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'''Jean Houston''' (born 10 May 1937) is an American scholar, lecturer, author and philosopher who has helped pioneer and motivate the human potentials movement. As a teacher and visionary thinker, Houston holds conferences and seminars with social leaders, educational institutions and business organizations worldwide. She has worked in over 40 cultures and 100 countries, helping leaders maintain cultural uniqueness as their countries become part of the global community. As an author, Houston has written or co-written nearly 30 books. She has been an advisor to political leaders and to [[UNICEF]] and, since 2003, has worked with The [[United Nations Development Group]] training leaders in the new field of Social Artistry.<ref name="JHFoundation">{{cite web|title=Jean Houston Foundation |url=http://www.jeanhoustonfoundation.org/ |publisher=Jean Houston Foundation |accessdate=2011-09-20}}</ref>
'''Jean Houston''' (born 10 May 1937) is an American scholar, lecturer, author and philosopher who has helped pioneer and motivate the human potentials movement. As a teacher and visionary thinker, Houston holds conferences and seminars with social leaders, educational institutions and business organizations worldwide. She has worked in over 40 cultures and 100 countries, helping leaders maintain cultural uniqueness as their countries become part of the global community. As an author, Houston has written or co-written nearly 30 books. She has been an advisor to political leaders and to [[UNICEF]] and, since 2003, has worked with The [[United Nations Development Group]] training leaders in the new field of Social Artistry.<ref name="JHFoundation">{{cite web|title=Jean Houston Foundation |url=http://www.jeanhoustonfoundation.org/ |publisher=Jean Houston Foundation |accessdate=2011-09-20}}</ref> Houston was listed in the Watkins' Mind Body Spirit magazine as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People in 2012. <ref>http://www.watkinsbooks.com/review/watkins-spiritual-100-list-2012</ref>


==Early years==
==Early years==

Revision as of 15:41, 6 March 2012

Jean Houston
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Teacher, Lecturer, Speaker, Researcher in Human Capacities, Philosopher

Jean Houston (born 10 May 1937) is an American scholar, lecturer, author and philosopher who has helped pioneer and motivate the human potentials movement. As a teacher and visionary thinker, Houston holds conferences and seminars with social leaders, educational institutions and business organizations worldwide. She has worked in over 40 cultures and 100 countries, helping leaders maintain cultural uniqueness as their countries become part of the global community. As an author, Houston has written or co-written nearly 30 books. She has been an advisor to political leaders and to UNICEF and, since 2003, has worked with The United Nations Development Group training leaders in the new field of Social Artistry.[1] Houston was listed in the Watkins' Mind Body Spirit magazine as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People in 2012. [2]

Early years

Houston was born May 10, 1937, in New York City, to Mary Todaro Houston, of Sicilian American descent, and Jack Houston, descended from Sam Houston of Texas.[3] Jack Houston was a comedy writer who developed material for stage, television and the movies. His work required him to move frequently, and the young Houston experienced life in many places, attending over 20 schools by the time she was 12. She also met many celebrities through her father. After the breakup of her parents' marriage, she spent her teen years in New York City.

Houston participated in many school and outside activities, coming in contact with a number of the personages who at that time resided in New York. As president of a group of school journalists, she met both Helen Keller and Eleanor Roosevelt during this period, but it was an accidental encounter that would bring her into contact with the man who would become the greatest influence on the young scholar. While walking her dog near her own home, Houston literally ran into Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French philosopher and Jesuit priest whose revolutionary ideas of spirituality were quite beyond his time. The two became friends, though Houston knew him only as "Mr. Thayer," and they would walk together regularly, conversing on subjects that helped form an insatiable thirst for ideas and an openness to spirituality that would serve Houston for the rest of her life.

Education and early career

While earning her BA from Barnard College, Houston became involved in acting and combined her efforts to earn an academic degree with a stage career, spending most of her spare time in theaters and enjoying a measure of success as an actor. When the time came to make a decision for a life path, however, Houston found herself choosing to further her studies into the human mind. She subsequently earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Union Graduate School and a Ph.D. in Religion from the Graduate Theological Foundation.[4]

While participating in a government sanctioned research project on the effects of LSD (before such research was banned), Houston became acquainted with Robert Masters, a writer and a researcher into the varieties of human behavior and potentials. The two married in 1965 and soon became known for their work in the Human Potential Movement. They are considered to be among the movement's principal founders. Together they established The Foundation for Mind Research.

Houston's early work in LSD research led her to a deeper awareness of the potentials of the human mind. She became a regular lecturer on college campuses, encouraging students to seek their potential without the use of drugs. Further research into the human mind and capacities led to associations with many high achieving people as she and Masters sought a better understanding of characteristics that led to greatness. Among many others, she worked closely with Carl Jung, Buckminster Fuller, and Aldous Huxley. During the years of NASA moon landings, she worked with returning astronauts, including Edgar Mitchell, to help them uncover details of what they saw in space.

Academic career

Houston lectured in Psychology and Philosophy at Hunter College and taught at Marymount College. She has guest lectured at a number of universities, including The University of California, Santa Cruz. During this period, Houston began an association with the anthropologist Margaret Mead that would last until Mead's death and included periods during which Mead lived in Houston's home. Through Margaret Mead, Houston began to work in cultures around the world and expanded her knowledge of societies and cultural ethos. Another strong influence on Houston's work came from her association with mythologist Joseph Campbell. Houston worked closely with Campbell on his PBS television series. This work increased her understanding of and appreciation for the role of mythology and storytelling on societies. She had first become impressed by Campbell and his work as a young girl, when she read Campbell's groundbreaking work on world mythologies, The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

Controversy

By the 1990s, Houston was well known for her work as a writer, lecturer, and human potentials researcher. During the Clinton presidential years, Houston was invited by Hillary Clinton to work with her in The White House as an advisor while Ms. Clinton was writing her own book, It Takes a Village. Drawing on methods she had developed to help people access wells of their own knowledge, Houston suggested an imaginary meeting between Clinton and Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the historical figures Ms. Clinton admired. This visualization was aimed at tapping into Clinton's own inner wisdom. While no actual attempts were made to contact spirits, the politically fired media frenzy that resulted when the practice was reported as a seance led to an immediate redirecting of Houston's career.[5] However, the weight of Houston's accomplishments up to that time, and the reputation she had established, allowed her to survive this temporary setback.

Mystery School

In 1984, Houston began teaching a seminar based on the concept of the ancient Mystery Schools, specialized trainings available to seekers of knowledge and the advancement of spirituality. In Houston's modern day version, seekers experience teachings on many levels and participate in experiential processes designed with the authority of the years of Houston's research and expertise into human potentials.[6]

Social artistry

Through her work in cultures around the world, Houston developed methods to spark cultural awareness and pride and to use these forces to help rejuvenate cultures. Always working with an eye toward what the human and society could be, Houston developed the concept of approaching social development and progress the way an artist approaches a work of art. This technique, Social Artistry,[7] represents a new model for leadership. Houston, working through the United Nations Development Group, has been training leaders through this modality since 2003. Under the direction of Monica Sharma,[8] then Director of Leadership and Capacity Development for the UN, Houston traveled to developing nations throughout the world bringing Social Artistry techniques to leadership groups. As of 2011, Social Artistry trainings and projects are ongoing in a number of countries and new leaders are being trained on a constant basis. This work is supported through The Jean Houston Foundation.[1]

Publications

Books by Jean Houston (Partial List)

Mystical Dogs: Animals as Guides to our inner Life Inner Ocean Publishing (2002) ISBN 1930722133

Jump Time: Shaping Your Future in a World of Radical Change Sentient Publications (2nd Ed. 2004) ISBN 1591810183

The Passion of Isis and Osiris: A Union of Two Souls Wellspring/Ballantine (1998) ISBN 0345424778

A Mythic Life: Learning to LIve our Greater Story HarperSanFrancisco (1996) ISBN 0062502824

Manual for the Peacemake: An Iroquois Legent to Heal Self (with Margaret Rubin) Quest Books (1995) ISBN 0835607097

Public Like a Frog: Entering the Lives of three Great Americans Quest Books (1993) ASIN B0026SIU0G

The Hero and the Goddess: The "Odyssey" as Mystery and Initiation Ballantine Books (1992) ISBN 0345365674

Godseed: The Journey of Christ Quest Books (1988) ISBN 0835606775

A Feminine Myth of Creation (with Diana Vandenberg, in Dutch) J.H. Gottmer (1988) ISBN 9025721184

The Search for the Beloved: Journeys in Mythology and Sacred Psychology Tarcher (2nd Ed. 1997) ISBN 0874778719

The Possible Human: A course in Extending Your Physical, Mental, and Creative Abilities Tarcher (2nd. Ed. 1997) ISBN 0874778727

Life Force: The Psycho-Historical Recovery of the Self Quest Books (2nd. ed. 1993) ISBN 0835606872

Books with Robert Masters

Mind Games Doubleday (1972) ISBN 0385286503

Listening to the Body: The Psychophysical Way to Health and Awareness Delta (1979) ISBN 0385285779

The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience Park Street Press (2000 edition) (1966) ISBN 0892818972

Film and television appearances

References

  1. ^ a b "Jean Houston Foundation". Jean Houston Foundation. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  2. ^ http://www.watkinsbooks.com/review/watkins-spiritual-100-list-2012
  3. ^ Houston, Jean 1996 A Mythic Life. New York: Harper Collins
  4. ^ http://www.jeanhouston.com/Jean-Houston/meet-jean.html
  5. ^ http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20141719,00.html
  6. ^ http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/houston.html
  7. ^ http://www.socialartistryinstitute.org
  8. ^ http://www.noetic.org/directory/person/monica-sharma/

External links

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