Boulder, CO, April 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- “Now is emerging a fundamental change, like green shoots coming through the rubble of a dysfunctional civilization, the greatest largest social movements in human history, as people acting in defense of life wake up to the grandeur of who they really are.” - Joanna Macy.
Expanding on Earth Day celebrations, Naropa University will present Earth Justice Week—April 19- April 23, 2021—to explore the intersection of social and environmental justice. This action-oriented week featuring our esteemed keynote speaker, Dr. Joanna Macy, whose work inspired this year's theme. "The Great Turning," is a societal shift away from destruction and division toward love, liberation, and flourishing. The theme is thoughtfully woven throughout the week in free workshops, facilitated discussion, and movement-based practices. Together, we will nurture and grow social inclusivity, well-being, and ecological consciousness while we take action and build a more socially inclusive and ecologically aware institution.
Be sure to attend our featured speaker's presentation, “Conversations on the Co-Arising of Self and Society,” on Thursday, April 22nd at Noon. (RSVP here.) Joanna chose this topic from her book World as Lover, World as Self. For the Earth Justice Day keynote, with Joanna Macy’s insistence and blessing, Naropa University has made the 2007 version of World as Lover, World as Self - chapter available for free here. We hope you’ll attend and enjoy a rare conversation between Joanna, Sherry, and you on Earth Justice Day, or attend the watch party Thursday evening.
Explore the many opportunities to participate in Earth Justice week below or visit the website for all the details.
If you feel called to give back, please consider donating to the Joanna Macy Center. Your gift supports programs and initiatives that seek to advance the vision and legacy of Dr. Joanna Macy’s work. Through your giving, you are empowering present and future generations in building a more resilient world that works for all.
Earth Justice Week Offerings
Monday, April 19th - Reading and Discussion: Joanna’s Words from “Self and Society.”
Time: 4:30-6pm MST
Location: Zoom
Join this book discussion, read together, and engage critically with the concept of self and society, self as society and society as self.
For the Earth Justice Day keynote, with Joanna Macy’s insistence and blessing, Naropa University has made the 2007 version of World as Lover, World as Self - chapter available for free here.
Tuesday, April 20th - The “Web of Life” is Not a Metaphor: The Delusion of Separation
Time: 2pm - 4pm MST
Location: Zoom
Most of us have been raised to believe that we are separate from the rest of the natural world--perhaps above it or perhaps just different from it, but not an integral part of it. Join Ian Sanderson (Senior Adjunct Faculty, Naropa University; Kanshi Dojo-Cho, Boulder Quest Center) and Amanda Aguilera, PsyD (Senior Director of Mission, Culture & Inclusive Community, Naropa University) for a didactic, contemplative, and interactive exploration of the contrast of colonialist and indigenous paradigms, including the causes and impacts of each in our lives and the world. Meet the facilitators and learn more here.
Tuesday, April 20th - Personal Sustainability
Series 1: Self and the Natural World
Time: 4pm - 6pm MST
Location: Zoom
Join Naropa Student and yoga instructor Kaylin Lilly for a workshop on nurturing yourself through connection with your body and nature. Kaylin will lead you through practices that foster the emergence of your true self by understanding your personal/spiritual connection with nature. Learn more about your instructor, Kaylin.
Wednesday, April 21st - Alternative Spring Break: Supporting Food Access and Native Pollinators
Time: Shifts available from 10am- 3pm. Sign up here
Location: 2130 Arapahoe Avenue.
If you are a Naropa University student, faculty, or staff, please join us for an Alternative Spring Break on April 21st, from 10 am-3 pm. Dig in and build bee boxes, uplift the Naropa Food Pantry, plant-pollinator shrubs, seeds, and nurture soil ecology! The event will have COVID19-safe practices, and we will require all participants to wear a face-covering and remain six feet apart.
Wednesday, April 21st - Eating As Interdependence: Food Justice and Life Webs
Time: Noon - 1pm MST
Location: Zoom
Interdisciplinary Studies professor Ramon Parish will lead Naropa students, faculty, staff, and community members through a reflective, contemplative and interactive process reflecting on the interdependence of social location, public policy, ecology, culture, and that most intimate and basic of our functions as living creatures, eating.
Bring food and an open mind.
Wednesday, April 21st - Special Event: Donor Appreciation & Special Celebration of Naropa’s New Division of Mission, Culture, and Inclusive Community
Time: 5pm-6:00pm
Location: Zoom (To attend, Please RSVP here or email d**evelopment@naropa.edu )**
If you have any questions, please contact Naropa’s Office of Development at 303.546.3595
5:00- 5:30 pm Join Dr. Stephanie Kaza: Conversations with Trees - An Intimate Ecology: Reading and Visual Arts Presentation, with Dr. Kaza and Davis Te Selle
Dr. Stephanie Kaza, a newly-elected member of Naropa’s Board of Trustees, is a long-time practitioner of Soto Zen Buddhism and lectures widely on topics of Buddhism and the environment. Her books explore timely questions of the challenging issues in climate, sustainability, and humanity facing us today, exploring the intersection of religion and ecology. In her reflections on trees, she investigates what it means to re-inhabit place, live fully, and speak from the truth of experience.
5:30 pm - 6 pm with Naropa President Chuck Lief, Vice President for MCIC Regina Smith, and others. Affirming MCIC’s commitment to strengthen the integration of mindfulness, compassion, sustainability, and justice.
Thursday, April 22nd: Dr. Joanna Macy - Earth Justice Day Keynote: Conversations on the Co-Arising of Self and Society
Time: 12pm - 1:30pm
Location: Zoom: RSVP for the Keynote Talk here.
Joanna asks us to read ahead here.
How do we create our society? How does our society, then, create us?
Join us for an intimate discussion on “Self and Society” with Dr. Joanna Macy and Naropa’s own Sherry Ellms, faculty lead for the Joanna Macy Center at Naropa, and core faculty in the Environmental Studies Program.
Enjoy a rare conversation between Joanna, Sherry, and you on Earth Justice Day. Joanna chose this topic from her book World as Lover, World as Self. Here, it is reformatted as a discussion to evoke the energies and confluences that shaped the course of history on Earth from the dawn of human civilization. These conversations still ring true today as we look back with a critical eye on the parts of this collective living organism we call society.
Joanna Macy, Ph.D., author & teacher, is a scholar of Buddhism, systems thinking, and deep ecology. Learn more about Joanna and her book.
Thursday, April 22nd: Watch Party - Joanna Macy’s Earth Justice Day Keynote
Time: 5pm - 6:30pm
Location: Zoom
Couldn’t make the keynote? Watch the recording with us.
**Joanna asks us to read ahead here.**
How do we create our society? How does our society, then, create us?
If you were not able to make the keynote live on this day, then join us to watch the recording of this intimate discussion on “Self and Society” with Dr. Joanna Macy and Naropa’s own Sherry Ellms, faculty lead for the Joanna Macy Center at Naropa, and core faculty in the Environmental Studies Program.
Thursday, April 22nd: After Party - Dinner and Discussion: Co-Arising of Self & Society Keynote
Time: 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: Join the After Party here.
After the watch party, eat (at home) and discuss with SUN (Student Union of Naropa) Officer and Sustainability Liaison, Rhianna!
After watching the keynote discussion, grab some grub and dig into this rich material, as relevant as ever. How does this apply to your work? To your life? Share and break bread together (remotely).
Friday, April 23rd - Personal Sustainability Series 2: Regenerative Lifestyle and Design
Time: 10am - 11:30am
Location: Zoom
Join Naropa Sustainability Director Michael Bauer for a workshop on the basics of living simply, living sustainably, and moving toward ecological and social regeneration. We will provide tips, tricks, resources, and connections!
Friday, April 23rd - Personal Sustainability Series 3: Honoring the Natural World
Time: 4 - 6pm MST
Location: Zoom
Join Naropa Students Rhianna and Kaylin in a ritual process for awakening your honor and gratitude for nature’s wisdom.
Ritual is a critical component to acceptance and healing through the state of our world. Together we will build our own individual altar with objects from the natural world. We will then practice moving objects through this altar space in a compassionate yet conscious way. Finally, we will gather in Council… because what is ritual without “coming back” to people who wish the best for you.
“If we build a society based on honoring the Earth, we build a society which is sustainable and has the capacity to support all life forms.” - Winona LaDuke.
###
About Naropa University (Naropa.edu): Located in Boulder, Colorado, Naropa University is a private liberal arts institution offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. As the “birthplace of the modern mindfulness movement,” Naropa University is a leader in contemplative education, an approach to learning and teaching that integrates Eastern wisdom studies with traditional Western scholarship. Naropa University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Attachment