Professor Deignan had the privilege of being a student and mentee of Father Berry’s and this semester will provide a context to honor this exceptional thinker, geologian, and ecological visionary whose recent passing in June 2009 invites tribute. Therefore the course will afford opportunities for visits with his students and collaborators in the Great Work. An exciting and engaging course looking for excited and engaged students.

Tribute to Father Thomas Berry
Spring 2010

RST 320. Thomas Berry: Spiritual Masters Series
Wednesdays 6:30 pm – 9:15 pm; Kathleen Deignan, CND, PhD

In a rich and multi-media context, this course will examine Father Berry’s most complete analysis of our present planetary crisis and the routes for moving forward – The Great Work: Our Way into the Future – and also his collections of essays, The Dream of the Earth (1988), and The Christian Future and the Fate of the Earth (2009).

RST 315. The Sacred Universe.
Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00 pm – 3:18 pm; Brian Brown, PhD

This course will explore the significance of the universe, the emergence of the earth and the evolution of life as creative, sacred events, considering those aspects of human religious traditions that sustain a comprehensive valuation of the cosmos and the role of human consciousness within its unfolding processes.

To register contact kdeignan@iona.edu
Course fee: $100

The Berry Series: Exploring the Vision and Challenge of Thomas Berry with Dr. Daniel Martin

Daniel Martin is Founder and President of Cross River Connections (CRC), a training and consulting project for personal, organizational and social change and of International Communities for the Renewal of the Earth (ICRE), which convenes creative conversations around issues of our time, fostering an ecological spirituality as the basis for a creative and sustainable society. A native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Dr. Martin was educated in Ireland, Italy, and the U.S.A. His doctoral work was directed by Thomas Berry with whom he facilitated the first “Berry Series” of dialogues between Thomas Berry and representatives of various academic and professional disciplines. A religious consultant to the UN Environment Program, he designed and directed the Environmental Sabbath Programme and was a founded member of SoundWaters and The Whidbey Institute.

Session I: “The New Story and the Ecological Age”
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The End Zone, La Penta Student Union 7:30 pm – Offering $5

Session II: “Finding a Way Forward”
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The End Zone, La Penta Student Union 7:30 pm – Offering $5

The Berry Forum: Opening to The Great Work of Our Time – An Earth Day Convocation

Join us for an intensive inquiry into the challenges of this new moment of Earth history whose crises summon us to undertake The Great Work of our time – a comprehensive reinvention of not just the way human life is conducted on this planet, but of human life itself. Inspired and informed by the thought of Father Thomas Berry, we will examine the great themes of his legacy: The New Story that has changed our understanding of the universe and the human, The Ecozoic Age toward which we labor in hope, and the Great Work that will usher it in.

Our facilitators for the afternoon are Dr. Daniel Martin, Dr. Brian Brown, Dr. Kevin Cawley, CFC and Dr. Kathleen Deignan, CND – all students of the work of geologian and ecological prophet, Thomas Berry. Please join us for this important conversation.

The End Zone, La Penta Student Union
Saturday, April 24, 2010 1:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Offering $20