Uncovering the Heart of Higher Education

5 sessions
Thursday, February 22, 2007, 9 am – 4 pm

Pre-conference workshops require an additional registration fee of $75.

1. The Contemplative Transformation of Higher Education

   *REGISTRATION CLOSED*

   In an academic world dominated by “third-person” modes of inquiry that strive to keep what is studied at a “safe” distance, contemplative pedagogies and research methods affirm the importance of applying first-person techniques to what we are studying. Whether we are studying our own lives in the effort to broaden and deepen our awareness of ourselves or inquiring into the larger world in which we live, contemplative methods deepen our experience, insight, and understanding. In this pre-conference workshop we will look at the contribution of contemplative practice to teaching, learning, research, and student life. Participants will also be introduced to practices from a variety of traditions that have been adapted successfully for secular classroom settings.

   Presenters: Mirabai Bush, Arthur Zajonc, Mary Rose O'Reilley, Bradford Grant, Center for Contemplative Mind

2. The Journey Toward an Undivided Life: An introductory circle of trust experience based on the work of Parker J. Palmer

   *REGISTRATION CLOSED*

   Those of us engaged in leadership, teaching, and social change know the challenge of sustaining ourselves and our commitment to our students, colleagues, and institutions. The more passionate we are about our work, the more vital it is that we take time to renew our own spirits. In this day of retreat we will focus on the rejoining of soul and role of reconnecting who we are with what we do. In large group, small group, and solitary reflection, we will explore the intersection of our personal and professional lives, making use of stories from our own journeys, and insights from poets, storytellers, and various wisdom traditions.

   Presenters: Marcy Jackson, Rick Jackson, and Parker Palmer, Center for
   Courage & Renewal

3. Dealing with Difference Constructively: Interfaith Dialogue and Action on the College Campus

   This workshop will engage heart, head and spirit to learn methods for bridging the chasms that divide students on college campuses, primarily across religious lines. Guests will receive resources, participate in models of dialogue and interfaith organizing, and deepen knowledge of significant differences among religious and spiritual traditions. They will share stories of barrier-crossing successes, experience appreciative listening, and create a vision for strengthening compassion and cooperation in the face of difference as a part of a liberal arts education.

   Speakers will provide information about The United Religions Initiative, an extraordinary global interfaith community; engage participants in dialogue and reflection; and discuss questions, issues, and initiatives dealing with religious differences on college campuses, especially in the USA today.

   Presenters: Sally Mahe, Director of Organizational Development, United Religions Initiative (Workshop Moderator); Charles Gibbs, Executive Director, United Religions Initiative; Robert McDermott, Professor, Philosophy, California Institute of Integral Studies; Heng Sure, Monk, Berkeley Buddhist Monastery.

4. The Heart of Leadership: Vocation and Values
   Offered by the Council of Independent Colleges

   Colleges and universities have many leaders—not only presidents, vice presidents, and deans but also program directors and department chairs. In all of these roles, leadership “from the heart” involves a complex interplay of individual and institution. The first half of the workshop will invite participants, through the lens of vocation, to discover their own voice and gifts as well ways to give voice and recognition to others and to create a sense of shared purpose. The afternoon session will be an opportunity to consider the relationship between individual values and institutional values.

   Presenters:
   Larry A. Braskamp is professor emeritus at Loyola University in Chicago, where he had earlier served as senior vice president for academic affairs and professor of education. He is co-author of Putting Students First: How Colleges Develop Students Purposefully (2006).

   Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F is president of St. Bonaventure University (NY). She previously served as the University’s senior vice president for the Franciscan Mission and directed the University’s Franciscan Institute. In 1996 she chaired a national task force on leadership roles for women in the church sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

   G. David Pollick is president of Birmingham-Southern College (AL). Previously he was president of Lebanon Valley College (PA) and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A philosopher, he is seeking to establish Birmingham-Southern as a center for the discussion of issues surrounding human dignity.

   Jon Wergin is professor of educational studies at Antioch University. Previously he was professor of educational studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and a Senior Scholar with the American Association for Higher Education. He is the author of Departments That Work (2003), The Collaborative Department (1994), and Educating Professionals (1993, with Lynn Curry).

5. Affirming the Power and Reality of the Inner Life

   We know that it is the whole person—mind, heart, and spirit—who best teaches, learns, leads, and serves.  If we want the whole person to show up on campus, we must affirm the power and reality of the inner life alongside the “usual suspects” of empirical knowing and scientific inquiry.  

    
   The Center for Formation in Higher Education is based on the work of author, speaker, and activist Parker J. Palmer.  Formation provides a framework for taking an inner journey toward wholeness and authenticity.  The journey is often enriching, renewing, and transformative, and though individual, is best done in and through community.  Through the work of formation, whole persons can better form the whole organizations that make up whole communities.
    
   Participants in this day will be invited to experience the work of formation through the exploration of our own stories, along with teachings from various wisdom traditions.  We will share our six-year experience of working with those who teach, learn, lead, and serve in colleges and universities across the country.  There will be an opportunity to explore ways in which individuals and institutions can do more of this work.

   Session Facilitators: Ann Faulkner, Sue Jones, Elaine Sullivan, Co-directors of the Center for Formation in Higher Education