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Past Short Courses at Schumacher
Below you will find a list of past short courses at Schumacher College. The College has been offering excellent learning since 1991. However, this list has been compiled since the inception of the new web site and so only contains details of courses starting from the begining of the 2007/08 course programme. Details of courses taking place before this date should be added in due course.
For a list of Short Courses coming soon please click here
Archived Short Courses
After Copenhagen: Opportunities and challenges
Starts: Monday March 1, 2010
March 1 – 19, 2010 | One, two and three week options | Vandana Shiva, Malini Mehra, Ian Christie, Clare Short MP, Rob Hopkins, Miriam Kennet, Nigel Topping | The teachers on this course will share their insights into what was achieved at the Copenhagen climate change summit and what the implications are for efforts to build a fairer and more sustainable global community.
The Economics of Happiness
Starts: Monday February 1, 2010
February 1 – 19, 2010 | One, two and three week options | Tim Kasser, Dasho Karma Ura, Per Espen Stoknes, Nic Marks & Andrew Simms | This course looks at the connection between money and happiness at a psychological and a systemic level. What can we as individuals do to combat the dominance of materialism, and how can our economic system be reformed so that it promotes well-being rather than economic growth?
Science Meets Spirit: The search for meaning
Starts: Monday January 4, 2010
January 4 – 22, 2010 | One, two and three week options | Elisabet Sahtouris, Arthur Zajonc, Mary Midgley, Bernadette Brady, Ravi Ravindra One of the most significant discoveries of modern science is the discovery of its own limitations. This has led many of the greatest scientists to reflect on how spiritual search and the search for meaning can relate to scientific research.
Darkness and Transformation (Winter Warmer Week)
Starts: Tuesday December 1, 2009
December 1 – 4 2009 | Tchenka Sunderland and Jules Cashford | We live in a culture that, in a desire to understand and control chaotic Nature, has deified the Light at the expense of the Dark. The light of reason has banished the dark of superstition; the light of electricity has blotted out the dark of the night sky. The consequences are becoming clear for all to see and at this darkest time of the year, it seems appropriate to seek ways of redressing the balance.
Baking for a New Food Culture (Winter Warmer Week)
Starts: Monday November 30, 2009
One week course | Andrew Whitley, Sheila Dillon | During this course, participants will have the opportunity to explore the process by which food has become an industrial commodity, find out about alternatives and learn how to bake a variety of delicious breads.
Growth and Consequence: Rethinking our economic future
Starts: Monday November 23, 2009
One week course | Jonathon Porritt, Susan George, Andrew Simms | Despite the astonishing events of 2008, there is little serious public discussion of alternative economic models. This course takes a hard look at the key concept of growth. read more…
Purpose and Profit: How holistic thinking can remake business
Starts: Monday November 9, 2009
A one week course | Stephan Harding, Chris Nichols, Chris Seeley, Nick Ceasar, Hugh Pidgeon | Recent economic events have told us that our present economic system is vulnerable. Can organisations be successful and genuinely sustainable – in the broadest sense? read more…
Exploring Ethnobotany: Plants as Healers
Starts: Monday October 19, 2009
One week course | James Wong, Nancy Turner, Erin Smith, Simon Mills |This theoretical and experiential course will look at the role of plants in a range of human cultures, and introduce participants to techniques for collecting and processing plants from the wild, including the use of fermentation and natural medicines. read more…
Ecoliteracy: First principles for radical change
Starts: Monday October 5, 2009
One or two week course | Teachers in person and via video link include: Fritjof Capra, Terry Irwin, Stephan Harding, Philip Franses, Satish Kumar, Anne Miller | Transforming the way we live on the planet is vital, and to do that we need a whole new set of skills that enable us to act effectively in a complex world. This course brings together the key components of our established courses to offer a solid foundation to those wanting to make a real difference in their lives and work.
Earth Jurisprudence and Community Resilience: Learning from Africa
Starts: Monday September 21, 2009
One week course | Mphatheleni (Mphathe) Makaulule, Colin Campbell, Liz Hosken | This course offers participants an opportunity to share experiences and learn how, in Africa and through a global alliance, community governance initiatives are drawing out Earth Jurisprudence thinking: recognising that our personal and community ethics, practices and governance systems have been inspired by nature for millennia. read more…
Walking with the Earth Pilgrim
Starts: Monday September 14, 2009
One week course | Satish Kumar, Stephan Harding, Christopher Lloyd. On Dartmoor, participants will visit landscapes pictured in the documentary – woods, rivers, tors, stone circles, and the open moor – walking together, talking and sitting quietly. There will also be talks about Gaia theory, deep ecology, sustainability and natural history. read more…
Summer Celebration: Land, people, ideas
Starts: Sunday July 12, 2009
During this week, participants will experience the wealth of new ideas, natural beauty, and innovative projects which are clustered around Schumacher College and Dartington. The Summer Celebration provides an opportunity to enjoy time at Schumacher College on a less structured basis than a regular short course.
Science, Cosmology & the Future
Starts: Monday June 29, 2009
A one or two week course | Brian Swimme, Ervin Laszlo, Bernadette Brady, Stephan Harding | Our appreciation of the nature of the universe fundamentally affects how we understand our role as humans on Earth. New insights in contemporary science allow for a profound and creative interpretation of the universe which challenges earlier mechanistic models. read more…
Walking With the Earth Pilgrim
Starts: Monday June 15, 2009
One week course | With Satish Kumar, on Dartmoor, participants will visit landscapes pictured in the documentary – woods, rivers, tors, stone circles, and the open moor – walking together, talking and sitting quietly. Last minute places now available due to cancellations“ read more…
Biomimicry: Nature as mentor, model & measure
Starts: Monday June 8, 2009
A one week course | Dayna Baumeister, Michael Pawlyn, Andy Middleton | Biomimicry is a rapidly developing discipline that finds inspiration in the startling design solutions of the natural world. These solutions can be applied to product design, architecture, engineering and even community development.
read more…
Small is Beautiful Revisited
Starts: Monday June 1, 2009
A one week course | George McRobie, Satish Kumar, David Boyle | The ideas expressed in Small is Beautiful are as relevant today as they were 36 years ago. As economies and the application of technology expand, the need to question this growth and our concepts of scale and development becomes more urgent. read more…
Living Networks: From Leonardo to Lovelock & beyond
Starts: Monday May 18, 2009
A one or two week course | Fritjof Capra, Stephan Harding | Addressing the ever more complex problems facing us today requires a systemic and multi-disciplinary approach. This course brings together natural, cognitive and social science to develop an understanding of the world based on the unity of life. read more…
Nourishing the Soul: Archetypes, myth & meaning
Starts: Tuesday May 5, 2009
A one or two week course | Jules Cashford, Julian David, Thomas Moore, Hari Kirin | In a society where material concerns are so dominant, it is hard to talk about or understand what we mean by “soul” and yet it is an integral part of leading a meaningful life. read more…
Spring Renewal Weekend
Starts: Thursday April 2, 2009
A four-day weekend break | Martin Crawford, Satish Kumar, Wayne Schroeder, Julie Richardson, Jon Rae, Julia Ponsonby, William Thomas |Take the opportunity to reconnect with nature and become grounded in the simple pleasures and satisfaction of bread baking, meditation, conversation, gardening and cooking. read more…
Systems Thinking in Practice
Starts: Monday March 9, 2009
A one, two or three week course | Gunter Pauli, Don Beck, Rob Hopkins, John Wood | A systemic approach is vital if we are to tackle successfully the complex problems facing society and the environment today, from community responses to climate change and social enterprise, to conflict resolution and social development on a global scale. read more…
Roots of Learning: Strategies for creative social change
Starts: Monday February 23, 2009
February 23 – 27, 2009 | Kate Davies| Education can play a critical role in helping to transform our society. A key question for educators is: How can we prepare learners to lead the changes that are necessary to achieve social and ecological sustainability? read more…
WEEK 3 Embedding Holistic Economics: For a global community
Starts: Monday February 9, 2009
Book now for week 3 of this course | Manfred Max-Neef, David Boyle, Colin Hines, Ralf Becker, Wolfgang Sachs | Problems with the global economy are presented in the mainstream media as those that can be managed within existing systems. There is a need for a transformation of economics if human society is to survive and prosper. read more…
Exploring Science, Matter and Consciousness
Starts: Monday January 5, 2009
A one, two or three week course | David Peat, Amit Goswami, Peter Fenwick, Chris Clarke | The nature of consciousness has fascinated philosophers and scientists for centuries. Today, different fields of science are generating discoveries and insights which lead practitioners to expand existing theories of what consciousness is and what it can do. read more…
Ethical Pioneers: an interactive masterclass for the new entrepreneur
Starts: Monday November 24, 2008
Two Week Course | Chris Nichols, Cath Muller, Indra DonFrancesco, Jonathan Robinson, Guy Watson, Tim ‘Mac’ Macartney, Julie Richardson, Karen Blinco and Toni Spencer | At this time of great change, how do we create organisations and businesses that engage with sustainability and ethics? This is a unique opportunity to explore these questions and develop your business plan or strategy. read more…
Real Food, Slow Food: Championing sustainable food
Starts: Monday November 17, 2008
November 17 – 21, 2008 | Andrew Whitley, Carlo Petrini | The Slow Food movement has gone from campaigning for quality food, to demanding food that as well as tasting good, is produced in environmentally and socially responsible ways. read more…
Roots of Learning: Educating the whole person
Starts: Monday November 3, 2008
November 3 – 7, 2008 | Jack Miller | More and more people are focusing on holistic principles of education as a way of expanding educational experience and attention to the whole person. The challenge is to be creative and responsive to the individuality of students, and work with them to develop a curriculum that is relevant to their needs. read more…
Sustainability and Leadership: The Organisational Challenge
Starts: Monday October 27, 2008
October 27 – 31, 2008 | Allan Jones, Gaynor Coley, Nick Robins, Paul Dickinson | What models are there of organisations making serious progress towards sustainability and what can be learned from them? read more…
Biomimicry: New directions in sustainable design
Starts: Monday October 20, 2008
October 20 – 24, 2008 | Michael Pawlyn, Julian Vincent, Neil Thomas, Graham Dodd, Andy Middleton | Proponents of biomimicry contend that many of the solutions required during the sustainability revolution are to be found in nature: super-efficient structures, self-cleaning surfaces, zero-waste systems and low-energy ways of creating fresh water. read more…
Sustainability and Leadership: The Personal Challenge
Starts: Tuesday October 14, 2008
October 14 – 17, 2008| Richard Olivier | Those on this participatory three day Mythodrama workshop will benefit from a unique form of experiential learning that combines theatre practice, psychology and philosophy with organisational development. read more…
Earth Jurisprudence: Making the law work for nature
Starts: Monday September 22, 2008
September 22 – 26, 2008 | Cormac Cullinan, Mellese Damtie, Ng’ang’a Thiong’o, Ian Mason | The dominant western industrial legal system is founded on promoting or protecting human interests. There is an expanding debate and practice around assigning rights to the planet and all species. What are the characteristics of a governance system established to protect the rights of all members of a particular ecological community? read more…
Walking With the Earth Pilgrim
Starts: Monday September 15, 2008
September 15-19, 2008 | With Satish Kumar, on Dartmoor, participants will visit landscapes pictured in the documentary – woods, rivers, tors, stone circles, and the open moor – walking together, talking and sitting quietly. There will also be talks from resident College staff about Gaia theory, deep ecology and sustainability.
Sacred Activism
Starts: Monday July 14, 2008
One or Two Week Course | New teacher line-up – Starhawk to teach | Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim, Starhawk. Participants will discuss visions of the world and how to deal with global crisis through Sacred Activism, sustainable wellbeing, environmental ethics and religion.read more…
Certificate in Education: Modules
Starts: Tuesday July 8, 2008
Application of Earth Jurisprudence
Starts: Friday June 20, 2008
Topics within the study of Earth Jurisprudence
Starts: Friday June 20, 2008
Earth Jurisprudence: Aligning law and society with nature
Starts: Friday June 20, 2008
Soul of Science
Starts: Monday June 16, 2008
One or Two Week Course | Arthur Zajonc, Rupert Sheldrake | The practice of modern science has for centuries been divorced from values other than that of “objectivity” and this has done much to alienate us from our direct, intuitive experience of nature. This approach is now being challenged. read more…
Creating Nature: Art in the landscape
Starts: Monday May 26, 2008
One or Two Week Course (Various start dates) | Nature in all its beauty and complexity has been an integral part of art from the first images and artefacts ever created by humans. Recent years have seen a resurgence of its importance for artists, not just as inspiration but as the actual medium within which they work. read more…
Reconnecting with Nature as Healer
Starts: Monday May 5, 2008
One or Two Week Course (Various start dates) | The industrialised world is rapidly realising the importance of nature as a provider of essential but limited resources including water, soil, and air. But its value for human wellbeing in the broader sense is only beginning to be fully understood. read more…
Inspired Leadership: Seeing organisations as living systems
Starts: Monday April 21, 2008
One Week Course | Today, organisations of all types struggle with issues such as leadership, motivation, accountability, and organisational and cultural change. Much money and dedicated staff time have been applied to these issues. However, these areas of development continue to be problematic. read more…
Tackling Climate Change at Home
Starts: Monday April 7, 2008
One Week Course | Bookshops and magazines are full of tips on how to live in a more environmentally friendly way and reduce your carbon footprint. This course will take this further, helping participants engage with these practical in-depth issues through understanding and applying solutions to their everyday lives. read more…
Development: What Next?
Starts: Monday March 3, 2008
One, Two or Three Week Course (Various start dates) | The world has had over half a century of “development” and now has more people living in poverty, more inequality and more ecosystem destruction than it did before the process began. What went wrong? read more…
Roots of Learning: Educating for community and sustainability
Starts: Monday February 25, 2008
One Week Course | Educational institutions are starting to interact more with the communities they exist in, moving away from their “ivory tower” image. This process can be beneficial for all involved, bringing fresh perspectives into academia and new energy and expertise into the community. read more…
Designing for Sustainability: Systems, ethics and beauty
Starts: Monday February 4, 2008
One, Two or Three Week Course (Various start dates) | Design has the potential to create solutions to many of the global problems confronting us in the 21st century. It relates not just to products but to social systems, so environmental, ethical and social concerns need to be placed at the heart of the design process. read more…
Can the Earth Survive Capitalism? Exploring sustainable economic models
Starts: Monday January 7, 2008
One or Two Week Course (Various start dates) | It has become increasingly apparent that capitalism is environmentally and socially unsustainable. However, the world has yet to find a convincing large-scale alternative economic system. read more…
Roots of Learning: Approaches to holistic & transformative learning
Starts: Monday November 5, 2007
One Week Course | We are living in a period of history characterised by radical change. Some habitual life patterns that we have inherited from the past have now become dysfunctional. We are being driven, by necessity, to devise new ways of living in order to survive in a manner that gives us a sustainable quality of life. read more…
Food for Thought: Transforming the food culture of universities
Starts: Monday October 29, 2007
One Week Course | Universities can play a major role in changing students’ and the wider society’s relationship with food. Large institutions account for about 40% of all food bought, and thus a move towards local procurement can have dramatic effects on the regional food economy. read more…
Business responses to climate change
Starts: Thursday October 18, 2007
Four Day Course | Some parts of the business world have actively responded to the challenges of climate change, often in advance of government policy. read more…
Developing low-carbon food policies
Starts: Thursday October 11, 2007
Reducing carbon emissions from food production is a global problem. Nine per-cent of UK carbon emissions come from agriculture and another nine per-cent from the processing and distribution of food. read more…
Engaging with the politics of climate change
Starts: Thursday October 4, 2007
With the subject constantly in the media and discussed in the corridors of power, future generations may say that this is the year when the world finally woke up to climate change. read more…
Towards Urban Sustainability: Cities for the future
Starts: Monday September 10, 2007
Dongtan in China is being designed to be as near to 100% carbon-neutral as possible. The teachers on this course are all closely involved with the project. Using the example of Dongtan, this course will help participants explore a range of technologies and strategies for application in new developments and housing projects. read more…
Earth and the Sacred: The Personal and the Planetary
Starts: Sunday July 1, 2007
Much of today’s environmental thinking is based upon a predominantly scientific analysis of complex planetary problems. This course will explore the sacred, religious and spiritual dimensions of environmentalism to develop a vision where the care of the earth plays a central role. read more…
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.