Seeing Nature Through a Process Lens
A Learning Circle Exploring Nature Authors
Guided by Process Thought
| WHAT? | Learning Circle |
| WHEN? | June 10 – July 1, 2024 Meets weekly on Mondays 8:30 – 10:00 AM Pacific / 11:30 – 1:00 PM Eastern |
| WHERE? | Online Via Zoom |
In this four-session learning circle we will read and discuss the writings of various nature authors, such as Loren Eiseley, Mary Oliver, John Muir, and others. The group will use some of the Cobb Institute’s “What is Process Thought? 20 Key Ideas” slideshow as a means to learn more about nature and process thought.
The learning circle will meet four times for an hour and a half each session. We will begin session one with a discussion of five of the 20 Key Ideas. In each of the other three sessions there will be a brief review of the biography of the authors and an overview of their works.
Knowledge of the authors we will study or process thought is not necessary. A desire to learn more about both is both helpful and desired.
The natural world has value in itself, and all living beings are worthy of respect and care. Rocks and trees, hills and rivers are not simply facts in the world; they are also acts of self-realization. The whole of nature is alive with value. We humans dwell within, not apart from, the Ten Thousand Things. We, too, have value.
–Twenty Key Ideas in Process Thought
Schedule & Outline
We will meet weekly on Mondays, at 8:30 – 10:00 AM Pacific, from June 10 thru July 1, 2024.
- June 10: Session 1: Key Ideas in Process Thought, Whitehead on Wordsworth and Shelley
- June 17: Session 2: Loren Eiseley
- June 24: Session 3: Mary Oliver and Henry David Thoreau
- July 1: Session 4: Aldo Leopold, Mary Hunter Austin, and John Muir
About the Facilitator
Terry Goddard is a retired professor of history and religion. He has a MA in history from Loyola University Chicago and a PhD from Chicago Theological Seminary. He has served on the Cobb Institute board and as Director of Educational Offerings. Currently, Terry offers on going book discussions for Process and Faith and the Cobb Institute – Readings on Faiths Around the World.
Terry lives in Little Rock, Arkansas with his wife, Miriam, and their companion – Ollie. Terry is an avid reader of topics in science, nature, philosophy, and religion. He writes a blog on those topics and more. Terry also offers courses at a senior life long learning center in Little Rock. More importantly, Terry and Miriam love the outdoors and spend as much time as possible exploring the beauty of Arkansas’s rivers and mountains – kayaking and sauntering.
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