John Regan

Professor Emeritus

Biography

Professor Regan conducts an on-going series of investigations of the similarities and differences in human communication systems, learning, and abilities, based on comparisons of different cultures. Understanding learning abilities in different cultural contexts has implications for our many-culture school systems. His studies assume the interconnectedness of verbal and nonverbal knowing and the abundance of nonverbal evidence to facilitate the study of creativity, cognition, and learning.

John Regan's focus on cultural studies at Claremont Graduate University was influenced early by his being a faculty advisor to the Blaidsdell Institute of World Cultures and Religions. This institute was for many years a highly respected, informal conversational format, part of the Claremont Graduate Center. As an advisor to that Institute, Regan was involved in the visits and discussions of icons of the age, such as: the Dalai Lama, Krishnamurti, Alan Watts, Ivan Illich, Joseph Campbell, Robert N. Bellah, Allan Greenberg, Huston Smith, Ira Progoff, Rene Dubos, D.J. Bohm, John Lilly, and Paul Ricouer.

When this Institute was terminated, Regan, with some related town and gown leaders, including a number of the previous Institute’s trustees, initiated the Claremont Graduate School’s Communication Project and its central public focus, the "Issues in Communication" series. This continued the tradition of informal, open discussions in a new domain related to his field. Some of the history of the seminar series, with its over 40 symposia and workshops held on topics of verbal and nonverbal creativity, can be seen on the website at the website links below:

Email: john.regan@cgu.edu