The New School at Commonweal

Peter Orner Not Alone Tonight at Least ~Co-presented by the Bolinas Library, The New School at Commonweal, and Point Reyes Books~ Join us for a reading and conversation with TNS Host Steve Heilig and writer Peter Orner. Peter teaches at the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers as well as at San Francisco State University, where he is currently chair of the Creative Writing Department. He is a member of the Bolinas Volunteer Fire Department. Peter Orner Chicago-born Peter Orner has lived in the San Francisco Bay area for sixteen years. He is the author of two novels (The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo, 2006, Love and Shame and Love, 2010) and two story collections (Esther Stories, 2001, and Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge, 2013), as well as the editor of two oral histories (Voice of Witness). Orner’s fiction and non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, Granta, The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, The Southern Review, and many other publications. His stories have been anthologized in Best American Stories and twice received a Pushcart Prize. Orner has been awarded a the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a two-year Lannan Foundation Literary Fellowship, as well as a Fulbright to Namibia. A new book of oral history set in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, co-edited with Evan Lyon, will be published in January, 2017. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

A Community Reading with Eric Karpeles ~Co-sponsored by Point Reyes Books~ Please join TNS host Eric Karpeles for another panoramic community event, a chorus of mixed individual voices reading from the pages of one of America’s most impassioned nature lovers.

Join us for a conversation with TNS Host Michael Lerner and film maker Lata Mani. The Poetics of Fragility (63 minutes) is a kaleidoscopic exploration of the texture, vitality, and aesthetics of fragility. Shot in the San Francisco Bay Area in September 2015 by co-directors Lata Mani and Nicolás Grandi, the film features internationally renowned scholar-activist Angela Davis, the acclaimed playwright and critic Cherrie Moraga, Nora Cortiñas, the inspiring founding member of Madres de Plaza de Mayo Linea Fundadora, actor-dancer Greg Manalo, feminist performance artists Thao P. Nguyen and Martha Rynberg, theater scholar Jisha Menon, healer Christopher Miles, creative writer Xochitl M. Perales and the young trombone talent, Jasim Perales. Find out more on their websites: www.thepoeticsoffragility.com http://latamani.com Lata Mani Lata is a feminist historian, cultural critic, contemplative writer, and filmmaker. She has published on a broad range of issues, from feminism and colonialism, to illness, spiritual philosophy, and contemporary politics. She is the author of The Integral Nature of Things: Critical Reflections on the Present (Routledge 2013), Interleaves: Ruminations on Illness and Spiritual Life (Yoda 2011), Sacred Secular: Contemplative Cultural Critique, (Routledge 2009) and Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India (University of California Press 1989).

Join TNS Host Irwin Keller in a conversation with musician, teacher, and activist Holly Near. Holly is an acclaimed songwriter, producer, and recording artist with more than 40 creative years and 30 recordings. Respected around the world for her music and activism, her joy and passion inspire people to join in her celebration of the human spirit. Holly Near Born in Ukiah, CA in 1949, Holly began singing in high school, including work with a local folk group. She built on her performing career with acting parts on Mod Squad and appeared in a number of guest roles in seminal 70s TV shows like Room 222 and The Partridge Family. In 1970, she was a cast member of the Broadway musical Hair. In 1971, she joined the Free The Army Tour, an anti-Vietnam War road show of music, comedy, and plays organized by antiwar activist Fred Gardner and actors Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. In 1972, Holly was one of the first women to create an independent record company, paving the way for women like Ani DiFranco and others. She has been recognized many times for her work for social change, including honors from the ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild, the National Organization for Women, and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences–and she was named Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year and received the Legends of Women’s Music Award. Holly is a staunch advocate for LGBTQ rights. She teaches, presenting master classes in performance craft and songwriting to diverse audiences. Her most recent CD, “Peace Becomes You,” was released in 2012. photo credit: Irene Young

Listen to remarks from Commonweal Founder Michael Lerner, Chief Strategies Officer Oren Slozberg, and Cancer Help Program Medical Director Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, at the occasion of Commonweal's 40th anniversary luncheon.

During this 40th anniversary year for Commonweal, Michael Lerner, Commonweal Co-Founder, and Rachel Remen, MD, Medical Director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program, offer the fourth in a series of conversations about Commonweal’s story for The New School. In addition to being the Medical Director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program for almost 30 years, Rachel directed the Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (ISHI) at Commonweal for 25 years. One of ISHI’s programs, the Healer’s Art, has reached almost 16,000 medical students at medical schools around the world. Rachel is the author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings, best sellers in many languages around the world. Rachel Naomi Remen, MD Rachel is a nationally recognized medical reformer and educator who considers the practice of medicine to be a spiritual path and a path of service. She is internationally acclaimed as one of the earliest pioneers in the Integrative Health movement, and among the first to practice and teach a medicine of the whole person. As a doctor with a 63-year personal history of Crohn’s disease, she brings the perspective of both physician and patient to her pioneering work and her approach to medical education. She is clinical professor of family and community medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, clinical professor of community health at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, founder and director of the Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness at Wright State University, and cofounder of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program that was featured in the highly acclaimed Bill Moyers PBS series, Healing and the Mind. Her many groundbreaking curricula enable physicians and other health professionals worldwide to recognize their work as spirit in action, strengthen their calling to heal and renewing their commitment to compassionate service.

Join TNS Host Michael Lerner for a two-part spiritual biography conversation with Jerry Jampolsky, MD, and Diane Cirincione-Jampolsky, PhD. Jerry is the founder of Attitudinal Healing and the first Center for Attitudinal Healing in 1975 and Diane founded and currently directs Attitudinal Healing International. Health is defined as inner peace and healing as the letting go of fear. Attitudinal Healing is a cross-cultural method of healing that helps remove self-imposed blocks such as judgment, blame, shame and self-condemnation that are in the way of experiencing lasting love, peace, and happiness. The approach and philosophy are based on universal principles and people of all ages, beliefs, walks of life and cultures benefit from the practice of Attitudinal Healing. Gerald G. Jampolsky, MD Jerry is a graduate of Stanford Medical School and is internationally recognized in the fields of psychiatry, health, business, and education. In 1975, Jerry established the first Center for Attitudinal Healing in Marin County, California, so that people of all ages, faiths and cultures who are facing illness, catastrophic events, loss and life challenges could have free support services. Since then, a global network of independent Centers have continued to emerge in dozens of countries on five continents. In 1982 Jerry founded the international project Children as Teachers of Peace, a program that offered children an opportunity to express their feelings, ideas, fears and hopes for a better world. In 1987 Jerry co-founded the AIDS Hotline for Kids. He is also the best-selling author of numerous books including the classics Love is Letting Go Of Fear, Teach Only Love, and Goodbye To Guilt. Diane V. Cirincione-Jampolsky, Ph.D Diane is the founder and executive director of Attitudinal Healing International. She holds a B.S. in Organizational Behavior as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She currently serves on the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees of the World Business Academy, a nonprofit think tank and action incubator working to inspire business to assume responsibility for the whole of society with a primary focus on environmental sustainability. Diane is a businesswoman, therapist, international lecturer, and author/co-author of seven books in multiple languages. She and Jerry have lectured and worked with universities and organizations in 61 countries and have co-authored several books together including Love is the Answer, Change Your Mind – Change Your Life, Finding Our Way Home, and A Mini Course For Life.

Join TNS Host Michael Lerner for a two-part spiritual biography conversation with Jerry Jampolsky, MD, and Diane Cirincione-Jampolsky, PhD. Jerry is the founder of Attitudinal Healing and the first Center for Attitudinal Healing in 1975 and Diane founded and currently directs Attitudinal Healing International. Health is defined as inner peace and healing as the letting go of fear. Attitudinal Healing is a cross-cultural method of healing that helps remove self-imposed blocks such as judgment, blame, shame and self-condemnation that are in the way of experiencing lasting love, peace, and happiness. The approach and philosophy are based on universal principles and people of all ages, beliefs, walks of life and cultures benefit from the practice of Attitudinal Healing. Gerald G. Jampolsky, MD Jerry is a graduate of Stanford Medical School and is internationally recognized in the fields of psychiatry, health, business, and education. In 1975, Jerry established the first Center for Attitudinal Healing in Marin County, California, so that people of all ages, faiths and cultures who are facing illness, catastrophic events, loss and life challenges could have free support services. Since then, a global network of independent Centers have continued to emerge in dozens of countries on five continents. In 1982 Jerry founded the international project Children as Teachers of Peace, a program that offered children an opportunity to express their feelings, ideas, fears and hopes for a better world. In 1987 Jerry co-founded the AIDS Hotline for Kids. He is also the best-selling author of numerous books including the classics Love is Letting Go Of Fear, Teach Only Love, and Goodbye To Guilt. Diane V. Cirincione-Jampolsky, Ph.D Diane is the founder and executive director of Attitudinal Healing International. She holds a B.S. in Organizational Behavior as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She currently serves on the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees of the World Business Academy, a nonprofit think tank and action incubator working to inspire business to assume responsibility for the whole of society with a primary focus on environmental sustainability. Diane is a businesswoman, therapist, international lecturer, and author/co-author of seven books in multiple languages. She and Jerry have lectured and worked with universities and organizations in 61 countries and have co-authored several books together including Love is the Answer, Change Your Mind – Change Your Life, Finding Our Way Home, and A Mini Course For Life. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

Join TNS Host Steve Heilig in conversation with Andreas Weber, a Berlin-based book and magazine writer and independent scholar. Andreas’ work has focused on a re-evaluation of our understanding of the living, and the disconnection between humans and nature, arguably the root cause of most of the environmental catastrophes unravelling around us. In his recent book, The Biology of Wonder, Andreas proposes a new approach to the biological sciences, a “poetic ecology” which intimately connects our species to everything that surrounds us, showing that subjectivity and imagination are the prerequisites of biological existence. Dr. Andreas Weber Dr. Andreas Weber has degrees in Marine Biology and Cultural Studies, and collaborated with theoretical biologist Francisco Varela in Paris. His work has appeared German magazines and journals such as GEO, National Geographic, Die Zeit and Greenpeace Magazine. Weber teaches at Leuphana University and at the University of Fine Arts, Berlin. He has published more than a dozen books, most recently the English editions of Enlivenment: Towards a Fundamental Shift in the Concepts of Nature, Culture and Politics (Heinrich Böll Foundation 2013), and Biology of Wonder: Aliveness, Feeling and the Metamorphosis of Science (New Society Publishers 2015). Andreas is part of the staff of und.Institute for Art, Culture and Sustainability, Berlin, which is devoted to link the fields of art and culture with the field of sustainability, and to develop exemplary models of productive exchange. Andreas was named as the 2016 Jonathan Rowe Commons Fellow at the Mesa Refuge, a writing residency center in Point Reyes, CA Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.

Michael Lerner speaks at Tahoma One Drop Monastery on Whidbey Island in Washington State. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.