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Newsletter: April 2009
Dear friends,
Welcome to the April issue of the Schumacher College eNewsletter.
Spring has now arrived in the Northern Hemisphere and the day are lengthening and getting warmer. The College has been especially vibrant in recent weeks (both in the lecture rooms and garden) as those of you who joined us for the fantastic Systems Thinking in Practice and more recently the Spring Renewal Weekend will know.
During May we are delighted to be welcoming back Fritjof Capra and Thomas Moore who are both returning to Schumacher after a few years. You will find details of the courses they are teaching featured in this newsletter.
Looking beyond our corner of Devon, and like many of you, we’ve been considering the current global economic situation with increasing concern. It is now apparent, even to mainstream politicians and commentators that we need to apply radically new holistic approaches to social, political, cultural and economic systems. How to develop these new approaches and honour their connectivity is the subject matter of the courses featured in this newsletter. It is also the focus of the e4 declaration, a document and discussion born out of the recent Think Tank in Holistic Economics at Schumacher College and which we encourage you to support.
Below you’ll also find details of all our forthcoming courses, along with events and open evenings scheduled for the coming months. These include Economic and Environmental Recovery a one-day seminar in London on the 30th May. If you can join us we’d love to see you there.
Warm wishes,
From everyone at Schumacher College
New courses address connectivity
A new Course Programme opens in May with a selection of courses addressing the interrelationships between varied subjects. During Nourishing the Soul participants will journey into the Jungian archetypes and the collective unconscious, considering how these issues may relate to and inform our sense of ‘self’ or ‘soul’. Later in the month, in Living Networks we will reconsider the work of Leonardo da Vinci in a systemic context, and alongside Gaia theory, discuss its relevance to the present day. Following on from this during Small is Beautiful Revisited participants will gain a deep appreciation of the ideas expressed in Schumacher’s work and consider how these concepts can be applied in the 21st century. We then turn to the profound questions of life in Science, Cosmology & the Future, exploring our place and role in the universe in light of current scientific understanding.
Nourishing the Soul: Archetypes, myth & meaning
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May 5 – 15, 2009
This one or two week course will focus on the Jungian model of the psyche and our experiences of ‘soul’. Jules Cashford and Julian David will lead the first week, taking participants on a journey exploring Jung’s work on the archetypes, myth and the collective unconscious. In the second week, Thomas Moore and Hari Kirin will show participants how to deepen everyday life through art, yoga and discussion. This course is for anyone who identifies closely with the work of Jung and wants to explore more deeply what it means to life soulfully.
Click here to find out more
Click here to book your place today
Living Networks: From Leonardo to Lovelock and beyond
May 18 – 29, 2009
Fritjof Capra will begin by discussing the work of the Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci who practiced a unique synthesis of art, science and technology and will demonstrate its relevance to our time. In the second week, participants will consider more modern concepts of living networks and Gaia theory. How can this way of understanding the world help to re-shape the process of globalisation to make it compatible with the demands of human dignity and ecological sustainability? Fritjof Capra will be teaching for both weeks of the course, with Schumacher’s resident scholar Stephan Harding providing scientific input on Gaia theory during the second week.
Leonardo’s legacy is immensely relevant to our time. As we recognise that our sciences and technologies have become increasingly narrow in their focus…and dominated by corporations more interested in financial rewards than in the well-being of humanity, we urgently need a science that honours and respects the unity of all life, recognises the fundamental interdependence of all natural phenomena, and reconnects us with the living Earth. What we need today is exactly the kind of science Leonardo da Vinci anticipated and outlined 500 years ago.
Fritjof Capra, April 2009
Click here to find out more
Click here to book your place today
Small is Beautiful Revisited
June 1 – 5, 2009
During this course participants will explore the legacy of Schumacher’s theories and how they apply in today’s world, exploring what ideals we should encourage within a context of continuing social and economic change.
Participants will embody the practice of ‘living small and beautifully’ within the Schumacher College community. There will be opportunities for meditation and reflection on the role of spirituality in daily life, as well as bread making – one of E.F. Schumacher’s favourite activities.
George McRobie, author of Small is Possible and David Boyle, of the New Economics Foundation will be joined by Satish Kumar, Visiting Fellow at Schumacher College, for a course which will encourage a deep appreciation of Schumacher’s ideology in the context of the current turbulent times.
Click here to find out more
Click here to book your place today
Science, Cosmology & the Future
June 29 – July 10, 2009
This is a fascinating course for anyone interested in considering humanity’s next stage of evolution in the context of new science and cosmology. In week one, Brian Swimme will engage participants in current scientific thinking on the evolution of the universe, life and humanity, and consider the implications for understanding how consciousness has evolved. In week two, Ervin Laszlo will introduce the scientific foundations for what is known to mystics and sages as the Akashic field, and Bernadette Brady will complete the course with an exploration of different cosmologies, from ancient Greek to modern.
Unlike other creation myths, Genesis tells us that we were made in God’s image, but in truth we made God in Our image and thus made Ourselves artisan-gods holding power over all creation … In these other types of creation myths humans are not outside the system using the world like a construction site but rather we are inside the “fish bowl” with the rest of life.
B. Brady, Astrology: A place in chaos
(Wessex Astrologer, 2006)
If you are interested in the profound questions of life and are keen to relate models of learning from within your own professional discipline to complex scientific concepts and how they can inform a new approach to philosophy, society and consciousness, then this course is for you.
Click here to find out more
Click here to book your place today
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The e4 declaration: ecology, economy, equity and ethics
Watch the film, sign up to the e4 declaration and pass it on
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In November 2008 an internationally respected group of economists, change agents, authors, academics and representatives of NGO’s met at Schumacher College for a Think Tank on Holistic Economics. The group, which included Colin Tudge, Ann Pettifor, Wolfgang Sachs, David Boyle, Colin Hines and many more, produced the e4 declaration, a document to guide an international discussion on economics which incorporates ecology, equity and ethics.
The e4 declaration addresses three crucial questions:
- What can we do now?
- What transformation must follow?
- What might the future look like?
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If, like us, you want to support this discussion, visit the e4 declaration website at www.e4declaration.org Tell your friends, family and colleagues about it and then ask them to pass it on too.
Independent film maker Fraser Durham documented the Think Tank at Schumacher College. Click here to watch the story behind the e4 declaration.
Click here to read the e4 declaration
Click here to sign up to the e4 declaration today
Forthcoming courses
Click here to book your place(s) using our on-line booking system
Click here to book by post or fax
Nourishing the Soul: Archetypes, myth & meaning Final few places remaining!
5- 15 May
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Living Networks: From Leonardo to Lovelock & beyond Final few places remaining!
18- 29 May
Small is Beautiful Revisited
1-5 June
Biomimicry: Nature as mentor, model & measure
8-12 June
Walking With the Earth Pilgrim Sorry this course is full!
15- 19 June
Science, Cosmology & the Future
29 June- 10 July
Valuing Diversity: Learning from ecosystems & cultures
13- 24 July
Purpose and Profit: How holistic thinking can remake business
9-13 Nov
Forthcoming Events and Open Evenings
Open Evening with Julian David/Jules Cashford
6 May| Schumacher College, 8pm
Open Evening with Thomas Moore
13 May | Schumacher College, 8pm
Open Evening with Fritjof Capra
20 May | Totnes, Venue and Time TBC
Book launch for Alice Oswald’s latest collection of poetry
27 May | Schumacher College, Time TBC
Economic and Environmental Recovery featuring Fritjof Capra, Ann Pettifor and Satish Kumar
30 May | Cecil Sharpe House, 2 Regents Park Road, Camden, London NW1 7AY, 11am – 5pm
During the day, the featured speakers and participants will explore how we move from economic downturn to a steady state, creating a better world with the strength to recover from both the credit and nature crunch. Join us on Saturday 30th May at Cecil Sharpe House between11am and 5pm.
This event is a collaboration between Schumacher College, Resurgence Magazine, Scientific and Medical Network, The Temenos Academy & The Gaia Foundation.
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Open Evening with Brian Swimme
1 July | Schumacher College, 8pm
Open Evening with Bernadette Brady
8 July | Schumacher College, 8pm
Oen Evening with Gary Martin
15 July | Schumacher College, 8pm
Open Evening with Juan Mayr Maldonado
22 July | Schumacher College, 8pm
Schumacher College
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(T) +44(0)1803 865 934
www.schumachercollege.org.uk
Schumacher College is an initiative of The Dartington Hall Trust, a registered charity, bringing ideas on sustainability to life.
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.