The Institute for Cultural Research (ICR) was a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based, UK-registered educational

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

,The Institute for Cultural Research's UK registered

number is 313295.Details of charitable status and activities at GuideStar.org.uk
Retrieved on 2008-11-14.313295 - THE INSTITUTE FOR CULTURAL RESEARCH - Official details of charitable status and activities at the Charity Commission
Retrieved on 2008-11-14. events organizer and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

which aimed to stimulate study,

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

and

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

into all aspects of human thought, behaviour and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

. It brought together many distinguished speakers, writers and Fellows over the years. A statement issued in 2013 by the institute on its official web site read: "As of summer 2013, the Institute has suspended its activities following the formation of a new charity,

The Idries Shah Foundation The Idries Shah Foundation (ISF) is an independent educational and cultural charity, set up by the family of the late thinker, writer, and teacher in the Sufi mystical tradition, Idries Shah, who wrote over three dozen books on topics ranging fr ...

History

The institute was founded in 1965 by the well-known writer, thinker and

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

teacher

Idries Shah Idries Shah (; hi, इदरीस शाह, ps, ادريس شاه, ur, ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el- Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Ark ...

Justin Wintle (ed), ''Makers of Modern Culture'', Volume I, p474, Routledge, 2001, . Retrieved from Google book searc
here
on 2008-11-14.Biographical detail about Idries Shah at Amazon
Retrieved on 2008-11-14.
Retrieved on 2008-11-14. to facilitate the dissemination of ideas, information and understanding between cultures.About the Institute for Cultural Research
Retrieved on 2008-11-14. Its Objects and Regulations were officially first adopted on 21 January 1966.Details of the ICR's organisation at GuideStar.org.uk
Retrieved on 2008-11-14. In his book ''Listening to Idries Shah'', author,

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

and tutor, Ivan Tyrrell recounts a conversation in which Shah explained his reasons for founding the ICR: "I want to attract ordinary people and help them think about psychological and cultural issues. But, as an individual, I can't easily get people to listen seriously. I discovered, however, that if I call myself an 'institute' – they will," Shah told him. Tyrrell adds: "I heard hahsay many times over the years, 'We live in an appearance culture' ..That is one reason why it was necessary for him to create ICR: people like to join an organisation and be part of a community." Based for some time at

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the institute was later based in

. Retrieved on 2008-11-14. Shah acted as the Institute's Director of Studies whilst still alive.Obituary at official Idries Shah web site
Retrieved on 2008-11-14.
at the

Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge The Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK) is a non-profit educational charityISHK is a 501(c)3 educational corporation, incorporated in the State of California. Federal Tax ID #94-1705600. and publisher established in 1969 by the psy ...

(USA) where he co-led a seminar with Robert E. Ornstein Retrieved on 2008-11-14.

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winning novelist

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing (; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British-Zimbabwean novelist. She was born to British parents in Iran, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where she remain ...

, who was influenced by Idries Shah,Müge Galin, ''Between East and West: Sufism in the Novels of Doris Lessing'', State University of New York Press, 1997, Albany, NY, . has also contributed to the Institute.Doris Lessing at the 1998 ICR seminar.
speaking on problems, myths and stories. Retrieved on 2008-11-14.

Aims and remit

The Institute's stated aim was "to stimulate study, debate, education and research into all aspects of human thought, behaviour and culture" and to make the results of its members' academic work accessible to society and also to academics working in different fields. The body, which had a number of distinguished Fellows, published several dozen academic monographs and some books over the years and held regular events.ICR's statement of public benefit at Guidestar.org.uk
made in light of the new Charities Act. Retrieved on 2008-11-14. These events usually included a series of six lectures by specialists per year, and a two-day seminar which is usually held in the Autumn. The aim of these was "to connect ideas across disciplines, across cultures, and even through history" and to bring about a broader, more holistic understanding by looking at issues from several different perspectives, with particular interest in human thought and behaviour and issues neglected by contemporary culture.Events held by the Institute for Cultural Research
Retrieved on 2008-11-14. In addition, the Institute supported projects in areas where freedom of access to facts was threatened, for example in the case of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

where assistance had been given to the

United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

(UNICEF)'s female educational projects. All the Institute for Cultural Research's activities were open to the general public.

Notable contributors

The institute published so many

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

s and hosted so many

lecture A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical infor ...

s and

seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...

s that only a small sample of notable contributors are listed here.Google Scholar search results for ICR publications (pdf files)
Retrieved on 2008-11-14. See also People associated with The Institute for Cultural Research (category). Lecturers included: *

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, adventurer and writer John P. Allen (''Cultures and Biomes of the Biosphere'') *

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

Michael Eysenck Michael William Eysenck ( ; born 8 February 1944) is a British academic psychologist, and is an Emeritus Professor in Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London. He also holds an appointment as Professorial Fellow at Roehampton Universi ...

(''Lost in Time, Making Sense of Amnesia'') *

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, Biological neural network, n ...

Professor

Chris Frith Christopher Donald Frith, (born 16 March 1942) is a psychologist and professor emeritus at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London. Visiting Professor at the Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University, Resear ...

(how the brain creates our mental and social worlds) * British social

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

Professor

Tim Ingold Timothy Ingold (born 1 November 1948INGOLD, Prof. Timothy
''Who's Who 2014'', ...

(the mismatch between the "environment" of immediate experience and the "Environment" of scientific and policy discourse) * writer and documentary

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

Tahir Shah Tahir Shah ( fa, طاهر شاه, gu, તાહિર શાહ; ''né'' Sayyid Tahir al-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد طاهر الهاشمي); born 16 November 1966) is a British author, journalist and documentary maker of Afghan-Indian descent. ...

(the scientific legacies of the Arab Caliphates and their Golden Age) * writer and filmmaker

Iain Sinclair Iain Sinclair FRSL (born 11 June 1943) is a writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, recently within the influences of psychogeography. Biography Education Sinclair was born in Cardiff in 1943. From 1956 to 1961, he was educate ...

(''Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire'') * poet, writer and adventurer

Robert Twigger Robert Twigger (born 30 October 1962) is a British artist and writer. He travels widely but divides his time mostly between the UK and Egypt. Life Twigger was educated at Balliol College, Oxford University. He initially studied engineering, but ...

(''Polymaths in a monopathic world?'') * anthropologist

Piers Vitebsky Piers Vitebsky is an anthropologist and is the Head of Social Science at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, England. Education Vitebsky studied his undergraduate degree in Classics with Modern and Medieval Languages at ...

(''Global religious change and the death of the shaman'') * novelist, short story writer,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and

mythographer Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

Marina Warner Dame Marina Sarah Warner, (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publicat ...

(''Talismans and Charms: Spellbinding in Stories from The 1001 Nights'') * writer

Ramsay Wood Ramsay Wood is the author of two sui generis modern novels which aim – via vernacular spiels within complex frame-story narratives – to popularize the pre-literate, oral story-listening drama of multicultural animal fables mimed and declaim ...

(''The Kalila and Dimna Story'') Monograph writers included: *

science writer Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists, and the public. Origins Modern science journalism dates back to '' Digdarshan'' (means showing the d ...

Philip Ball Philip Ball (born 1962) is a British science writer. For over twenty years he has been an editor of the journal ''Nature'' for which he continues to write regularly. He now writes a regular column in '' Chemistry World''. He has contributed to ...

(''Collective Behaviour and the Physics of Society''Philip Ball, ''Collective Behaviour and the Physics of Society'', ICR Monograph Series No. 52, Institute for Cultural Research, 2007, .) *

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and writer Robert Cecil (''Cults in 19th Century Britain'', ''Cultural Imperialism'', and ''Education and Elitism in Nazi Germany'') * professor of

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

Arthur J. Deikman (''Evaluating Spiritual and Utopian Groups''Arthur J. Deikman, M.D., ''Evaluating Spiritual and Utopian Groups'', Institute for Cultural Research, 1988, , .)List of Institute for Cultural Research monographs
Retrieved on 2008-11-14. * psychologist and noted

skeptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the ...

Chris French Christopher Charles French (born 1956) is a British psychologist specialising in the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences, cognition and emotion. He is the head of the University of London's anomalistic Psychology Research Unit and ...

(''Paranormal Perception? A Critical Evaluation''Christopher C. French, ''Paranormal Perception? A Critical Evaluation'', Institute for Cultural Research, 2001, .) * co-founder of the Club of Rome in 1968, Dr. Alexander King (''Science, Technology and the Quality of Life''Alexander King, ''Science, Technology and the Quality of Life'', The Institute for Cultural Research, 1972, , . and ''An Eye to the Future''Dr. Alexander King et al., ''An Eye to the Future'', Institute for Cultural Research, .)SourceWatch article on Alexander King
Retrieved on 2008-11-14. *

-winning novelist

(''Problems, Myths and Stories''Doris Lessing, ''Problems, myths and stories'', The Institute for Cultural Research, 1999, , .) * professor of telecommunications Leonard Lewin (''Science and the Paranormal''Leonard Lewin, ''Science and the Paranormal'', The Institute for Cultural Research, 1999, , .) * professor of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Steven Mithen Steven Mithen, (born 16 October 1960) is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading. He has written a number of books, including ''The Singing Neanderthals'' and ''The Prehistory of the Mind: The Cognitive Origins of Art, Religion ...

(''Problem-solving and the Evolution of Human Culture''Steven Mithen, Monograph Series No. 33, ''Problem-solving and the Evolution of Human Culture'', The Institute for Cultural Research, 1999, , .) * writer and psychologist Robert E. Ornstein (''Physiological Studies of Consciousness''Robert E. Ornstein and Robert Evan, ''Physiological studies of consciousness'', ICR Monograph Series No. 11, Institute for Cultural Research, 1973, .) * biochemist, plant physiologist and parapsychologist

Rupert Sheldrake Alfred Rupert Sheldrake (born 28 June 1942) is an English author and parapsychology researcher who proposed the concept of morphic resonance, a conjecture which lacks mainstream acceptance and has been criticized as pseudoscience. He has worke ...

(''Fields of the Mind''Rupert Sheldrake, ''Fields of the Mind'', ICR Monograph Series No. 55, Institute for Cultural Research, 2009, .) Books published by the ICR included '' Cultural Research''Tahir Shah (ed), ''Cultural Research: Papers on Regional Cultures and Culture-Mixing, by and for the Institute for Cultural Research'', Institute for Cultural Research, 1993, .Tahir Shah's ''Cultural Research'' at Amazon
Retrieved on 2008-11-14. edited by the writer

, and ''Cultural Encounters: Essays on the interactions of diverse cultures now and in the past'',Robert Cecil and David Wade (eds), ''Cultural Encounters: Essays on the interactions of diverse cultures now and in the past'', Institute for Cultural Research, 1990, .''Cultural Encounters'' at Amazon
Retrieved on 2008-11-14. edited by Robert Cecil and David Wade.

References

External links

The Institute for Cultural Research web site

The Idries Shah Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Institute for Cultural Research, The 1965 establishments in the United Kingdom Cultural studies organizations Cross-cultural studies Cognition Publishing companies of the United Kingdom Educational charities based in the United Kingdom Defunct organisations based in England People associated with The Institute for Cultural Research

History

Aims and remit

Notable contributors

See also

People, publications and events

References

External links