The question has been asked: what has changed since January 20, 2017? It is a question that poses many and one for which there is no one easy answer. What has changed . . . ? presupposes a different yesterday, and by the fact of its utterance, it portends an as yet unknown tomorrow. Yet…
I was speaking in my head to Dorothy Parker and she said: “If you wanna know what God thinks about money just look at the people he gives it to.” In Guanajuato they like to say: Dios les da el dinero a los ricos. It’s a good thing God gives money to the wealthy—because without…
24/7 news has given us tunnel vision. Inevitably, since fall 2016, we are seeing the world through the lens, I should say prism, of Donald J. Trump: He is a very prismatic character, shooting across the spectrum in all directions. Never focused. We are obsessed with how to explain Trump and what he is up…
I awoke a year ago to our country suffering a stroke; a narcissistic clot broke through, hemorrhaging our life blood throughout the landscape of our national heart and mind without regard for what it destroyed: immigrants, races, genders, healthcare, the environment, the elderly, the vulnerable, and worst of all, mutual trust. No matter what its…
The nation is sick, trouble is in the land, confusion all around. That’s a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. –Martin Luther King, Jr. This declaration by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is from his celebrated “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech which…
I have several Dimmercrack fiends who believe our Precident is a man of dangerously low intelligence as would light up at a gas pump or think a nuclear war with Nerfed Korea as a god thank America. Truth be tolled, he is but a spokespoison for Pastyarchy, that mindsad that has come down to dumbinate humad consciousness so white in the world….
A year after Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House, what’s clear is that our familiar instruments of cultural progress are no longer sufficient for the evolutionary juncture at which we find ourselves. We are accustomed to relying on the tools of evidence and rational argument; the establishment of laws and norms that guide our…
I am no stranger to polarities. Growing up, I belonged to a fundamentalist Missionary Baptist church. Its white frame, simple steeple, and family cemetery, a picturesque setting in the foothills of North Carolina not far from my place of birth. Hellfire and damnation flared forth from the pulpit, backed up by the high mountain harmonies…
In a recent issue of Sierra, Naomi Klein shared how she was learning the importance of environmental and justice movements’ describing what they are wanting to create, giving form to the ‘utopia,’ rather than always fighting what they oppose. Her words made me realize I might be doing what she advises as I’m trying to…
If Planet Earth were small in size, And circling just above our eyes … We’d be amazed and thrilled with it— What dreams and hopes we’d build with it! Soon all of us would come to stare In wonder at it glowing there. We’d watch as day turned into…
What if it means . . . We treat Earth as a living biological entity, with its own needs for the survival of its natural systems (consumption, growth, pruning/maintenance, and waste management) and we believe that our own health and future success are directly linked to understanding the life-giving processes and healthy functioning of Earth’s…
AIEA has a vision of developing bio-diverse landscapes, biologically enriched soil, healthy food, and vibrant communities. There are five pillars of its work: Ecology Ethics Education Farming, and Food AIEA believes that ecology is the foundation stone of agriculture and that this science (which embraces its natural and social elements) needs to be the primary driver of…
It is not lost on business schools that the Anthropocene proposes a radically different challenge to business. Few have, however, taken on looking the challenge in the face and recognizing that human activity is outstripping the biosphere’s capacity to function as it did during the Holocene. The University of Technology Sydney Business School did just…
MARCH 15, 22, 29, AND APRIL 5, 10 AM TO NOON UNC-CH’S FRIDAY CENTER FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION REGISTER HERE. FEE S $20, UNC RETIRED FACULTY $5. Climate is always changing. Is the current global warming trend different? Can it be stopped or controlled? All of human civilization has taken place in the 10,000 year period…
March 18, 2018, 7:00-9:00 Pm, Greensboro, Nc (Sponsored by the Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World) REGISTER ONLINE March 18, 2018, 7-9 p.m. The Sanctuary at Church of the Covenant 501 South Mendenhall Street. Greensboro, NC 27403 Cost: $25 Advance registrations required at: http://www.beholdnature.org/thegiftoffadingaway.php Our modern lives are built on the foundation of a truism:…
There are many programs for environmental education and there are fewer, but other programs in ecological literacy and even deep ecology and spiritual ecology. Is it possible though at established universities to build advanced degree programs that are self-consciously grounded in the New Story and the Ecozoic with the intent to bring about institutional reform…
Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, Yale University, are offering four six-week online courses. Brian Thomas Swimme provides introductory comments. These are featured as a specialization under the title: “Journey of the Universe: A Story for our Times.” They are available in English and in Chinese. This specialization includes two courses on Journey of the…
The Journey of the Universe project consists of an Emmy award winning film, 20 Conversations, and a book from Yale University Press. You may access the full Journey of the Universe Film: https://vimeo.com/36950412 Password: whowouldyoube619 You may access the 20 Conversations with scientists and environmentalists: https://vimeopro.com/yalefes/journey-of-the-universe-materials Password: JOTU2014 Curriculum materials for the 20 conversations are available…