Forums and Three-Day Intensive

The Sophia Center regularly invites from the community: artists, activists, ritual makers, theologians, ecologists and other contemporary spiritual leaders to share their wisdom and bring fresh perspective to the students and faculty.

Sophia Room (look for sign at Chapel level)
3500 Mountain Boulevard, Oakland, CA
510-436-1046 or 800-794-8813

FORUM ADMISSION: $10 AT THE DOOR
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SPRING SEMESTER- 2010 THURSDAY AFTERNOON FORUMS

Thursday Forum, April 8
1:30- 4:00 PM

“Dark Night, Bright Morning: John Muir's Spiritual Awakening"

In 1867, an emotionally fragile 29-year-old John Muir set off on a walking tour through the vanquished American South and found himself two years later living in an ecstatic state above Yosemite Valley.

These experiences marked a profound spiritual transformation in Muir that revealed his true calling and launched the career that would establish him as America's foremost conservationist.

This lecture/slide/video presentation explores this defining period in Muir’s life and its role in preserving for later generations the many treasures of America’s natural wonders.

Tim Flinders, MA, graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley where he studied English and Sanskrit Literature. He holds a Masters Degree in Culture and Spirituality from Holy Names University and is a member of the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University, where he has conducted research on meditation. He has published numerous articles and books on spirituality, health, and nonviolence. (More about Flinders)

THREE-DAY INTENSIVE
October 28, 29, & November 1, 2010
1:30 – 4:00 PM

Thomas Merton and the Call of the True Self
Merton’s life and work serve as a guide to help us understand ourselves, our relationship with the sacred, others and the world of nature.

Terry Smith, MA. A priest from Cincinnati has been involved in spiritual companioning and retreats for close to twenty-five years. He is presently a pastor in the Cincinnati area while continuing to companion with others and be involved in retreats. He has done graduate work in the area of spirituality at Fordham and Creighton Universities. He was a participant at Sophia Center in 2003

THREE-DAY INTENSIVE
April 1, 2, 4, 2011
1:30 – 4:00 PM

Embracing Darkness
The gift of darkness will be explored from the perspective of cosmology and chaos theory. Students will be invited to befriend darkness as an essential component of a dynamic spiritual life. Silence, meditation as well as lecture, music and story will be part of this course content.

Alexandra Kovats, csjp, PhD has been a spiritual director and retreat facilitator for over thirty years. She is adjunct instructor at the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. Through her teaching and journeying with people of different ages, life-styles and culture/ethnic backgrounds she is committed to facilitate them toward a fuller and freer life. She is the author of Prayer, A Discovery of Life. (More about Kovats)