Hello Everyone:
Here is updated information on the Colloquy.  Please note-the
colloquy has been changed to FRIDAY ONLY, and two additional readings have
been listed. 

The St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt, Michigan is on

board as a cosponsor of this year's Colloquy, through their Sustaining
Pastoral Excellence Program.  They will host us on August 12, as well as
provide refreshments for us.  St. Francis Retreat Center is located at 703
E. Main Street Dewitt, MI 48820-9404.  To get there, just take 127 North to
the Round Lake Road exit toward Dewitt.  Turn right (west), keep left to
stay on E Round Lake Road (becomes E Main Street). Go through the traffic
light, and in about a half mile look for St Francis Retreat Center on the
right at the top of the hill.  Need a ride?  Contact Vickie Lovejoy at
517-432-0732 and we can arrange a carpool.

PLEASE SEE INFORMATION ON THE READINGS BELOW.  IF YOU CANNOT
PICK UP THE COPIES OF THE TWO READINGS BY PALMER AND BENNETT,
I CAN SEND COPIES TO YOU IN THE MAIL.  PLEASE EMAIL
YOUR CAMPUS OR  U.S. MAIL ADDRESS TO ME ASAP.  THANK YOU.

 

MINDFUL ENGAGEMENT
8th SUMMER COLLOQUY ON TEACHING AND LEARNING

Friday August 12, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. **Please note time change--We have moved
the colloquy to one day, due to many registrants' inability to come on
Saturday.**

Since 1998, the Colloquy has maintained a single purpose--to create a space
for colleagues to engage each other on a topic of mutual concern, "a pause
that refreshes," as one participant put it. This year, the topic is MINDFUL
ENGAGEMENT.

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE
As those involved began thinking about a topic for Colloquy 2005, persons at
the table talked about the frantic pace associated with their academic
lives, and commented about how important it has become to make choices about
blending work and personal time; professional energies with family energies;
and--perhaps more than anything else--learning to SLOW DOWN and
understanding that in so many cases "speed kills" ... spirit, energy,
motivation, and enjoyment, among other things. Each person talked about how
she or he was doing more and more, which leads to doing even more and more,
sometimes without realizing it. The antidote is to experience work and
relationships (including teaching) in a more deliberate, connected, and
purposeful way.

At issue, then, is how to live a professional life that is more meaningful
and rewarding, a life that better aligns why we entered the academic life
with how we are experiencing that life.

Consequently, the purpose of Colloquy 2005 is to explore the dimensions and
issues associated with engaging mindfully in our work--with our students,
our campus colleagues, and community colleagues--fully recognizing that
forces in our contemporary reality context work against achieving that goal.


BACKGROUND READINGS
* Parker J. Palmer--The Hidden Wholeness: A Journey to an Undivided Life,
chapters 2 and 7
* John B. Bennett--Academic Life: Hospitality, Ethics, and Spirituality,
preface and chapter 3
* Paul Loeb--Soul of a Citizen, see
http://www.thinkingpeace.com/Lib/lib036.html
* Tom Atlee--The Wisdom of Individuals and Groups (attached)

COLLOQUY SCHEDULE
9-12:30--We shall engage in dialogue about the topic of mindful engagement,
including what it is, why it is important, and
what we are doing to exercise it.  You are invited to bring any practical
approaches, tools, and techniques for engaging mindfully as professionals to
share with the group.

This email has been sent to all past colloquy attendees and the Bailey Community listserve. 
If you have not RSVP'd and would still like to attend, please email me by Tuesday, August 9th.  Thank you.