Introduction

Environmental challenges call into question not simply our technological, economic, and political capabilities, but also our fundamental understandings of who we are as a species, and how we fit into the more-than-human world.  This Summer Institute aims to develop tools for teaching and researching environmental dilemmas with this broader sensibility in mind.  It focuses on the interface between environmental challenges and contemplative practices with the understanding that the latter can provide access to inner resources for understanding and responding meaningfully to environmental issues.  Through discussions with distinguished scholars, focused conversations among colleagues, artistic exercises, and regular contemplative practices (meditation, yoga, journaling, nature walks, etc.), participants will collectively deepen higher education’s orientation to Environmental Studies. Part workshop and part retreat, the Institute seeks to widen our own capabilities as university and college teachers committed to education on a fragile and wild planet.