosmoKidz |
| Arthur Jensen, PhD | Cosmopolis-2045, CMMi Editorial Collective |
| Barbara McKay, D.Psych | CMMi Press Editorial Collective, UK/AFT Liaison |
| Sergej van Middendorp, PhD | CMMI Treasurer, Fielding Graduate University & Institute for Global Integral Competence Liaison |
| Kimberly Pearce, MA | Cofounder, President, CosmoKidz |
| Robyn Penman, PhD | Honorary Life Associate, Cosmopolis, CMMi Press Editor, Newsletter Editor |
| Susan Steen, PhD | CMMi Editorial Collective |
| Daniel Walters | CosmoKidz |
| Don Waisanen, PhD | CosmoTeenz Teen Fellows Project, Cosmopolis-2045 |
| Ilene Wasserman, PhD | CMMi Fellows, CMMi Editorial Collective |
Latest news about the CMM Institute
CosmoActivities has a new home
CosmoActivities has a new home
CosmoKidz, CosmoTweenz, CosmoTeenz, and our SOAR Resources have a new home! Here you will find all of our resource sets and they are available for free.
We have a Substack!
We have a Substack!
We now have a Substack that holds all of our CMMi created resources, including infographics, podcasts, videos, books and more. We invite you to learn more about this new website and to participate in the opportunities offered.
Stories of destiny
Stories of destiny
What is destiny and to what extent do we have a role to play in controlling the events of our lives? How much we can be effective in shaping our fate, life and death? These are the central questions explored in a new book, The Valley of Loneliness, written by Hossein Kaviani, a past CMMi Fellow.
Inner Jazz: An allegorical tale
Inner Jazz: An allegorical tale
And for something completely different…Rik Spann offers us a delightful allegorical story about our inner rhythms and taking turns.
Stories Lived. Stories Told. : A testament to emergence
Stories Lived. Stories Told. : A testament to emergence
The Stories Lived. Stories Told podcast is well into Season 3. This is beyond our initial expectation and, on reflection, it is yet again another testament to the value of emergence. Abbie VanMeter reflects on the development of the podcast.
CosmoParents: Have you a story to share?
CosmoParents: Have you a story to share?
Cosmoparents is the latest development in our CosmoActivities resource sets. We hope to share stories from parents about their own parenting experiences and invite you to participate in the next round of developments.
CMMi Fellows 2024: A diversity of issues
CMMi Fellows 2024: A diversity of issues
We have five new Fellows for 2024 and their projects cover a diversity of issues: from stories of merit in Malaysia, through to disability accommodation, trauma-informed systemic practice, spirituality, and race and identity.
Don Waisanen: Democracy Renewal award
Don Waisanen: Democracy Renewal award
Don Waisanen, one of our Stewards, is an inaugural grantee for the Democracy Renewal Project. This project is part of a new program of research funding offered by Public Agenda, a research-to-action nonprofit in the US dedicated to building a democracy that works for everyone.
A great new interpersonal communication text: Review
A great new interpersonal communication text: Review
John Chetro-Szivos reviews Arthur Jensen’s and Sarah Trenholm’s newly published interpersonal communication text. This is a significantly revised eighth edition of their undergraduate text that John describes as masterfully weaving information on interpersonal theory into a vibrant tapestry of ideas and applications. John sums up his review with “this is the text I wish I had as an undergraduate”.
Revealing the narratives of peace-building in Colombia: A CMM perspective
Revealing the narratives of peacebuilding in Colombia: A CMM perspective
Joan Camilo López, the Youth, Peace, and Society program manager in the AC4-Climate School at Columbia University gives us an overview of the ways Colombians have narrated peace and war, especially those Colombians who have been officially silenced. She shows how using a CMM perspective can help to identify and reveal new narrative possibilities.