Re: [xmca] empirical evidence (Vygotskian 1960s lobby @ Harvard, broader--Boston area)

[Anton Yasnitsky <the_yasya@yahoo.com>]

Yes Mike, the  Vygotskian lobby at Harvard is not what is often talked about, and is certainly a part of the history

of informal personal networks, like, e.g. the Vygotsky Circle.

The beauty of informal personal networks in science is in the fact that -- unlike scientific "schools" -- they really exist
and operate in the real world, although not so visible as other "visible colleges". Also, note, such informal networks do not 
have to include the members formally affiliated with an institution and not necessarily representing one and the same field of knowledge
and/or social practice. As to Harvard, I have not done a really deep research on that -- just a brief superficial study for my 
current writing -- therefore, only the tip of the iceberg has been detected. 

The circle of Vygotsky-Luria admirers in Harvard as of late 1950s was fairly limited in numbers, which was compensated with the relative
weight of these individuals, most prominent and highly influential in their respective fields. Also, note: perhaps it is more precise to talk about 
Bostonian lobby, which includes MIT and the suburbia like Worcester, rather than just Harvard only. Which makes us somewhat reformulate
the topic as "Boston area as the stronghold of the Vtygotskians in 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s). Anyway, the list of the individuals on the very top
includes:

1. Roman Jakobson, linguist, Harvard, MIT

2. Jerome Bruner, cognitivist, Harvard, etc.

3. Sheldon H. "Shep" White, developmental psychologist, of Harvard from 1965 (many thanks to Vera for this important information!) 

3. Norman Geschwind, neurologist, Harvard I guess (see Toulmin, The Mozart of Psychology, 1978)

According to Valsiner's 1988 Developmental Psychology in the Soviet Union, back in the 1960s there were quite a few references to 
semi-Vygotsky's semi-Thinking and Speech that was published in 1962 as Thought and Language at MIT Press. So, a thorough analysis of these 
references would help us reveal the "Vygotskian network" in North America in 1960s, which certainly constitutes a subsection of those authors who 
referred to Vygotsky back then.

Anyway, these and several others constituted the group of Vygotsky's admirers in the United States that Bruner mentioned in his 1967 paper that was 
published as an editorial in the journal Soviet Psychology, in which he lamented that although the book had been published already five years before,
no "Vygotsky boom" occurred. Also, these individuals stood behind quite a few of Vygotsky's publications in English in 1960s. Part of this story
was revealed by Bruner himself in his interview with Mike on the DVD to the last edition of Luria's autobiography. By the way, it is worth to transcribe it
and publish, as a written text. I even know where we could publish it :)

AY

P.S. As to Kohlberg and Flavell, neither was a Vygotskian in any sense, yet it is interesting to see how, indirectly, most likely through 
Piaget's involvement with Jakobson-Luria-Bruner-Hanfmann-Vakar translation and publication project of 1962 the "Vygotskianism" made to
into other, allied fields and intellectual clans in the West.




________________________________
 From: mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>
To: Anton Yasnitsky <the_yasya@yahoo.com>; "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu> 
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 12:15:34 AM
Subject: Re: [xmca] empirical evidence (Kohlberg et al., 1968 testing Vygotsky)
 

Anton-- This is the first i have ever heard about a vygotskian lobby at harvard. 
Who were they? Bruner wrote the intro to the first edition of Thought and Language, but a lobby?
Kohlberg was basically a Piagetian to my limited knowledge.
So its news to me. What does it portend?
mike


On Sun, Jun 24, 2012 at 7:37 PM, Anton Yasnitsky <the_yasya@yahoo.com> wrote:

Interested, indeed.
>
>
>Most curious, were this book of 1950s, more likely 1960s, but please find the reference, that would help.
>
>
>AY
>
>
>
>________________________________
> From: Wagner Luiz Schmit <wagner.schmit@gmail.com>
>To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 9:49:23 PM
>
>Subject: Re: [xmca] empirical evidence (Kohlberg et al., 1968 testing Vygotsky)
>
>It is late here so maybe my memory is not 100%... But last year I remenber
>reading a book from David Ausubel were while criticizing Piaget he cites
>Vygotsky, or that is what I recall, and the book first edition was on the
>50's or 60's... I can try to find this if anyone is interested..
>
>Wagner Luiz Schmit
>Brazil
>
>2012/6/24 Michael Glassman <MGlassman@ehe.osu.edu>
>
>> I am thinking Kohlberg got his knowledge of Vygotsky through Piaget.
>>  Didn't Piaget write his response to Vygotsky in 1962?  I don't know why
>> but that sticks in my mind.  Kohlberg was sending at least some of his
>> students to Geneva during that period.  Possibly one or more of those
>> people brought Vygotsky and Thought and Language back.  I remember talking
>> some years back with somebody who was in Geneva during the period who said
>> Piaget kept saying Vygotsky misunderstood him.  Who knows, but it seems
>> plausible.
>>
>> Michael
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Anton Yasnitsky
>> Sent: Sun 6/24/2012 9:16 PM
>> To: Martin Packer; eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>> Subject: Re: [xmca] empirical evidence (Kohlberg et al., 1968 testing
>> Vygotsky)
>>
>>
>>
>> True and thanks for a copy, but there is no evidence (as of now) whether
>> Flavell new and was utilizing any of Vygotsky in his paper of 1966, -- is
>> there?
>>
>>
>> ... But, frankly, who cares, after all :)
>>
>>
>> AY
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>>  From: Martin Packer <packer@duq.edu>
>> To: Anton Yasnitsky <the_yasya@yahoo.com>; "eXtended Mind, Culture,
>>  Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>> Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 8:43:07 PM
>> Subject: Re: [xmca] empirical evidence (Kohlberg et al., 1968 testing
>> Vygotsky)
>>
>> But Flavell had presented a paper on the same topic 4 years earlier, and
>> was credited in a footnote.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jun 24, 2012, at 7:38 PM, Anton Yasnitsky wrote:
>>
>> > For Vygotsky, Kohlberg, of Harvard, certainly would not need mediation
>> of Flavell: the book had come out in 1962, and was orchestrated by the
>> bunch of guys at Harvard,
>> > which clearly was a stronghold of Vygotsky's admirers back then, i.e. in
>> 1960s and 1970s.
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