Creativity, Perception and the Modern Mind: Leonardo and the Search for Holism

May 17 – 28, 2010

A two-week course

Teachers: Fritjof Capra and Peter Adams
Guest Lecturer: Iain McGilchrist

This course is open for bookings.

Course Detail

At the root of the major problems of our time lies a crisis of perception: basing our understanding of the world on reductionist science (“left brain thinking”), we see it as a set of disconnected systems and deal with issues in a piecemeal way that is inappropriate and often counterproductive. Or operating only from intuitive or artistic insights (“right brain activity”), we fail to see how these can be applied to real world situations and challenges. We need to bring together our intellectual and creative skills to see the world differently and thus act differently.

Leonardo da Vinci, the great genius of the Renaissance, developed a unique synthesis of art, science, and design. In this course, Fritjof Capra and Peter Adams, a scientist and an artist who have both been frequent visitors to Schumacher College, will discuss Leonardo’s synthesis and its great relevance to our time. They will argue that it is critical to integrate an artistic dimension into the ecological perspectives of science, philosophy, and spirituality. The experience and understanding of human creativity — in art, design, and in the realm of ideas — will be a major focus of the course. Participants will be engaged not only intellectually, but also physically and emotionally in adaptations of Leonardo’s methodology in observations, experiments, and artistic expressions within the Dartington landscape.

In the first week, the course will be joined for a day by Iain McGilchrist, author of the recently published book, The Master and his Emissary, which investigates why the brain is divided at all. The difference between right and left hemispheres has been puzzled over for centuries. Iain McGilchrist draws on a vast body of recent brain research to reveal that the difference is profound – not just this or that function, but two whole, coherent, but incompatible ways of experiencing the world. The left hemisphere is detail-oriented, prefers mechanisms to living things, and is inclined to self-interest, where the right hemisphere has greater breadth, flexibility and generosity. The history of Western culture illustrates the tension between these two worlds, as revealed in the thought and belief of thinkers and artists from the ancient world to the present day. He argues that, despite its inferior grasp of reality, the left hemisphere is increasingly taking precedence in the modern world, with potentially disastrous consequences. As well as presenting his ideas, Iain will spend time in discussion with Fritjof and Peter on how his research relates to their work on broader issues of creativity.

Teaching time during this course will be divided equally between lecture and discussion time led by Fritjof Capra and artistic and practical activities led by Peter Adams. The course is designed as a two-week project which builds on the previous days’ activities, and with both of the main teachers present throughout. It is therefore not possible to attend only one week of the course.

Teachers

Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., physicist and systems theorist, is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California. Fritjof is the author of several international bestsellers, including The Web of Life and The Hidden Connections. His most recent book, The Science of Leonardo, was published in paperback in 2008.

Peter Adams is a sculptor whose art work is in the collections of five museums. Equally important, he is an environmental activist who is passionate about living one’s life as an artistic endeavor. A major ongoing art project of Peter’s is to restore his 100-acre property Windgrove in Tasmania into a refuge of peace, social justice, and environmental awareness. For a wealth of writing on Peter’s experiences at Windgrove and how they relate to art, ecology and spirit, please go to his seven year old blog ‘Life on the Edge’ at www.windgrove.com

Guest Lecturer

Iain McGilchrist began his academic career as a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, teaching and writing about English literature. In an attempt to get a better immediate understanding of ‘the mind/body problem’, he studied medicine, and trained as a psychiatrist. He has been a Research Fellow in Neuroimaging at Johns Hopkins, as well as a Clinical Director at the Bethlem & Maudsley Hospital, and a Medical Director at The Priory. His current interests are with the cerebral hemispheres, and he has recently published a book, entitled The Master and his Emissary on the subject and what it reveals about the modern condition.

Course Fees

Two weeks £1,400
(Participants are encouraged to book for two weeks – see text above)

All course fees include accommodation, food, field trips and all teaching sessions.

For further information about Schumacher College please see About the College

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To provisionally reserve a place for 5 days, email us your contact details and the name of the course admin@schumachercollege.org.uk

We will hold the place for five working days for reservations – three weeks before a course or earlier. After five days we will automatically offer your place to someone else if we have not received your application.

Schumacher College is part of the Dartington Hall Trust, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and as a charity (company no. 1485560, charity no. 279756). Registered office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL, UK.