July 15-18, 2010
SUMMER INSTITUTE PRESENTERS
Thomas Berry and the
Great Work of Our Time
Kathleen Deignan, CND, PhD, GreenFaith Fellow ‘08, recently completed North America’s only comprehensive interfaith education and training program to prepare clergy and laity for religious-environmental leadership. A student of Thomas Berry during her graduate work in the History of Christian Spirituality and Historical Theology at Fordham University, New York, Dr. Deignan is Professor of Religious Studies and founder of the Iona Spirituality Institute, which she directs at Iona College, in New Rochelle, NY. A sister of the Congregation of Notre Dame, she lives her community’s spirit of Magnificat as a composer of sacred song and as artist in residence for Schola Ministries, a project in service to the liturgical and contemplative arts, which has produced a dozen collections of her CDs, most recently Praying with Thomas Merton: An Audio Book of Hours (2009). Her books include ChristSpirit: The Theology of the American Shakers, When the Trees Say Nothing: Thomas Merton’s Writings on Nature and Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours. Kathleen sits on the boards of the International Thomas Merton Society, the Giuliani Foundation for Religion and the Arts, and GreenFaith. (More about Deignan).
Brian Swimme, PhD is a mathematical cosmologist on the graduate faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. He brings a unique perspective to the understanding of the 13.7-billion-year trajectory of cosmic genesis, viewing humanity as having evolved out of, and being an integral part of, the universe as a whole. Swimme is the author of The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos, Manifesto for a Global Civilization (with Matthew Fox), The Universe is a Green Dragon, and The Universe Story, which is the culmination of a ten-year collaboration with renowned cultural historian Thomas Berry. He was featured in the three-part television series Soul of the Universe. He is the producer of a twelve-part video series, Canticle to the Cosmos, in which he tells the scientific story of the evolution of the universe. Swimme has also created and produced The Earth's Imagination, a video series about the evolutionary development of the human psyche.
Carl Anthony, PhD is currently a Ford Foundation Senior Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the Department of Geography at the University of California at Berkeley. Before joining the Ford Foundation, he was Founder and Executive Director of the Urban Habitat Program. He served as President of Earth Island Institution, an international organization for the protection of the biosphere. He co-founded and published the Race, Poverty and the Environment Journal, the only environmental justice periodical in the United States. Anthony is co founder with Margaret Paloma Pavel of the Earth House Leadership Center. He is writing a book on the Earth, the City, and the Hidden Narrative of Race.
Margaret Paloma Pavel, PhD works in the Bay Area and internationally consulting to individuals, communities, and organizations in areas such as strategic visioning, communication, diversity, and leadership development. Dr. Pavel's organizational clients reflect a core values commitment in areas of health, justice, education, and sustainable development. Her academic background includes graduate study at the London School of Economics and Harvard University. Her dissertation, "Organizational Culture and Career Development: Gender and Leadership," was part of a five-year study of the workplace in America sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation, which culminated in the publication GOOD WORK. Dr. Pavel is a keynote presenter at national and international conferences, (e.g. ‘The Future of Education – Re-imagining Leadership’ – Japan; ‘Eco-Psychology: New Paradigms of Science’ – Mexico; and Building Sustainable Metropolitan Communities – Cairo, Egypt.) Her current research focuses on the shift from mechanistic models (pyramids) to biological models (webs) for organizational development and the restoring of sustainable communities. (More about Pavel)
Drew Dellinger is a spoken word poet, professor, writer, activist and founder of Poets for Global Justice. He has inspired minds and hearts at hundreds of events in many countries, performing poetry and keynoting on justice, ecology, cosmology, activism, democracy and compassion. He has spoken and performed at numerous conferences—including Bioneers, the Green Festival and The Dream Reborn—as well as colleges, poetry venues, protests and places of worship. Dellinger has shared podiums and stages with luminaries such as Alice Walker, Cornel West, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Danny Glover, Ani Difranco, Billy Bragg, Michael Franti, Eve Ensler, Chuck D, Paul Hawken, Van Jones and many others. Dellinger co-wrote the documentary film, "The Awakening Universe," which premiered at the United Nations in 2005. (More about Dellinger)
Jennifer Berezan is a unique blend of singer/songwriter, teacher, and activist. Over the course of eight albums, she has developed and explored recurring themes with a rare wisdom. Her lifelong involvement in environmental, women’s, and other justice movements as well as an interest in Buddhism and earth-based spirituality are at the heart of her writing. Berezan is not your typical singer/songwriter and her work continues to expand artistic boundaries, blurring the distinctions between musical styles, politics, and spirituality. Though her songs often confront universal issues, her perspective is informed by a refreshing and honest intimacy. Raised in the prairies of Alberta, Canada, the transformative power of nature is also at the heart of her work. The Canadian born singer calls Berkeley, California home when not on tour. (More about Berezan)
Osprey Orielle Lake, MA is one of the world’s few female monument makers working with allegorical images and is the founder/artist of the International Cheemah and Mari Monument Projects, which celebrate environmental, multicultural and societal themes. Through her projects and presentations at conferences and universities around the world, Osprey explores art and new narratives as critical tools in societal transformation. She is an adjunct faculty member at two California universities, on the governing board of Praxis Peace Institute, and is the State of the World Forum’s Director of Women’s 2020 Climate Solutions Caucus. Osprey also works internationally with social and environmental change organizations. (More about Lake)
Larry Edwards, a facilitator of Transition Culture Movement and the Pachamama Alliance, earned his degree in chemical-physics from Harvard University. He taught/researched at the American University of Beirut (Lebanon), Cal State Northridge, and the California Institute of Technology before moving to the U.S. National Science Foundation. After 17 years of government service Larry finally realized the depth of today's crisis and left NSF to live and teach at Genesis Farm in Blairstown, NJ. He continues to teach there as well as at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Wisdom University (formerly the University of Creation Spirituality), and An Tairseach in Wicklow City, Ireland. (More about Edwards)
Jean Edwards, MA, a facilitator of the Transition Culture Movement and the Pachamama Alliance, earned her degrees at Occidental College, University of CA at Berkeley, CSU at Northridge, and the Sophia Center, at Holy Names College. She was a facilitator of Earth Literacy programs and the children's program at Genesis Farm after leaving a 25 year professional life in education, during which she developed a nature/Waldorf inspired kindergarten. In Blairstown, New Jersey she was the administrative coordinator for the Ridge & Valley Charter School which is based on the Story of the Universe and Earth Literacy principles. She created the initial structure for the emergent curriculum and facilitated the teacher training program. Her two self-published books are: Children Experiencing the Sacred, a two-week outdoor program for children 3-12 years; and Earth as Teacher, Providing a New Consciousness, a story of birthing the charter school. (More about Edwards)
Jim Conlon, PhD, is the director of the Sophia Center at Holy Names University. He holds degrees in chemistry, theology, social science and culture and spirituality. He is a graduate of programs in urban training and community organization. Among his publications are The Sacred Impulse, Ponderings from the Precipice, Lyrics for Re-Creation, Earth Story, Sacred Story, Geo-Justice, At the Edge of Our Longing, From the Stars to the Streets and Beauty, Wonder and Belonging. (More about Conlon)
Penny Livingston-Stark is internationally recognized as a prominent permaculture teacher and designer. She is the Co-founder of the Regenerative Design Institute & president of Sustainable Living Designs. She specializes in education toward developing skills in creating resource rich landscapes, co-housing design, site planning, as well as edible landscaping, productive perennial farm systems, rainwater collection, pond design, natural building, water purification systems, habitat development and watershed restoration. She co-created the ecological design program and curriculum at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture as well as the Permaculture program at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center. She co-manages the Commonweal Garden, a diverse permaculture organic farm in Bolinas California with her husband James Stark. She has been invited to teach, speak and share her vision all over the world.
(More about Livingston-Stark)
Riane Eisler, JD PhD,is an eminent social scientist, attorney, and author best known for her bestseller The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future, now in 23 foreign editions, including most European languages and Chinese, Russian, Korean, Hebrew, Japanese, and Arabic. Her newest book, The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics – hailed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as “a template for the better world we have been so urgently seeking,” by Peter Senge as “desperately needed,” by Gloria Steinem as “revolutionary,” and by Jane Goodall as “a call for action” – proposes a new approach to economics that gives visibility and value to the most essential human work: the work of caring for people and planet. (More about Eisler)
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July 18-20, 2010
POST INSTITUTE RETREAT PRESENTERS
The Great Work: Making it Personal
Kevin Cawley, CFC, PhD, GreenFaith Fellow ‘09, recently completed North America’s only comprehensive interfaith education and training program to prepare clergy and laity for religious-environmental leadership, and the certificate program in Earth Literacy from Genesis Farm. Prior to his term in congregational leadership, Kevin trained in spiritual direction at the Center for Spirituality and Justice, was President of Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick, Rhode Island, and served for ten years as a member of the faculty and administration at Iona College in New York. A graduate of Fordham University with a doctorate in Literacy Education, he now serves as Coordinator of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation for Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America and represents Edmund Rice International - an NGO operating in thirty countries - at the United Nations in New York and Geneva. View Cawley's environmental newsletter, "Carbon Rangers", archive.
Kathleen Deignan, CND, PhD, GreenFaith Fellow ‘08, recently completed North America’s only comprehensive interfaith education and training program to prepare clergy and laity for religious-environmental leadership. A student of Father Thomas Berry during her graduate work in the History of Christian Spirituality and Historical Theology at Fordham University, New York, Dr. Deignan is Professor of Religious Studies and founder of the Iona Spirituality Institute, which she directs at Iona College, in New Rochelle, NY. A sister of the Congregation of Notre Dame, she lives her community’s spirit of Magnificat as a composer of sacred song and as artist in residence for Schola Ministries, a project in service to the liturgical and contemplative arts, which has produced a dozen collections of her CDs, most recently Praying with Thomas Merton: An Audio Book of Hours (2009). Her books include ChristSpirit: The Theology of the American Shakers, When the Trees Say Nothing: Thomas Merton’s Writings on Nature and Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours. Kathleen sits on the boards of the International Thomas Merton Society, the Giuliani Foundation for Religion and the Arts, and GreenFaith. (More about Deignan).