Profiles

“[They] have lived marvelously circuitous lives, where intellect, emotion and spirit were intertwined as they individually became filled with rich life experience that sooner or later brought them to Naropa.”

Below are a few selected mini-bios of Naropa faculty.

Richard Brown

After more than twenty years as a teacher, Richard Brown has lost none of his enthusiasm for his chosen profession. Ask him why he was drawn to early childhood education in particular, and he has a concise, one-word answer for you—“Magic.”

According to Naropa University President Thomas B. Coburn, it is Richard’s mixture of hands-on experience and knowledge of theory that make him uniquely qualified to chair the Contemplative Education Department.

“Contemplative education is about bringing awareness pactice to the experience of teaching,” Richard says. “All of the programs begin with the transformation of the teacher. You notice what’s happening in the moment with yourself and the learning environment, and you learn to honor it, even if it’s unpleasant. Essentially everything that’s going on is part of the experience of learning.”

Anne Parker

As a faculty member and current chair of Naropa University’s Environmental Studies Department, where she has taught for more than ten years, Anne Parker’s love for her work helps her students find theirs.

“I see my key role as offering inspiration and guidance to the next generation of environmental leaders and activists,” she says. “My mission is to invite students to fall in love with the earth.”

In her class Pilgrimage and Sacred Landscapes, Anne seeks to “encourage a direct, unmediated relationship with the natural world for inspiration and guidance.” When students are personally inspired by nature, she feels that they can “commit to working in harmony with the earth on inner and outer planes.”

Deb Young

“All of my classes require two to three service hours a week,” says Deb Young, a professor in Naropa’s Contemplative Education Department.

Her Poverty Matters course invites students to do more than just understand poverty. In her words, the course prompts them “to learn why poverty is important for everybody to understand.” Students commit their own time to community service to deepen their understanding of diversity. Deb provides a list of organizations to get students started, but they’re also encouraged to find volunteer opportunities on their own.

“I like them to work with more marginalized populations,” she says, “if it’s after-school kids, if it’s women’s groups, if it’s immigrants.”

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