Naropa Students Present Floricanto Naropa: The Age of Garudacoatl Conference
A Celebration of Eastern Practices and Contemplative Education 

BOULDER, Colo. (April 10, 2007)— Join in a one-day conference celebrating diversity and examining racial issues through eastern practices and talks Friday, April 20, as Naropa students present Floricanto Naropa on the Arapahoe Campus. 

Floricanto Naropa includes several guest speakers including: Juan Felipe Herrera, Naropa Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Senior Diversity Officer Suzanne Benally, and Sudarshan Kapur, with a meditation session led by Naropa Professor and Archarya Judith Simmer Brown.  California-based Ahisma Locos will perform with local poets in an evening event that will be followed by a catered reception.

The title for this event combines the mythical Hindu bird, Garuda, known for its vast all encompassing wing span and relentless pursuit of awareness, with the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl, associated with new consciousness. The Age of Garudacoatl, is an event that aims to explore the intersection between these two distinctly different cultures in an effort to define how a contemplative education and eastern practices might offer an alternative approach to addressing issues around immigration and struggles of people of color.

Accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education. This approach to learning integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, helping students know themselves more deeply and engage constructively with others. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental leadership, psychology and religious studies.

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Floricanto Naropa:  The Age of Garudacoatl
Friday, April 20, 2007
10 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Naropa Arapahoe Campus
2130 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder
Free and open to the public

Schedule of Events

10-11am   Frontera Meditations: A guided visual/ maitri meditation led by Naropa University and Professor Acharya Judith Simmer Brown, focusing on the atrocities around the US/ Mexico border.

11-12pm   Environmental Racism: Discussion with Naropa Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Senior Diversity Officer Suzanne Benally regarding the controversial intersections of immigration and the environment.

12-1pm     Ghandi & Chavez: Discussion with Professor Sudarshan Kapur of Naropa’s Peace Studies program (in development). 

7-9pm       Main Event: Evening with writer & performance artist Juan Felipe Herrera.

Music by California based Latin soul project Ahimsa Locos. Naropa student poets will open the event. 

9-9:30pm      Catered reception & book signing for Juan Felipe Herrera after the show.