Education

The International Center for Integrative Systems is a supporter of educational efforts which bridge the ancient and the modern and bring the east and the west closer. We believe in a truly inter-connected and inter-dependent world and that the melding of ancient knowledge systems with modern processes will ultimately benefit mankind. The following are educational programs developed at ICIS:

Traditional Systems Biology

This program covers systems of traditional medicines including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Siddha and Ayurveda. The program seeks to meld traditional systems of medicine with developments in modern systems biology. The program also focuses on modern research methods demonstrating the cellular and molecular mechanisms of traditional systems of medicine.

The program introduces the historical background and fundamental concepts of Siddha and Ayurveda, and explains why they are the first systems of biology. It gives an insight into the different methods of diagnosis used by Siddha and Ayurveda, explains prakriti and vikriti, and seeks to explain how the eastern systems of medicine differ from western modalities of treatment.

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Systems Visualization

This program explores methods of visualizing complex systems using a range of simple visual metaphors. The program provides an appreciation of the importance of whole systems thinking, in contrast to silo-based, single component thinking and presents powerful visualization methodologies to conceive and draw complex systems, be they financial, media, economic, biological, political, etc.

The program focuses on creating visualizations that go beyond conveying information to invoke an emotional response, integrating cultural and historical variables. Techniques include animations developed from hand-drawn illustrations, data-flow diagrams, and computer-designed visual stories.

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