PROGRAMS
The heart of the Center’s programmatic work from 2000-2022 was the offering of ongoing grant-supported programs for children (Awakening to Nature, Empathetic Listening, The Poetry of Nature and Thomas Berry Summer Programs for Children), and a two-year program for educators (The Inner Life of the Child in Nature: Presence and Practice), which are described in depth in our 2023 publication, The Place of Our Belonging: A Work for Children and Educators Mentored by Thomas Berry.
Throughout this time, we also offered many other programs that deepened our community of presence with the natural world as a communion of subjects – programs that became a living tradition of participating in what Thomas Berry called an “emerging world of subjective intercommunion.” (The Dream of the Earth, 136).
There follows a chronology of these programs from 2000 until the Pandemic brought them to a close in the Spring of 2020. All programs took place at Timberlake Earth Sanctuary unless otherwise noted.
An “Earth Guides Training Session” with Thomas Berry, September 21-22, 2000.
“The Biological Imperative: Education, Imagination and the Natural World,” Part I, with Thomas Berry and Richard Lewis, October 12 & 13, 2000.
“An Evening With Thomas Berry: The Universe as Cosmic Liturgy,” October 27, 2000.
An “Evening with Thomas Berry: Human Presence,” April 27, 2001.
“The Biological Imperative: Education, Imagination and the Natural World,” Part II, with Thomas Berry and Richard Lewis, May 17-18, 2001.
“Merton and Nature” with Andy Stewart, May 26, 2001.
“Sharing Nature With Children,” with Joseph Cornell, October 6-7, 2001.
“Where Science & Religion Meet” with William Grassie, editor of Metanexus, and Thomas Berry, October 13, 2001.
“An Evening with Thomas Berry: The Tao of the Universe,” November 9, 2001.
“A Conversation with Thomas Berry: Sacred Dimensions of Ecological Consciousness,” March 22, 2002.
“Franciscan Earth Spirituality” with Andy Angyal on March 24, 2002.
“Being Present to the Sacred World: The Poetry of Mary Oliver” with Nancy Corson Carter, April 6, 2002.
“Merton and Nature” with Andy Stewart, May 18, 2002.
“An Evening with Thomas Berry: A Sense of the Sacred,” October 12, 2002.
“An Evening with Thomas Berry: Poetry Reading,” March 8, 2003.
“Living A Spring Day Deliberately, a la Thoreau” with Nancy Corson Carter, April 3, 2004.
“The Bird of Imagining” with Richard Lewis, April 11-12, 2004.
“Readings from Heron Mornings” with Andrew Levitt, April 24, 2004.
“An Evening of Celtic Music by Peter Berry & Sarah Keith in honor of Thomas Berry,” May 8, 2004.
“The Wilderness Spirituality of Edward Abbey” with Andy Stewart, May 15, 2004.
“A First Conversation” with Richard Lewis and others in dialogue, November 2004.
“Bird of Imagining” Poetry Reading with Richard Lewis and Mime with Andrew Levitt, April 8, 2005, The Kathleen Clay Edwards Public Library, Greensboro, NC.
“Bird of Imagining” Educator Workshop with Richard Lewis, April 9, 2005.
“Bird of Imagining” Parent/Child Workshop with Richard Lewis, April 10, The Kathleen Clay Edwards Public Library, Greensboro, NC.
“Bird of Imagining” Arts Educators 2-Day Workshop with Richard Lewis, April 11-12, 2005.
“Keeping a Nature Journal” with Clare Walker Leslie, April 30, 2005.
Annual Benefit Concert with The Walker Family Band, May 7, 2005.
NC Now, UNC-TV’s flagship news and information program, did a feature on the Center, April 17, 2006.
The Center was selected by Hooked on Nature as on one ten national sites recognized for its work on the child in nature, Summer 2006.
“Natural Play and the Interior Life of the Child” with Robin Moore & Nilda Cosco, November 11, 2006.
“Unveiling the Child’s Spiritual Connection to the Cosmos” with Tobin Hart, February 24, 2007.
“The Elemental Imagination and the Education of Children” with Richard Lewis, April 28, 2007.
“The Inner Life of the Child in Nature,” a Presentation by Carolyn Toben and Peggy Whalen-Levitt at the ChildSpirit Conference, November 8, 2007, Chattanooga, TN.
The Thomas Berry Award was awarded to the Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World by the Greensboro Public Library, November 10, 2007, The Chapel at Greensboro College.
“‘A Record of My Love:’ Henry Thoreau’s Language of Gesture” with Kevin Dann, November 16-17, 2007.
“Natural Contemplatives” with Tobin Hart, March 15, 2008.
Simple Living segment of NC Public Television on the work of the Center, Summer 2008.
“Pedagogy of the Sacred” with John Shackelton, October 25, 2008.
“Thomas Berry’s Sense of the Sacred” with Carolyn Toben, December 6, 2008.
The Thomas Berry Hermitage Project, 2008-2009.
“Natural Contemplatives” with Toben Hart, March 14, 2009.
“The Bird Whisperer” with Randy Senzig, May 2, 2009.
“Nurturing a Sense of Wonder” with Sandy Bisdee, March 13, 2010.
“At the Crossroads: The Intersection Between the Poetic and the Natural World” with Thomas Rain Crowe and Richard Lewis, November 13, 2010.
“Thomas Berry’s Sense of the Sacred” with Carolyn Toben, November 12, 2011.
“Nurturing a Sense of Wonder” with Sandy Bisdee, February 25, 2012.
“Thomas Berry’s Sense of the Sacred” with Carolyn Toben, March 31, 2012.
“Thomas Berry Series: The Human-Earth Relationship” with Carolyn Toben, November 10, 2012.
“Thomas Berry Series: The Universe Story” with Carolyn Toben, January 12, 2013.
“Thomas Berry Series: All Our Relations” with Carolyn Toben, February 9, 2013.
“Nurturing a Sense of Wonder” with Sandy Bisdee, February 23, 2013.
“Thomas Berry Series: Recovering the Soul” with Carolyn Toben, March 9, 2013.
“Thomas Berry and Dante’s Divine Comedy” with Andrew Levitt, October 27, November 17, December 8, 2013, The Center’s Fulton Street Office, Greensboro, NC.
“Thomas Berry Series: Intuitive Awareness: Another Way of Knowing” with Carolyn Toben, November 9, 2013.
“Thomas Berry Series: Presence, Communion, Identity” with Carolyn Toben, January 11, 2014.
“Thomas Berry Series: Seeds of the Future” with Carolyn Toben, February 8, 2014.
“Being, Beholding, Belonging: Eco-Contemplative Practices for Children and Young Adults” with Sandy Bisdee, Peggy Whalen-Levitt, Marnie Weigel and Mel DeJesus, February 22 and March 29, 2014.
“Toward Wholeness: Caring for the Soul of the Child” with Sandy Bisdee, Colette Segalla, Andrew Levitt, Jennie Bruner, Marie Nordgren and Peggy Whalen-Levitt, March 1, 2014, St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, Stoneville, NC.
“Thomas Berry Series: Recovering Our Sense of the Sacred” with Carolyn Toben, March 8, 2014.
“Contemplative Living With Earth: Dying Awake, Coming Alive” with Mary Hartsell, September-December 2014, The Center’s Fulton Street Office, Greensboro, NC.
“Thomas Berry: Harbinger of a Communal Spirituality, Rooted in Earth and Cosmos as Revelatory” with John Sullivan, October 19, 2014, The Center’s Fulton Street Office, Greensboro, NC.
“Earth Parenting: Living Soulfully Through the Seasons with Your Child” with Marie Nordgren, October 18, 2014, February 7 and 18 and April 18, 2015, The Center’s Fulton Street Office, Greensboro, NC.
“Rudolf Steiner and Thomas Berry: Anthroposophy and the Ecozoic” with Eve Olive, November 2, 2014, The Center’s Fulton Street Office, Greensboro, NC.
“The Meadow Across the Creek: Words from Thomas Berry” with Andrew Levitt and Scott Walker, November 7, 2014, The Greensboro Historical Museum.
“Body, Being, and the Emerging Ecozoic: Thomas Berry’s Relevance to Modern Medicine” with Renée Eli, November 16, 2014, The Center’s Fulton Street Office, Greensboro, NC.
“Contemplative Living With Earth: Heart Initiation” with Mary Hartsell, January – April 2015, The Center’s Fulton Street Office, Greensboro, NC.
“Thomas Berry and Dante’s Divine Comedy: The Journey and the Vision” with Andrew Levitt, February 1, February 15, March 1 and March 15, 2015, The Center’s Fulton Street Office, Greensboro, NC.
“Being, Beholding, Belonging: Eco-Contemplative Practices for Children and Young Adults” with Sandy Bisdee, Peggy Whalen-Levitt, Marnie Weigel and Mel DeJesus, February 21 and March 14, 2015.
“The Meadow Across the Creek: Words from Thomas Berry” with Andrew Levitt and Scott Walker, April 17, 2015, Church of Reconciliation, Chapel Hill, NC.
“The Four Virtues: Presence, Heart, Wisdom, Creation” with Tobin Hart, April 25, 2015, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Greensboro, NC.
“If We See the Aurora, the Children, Hopefully, Will See the Dawn” with Peggy Whalen-Levitt, November 8, 2015, at a gathering of religious leaders from Environmental Stewardship Greensboro and NC Interfaith Power and Light, Haw River State Park, Brown’s Summit, NC.
“Presence to Living Earth in Winter” with Andrew Levitt and Marnie Weigel, January 9, 2016.
“Presence to Living Earth in Spring” with Andrew Levitt, April 24, 2016.
“Re-Imagining Montessori’s Great Lessons in the Light of Thomas Berry” with Andrea Reed and Heather Koch, October 16 and 30, 2016.
“Presence to Living Earth in Autumn” with Andrew Levitt, October 23, 2016.
“Thomas Berry and Dante’s Divine Comedy: The Journey and the Vision” with Andrew Levitt, November 10, 2016, Well-Spring Retirement Community Auditorium, Greensboro, NC.
“Presence to Living Earth in Winter: Winter Mandalas” with Marnie Weigel and Margery Knott, January 22, 2017.
“Enlivenment Series: Contemplative Ecology” with Eric McDuffie and Peggy Whalen-Levitt, January 29, 2017.
“Enlivenment Series: Epoche and Enlivenment” with Nicki Cagle and Peggy Whalen-Levitt, February 19, 2017.
“Enlivenment Series: Children’s Connectedness with the Natural World” with Linda Tugurian and Peggy Whalen-Levitt, March 5, 2017.
“Enlivenment Series: From Spectator to Enlivened Participant” with Sonja Younger and Peggy Whalen-Levitt, March 19, 2017.
“Matter and Desire: An Erotic Ecology” with Rory Bradley March 23, 2017, Nicolas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC.
“Presence to Living Earth in Spring: ‘A Record of My Love’: Words from Henry David Thoreau” with Andrew Levitt, Aprl 23, 2017.
“Presence to Living Earth in Autumn” with Margery Knott and Marnie Wiegel, October 1, 2017.
“Matter and Desire: An Erotic Ecology” with Andreas Weber” (a talk co-sponsored with Wake Forest University), October 25, 2017, Porter Byrum Welcome Center, Wake Forest University.
“Matter and Desire: An Erotic Ecology,” a dialogue with Andreas Weber, October 26, 2017.
“Presence to Living Earth in Winter” with Margery Knott and Marnie Weigel, January 28, 2018.
“Bayo Akomolafe: The Spaces Between” with Morgan Josey Glover, February 18, 2018.
“The Gift of Fading Away” with Bayo Akomolafe, March 18, 2018, Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, Greensboro, NC (following an afternoon gathering with Bayo at the Treehouse at Timberlake Earth Sanctuary).
“Presence to Living Earth in Spring” with Margery Knott and Marnie Weigel, April 15, 2018.
“Presence to Living Earth in Autumn: The Hospitality of the Natural World” with Priscilla Webster-Williams, September 30, 2018.
“Presence to Living Earth in Spring: Heron Mornings” with Andrew Levitt, March 31, 2019.
“The Living Legacy of Thomas Berry: A Gathering for Remembering his Life and Renewing his Work, Co-sponsored” with the Center for Ecozoic Studies, Center for Human-Earth Restoration, Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain, Emerging Ecology, Piedmont Bioregional Institute and Timberlake Earth Sanctuary May 30 – June 1, 2019.
“Presence to Living Earth in Autumn: Blue Sapphire of the Mind: Notes for a Contemplative Ecology” (Douglas Christie) with Peggy Whalen-Levitt, September 22, 2019.
“Presence to Living Earth in Winter: If Women Rose Rooted: The Journey to Authenticity and Belonging” (Sharon Blackie) with Colette Segalla and Peggy Whalen-Levitt, January 26, 2020