Spiritual Life Special Events

No Justice, No Peace: Spiritual Transformation for Liberation

Offered July 2020; Virtual gathering

Co-sponsored by the Office of Institutional Diversity & Inclusion, and by the Community Commons,

As we work to confront systemic racism at Hampshire and across the U.S., we also turn to the anti-racist work of spiritual transformation within ourselves and with each other. How can spirituality lead us to liberation? We invite you to join us – the Institutional Diversity and Inclusion Team along with the Community Commons, Spiritual Life and Residential Life with alumni guest facilitator – for the forth in a series of discussions where we will come together in grief, anger, pain, hope, in defense of Black lives and in the work of active anti-racism.

Blessing on the Journey for DIV III Graduates, Family, and Friends! 

Offered May 2020; Virtual gathering

The Spiritual Life Office invites you to celebrate your graduation and wish you the best on your future endeavors. Please join us at the Blessing on the Journey event and feel free to bring your family and friends, as we send you off with blessings on your new journey!

Weekly CONNECT 

Offered April 2020; Virtual gathering
Co-sponsored by Wellness Center

Weekly CONNECT is an intentional experience of shared reflection and learning. The program includes participating in gentle meditation with music, reading insightful poems/writings, and exploring ways to support yourself and others in difficult times. Weekly CONNECT will help you enrich and explore your own spiritual life, develop wellness practices, and feel connected with others!

4/2      When Things Fall Apart 

4/9      For the Exhausted and Overwhelmed 

4/16    Companionship, Community, & Chosen Family

4/23    Grounded: Tips for building resilience!

4/30    Memories: Hampshire, I Will Miss You!

Soul-Full Sunday Dinners for People of Color

Offered Spring 2020

Folks are welcomed to bring in any creative works (art, short stories, poetry, zines, etc) related to this month's theme of home/belonging. We will be sharing a warm meal, listening to stories of home/belonging and DJ music. Closed space for people of color.

An Alum Workshop: What Are The Stories That Shape Our Lives?

Offered March 2020

James Scaramuzzino, alum 16S, leads a workshop to explore what life is. Examining the elements that make up our conscious experience • Gaining a deeper understanding through guided visualization, meditation, and open discussions • Re-examining the stories we tell ourselves can move us from being the sufferer of our life to being the author of it.

Poetry as Spiritual Practice Workshop

Offered February 2020

Rev. Megan McDermott, Grace Episcopal Church Amherst, offers a workshop to learn more about how poetry – both writing and reading it – can be a way to get in touch with life's deepest and most sacred questions. All spiritual/religious backgrounds & identities welcome, as well as both poetry newcomers & dedicated poets! Attendees are invited, but not required, to bring a poem written by themselves or someone else that they find spiritually significant for discussion

Climate Change, The Land and Spirituality: Making the Connections

Offered December 2019

Co-sponsored by Kestrel Land Trust

Join us for a lively moderated discussion with two local spiritual leaders, Ellen Bernstein and Margaret Bullit Jonas, whose work connects the land, climate change, and spiritual practice. The evening’s conversation will feature each of their new books, revealing the intersection of the outer and inner landscapes of our lives.

DIY Altar Items

Offered November 2019

Co-sponsored by Wellness Center

Make a prayer/intention/offering bowl, candle holder, or wall hanging that resonates with your spiritual practice! Open to all. Your spiritual practice may be religious and/or a way to honor your commitment to mindfulness, honoring natural seasons and cycles, connecting with your ancestors, or a space for reflection and commitment to your values, ethics, and vision.

Guest Talk: Mindfulness and Rebellion: A Socially Engaged Buddhist Perspective on the Climate Emergency

Offered September 2019

Co-sponsored by the School of Critical Social Inquiry & the R.W. Kern Center

This workshop will explore the complementarity between Buddhist teachings and the core principles and practices of Extinction Rebellion, a global socio-political movement calling for the rapid transformation of social, political, and economic systems to fight climate change. Particular attention will be given to how Buddhist meditative practices such as mindfulness can support one's capacity to turn toward the truth of the climate emergency and to participate in disruptive nonviolent direct action. It will also consider how awareness of the gravity of the climate crisis is transforming Buddhist practice today.

Our guest speaker Karin Meyers is a Hampshire grad (F'91). She received her PhD from the University of Chicago in 2010 and taught at Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu from 2011-2018. Currently, she is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Smith College and a Retreat Support Fellow at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA. She is also an active member of Extinction Rebellion Massachusetts and Extinction Rebellion Buddhists.

Imposter Syndrome Workshop

Offered November 2018; look for more coming in the spring!

This workshop, cosponsored by the Wellness Center, Career Options Resource Center, and the Cultural Center, provides an introduction to imposter syndrome (often described as persistent feelings of self-doubt and fear of failure around one's accomplishments) and helps students develop strategies for overcoming it.

Guest Lecture: Diversity and Disaster in Eastern European Religious History

Offered October 2018
Co-sponsored by the School of Critical Social Inquiry

Dr. Michael Strmiska, global studies scholar at SUNY Orange, will speak on the history of religion in Eastern Europe from ancient times to the present. He will examine factors that fostered tolerance and respect for religious diversity in Eastern Europe, at certain moments, or gave rise to fanatical intolerance and persecution, at other times, from Catholic dogmatism to ethnic nationalism to anti-Semitism and pogroms to Nazism and the Shoah. He will end with reflections on current trends in Eastern Europe in which a repressive Christian ethnic nationalism seems to again be on the rise in opposition to the European Union principles of religious tolerance and respect for diversity.

New Path to Health Series

Practitioners of different complementary medicine and other health and wellness practices, such as herbalists, acupuncturists, and energy practitioners, share their expertise with the Hampshire community every other Friday. Info forthcoming!

Alternative Health Fair

Over a dozen practitioners from on and off campus share their talents, talk about their crafts, and allow us all to experience the joys of health and wellness. Get a massage or talk to an acupuncturist about how you might begin your own training. Have a smoothie or try some homemade bodycare products (and learn how you might make your own). The fair is meant to be experiential and fun, and it is open to the Five College community and friends. Date and time TBD.

Alternative Spring Break

During spring break, Spiritual Life helps sponsor a week-long alternative spring break. Students and staff travel to New Orleans to work with NENA, the lower ninth word neighborhood empowerment network association. The group helps rebuild the community in the lower ninth ward while learning about and experiencing the history and culture of New Orleans. Info forthcoming!

International Service Trips

International service trips explore race, culture, class, and religion in our country and others in the context of putting our own bodies to work. Info forthcoming!