Taos Institute


The Taos Institute is an American non-profit association of scholars and practitioners dedicated to exploring social constructionist ideas.

Overview

The Taos Institute provides a newsletter, workshops, and consulting services. Communities of mental health, social work, counseling, organizational change, education, community building, gerontology and medicine contribute to these offerings. The institute also serves as the home for the electronically distributed, Positive Aging Newsletter and operates its own publishing company: Taos Institute Publications.
There are presently approximately 500 associates representing over 20 nations.

History

The Taos Institute was founded in 1991 by a group of scholars and practitioners interested in social constructionist ideas. The founders included Harlene Anderson, David Cooperrider, Kenneth Gergen, Mary Gergen, Sheila McNamee, Suresh Srivastva, and Diana Whitney. Primary attention was focused at that time on organizational development and family therapy, with practices of appreciative inquiry and co-constructive practices of therapy prevailing. Most of the founders remain on the executive board, but have since been joined by Dawn Dole, Robert Cottor, Sally St. George, Jane Magruder Watkins, and Dan Wulff. The institute currently functions as a virtual centered organization.
The name of the Institute was derived, in part, from the fact that one of its founders, Diana Whitney, lived in Taos, New Mexico, and provided a geographic center for possible meetings. In 1993, the Institute held its first international conference in Taos.

Degree programs

The Taos Institute offers a Masters program and a PhD program in Relational Leading. It also offers a distance learning program.