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Instructors must be in love with creative ideas. They must generate enormous latent energy. My personal experience has thought me that the success of students is highly proportional to the enthusiasm of their instructors. Thus, instructors must be full of energy. That energy will emanate motivation and inspire creativity. The layers of walls surrounding our creativity should be always the targets. Ironically, many initial attempts to break down those walls may require such an attitude, which can be perceived as craziness. Indeed, creativity is the neighbor of insanity, though they are the farthest angular points on the circle. Creativity needs a special mood. Instructors must recognize that mood. They must be bold and active enough to haunt that mood in each class. They must take the entire class with them from the frozen climate to the mysterious ambiance of creativity. They should encourage them to think differently. 

Creativity is one of the most distinct traits of Homo sapiens. An idea as little as a seed with its bitter taste may be pregnant to a great product. An idea as quick as lightning with its dazzling brightness can create a tremendous fire. A word may create a revolution. An invention, as small as computer chips, may change the global economy. Creativity was defined as "The defeat of habit by originality" by George Lois (whoever he is) or "the power to connect the seemingly unconnected" by Willam Plomer (don't know him either). Without our creative genes and the need for creativity, humans would be still living in caves. As Martin Luther King put, "human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted." More or less, every human being carries those genes. All is needed is to locate and tickle those genes: they will transform to jinnis released from the lamp. 

Students should discover and improve their creative abilities. There should not be  limits for our curiosity. We should attack various problems and find solutions, whatever or wherever they might be. In the end, students should find creative solutions on issues ranging from local and national, to business and personal. Imagine the focus of integrated minds piercing all the barriers like a laser beam! Let there be creativity; the limit is infinity.

Critical and Creative Thinking
 

Learning methods how to think critically and creatively, in my opinion, is the most important skill a student can acquire from college. I do not understand why such a curriculum is not mandated in high schools!

As you may have noticed from the attached transcripts, after receiving B.A. degrees in Philosophy and Near Eastern Studies, I wanted to pursue my graduate education in Critical and Creative Thinking. To my dismay, there was only one graduate program in the entire nation. After taking two courses at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, I realized that the curriculum was not challenging enough.

Last year, I developed a curriculum for an online teaching company, azLearning.com, to be used in its LSAT (The Law School Admission Test) courses. I introduced my curriculum on logical thinking with the following paragraphs:

Smile To the Child in You

Shunning mature eyebrows nearby,
I smile to the child in me, I smile conspicuously.
Peter Pan is jumping around with his little sword;
Paying my friends no special attention:
Trifling with traditions and taboos,
Prickling the illusive mask of social convention.

Stunning jittery faces nearby,
I cheer the child in me, I cheer joyously
Peter Pan is hopping around with his little sling
I hand him purple woofers when he shouts
At the kings who are naked in the crowds
At the priests who tell silly stories on gods!
Ticklish questions hop from his sling:
Whizzing "why"s, buzzing "how"s

Jolt and pester sacred cows.
Scaring travelers in bandwagons nearby,
I give candies to the child in me, I give generously
Each time you blink at a what, or a how or a why 
I think of the child in you, I think anxiously
I wink at the child in you, I wink curiously

Ethics

Though I believe we are all born with an operating system, which contains codes of logical thinking, such as syllogism, I believe that the rules of ethics are learned throughout human experience. Humans do not need revelation or divine guidance to learn 10 commandments—though such religious teachings might have some utility—humans, as "self-interested rational utility maximizers," learn them from their own personal experiences and tragedies of their ancestors. There is an evolution towards democracy and better systems that delicately negotiate the needs and rights of individuals with the needs and imperatives of societies. Thus, so many nations finally were compelled to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Moral rules might initially appear simple; however, complex human interaction and new scientific innovations generate many ethical quandaries. Ethical issues are not usually black and white and it is practically impossible to have categorical rules that clearly distinguish right from wrong. Abortion, euthanasia, eugenics, animal rights, health insurance, organ transplants, client confidentiality, conflict of interest are examples of many ethical issues that we are face to face in this century. 

When I was a college student, among the courses that I found most interesting and useful were Medical Ethics and Legal Ethics. Only a small fraction of college students may become medical doctors or lawyers, but almost all of them will be patients or clients in their lives. Every individual in the society encounters important ethical issues in their lives. I strongly believe that community colleges should provide courses on medical, legal or business ethics.

Comparative Religion

I have twenty years of research and writing experience on religion. I have written numerous books and articles on Islam, including a translation of the Quran. I have also written two books on Christianity. My books on Islam have created worldwide interest in reformation of Islam. 

I participate in interfaith Scripture study, where Rabiis, Pastors and Emams participate. I have no doubt that I can provide excellent information about world's most popular religions. Currently, I am studying Zen Buddhism, and find many similarities between Zen and Sufism.

Teaching Experience

Though I have years of lecturing experience in political, legal meetings and congregational prayers, my first college level teaching experience was at the University of Arizona; I was a Teaching Assisting as part of the honor program. Later, I was employed by the Tutoring Center of the University, where I learned how to deal with students both in classes and individually.

As an adjunct professor at the Pima College, I pick one or two students as my Teaching Assistants for each chapter. I promote informal setting, and if it is a small class I ask them to sit in circles. Occasionally, I bring snack to the class. I develop professional, yet close relationship with students and encourage them to speak their mind and suggest better ways to handle the classes. Remembering the hardship I experienced during my school years, I even encourage them to share rides and I facilitate their exchange of phone numbers and addresses.

For introductory level philosophy classes, to instill the love of wisdom, I de-emphasize the names of philosophers and jargons. Instead, I emphasize the purpose and nature of philosophical arguments and their critical evaluation. I tell them that they should not underestimate themselves and should consider themselves as philosophers. 

In introductory level philosophy classes, most students are total strangers to philosophical thinking, a few students have impressive background or insight, and some are in between. Accommodating each level, I admit, is a daunting task. In the beginning of semesters, I ask the students to write down three of the most important questions they have. To grab their interest, I use the Aladdin's Lamb story. The jinni will answer their most important questions. Those questions provide me some information about the level of each student just in the beginning of the class. If the identity of the next NFL champion is one of the most important "philosophical" questions asked by a student, then that student needs special attention. To check my performance, in the mid-semester I ask students to write down the ten most important questions they have. This time they have deeper and more philosophical questions. 

As a philosophy professor, my job is not to pour wisdom in the minds of students, but to let them discover their own capabilities and potentials. Recognizing philosophical questions, getting interested in searching their answers, and questioning the authority are perhaps the most important lessons a student should learn from an introductory level philosophy class. I see myself accomplished when the most timid student finds courage to challenge my arguments towards the middle of the semester. Yes, after zillions of contradicting philosophers and after the bizarre findings of quantum physics, Socrates is still right!

What to gain from College in General 
and from My Classes in Particular

Community Colleges should teach students the bird's view of our vast knowledge databases. Before surrendering themselves to the tyranny of specialization, students should be aware of their options and infinite combinations of disciplines. Community Colleges while preparing some students to continue their education at universities, they also prepare many for real life, just in two years. Without ignoring the realities of life, students should learn that they have the power to influence and even change that reality through their idealism. Increase of material gain (or call it greed) is over encouraged by the consumerist magnetic field we live in. To neutralize the destructive power of materialism, students should learn the joy and value of being just a human being, isolated from rank, wealth, youth, ethnic identity, color, sex, cloths etc. 

College students should not fail to learn to use their brains to the full capacity and always be in struggle to find a better answer or solution. They should not fear to ask questions and they should not panic if they cannot find answers immediately. They may not find, but they should fall in love with the search of wisdom. They should also learn how to tolerate different ideas and how to see issues from different perspectives, including of their opponents.

Sensitivity to and Ability to Work With Diverse Racial, Ethnic, Gender, Disabled, and Cultural Populations

As a Kurd, I have learned well the difficulties of being a racial minority when I lived in Turkey. As a Man, I learned how to be sensitive to women's issues when I noticed the misogynistic teachings of clergymen. I learned how a woman may feel in a male-dominant business world when I took a course on Feminist Law in a class where women were the majority and the instructor was a woman!

I am optimistic that we are going to eliminate the primitive and irrational hostilities among humans. We may not finish the job within a decade or even a century, but I think we are on the right track to do so.
  
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