In a world facing deep, challenging questions about the environment and climate change, Sustainability and the Sacred, a program running July 14-20 and sponsored by the Spiritual Life office at Hampshire College, will immerse participants in a discussion of sustainability within the context of the sacredness of the earth.

Participants will engage their minds through educational sessions, their bodies through physical work, their spirits in meditation and ritual, and their hearts in compassionate community, said Liza Neal, spiritual life director. Driving the trajectory of the week will be questions of how all that participants are learning and doing will impact the way they live day to day while addressing the potential for a transformed future.

Participants will have a choice of two tracks that explore different teachings and outlooks. Track A: This Sacred Earth, explores the eco-theology of ancient and modern spiritual traditions. Participants learn about various understandings of the sacredness of earth, and humanity’s relationship and responsibility, while exploring environmental activism rooted in these practices today.

Track B: Mindfulness, Sustainability, and Resilience, teaches practices of meditation, mindfulness, and deep listening to develop great environmental and communal awareness and compassion. Participants will learn about the Transition movement and ways people can integrate and build on spiritual practices to make practical changes on personal and community levels.

Though participants will enroll in different educational tracks, they will engage in aspects of the program as one large group.

Faculty for the program include Oscar nominee and award-winning ethnographic documentary producer/director Fidel Moreno, Tree of Dreams Sanctuary founder and master Reiki teacher Kristen Avonti, Episcopal priest and climate activist Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Morning Sun Mindfulness Center co-founder and Dharma teacher Michael Ciborski, “birth mother” of the Jewish environmental movement Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, Hampshire College Director of Spiritual Life Rev. Liza M. Neal, community organizer and organizational consultant Simon Dennis, Hampshire College Contemplative Life Advisor Susal Stebbins Collins, Hampshire College Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies Susan M. Darlington, and Transition Town movement leader and trainer Tina Clarke.

The Sustainability and the Sacred program costs $800 per person, and includes housing on the Hampshire College campus and local, organic meals (a variety of options will be offered, including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free).

To register, please visit http://www.hampshire.edu/specialprograms/25442.htm or call event services and special programs at 413.559.5610. For more information, contact Liza M. Neal, director of spiritual life, at lneal@hampshire.edu or 413.559.5282.