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Newsletter: Febuary 2009
Dear friends,
Welcome to the February issue of the Schumacher College Newsletter.
The opening weeks of 2009 have been filled with optimism at Schumacher College as participants joined us for two challenging yet highly rewarding courses Exploring Science, Matter and Consciousness and the incredibly timely Holistic Economics.
The forthcoming courses for spring/summer 2009 are equally relevant and inspiring. Highlights include: Fritjof Capra returning to the College for Living Networks, Nourishing the Soul with Thomas Moore and Valuing Diversity, a course which will shine the light on the global importance of bio-cultural diversity, the fight for which looks set to become as prominent as that against Climate Change.
If the New Year has left you with a desire to relax and recharge your own personal batteries, why not consider the Schumacher Spring Renewal Weekend instead? This special four-day break has just been launched but we are sure it will be very popular. Book your place now through the on-line booking system to avoid missing out.
On the 10th January our joint event with Resurgence Magazine, ‘Gentle Action, Science, Society & Consciousness’ took place in London. It was marvellous to see so many familiar faces there and we hope you all enjoyed the opportunity to hear from esteemed speakers Amit Goswami and David Peat.
Should you be interested in other opportunities to meet the College community or visiting teachers, please check out our list of forthcoming Open Evenings. Full details of these events are included below and everyone is very welcome.
Warm wishes,
The Schumacher College Team
MSc in Holistic Science: It’s time to apply
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The MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College (accredited by the University of Plymouth) is the only programme of its kind in the world and has been successfully run by Stephan Harding and Brian Goodwin for 11 years.
The closing date for applications for 2009/10 is Friday 27 February 2009.
MSc students on the course range in age from 21 to over 60, and come from all over the world. This year, we have students from Taiwan and Kyrygzstan, as well as from the USA, Colombia, Peru, Brazil and from across Europe and the UK. Each year’s intake of MSc students is characterised by this rich cultural diversity, which resonates throughout the College for the duration of the students’ time here with us.
Whilst our MSc students tend to reflect a diversity of age and nationality, they are held in common by a deeply felt bond, founded upon a desire to be an agent for positive change in the world. The students care passionately about sustainability and all that living sustainably engenders. They study the MSc in Holistic Science because they want to utilise the gifts of holistic science in order to offer up their contribution to help the world transition to a fairer, healthier and more resilient one, rooted in nature.
If you share a passion for science and sustainability, why not consider studying with us?
Click here to visit the MSc in Holistic Science homepage
Click here to download an application form
Educating learners for social and ecological change- the latest Roots of Learning course tackles the issues
Humanity faces a social and ecological crisis that threatens the wellbeing of life on Earth. Education can play a critical role in helping to resolve it. In the early 21st century, a key question for educators is “How can we prepare learners to lead the changes that are necessary to achieve social and ecological sustainability?” The forthcoming course Roots of Learning: Strategies for creative social change sets out to answer just this question.
Lead by Kate Davies, Director of the Centre for Creative Change at Antioch University Seattle, the course will address a range of key issues including the relationship between the individual and society, what we mean by social behavior and working in communities.
Kate Davies is currently Director of the Center for Creative Change at Antioch University Seattle and has taught at several other U.S. and Canadian universities. Her interests include social change and social movements, sustainability, environmental health, social justice and public policy. She has more than 25 years of environmental experience as a program manager, consultant and senior government adviser in Canada and internationally. In the 1990s she was president of Ecosystems Consulting, which provided services to government agencies and non-governmental organisations.
Kate regularly contributes articles to a variety of publications, and is listed in “Who’s Who in America.”
Click here to find out more about Roots of Learning: Strategies for creative social change
Click here to book your place online now!
Schumacher College remembers Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss (1912 – 2009)
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Arne Næss, the founder of the deep ecology movement and one of the college’s most important teachers, died recently at the age of 96. Arne became Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oslo when he was only 27 years old and quickly became one of Scandinavia’s most prominent and most playful philosophers.
Perhaps the most seminal experience in his life took place when, at around seven years of age, he encountered the mountain Hallingskarvet in south central Norway. The grandeur, generosity and repose of the mountain made a deep and lasting impression on the young boy, who decided then and there to spend as much time as possible with this great wild being of rock and ice, well above the tree line. So began a lifelong relationship with Hallingskarvet, where Arne spent about a quarter of his life in his cabin at Tvergastein – the ‘place of crossed stones’. Here he led a simple but active life for months on end, alone, with his wife Kit Fai or with one or two close friends. Outdoors, he climbed his beloved mountain and adored its tiny alpine flowers. Indoors, he relished artic weather as he pondered the works of great figures such as Gandhi and Spinoza whilst gazing out on a vast landscape of lakes and wild country.
For me there is no doubt that, in Arne Næss, the mountain Hallingskarvet took on human form. Together, the two of them brought us the deep ecology approach in which our fundamental intuitions of the intrinsic value of all life inspire peaceful action in search of a dignified human presence on the earth. In many varied ways, as Arne would have liked, those of us who live, work and study at Schumacher College will carry on with this great work. May the friendship between these two great souls – Arne Næss and the mountain Hallingskarvet – always be remembered. We owe them unending gratitude.
(Stephan Harding – written on the day of Arne’s funeral)
Click here to read an obituary to Arne Næss published by The Guardian newspaper
Forthcoming Courses
Click here to book your place(s) using our on-line booking system
Click here to book by post or fax
Roots of Learning: Strategies for creative social change
February 23 – 27, 2009 | Kate Davies
Systems Thinking in Practice
March 9 – 27, 2009 | Gunter Pauli, Don Beck, Rob Hopkins, John Wood
Schumacher Spring Renewal Weekend NEW!
April 2 – 6, 2009 | Martin Crawford, Satish Kumar, Wayne Schroeder, Julie Richardson, Jon Rae
Nourishing the Soul: Archetypes, myth & meaning
May 5 – 15, 2009 | Jules Cashford, Julian David, Thomas Moore, Hari Kirin
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Living Networks: From Leonardo to Lovelock & beyond
May 18 – 29, 2009 | Fritjof Capra, Stephan Harding
Small is Beautiful Revisited
June 1 – 5, 2009 | George McRobie, Satish Kumar
Biomimicry: Nature as mentor, model & measure
June 8 – 12, 2009 | Dayna Baumeister, Michael Pawlyn, Andy Middleton
Walking with the Earth Pilgrim Sorry, this course is full
June 15 – 19, 2009 | Satish Kumar, Stephan Harding
Science, Cosmology & the Future
June 29 – July 10, 2009 | Brian Swimme, Ervin Laszlo, Bernadette Brady
Valuing Diversity: Learning from ecosystems & cultures
July 13 – 24, 2009 | Gary Martin, Juan Mayr Maldonado, Stephan Harding
MSc in Holistic Science
Sept 09-Aug 10 Application deadline Friday 27 February, 2009
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Forthcoming Events and Open Evenings
Open Evening with Gunter Pauli
March 11 | Schumacher College, 8pm
Open Evening with Don Beck (a joint event with Transition Town Totnes)
March 18 | Methodist Church, Totnes, 8pm
Open Evening with Rob Hopkins
March 25 | Schumacher College, 8pm
Schumacher College
(E) admin@schumachercollege.org.uk
(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.