BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Cobb Institute - ECPv6.15.17.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Cobb Institute X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://cobb.institute X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Cobb Institute REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20220313T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20221106T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20230312T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20231105T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20240310T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20241103T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20250309T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20251102T090000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240618T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240618T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240610T211726Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240708T190747Z UID:10001013-1718704800-1718712000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Lynn De Jonghe DESCRIPTION:Topic: Truth Under Attack: Talking Past Each Other in a Polarized Society \n\n\n\nPresenters: Lynn De Jonghe \n\n\n\nLynn De Jonghe frequently participates in our Tuesday conversations.  On June 18 she’ll ask how we should respond to those who profoundly disagree with us without dissembling and without further inflaming the spirit of growing hatred in our struggling democracy. Discussions in liberal and academic communities may assume that most intelligent people possess a shared understanding of truth and goodness. However\, Amy Chua has argued that this thinking fails to address the increasingly tribal spirit of society polarizing the politics of this country. In fact J.D. Vance has declared\, “The professors are the enemy.” \n\n\n\nDe Jonghe argues that many fierce policy disagreements and clashing truth claims have their roots in different understandings of the meanings of goodness and truth. After examining the historical roots of these disagreements\, she shows how these differences can be manipulated and even weaponized by individuals for their own political ambitions. She then turns to address those whose righteous anger may be genuine. She concludes that grappling with such different perspectives may require strategies that go beyond philosophical argument to more direct forms of informal communication. \n\n\n\nLynn De Jonghe’s career in progressive education has spanned more than forty years.  She served as the founding Head of East Bay Sierra School\, which later merged with another school to form Prospect Sierra School\, to become one of the preeminent schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to her work in independent schools\, Lynn spent fifteen years in public education administering federal funds to innovative programs\, advocating for project learning as an alternative to textbooks\, and pushing for integration in Massachusetts schools. She received her BA degree in History from Harvard University and an MS in Library Science from Simmons College before completing her PhD in Education at Cornell University.  Her doctoral work on children’s problem solving led her to push for challenging educational programs that encourage all students to pursue learning in depth and to use problem solving skills\, collaborative learning\, and exploration of values in an integrated curriculum. She has served as a trustee of numerous non-profit educational organizations. Her book\, Starting with Whitehead: Raising Children to Thrive in Treacherous Times was published by Rowman Littlefield August 2022. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-06-18/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240611T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240611T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240610T205727Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240708T190602Z UID:10001012-1718100000-1718107200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: George Strawn DESCRIPTION:Topic: AI Today Means Machine Learning \n\n\n\nPresenters: George Strawn \n\n\n\nGeorge Strawn is a life-long professional computer scientist who also has a keen life-long interest in History\, Philosophy\, Religion\, Physics\, and Biology. As a former trustee of the Claremont School of Theology\, he counts it a privilege to know John Cobb\, and to have participated in the 2015 Claremont conference\, “Seizing an Alternative.” He says\, “After 80 years of development\, Machine Learning may have reached an ‘inflection point\,’ called Generative AI—that is\, rather than just finding cute cat pictures on the Web\, it can generate cute cat pictures from scratch. It can also generate articles\, computer programs\, and other artifacts that we thought only humans could create.” In Tuesday’s talk George Strawn will relate the history of this important development\, describe how complicated it is on the inside\, and how simple and powerful it is on the outside.  \n\n\n\nGeorge Strawn has been a life-long professional computer scientist. For 30 years he was on the faculty of Iowa State University’s Department of Computer Science\, where he was sometime department chair and director of the computer lab.  For another 30 years he served at the National Science Foundation\, assisted the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House\, and worked with the National Academy of Science. See this article about his Distinguished Service Award from ISU.  \n\n\n\nPrior to joining the Academies\, Strawn was the director of the National Coordination Office (NCO) for the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program and co-chair of the NITRD interagency committee. Strawn held these positions while on leave from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Whitehouse. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-06-11/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240604T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240604T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240604T214156Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240708T190530Z UID:10001014-1717495200-1717502400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Andrew Schwartz DESCRIPTION:Topic: Learning from Living Systems:  Biomimicry and the Principles of Ecological Civilization \n\n\n\nPresenters: Andrew Schwartz \n\n\n\nWe’re familiar with Dr. William Andrew Schwartz for his long-time leadership roles in the process community:  Executive Director of the Center for Process Studies\, and Co-founder and Executive Vice President of the Institute for Ecological Civilization.  He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion and Theology at Claremont Graduate University.  As Assistant Professor of Process and Comparative Theology at Claremont School of Theology\, his academic interests are broad\, including Comparative Religious Philosophies\, Process Thought\, Ecology\, Education and more.  He’s been focused on high-impact philosophy and the role of big ideas in the transition toward ecological civilization.  Explore his website to find podcasts\, publications\, and courses to remind you of the breadth of his experiences exploring various aspects of ecological civilization.   \n\n\n\nThis Tuesday he will expand upon the lecture he prepared for last month’s Eco Forum at Claremont\, sponsored by the Center for Postmodern Development of China.  Biomimicry is his focus.  What can we learn from living systems about the principles of ecological civilization? \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-06-04/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240528T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240528T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240523T051449Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240523T052023Z UID:10001011-1716890400-1716897600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Mark VanderSchaaf DESCRIPTION:Topic: A Path Towards Sustainability and Biodiversity in Metropolitan Los Angeles \n\n\n\nPresenters: Mark VanderSchaaf \n\n\n\nMark VanderSchaaf had a thirty-year career as an urban and regional planner in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metropolitan Area where he ultimately served as the regional planning director for that area’s seven-county Metropolitan Council from 2004 to 2016. In that role Mark also became a national leader in the field of public sector sustainability planning\, serving as the chair and immediate past chair for the Regional and Intergovernmental Planning Division of the American Planning Association (APA) upon retirement. More recently Mark has focused on sustainability planning issues in Metropolitan Los Angeles\, working pro bono with Pando Populus to help address sustainability priorities of the Chief Sustainability Officers Task Force of Los Angeles County\, and APA. That work culminated in April\, 2024 with the publication of a free e-book\, Sustainability Planning in Metropolitan Los Angeles: Products and Processes. In future years he will be focusing his work on biodiversity issues as a new appointee of the Biodiversity Expert Council of the City of Los Angeles. \n\n\n\nMark’s Cobb and Friends talk on May 28 will introduce national perspectives on urban and regional sustainability planning\, and how such planning is occurring throughout Metropolitan Los Angeles. It will especially consider how varying law and policy frameworks in the United States make it challenging to ensure that sustainability strategies in this country are well aligned with one another. He will emphasize similarities and differences between sustainability planning in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Area and Metropolitan Los Angeles as examples of such challenges. He will talk about how planning products and processes in Metropolitan Los Angeles may well serve as helpful models for the rest of the United States. Finally\, he will consider how and why biodiversity planning is poised to become a key focus of sustainability efforts in the future\, and how the City of Los Angeles’ biodiversity index is poised to engender a “best practice” strategy for biodiversity protection and enhancement as the impacts of climate change become increasingly severe. L.A.’s biodiversity work will have consequences not only regionally and nationally\, but throughout the world. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-mark-vanderschaaf/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240521T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240521T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240514T163034Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240515T080334Z UID:10000990-1716285600-1716292800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Richard Rose DESCRIPTION:Topic: Building the Beloved Community \n\n\n\nPresenters: Richard Rose \n\n\n\nCobb Institute board member\, Dr. Richard Rose\, is Professor of Religion and Philosophy at the University of La Verne\, where he is also Coordinator of the Ecumenical Center for Black Church Studies.  He has developed a course on “Building the Beloved Community” that engages ULV students in practical experiences of community building\, enriched by readings from Robin Wall Kimmerer\, Mahatma Gandhi\, Howard Thurman\, and Martin Luther King\, Jr.  His current research examines global issues related to Interfaith dialogue and Religious Pluralism.  His teaching was recognized by a recent Life Worth Living Grant from the Yale Center of Faith and Culture.  This provided an opportunity for him to share that course with an International Ubuntu Festival in South Africa\, where he was able to bring Beloved Community in dialogue with the concept of Ubuntu.  This article in his hometown Claremont Courier celebrates that experience.  Dr. Rose says\, “I think we’re in a time right now where people need hope. People need to see something that allows them to say ‘Maybe there’s a chance that we can get out of the mess that we are in.’  Rose’s course offers “concrete examples of where things are actually working\, where people are actually getting along. . . . It doesn’t have to be so doomsday about the future. I think providing that kind of hope is good.” \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-05-21/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240514T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240514T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240501T190656Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240501T191220Z UID:10000977-1715680800-1715688000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Sandra Lubarsky\, Emily Schneider\, Sean Parson\, Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev DESCRIPTION:Topic: A Conversation on Zionism and Anti-Zionism in a Time of Political Turmoil \n\n\n\nPresenters: Sandra Lubarsky\, Emily Schneider\, Sean Parson\, Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev \n\n\n\nReferring to the current Israel-Gaza conflict\, Michelle Goldberg of the NYTimes spoke of a “fanatically Manichaen moment.” It is a moment that can be compressed into the two words\, “Zionism” and “anti-Zionism.” How are we to understand these terms\, their multiple forms\, their relation to nationalism\, and the possibilities for a political solution that they open up or close down? In what ways do they help or hinder us from moving to a humane future in this region of the world and internationally? John Cobb asked Sandra Lubarsky\, President of Flagstaff College and Communiversity and emeritus faculty in Sustainable Communities at Northern Arizona University to help us reflect on Zionism and Anti-Zionism from a Jewish perspective.  She will moderate the conversation with these colleagues. \n\n\n\nDr. Emily Schneider is a professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northern Arizona University. She received her PhD in sociology from the University of California\, Santa Barbara\, and she was previously a visiting assistant professor of sociology at Colorado College.  Prior to her academic career\, Dr. Schneider served as the Director of Development at a joint Israeli-Palestinian NGO\, Windows – Channels for Communication\, where she founded one of the first tour programs to bring young Jewish Americans to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in 2010. She is completing a manuscript on the role of Jewish allyship and tourism in the Palestine Solidarity Movement. \n\n\n\nSean Parson is a professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs and the Program in Sustainable Communities at Northern Arizona University. He is the author of Cooking Up a Revolution: Food Not Bombs\, Homes Not Jails\, and Resistance to Gentrification\, co-author of Superheroes and Critical Animal Studies: The Heroic Beasts of Total Liberation\, and serves on the editorial board for Abolition: A Journal of Insurgent Politics. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Oregon.  See his website here. \n\n\n\nRabbi Nahum Ward-Lev is the author of The Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets: Then and Now (Orbis Books)\, described as “a great gift at a crucial moment in human history” (Susannah Heschel). He is founder and leader of Beit Midrash of Santa Fe\, a multi-faith sacred learning community. He holds an MA in Hebrew Education\, Ordination and a Doctor of Divinity degree from the Hebrew Union College and is a Fellow of the Rabbis Without Borders Initiative. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-05-14/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240507T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240507T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240422T192533Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240501T190853Z UID:10000976-1715076000-1715083200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Kat Reeves DESCRIPTION:Topic: I Sing the Body Electric: A Process Relational Critique of Compartmentalized Medicine \n\n\n\nPresenters: Kat Reeves \n\n\n\nKat Reeves\, CCS\, BCC\, will join John Cobb and Friends for an eye-opening exploration into the shortcomings of modern medicine and relational healthcare advocacy. Kat will illuminate the issue of fragmentation within medicine\, shedding light on the overlooked aspects of holistic well-being\, the emotional state of patients and their families and clear communication. Kat will guide us through the compartmentalized medical system through storytelling and real-life examples.  \n\n\n\nIn today’s medical landscape\, there’s an undeniable emphasis on treating organs and isolated body parts\, often at the expense of understanding the broader context of a patient’s life. Kat will dissect this prevalent approach\, delving into the ramifications of neglecting the process relational understanding of the intricate interplay between family dynamics\, social systems\, and the psychological impacts of medical choices. We will also consider the profound significance of the soul and spiritual life in the realm of healthcare. By daring to broach these often-dismissed topics\, Kat unveils the true essence of holistic healing\, where the body\, mind\, and spirit are intricately interconnected. \n\n\n\nWe know Kat Reeves as the Cobb Institute Community Relations Specialist but before her work with us Kat worked in acute hospital settings such as Riverside Community Hospital\, Arrowhead Regional Hospital and Loma Linda University Medical Center. Kat’s work involved Health Information Management and she especially enjoyed cardiology\, trauma\, and interventional radiology.  Kat shares that\, yes\, she can read doctor handwriting. Aside from that skill\, Kat analyzed patient medical records looking for diagnoses that were present based on labs\, radiology\, and symptoms but not charted by the doctors. Kat also had to capture the details of surgeries for documentation such as what veins and arteries were sutured together in a Coronary Artery bypass. \n\n\n\nMore recently Kat has worked as a Hospice chaplain and facility chaplain working with the elderly. She works part time at John Cobb’s retirement community at Pilgrim Place. Check out Kat’s workshop for the Cobb Institute on Death and Dying: https://cobb.institute/learning-lab/process-of-dying/ \n\n\n\nKat also contributed an essay on chaplaincy in the book Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God: Sermons\, Essays\, and Worship Elements from the Perspective of Open\, Relational\, and Process Theology\, which can be found here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-05-07/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240430T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240430T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240422T191241Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240429T220717Z UID:10000975-1714471200-1714478400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Thandeka DESCRIPTION:Topic: Putting Our Emotions on the Couch \n\n\n\nPresenters: Thandeka \n\n\n\nThandeka will lead a discussion/workshop session exploring process metaphysics—experientially.    \n\n\n\nThree exercises will be used to achieve this end\, based on Contemporary Affect Theology\, which was founded by Thandeka. Contemporary Affect Theology advances insights from Schleiermacher’s affect theology and Jaak Panksepp’s affective neuroscience—the brain science of emotions. She will use three exercises (two created respectively by Friedrich Schleiermacher and Wilhelm Dilthey and one created by Thandeka) as part of her affective theological strategy.  \n\n\n\nThandeka’s goal here is to explore how undisclosed premises of affect-laden engagement\, volition\, moods\, attitudes\, and a history of patterning principles that motivate persons to make judgments about some facts and not others (as Dilthey noted) can get exposed today with compassionate understanding?  \n\n\n\nCan small group work advance and sustain the emotion-based paradigm shift now underway—for an ecological civilization of networked local communities millions upon millions strong?  \n\n\n\nIs small group work vital for this kind of empathic\, bridge-building work?  \n\n\n\nWe will explore answers to these questions based on personal insights and collective reflections. \n\n\n\nThandeka’s Bio: \n\n\n\nThandeka is a black American\, former Emmy award-winning television producer\, and Unitarian Universalist minister and theologian who has spent most of her life trying to figure out the sources of America’s dysfunction and how to heal it. She founded Contemporary Affect Theology\, which investigates the links between religion and emotions using insights from the brain science of emotions: Affective Neuroscience.  Jaak Panksepp\, the founder of affective neuroscience commends her work as “decisive historical-philosophical analysis” that can provide “a universal substrate for nondenominational religious experience” (The Archaeology of Mind\, 391).  \n\n\n\nShe has taught Contemporary Affect Theology at The Czech Unitarian Academy in Prague\, Williams College\, Harvard Divinity School and has been a Fellow at Stanford University’s Humanities Center\, and a visiting scholar at Union Theological School and The Center for Process Studies. John Cobb Jr. was a member of her dissertation committee at Claremont Graduate University. Her books and essays helped secure her place as a “major figure in American liberal theology\,” as Gary Dorrien notes in The Making of American Liberal Theology: Crisis\, Irony\, and Postmodernity\, 1950-2005 (John Knox Press\, 2006).  \n\n\n\nThandeka spent more than a decade as a small group consultant testing various ways to turn her theological insights into small group practices to advance the participants’ ability to heal and transform themselves and eventually\, hopefully\, the world.  \n\n\n\nThandeka used insights from affective neuroscience to track down the trauma foundational to 2000 years of Christian antisemitism (as densely argued in her book Love Beyond Belief: Finding the Access Point to Spiritual Renewal) and 300 years of American racism (as detailed in her book Learning to Be White: Money\, Race and God in America).  The foundational insight of her work is that the human brain handles pervasive feelings of fear and rage in neurologically predictable ways to ensure survival.  \n\n\n\nHer present work focuses on Untrolling America’s emotions [https://www.youtube.com/@TheUntrollingProject] and Universal Connections [https://universalconnections.world] small group work. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-04-30/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240423T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240423T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240416T173916Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240429T220731Z UID:10000974-1713866400-1713873600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Thomas Jay Oord & Tripp Fuller DESCRIPTION:Topic: God after Deconstruction \n\n\n\nPresenters: Thomas Jay Oord & Tripp Fuller \n\n\n\nTom and Tripp are both familiar voices in the community of folks influenced by Process and/or Open and Relational theologies.  They have agreed to discuss with us their book God after Deconstruction\, recently published by SacraSage Press. Watch for more details. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-04-23/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240416T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240416T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240416T172431Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240429T220748Z UID:10000973-1713261600-1713268800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Jeff Wells\, Vikki Randall\, Nichole Torbitzky DESCRIPTION:Topic: Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God \n\n\n\nPresenters: Jeff Wells\, Vikki Randall\, Nichole Torbitzky \n\n\n\nPastor Jeff Wells is lead pastor of Church of the Village (Greenwich Village in New York City).  He invited John Cobb to preach there when ZOOM opened creative opportunities for cross-country connecting.  At the time of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Center for Process Studies\, Jeff shared with Mary Elizabeth Moore his idea for a book of process-oriented sermons and worship resources\, and she said\, “Don’t wait!  Do it now!  We need that book!”  At the church’s sermon archive\, you can find the January 28\, 2024 message where he introduces the book to his congregation. \n\n\n\nJeff assembled an editorial team\, which included Thomas Jay Oord\, theologian who has written much about the “uncontrolling love of God.”  Team members Vikki Randall and Nichole Torbitzky will be present with Cobb & Friends for our discussion.  John Cobb wrote the Foreword and contributed two sermons he preached at Church of the Village. The book is a compilation of sermons\, essays\, and worship elements from the perspective of open\, relational\, and process theology. They have 68 contributors from across North America and about ten from other parts of the world.  They represent a broad range of denominations and traditions in this valuable resource for lay persons and clergy\, worship leaders\, and congregations.  This important book is the first of its kind to bring together sermons\, essays\, and worship elements from the perspective of Open\, Relational\, and Process theology.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-04-16/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240409T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240409T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240402T184157Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240402T212800Z UID:10000971-1712656800-1712664000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Helena Norberg-Hodge in Conversation with John Cobb DESCRIPTION:Topic: Local Futures and the Economics of Happiness \n\n\n\nPresenters: Helena Norberg-Hodge\, John Cobb\, Anja Lyngbaek \n\n\n\nFrom her home in Australia\, Helena Norberg-Hodge recorded an interview with John Cobb specifically to be shared with Cobb and Friends.  Linguist\, author and film maker\, Helena Norberg-Hodge is the founder and director of the international non-profit organisation\, Local Futures\, a pioneer of the new economy movement\, and the convenor of World Localization Day.   \n\n\n\nShe is the author of several books\, including ‘Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh’\, an eye-opening tale of tradition and change in Ladakh\, or “Little Tibet”. Together with a film of the same title\, Ancient Futures has been translated into more than 40 languages\, and sold half a million copies.  Her latest book is ‘Local is Our Future: Steps to an Economics of Happiness’. Other publications include ‘Bringing the Food Economy Home’ and ‘From the Ground Up: Rethinking Industrial Agriculture’. \n\n\n\nAnja Lyngbaek\, Managing and Programs Director\, will join us for discussion of the pre-recorded conversation between John and Helena.  Anja has worked with Local Futures since 1986 on many projects\, including the International Alliance for Localization\, the Economics of Happiness Conference Series and World Localization Day. Fluent in Spanish\, English and Danish\, she has been a spokesperson for localization on several continents. Anja divides her time between a Mexican ecovillage and a small island in the Danish Archipelago. She is a passionate food grower and is happiest with her hands in the soil. Anja holds a BSc in Rural Resource Management and a MPhil. in Agroforestry. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-04-09/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240402T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240402T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240329T042101Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240329T042259Z UID:10000950-1712052000-1712059200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: An Interview with Ted Peters DESCRIPTION:Topic: Astrotheology Now and Then: An Interview with Ted Peters \n\n\n\nPresenters: Ted Peters and Andrew M. Davis \n\n\n\nWe invited frequent Cobb & Friends guest Andrew M. Davis\, program director for the Center for Process Studies\, to share thoughts prompted by his recent book\, co-edited with Roland Faber\, Astrophilosophy\, Exotheology\, and Cosmic Religion:  Extraterrestrial Life in a Process Universe.  He accepted our invitation\, and he invited Rev. Dr. Ted Peters to join him for a dialogue on “Astrotheology Now and Then.”  Both will be on the program of the Star Island conference sponsored this coming June by IRAS\, the Institute for Religion in the Age of Science.  Andrew\, described on his website as a “scholar of cosmological wonder\,” will say a bit about his recent book\, and Ted will give history concerning his own engagement in the topic and the significance of the process voice as now formally a part of it. Ted Peters\, a Lutheran pastor\, co-edits the Journal of Science and Theology at the Francisco J. Ayala Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley\, California. An acclaimed author\, he most recently published Astrotheology: Science and Theology Meet Extraterrestrial Life. (Cascade Books\, 2018). Find more about Ted Peters and his range of interests  at his Wikipedia entry and at his home page. You’ll find at this YouTube link Andrew Davis’s recent lecture at Villanova University on “Metaphysics Beyond Earth: Whitehead\, Teilhard\, and the Emergence of Process Exo-Theology.” \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-04-02/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240326T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240326T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240314T210446Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T231736Z UID:10000949-1711447200-1711454400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: The Raven Poets DESCRIPTION:Topic: Perceptions and Occasions \n\n\n\nPresenters: The Raven Poets \n\n\n\nProcess thinkers understand creativity as an active engagement with the world that generates new possibilities and actualizes them through a process of becoming. In this sense\, creativity is an essential aspect of both human experience and the broader cosmos. Experiences often inspire art\, music\, poetry\, and storytelling. The Raven Poets have been meeting and telling their stories since 2010; some are original members and they have picked up more poets along the way. A few names may be familiar to you. Over the years\, they have become like a family. One reason for their deep bonds is that they have shared their hopes\, pain\, frustrations\, joys\, and inspiration with each other over the years. They have shared human experience of our interconnected world\, opening themselves to compassion. \n\n\n\nThe Raven’s poetry shares an honest look at the events of life in its movement and changes. Please join Lynn De Jonghe\, Veronica Michalowski\, Ernie Tamminga\, Georgette Unis\, Kathleen Reeves\, Ellen Livingston\, Richard Luftig\, Richard Bunce\, Mary Elizabeth Moore. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-03-26/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240319T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240319T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240314T205217Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240314T205717Z UID:10000948-1710842400-1710849600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Thomas Hermans-Webster DESCRIPTION:Topic: Cooking and Eating with Love \n\n\n\nPresenters: Thomas Hermans-Webster \n\n\n\nThomas Hermans-Webster is the son of Alabama Methodists whose experience of Christianity has led him to ordination and a PhD degree from Boston University School of Theology for more ecologically-just food ways rooted in Holy Communion. By academic training\, he is a process theologian currently developing Norman Pittenger’s ecclesiology as a valuable tool for bringing about ecological justice and peace within our world through love-in-action.  He is an active participant in the Open and Relational Theology section of the American Academy of Religion\, in conversations with the Process & Faith planning group\, and he was a presenter at the 50th Anniversary conference of the Center for Process Studies.  We were intrigued by his article in the Process Studies journal (52:1):  “Cooking and Eating with Love:  A Whiteheadian Theology of Meals for Planetary Well-Being.”  His current position as an editor for Orbis Press allows him to pursue his research interests in matters of ecojustice.  Find his biodata at Linked In.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-03-19/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240312T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240312T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240305T175806Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240305T180820Z UID:10000947-1710237600-1710244800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Eugene Shirley DESCRIPTION:Topic: Pando’s Civic Engagement Incubator for Sustainability \n\n\n\nPresenters: Eugene Shirley \n\n\n\nThe invitation called it “the sustainability event of the year.”  When Eugene Shirley\, founder and director of Pando\, sent us notice of the April 14 Pando Sustainability Awards we promptly invited him to bring us up to date on the activities of universities\, middle schoolers\, and common folks to promote and live into the Sustainability Goals of Los Angeles County.  He says\, “What I can talk about is our civic engagement model and how it emerged as a way of framing our work; what it means in terms of how we conduct our work; and what it implies re next steps.  I’ll want to tie this into education — both formal and informal learning.” \n\n\n\nWhile you’re thinking about Pando\, check out Pando’s January interview\, “Living in Strange Times\,” with John Cobb and Mary Elizabeth Moore. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-03-12/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240305T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240305T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240304T173210Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T173717Z UID:10000945-1709632800-1709640000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Jonathan Foster DESCRIPTION:Topic: Indigo: The Color of Grief \n\n\n\nPresenters: Jonathan Foster \n\n\n\nJonathan Foster\, the first to graduate under Thomas Jay Oord’s supervision in the doctoral program in Open and Relational Theology at Northwind Theological Seminary\, has created indigo: the color of grief\, which he calls “my newest writing on life\, loss\, love\, theology\, beauty and being a human in the midst of it all.”  Peter Rollins calls Jonathan’s writing “a stunning reflection on loss and suffering.”  Catherine Keller says\, “The dark beauty of grief working as art glows through every stanza of this long\, slender epic.” \n\n\n\nBrian D. McLaren called the book “poignant and profound.”  “If you’re considering loss you’ll be grateful for this book. . .which is simultaneously heart-breaking\, heart-opening\, and heart-expanding.” To learn more see jonathanfosteronline.com\, where you can connect to his many podcasts or subscribe to his substack publication\, “at the intersection of mimetic theory\, open and relational theology\, grief\, and life.” In October\, 2022\, Jonathan Foster shared with Cobb & Friends his dissertation\, published by Sacra Sage Press as Theology of Consent\, combining the mimetic theory of Rene Girard\, and the Open and Relational theology so strongly influenced by Thomas J. Oord. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-jonathan-foster/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240227T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240227T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240226T225938Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240226T230257Z UID:10000935-1709028000-1709035200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Evaggelos Vallianatos DESCRIPTION:Topic: The World’s First Computer of Genius \n\n\n\nPresenters: Evaggelos Vallianatos \n\n\n\nScience historian and environmental strategist Evaggelos Vallianatos will tell the story of the Antikythera Mechanism\, a device discovered in 1900 that has become a window into the genius of ancient Greeks. In the second century BCE\, the Greeks brought together the knowledge and philosophy they had been gathering for millennia into an astronomical computer designed primarily to predict the eclipses of the Sun and the Moon. The Cosmos was sacred to the Greeks\, but they had a special affection for the Sun and the Moon because these two stars gave them life and light. Besides\, like the rest of the stars\, the Greeks considered the Sun and his sister\, the Moon\, to be gods. Further\, the Sun and the Moon arrange the time of the day\, month and year. So\, the metal astronomical computer with toothed gears was very important. Predicting the eclipses of the Sun and the Moon had a psychological virtue as many Greeks were frightened by the temporary disappearance of these two stars from the sky. In addition\, the computer had a 19-year Meton accurate calendar and an 18-year Saros eclipse predictive dial. In fact\, the computer also predicted the Olympics\, so it united the heavens and Earth. \n\n\n\nThe Antikythera device was discovered in 1900 in the deep waters of the tiny Greek island of Antikythera in the Aegean. International scientists have been studying its fragments for more than 120 years. \n\n\n\nEvaggelos Vallianatos\, a frequent participant in our Cobb & Friends conversations\, earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin. He also did his postdoctoral studies in the history of science at Harvard. He worked on Capitol Hill and the US Environmental Protection Agency. He taught at several universities and authored hundreds of articles and 7 books\, including The Antikythera Mechanism: The Story Behind the Genius of the Greek Computer and its Demise.   \n\n\n\nHe has published several articles about this marvel of Greek civilization\, including:  \n\n\n\n1: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2022/10/the-antikythera-mechanism-the-greek-computer-of-science-and-reason.2: https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/12/05/why-was-the-antikythera-mechanism-so-far-ahead-of-its-time/. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-02-27/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240220T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240220T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240212T212210Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240212T212629Z UID:10000915-1708423200-1708430400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Lynne Juarez DESCRIPTION:Topic: Tule Elk Park: A Cautionary Tale \n\n\n\nPresenters: Lynne Juarez \n\n\n\nIt’s about children and the environment\, always an important focus for Lynne Juarez\, who worked for 33 years with the San Francisco Public School District. Her B.A. was earned at University of San Francisco\, and she has an M.A. in early childhood education from San Francisco State University. In 1991\, the year of the Gulf War\, she was working in an Early Education Program in a school that served over 300 children aged three through the third grade. Many images of that war were flashed on the TV screen each night…the black smoke coming from the burning oil fields\, the eerie photos of soldiers\, faces obscured by gas masks. The images that were seared into Lynne’s brain were those of the many oil soaked birds. In the face of so much death and destruction\, she felt compelled to do something. But what? And so began a journey that lasted seven years\, the building of Tule Elk Park. The school with an asphalt playground was turned into a park\, and named after the animals that used to roam there. She takes great pride in creating something life-affirming despite the time of war. In her retirement she went to Namibia to work with young adults to work with lower income students who wanted to teach early childhood education.   \n\n\n\nFriends at the Institute for Postmodern Development in China encouraged Lynne to write a paper to be delivered at a Conference in China in 2014. Although a family emergency prevented her from doing so\, a companion traveler did make the trip and presented the paper to Chinese educators interested in children and the environment.  Lynne herself delivered the paper in 2015 for the Cobb Claremont conference on Seizing an Alternative.  A resident of Pilgrim Place in Claremont\, she is still active with its Environmental Concerns Committee\, including creating booths at its annual festival to educate young people about environmental concerns. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-02-20/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240213T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240213T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240212T204021Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240212T210405Z UID:10000914-1707818400-1707825600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Celebrate John Cobb's 99th/100th Birthday DESCRIPTION:Topic: Celebrate John Cobb’s 99th/100th Birthday \n\n\n\nPresenters: Many Tributes Will Be Offered \n\n\n\nAccording to custom in China\, one’s 99th birthday is counted as 100 years. Zhihe Wang and Meijun Fan will share a portion of a China-centric audience’s tribute to Dr. Cobb\, “the Eco-Sage of our time\,” on this auspicious birth anniversary. Over a hundred persons experienced the celebration live\, and over 4000 have viewed the recorded tribute. How has John Cobb impacted your life? We’ll hear from several who have known John well. Come prepared to share your own word of greeting. Perhaps Jay McDaniel’s affirmation\, shared on Open Horizons\, will prompt some thoughts you’d like to share. The Open Horizons link also includes John Cobb’s thoughts on his own vocation in response to the Call of Abba. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-02-13/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240206T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240206T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240124T032633Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240124T032743Z UID:10000912-1707213600-1707220800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Wesley J. Wildman DESCRIPTION:Topic: Thinking Outside All the Boxes: AI Applications and Ethical Challenges \n\n\n\nPresenters: Wesley J. Wildman \n\n\n\nAI and related computational techniques are transforming economies. They’re also rocking universities. Everyone has heard about the effect of generative AI on teaching and learning. Surprisingly\, however\, computational methods are also revitalizing the humanities\, arts\, and social sciences\, and demonstrating the value of those disciplines to the rest of the university. This presentation\, from the Co-Chair of Boston University’s AI Task Force\, will reveal what is happening in these parts of the university\, opening a discussion about the multidimensional power and ethical challenges of these technologies. \n\n\n\nWesley J. Wildman is a philosopher of religion and a computational social scientist. He is Professor of Philosophy\, Theology\, and Ethics\, and of Computing and Data Sciences at Boston University\, where he teaches AI ethics and philosophical theology (including process theology)\, among other topics. He is Professor II in the Institute of Global Development and Planning in the University of Agder\, Executive Director of Just Horizons Alliance\, and Chief Scientist of the Center for Mind and Culture. Author of nearly 200 articles and two dozen books\, his most recent book (with F. LeRon Shults) is Modeling Religion: Simulating the Transformation of Worldviews\, Lifeways\, and Civilizations (Bloomsbury\, 2014)\, which employs AI methods to study the role of religion in world history. His first novel\, which appeared in 2023\, is called The Winding Way Home. For more information\, see www.WesleyWildman.com. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-02-06/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240130T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240130T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240124T031903Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240124T032040Z UID:10000911-1706608800-1706616000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Lília Dias Marianno DESCRIPTION:Topic: Love and terror: gender\, diversity\, and inclusion in biblical narratives \n\n\n\nPresenters: Lília Dias Marianno \n\n\n\nWe were delighted to hear from Dra. Marianno\, a member of the International Process Network who has been a Fellow of the Center for Process Studies that she had just published the book\, Love and terror:  Gender\, diversity and inclusion in biblical narratives.  She said\, “It is with great joy that I announce the launch of my first book on biblical exegesis with process-relational hermeneutics\, which is\, in fact\, the 10th book I have authored.”  Here is what she shared with us: \n\n\n\n“Since Ronald Farmer was at a Biblical Research conference that I coordinated in 2012 in Brazil I have persisted in process hermeneutics as the methodological path for resolving conflicts of religious intolerance in several areas\, especially in the field of gender diversity and unrestricted inclusion of LGBT+ people in faith communities\, which in Brazil is still a major problem.“It is my way of paying tribute to Jorge Pixley\, a long-time friend in Latin American biblical research and who was the person responsible for  my first contacts with Processual Thought in Biblical Theology. Who knows\, maybe one day we can publish it in English? If any editor is interested I can think about the translation. \n\n\n\n“Summary: \n\n\n\nPresentation………………………………………………………….Introduction………………………………………………………….1. Understand this book…………………………………………..2. Process exegetical approach in Judges 19-21…………….3. Exegesis in Genesis texts……………………………………..4. Exegesis in Leviticus 18 and 20……………………………..5. Exegesis in “texts of horror” from Paul……………………6. Loving texts through the Bible………………………………7. Inconsistent holiness………………………………………….. \n\n\n\nEpilogue……………………………………………………………….   \n\n\n\nWhen we asked Doctora Marianno to introduce her book to Cobb & Friends\, she said\, “I am very\, very glad to return to Cobb and friends a little about the big education about Process Thought that I received from you.”  Here are various ways you may learn more about her:  Linked In\, ORCID\, Academia.edu\,     \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-01-30/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240123T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240123T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20240124T031258Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240124T031419Z UID:10000910-1706004000-1706011200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Philip Clayton DESCRIPTION:Topic: The Process Vision for Constructive Dialogue with China on Ecological Civilization: Concrete Steps \n\n\n\nPresenters: Philip Clayton \n\n\n\nJohn Cobb urged us to invite Philip Clayton for conversation.  At the time of President Xi’s visit to the US\, John sent this note:  “Philip attended  the meeting in San Francisco and has been invited to write for the Beijing Daily and to work with the Xinhua news group.  I am more hopeful about lasting peace with China than I have been for some time.  I hope you can invite him to talk to us on a Tuesday morning.”  Philip has already made significant contributions to conversations of the Living Earth Movement\, which John Cobb founded to seek better cooperation of the US and China to care for the planet we share. Philip has long supported the work of the Institute for Postmodern Development of China\, and his book Organic Marxism: An Alternative to Capitalism and Ecological Catastrophe (Toward Ecological Civilization) has received extensive attention among some Chinese scholars. \n\n\n\nPhilip is the president of the Institute for Ecological Civilization. As a visionary thinker\, Philip leads EcoCiv in expanding and deepening its mission at the intersections of environment and humanity. With several decades of experience in university-based research\, teaching\, and lecturing\, Philip is involved in the conceptual development of all EcoCiv’s projects and ensures mission fit. In particular\, he helps project leaders think about intersectional societal changes relevant for their particular projects. Philip holds the PhD from Yale University; has held guest professorships at Harvard\, University of Cambridge\, and University of Munich; and is the author or editor of several dozen books and some 300 articles on science\, ethics\, and religion. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-01-23/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231219T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231219T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20231201T195515Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231218T220128Z UID:10000774-1702980000-1702987200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Jay McDaniel and Jill Thompson DESCRIPTION:Topic: Our Community of Process and Practice \n\n\n\nPresenters: Jay McDaniel and Jill Thompson \n\n\n\nJill Thompson\, the Director of Programs for the Alzheimer’s Association Arkansas Chapter\, oversees community educator and support group volunteers who provide vital education and support throughout the Arkansas community. Prior to her role at the Alzheimer’s Association\, Jill worked for a non-profit in Houston\, TX\, providing dementia care consultation and community education throughout the Houston area. Jill is also a licensed physical therapist and worked with the geriatric population for over 20 years in that capacity. Jill will talk about the various kinds of volunteer work people do in memory care units\, what she knows about music and Alzheimer’s\, and she will share the vision of the national Alzheimer’s association.  \n\n\n\nJill has a Bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College and a Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Central Arkansas. \n\n\n\nShe will be joined by Jay McDaniel\, whose own singalong ministry in memory care centers was featured in the publication of the Arkansas state chapter. Sharing from his own music ministry\, Jay McDaniel will say why the issue is so important for him\, and he’ll discuss ideas concerning God’s presence in the lives of people with dementia and their families. He’ll offer reflections in a process vein on understanding the self as a here-and-now event\, not reducible to memory or cognitive functions; the presence of God in each human life regardless of their condition\, and the vision of a beloved community that is all-age-friendly and all-condition-friendly. He’ll touch on the expanded notion of “family” in Jesus’ ministry that can be part of our own\, saying that I feel my friends with dementia are indeed family to me\, as are their families\, and I to them. For perspective\, he’ll also draw upon Whitehead’s idea that life includes “the dancing fairies and Christ nailed on the cross” and how a well-lived life entails openness to both sides\, in a spirit of love\, honesty\, and hope. Additionally\, he’ll discuss a process approach to life after death\, where no condition in life on earth is necessarily the “last” condition. And\, of course\, he’ll tell stories and talk about the role of music in human life from a process perspective: Music is what feelings sound like; it opens up treasures of the heart\, regardless of your condition. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2023-12-19/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231212T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231212T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20231201T194745Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231201T195005Z UID:10000773-1702375200-1702382400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Frank Rogers DESCRIPTION:Topic: Cradled in the Arms of Compassion \n\n\n\nPresenters: Frank Rogers \n\n\n\nWhen John Cobb saw that Dr. Frank Rogers had recently published another book on compassion\, we immediately invited him to share his thoughts with Cobb & Friends. We remember his previous presentation on compassion as we explored the meaning of Pomona’s decision to be a Compassionate City. He agreed to share with us the personal journey he explores in Cradled in the Arms of Compassion: A Spiritual Journey from Trauma to Recovery. (Order now.) \n\n\n\nFrank Rogers is Muriel Bernice Roberts Professor of Spiritual Formation & Narrative Pedagogy at Claremont School of Theology\, and Co-Founder & Co-Director\, Center for Engaged Compassion. Here is the way Dr. Rogers shared this good news with Friends of the Center. “I am honored and moved by three beautiful gifts in response to my new book\, Cradled in the Arms of Compassion\, and I want to pass them along. 1) My wife\, Dr. Alane Daugherty\, created a 6-minute promotional video about the book. She produced\, directed and edited the entire thing. What a gift. She even persuaded me to play a piece on the harmonica. You can view the video here.  2) The Wise Brain Bulletin\, created by Dr. Rick Hanson\, bestselling author of Buddha’s Brain\, published an excerpt of my book in their current issue. They did a wonderful job adding graphics. The piece is entitled “What Helped Me Recover from Childhood Trauma” and can be accessed here.  3) Rev. Julie Davis wrote a terrific review of the book for Spirituality and Practice\, the extraordinary online resource center for spiritual seekers of all faiths. Julie is a superb writer. That review can be viewed here.” \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2023-12-12/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231205T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231205T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20231201T193529Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231201T193936Z UID:10000772-1701770400-1701777600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Bruce Epperly DESCRIPTION:Topic: Christmas in Process: From Cosmos to Cradle \n\n\n\nPresenters: Bruce Epperly \n\n\n\nIn the seasons of the Christian year\, Christmas is more than just a day. It is a season going from Christmas Day to January 5\, although you can joyfully celebrate from Christmas Eve to the Feast of Epiphany\, the day of the Magi\, January 6. Joining the infinite and finite and tradition and novelty\, Christmas is a time to celebrate the Incarnation in Bethlehem\, in our lives\, and in the most unexpected places. Bruce Epperly will share how you can celebrate the twelve days of Christmas and embrace the spirit of Christmas from a process perspective through spiritual practices\, reflection on scripture\, and embodying Christmas in your daily life and citizenship not just for twelve days but all year long. \n\n\n\nRev. Bruce Epperly Ph.D. has served as a professor\, seminary administrator\, university chaplain\, and congregational pastor for over forty years. “Retired\,” he continues to teach theology\, spirituality\, and autobiography in the Doctoral of Ministry program at Wesley Theological Seminary\, give seminars\, write\, and rejoice in grandparenting and marriage with Rev. Dr. Kate Epperly. He is the author of over eighty books\, including his “twelve days of Christmas” series\, comprised of five books\, “the twelve days with…African American theologian and spiritual guide Howard Thurman\, theology and youth author Madeleine L’Engle\, Francis and Clare of Assisi\, carols and hymns\, and Celtic spirituality\, respectively\, as well as his book on the Incarnation\, “From Cosmos to Cradle\,” all published by Anamchara Books. He is currently working on a sixth “twelve days” book\, “Once Upon a Time: The Twelve Days of Christmas with Stories and Films.” \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2023-12-5/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231121T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231121T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20231115T055006Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231115T055244Z UID:10000770-1700560800-1700568000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Jacqueline Stillwell DESCRIPTION:Topic: Right Sharing of World Resources \n\n\n\nPresenters: Jacqueline Stillwell \n\n\n\nJackie Stillwell is the General Secretary of Right Sharing of World Resources\, a Quaker organization that gives grants to groups of marginalized women in Guatemala\, Kenya\, Sierra Leone\, and India to fund individual micro-enterprise projects. Right Sharing’s work is grounded in a sense of stewardship for the world’s material\, human\, and spiritual resources. Learn more at their website. \n\n\n\nJackie Stillwell\, a member of Monadnock Meeting\, New Hampshire (New England Yearly Meeting)\, has been a lifetime Quaker. She is a graduate of Friends World College with a B.A. in Education/Psychology\, and Antioch University New England with an M.S. in Organization and Management. Jackie has lived abroad in England\, Norway and spent nearly a decade in Guatemala\, 3 years of which were serving in the Peace Corps. For 22 years (1990-2012)\, Jackie served as Head of The Meeting School\, an experiment in education and simple living in Quaker community. She has traveled among Friends organizations\, serving as an elder and workshop facilitator at monthly\, quarterly\, yearly meetings\, and Friends schools. From 2011-2015\, Jackie served as clerk of New England Yearly Meeting.  Find details about her and the team she leads here.  \n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2023-11-21/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231114T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231114T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20231106T200339Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231106T200541Z UID:10000768-1699956000-1699963200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: David Bartosch DESCRIPTION:Topic: Towards a Philosophy of Cosmic Life: A Conversation with Dr. John B. Cobb\, Jr. on a Burning Question of Our Time \n\n\n\nPresenters: David Bartosch \n\n\n\nA January\, 2022\, conversation of John Cobb\, David Bartosch\, and other international scholars has resulted in a book edited by David Bartosch\, Towards a Philosophy of Cosmic Life (Singapore: Springer\, August\, 2023)\, and co-edited by Hungarian Attila Grandpierre and Chinese Bei Peng. Bartosch considers John Cobb’s introductory chapter to be a classic text\, which clearly creates the foundations of consciousness for a peaceful and long-term sustainable planetary civilization. His discussion with John Cobb about that chapter is the “main act” in today’s conversation. Bartosch’s own chapter on the idea of a transcultural and poly-contextual perspective on “cosmic life” relates to John’s chapter and how it is inspired by John’s pluralistic and transcultural approach to philosophy and science. \n\n\n\nDr. Bartosch is a German philosopher currently working as a distinguished research fellow at Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai in South China. He conducts research in the field of transcultural comparative philosophy\, especially in the comparison of European and Chinese philosophical traditions\, as well as in German philosophy. He has broad interests in various contemporary topics of general interest. For example\, Bartosch is currently preparing a book on long-term sustainability for publication. He was a Cobb & Friends presenter on April 12\, 2022. He discusses why a German scholar finds inspiration in ancient Chinese philosophy in brief excerpts from this television interview. A list of his publications can be found here: https://philpeople.org/profiles/david-bartosch. \n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2023-11-14/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231107T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231107T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20231106T195258Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231106T195629Z UID:10000767-1699351200-1699358400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Pomona's Kindness Carnival DESCRIPTION:Topic: Pomona’s Kindness Carnival: A Report from the Folks Who Made it Happen \n\n\n\nPresenters: Dick Bunce\, Andrew Quinones\, Jan Chase\, and Renee Barbee \n\n\n\nCobb Institute has often focused our conversation on our neighbor town of Pomona\, which has officially joined the Compassionate City movement. When we heard of the great success of their October 14 Kindness Carnival\, we asked Cobb Institute board member Dick Bunce\, an activist resident of Pomona\, to share the experience with Cobb & Friends. Bunce is retired from pastoral ministry and management of nonprofit organizations. He will introduce key persons who made it happen and moderate our discussion. We’ll learn about the City of Pomona from carnival co-host Andrew Quinones\, a Pomona native and community leader who is Executive Director of Southern California Service Corp. The Rev. Jan Chase\, pastor of the local Unity Church and interfaith leader in the region\, is convener of Compassionate Pomona. She will discuss the role of the annual carnival within the global Compassionate City movement. Renee Barbee\, Vice-President of Marketing and Operations of the local bilingual newspaper\, La Nueva Voz\, was the carnival’s principal organizer. She will share specific details about the carnival. See information about the event in the Daily Bulletin and the website of Compassionate Pomona. Dick Bunce hopes that “people would come away with enough of an understanding to consider implications for their own communities.”  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2023-11-07/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231031T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231031T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20231023T215548Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231027T215046Z UID:10000765-1698746400-1698753600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Becky Goodwin and Paul Colbert DESCRIPTION:Topic: Icon Writing as Spiritual Practice. \n\n\n\nPresenters: Becky Goodwin and Paul Colbert \n\n\n\nOn the Eve of All Saints\, United Methodist pastor Becky Goodwin and her Episcopal priest husband Paul Colbert will share with us their discipline of icon writing. In the prayer space from which they will join our ZOOM gathering\, are images they have created of many saints\, ancient and modern. Members of the Pilgrim Place Community that John Cobb calls home greatly appreciated learning more about this spiritual practice when they shared it in a community gathering. Watch for further details. \n\n\n\nWatch for further details\, including information about a series of Saturday conversations with presentations by the authors.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2023-10-31/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231028T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231028T120000 DTSTAMP:20260411T005813 CREATED:20230922T222922Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231011T174802Z UID:10000759-1698487200-1698494400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:Intuiting Life DESCRIPTION:The Science Advisory Committee at the Cobb Institute invites you to join us for a conversation series with the editors and authors of Intuiting Life: Process-Philosophical Perspectives on Biology. Each session will feature presentations by two or more of the book’s contributors and conversations with all attendees. RSVP below to receive the Zoom information. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSchedule\n\n\n\n\nOctober 14: Arthur Araújo (co-editor)\, Federico Giorgo\n\n\n\nOctober 21: Philip Tryon\, Johanna Häusler\, and Nathaniel Barrett\n\n\n\nOctober 28: Spyridon Koutroufinis (co-editor)\, Matt Segall\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Book\n\n\n\n\n\nThis book challenges the reductionist\, materialistic metaphysics often adopted by biologists\, arguing that this approach overlooks the intricate complexities and essential characteristics of life. Instead\, the authors propose a process-philosophical approach\, grounded in the metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead and other process thinkers\, which attributes subjectivity\, value\, and purposeful striving to all organisms\, from simple cells to complex animals. This fresh perspective aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of fundamental biological concepts such as organism\, development\, agency\, goal-directedness\, and environmental interaction. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPURCHASE\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Whitehead is convinced of the ontological fundamentality of life in all of nature. He considers the problem of life to be the central question of science and philosophy. He insists that the basic principles of life are exemplified in rudimentary form in all forms of physical existence. Living nature can give us the key to understanding non-biological nature.” (Intuiting Life\, 31) \n\n\n\nScientific intellectual attitudes criticized by Whitehead and Bergson dominate the modern life sciences. They are particularly influential in one of the core problems of contemporary biology and philosophy of biology: the nature of explanation. In 20th century philosophy of science Carl Hempel’s theory of explanation was for decades the backbone of theorizing about scientific explanation. . . . In philosophy of biology there is broad consensus that the explanative relevance of biological modelling in contemporary biology—especially in mathematically operating systems biology and theoretical biology—cannot be captured by Hempel’s account. \n\n\n\nAs “life scientists commonly seek to uncover the mechanism responsible for the phenomenon of interest” (Bechtel and Abrahamsen 2010\, 322)\, in the life sciences phenomena are explained by mechanisms. Leading philosophers of science who advocate a school of thought that is often described as ‘New Mechanical Philosophy’ or ‘New Mechanism’ argue that in many fields of science what is considered a satisfactory explanation requires providing a description of a mechanism. Indeed\, much of the practice of science can be understood in terms of the discovery and description of mechanisms. Mechanistic explanations form the main theoretical basis of most\, if not all\, contemporary biological disciplines. \n\n\n\nThe neo-mechanistic school in biology is a specific manifestation of what Whitehead calls “scientific materialism.” It can also be seen as a typical product of the technological intellect striving to reduce reality for the purpose of manipulating it\, against the limitations of which Bergson warns. Some authors’ criticism of the biological relevance of mechanistic explanations echoes Bergson’s warning mentioned above: “The intellect is characterized by a natural incomprehension of life.” Consequently\, intuition must assist the life-studying intellect\, for only intuition can do justice to those aspects of life\, which\, for fundamental reasons\, transcend the discursive-analytic modes of thought. Intuitive knowledge is not the only conceivable response to neo-mechanistic thinking\, but it is certainly one that takes into account essential facts that neo-mechanicism simply ignores. \n\n\n\nPhilosophy\, and in particular process philosophy\, must breathe new life into what has been suppressed by scientific reductionism. Serving this purpose\, the present volume is committed to the following maxim: Starting from philosophical intuitions\, biophilosophy must unveil the abstractions of biology and overcome them with new metaphysical hypotheses. \n\n\n\n“[A]ll of [Whitehead’s] thinking draws from the following philosophical intuition: The main aim of contemporary metaphysics should be to resist the modern dogma that a truth cannot be scientific unless it hurts the deep intuitions of mankind\, and that we cannot be scientific unless we tame the authority of our intuition. […] Whitehead’s philosophical work can be seen as an alternative to the worldview that still prevails in the natural sciences of his and our time\, which arose in the 17th century and is described by Whitehead as ‘scientific materialism’.” (Intuiting Life\, 21) \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPresenter Bios\n\n\n\nArthur Araujo has a PhD in Philosophy from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro/Brazil (2001). He is currently a professor at the Federal University of Espirito Santo/Department of Philosophy (Brazil) and founding member (2016) and current Coordinator of the Semiotics Brazilian Association of Post-Graduation in Philosophy (ANPOF). His teaching and research focuses on Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Biology\, especially William James\, Uexküll\, Peirce\, Ryle\, Austin\, Wittgenstein\, Darwin\, and Whitehead. \n\n\n\nNathaniel Barrett is a research fellow and member of the Mind-Brain Group at the Institute for Culture and Society (Pamplona\, Spain). The main focus of his research is the nature of value and its role in experience\, mind\, and life\, especially as examined from the perspectives of pragmatism\, process philosophy\, and ecological psychology. His recently published book\, Enjoyment as Enriched Experience (Palgrave\, 2023)\, draws on the philosophies of John Dewey and Alfred North Whitehead and recent scientific research to develop a theory of affect as the enrichment or deterioration of conscious activity.  \n\n\n\nFederico Giorgi is a doctoral student at the University of Namur (Belgium). His doctoral research concerns the relevance of Whitehead’s theory of symbolism to the present-day philosophy of perception. Giorgi’s interests include process philosophy\, philosophy of film and artificial intelligence. \n\n\n\nJohanna Häusler studied biology and philosophy in Munich and works at the LMU in science communication. She currently writes her PhD in Philosophy about the problem of free will\, arguing for a libertarian account of freedom in a broadly Whiteheadian spirit. Her philosophical interests cover a wide range of topics like philosophy of mind\, the free will problem\, the philosophy of science\, theories of causality\, the philosophy of biology as well as classical metaphysics. \n\n\n\nSpyridon A. Koutroufinis is Privatdozent (Associate Professor) for philosophy at the Technical University of Berlin. Between 2012 and 2014 he was Visiting Associate Professor at the University of California\, Berkeley. He has specialized in process philosophy (Whitehead\, Bergson)\, biophilosophy (Canguilhem\, Uexküll et al.)\, classical metaphysics (Aristotle\, Leibniz) and complexity theory. His research focus is the establishment of a new theory of the biological organism based on process ontology. He is the author and editor of six books and numerous articles and book chapters. \n\n\n\nMatthew David Segall is a transdisciplinary researcher\, author\, and teacher applying process philosophy across the natural and social sciences\, including the study of consciousness. He is Associate Professor in the Philosophy\, Cosmology\, and Consciousness Graduate Program at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco\, CA. He is the author of many articles and books including Crossing the Threshold: Etheric Imagination in the Post-Kantian Process Philosophy of Schelling and Whitehead (Revelore\, 2023) and Physics of the World-Soul: Whitehead’s Adventure in Cosmology (SacraSage\, 2021). \n\n\n\nPhilip Tryon did his graduate work in physics at the University of Wisconsin\, subsequently working as a development engineer on early automation projects for BioTek. He has a lifelong interest in quantum mechanics and how it relates organic systems and informs biological science. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRSVP to receive Zoom Info\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this event\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/intuiting-life-2023-10-28/ CATEGORIES:Conversation Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Intuiting-Life-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR