Naropa Weekly

Thursday, September 24, 2009
The Promise and Poignancy of Diversity in the 21st Century
Transforming Social Stress and Trauma: Introduction to
Emotional Freedom
Naropa University Students, Staff, Faculty Workshop
9:00–10:30 a.m.; Nalanda 9180

Join nationally and internationally recognized speakers Peggy McIntosh and Victor Lewis as they present their well known anti-oppression diversity work and alliance building to the Naropa Community. Please take this opportunity to come together and engage yourself in the work by becoming an active participant.

Thursday, September 24, 2009
The Promise and Poignancy of Diversity in the 21st Century
Using Privilege to Undo Systems of Privilege
Naropa University Students, Staff, Faculty Workshop
11:30–1:00 p.m.; Performing Arts Center

Thursday, September 24, 2009
Film Series: Farmingville: POV
4–7 p.m.; El Centro de la Gente

Putting a human face on immigration issues and uncovering stories of residents, day laborers and activists battling one another over the American Dream.

Friday, September 25, 2009
Artist’s reception for Devon Bryant
7–9 p.m.; Lincoln Gallery

Reception for Devon Bryant with food and live music.

Friday, September 25, 2009
BFA Salon
Hosted by BFA Performance
8 p.m.; Performing Arts Center

An informal evening of works-in-progress hosted by the BFA Performance students. Come support, watch and give feedback! Free and open to the public.

Monday, September 28, 2009
Men’s Group Series: Once Were Warriors
5–7 p.m.; El Centro de la Gente

Alcoholism, poverty, violence, gangs collide explosively yet amidst the turbulence and despair, the beauty of the human soul and the will to survive culturally in native New Zealand is wonderfully shown in this film. Discussion to follow.

Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday Night Film Series, curated by Leeny Sack
7 p.m.; Nalanda room 9195.

Richard Foreman: Ontological-Hysteric Theater: Vol. 1: Sophia: The Cliffs / 35+ Year Retrospective Compilation (2008) (207 min)
Prolific playwright Richard Foreman, founder of New York City's experimental Ontological-Hysteric Theater, is the subject of this documentary that includes a reflective look at the scores of productions he has mounted in the past three decades. Interviews with and commentary by Foreman's colleagues provide an insider's perspective on his unique brand of genius. The program also documents one of Foreman's earliest plays.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Naropa Animal Rights Alliance
12–1 p.m.; on the green, under the sycamore.

This is our first meeting, and we invite a variety of ideas and opinions into our mission and methods of activism. We will address the issues of animal rights as they apply to the Naropa community. If you have any questions please contact Christopher Brod.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Publishing Industry & Breaking into Print
Facilitated by Nate Jordon, '08, founder of Monkey Puzzle
6:30–8:30 p.m.; Arapahoe Campus in the Student Center

Co-sponsored with Alumni Relations and Boulder Business and Professional Women organization. All alumni workshops are free and open to current students. Please RSVP online or by phone. For more information on the workshops and facilitators, please visit the Alumni Relations website

Friday, October 2, 2009
Artist’s reception for Jeff Page
6–8 p.m.; Nalanda Gallery

Saturday, October 3, 2009
Birth Conference
1–3 p.m.; Nalanda campus, room 9180

Join Apple Tree Directory- the Boulder Family Resource Guide- for a Birth Conference open to the general public and professionals who work with women and new moms. The first speaker is Jennifer Braun from International Midwife Assistance. She is speaking on the “Future of Birth Internationally.” The second speaker is Gretchen Reid and she will be speaking on “The Birth of a Mother”, preparing women for motherhood. It is free for the public and a small fee for professionals. For more information please see the website: http://www.appletreedirectory.com/

Monday, October 5, 2009
Monday Night Film Series, curated by Leeny Sack
7 p.m.; Nalanda campus, room 9195

In The Mirror of Maya Deren (104 min)
Deemed "Fellini and Bergman wrapped in one gloriously possessed body," Maya Deren is arguably the most important and innovative avant-garde filmmaker in the history of American cinema. Using locations from the Hollywood hills to Haiti in the 1940s and ’50s, Deren made such mesmerizing films as At Land, Ritual in Transfigured Time, and her masterpiece, Meshes of the Afternoon, which won a prestigious international experimental filmmaking prize at the 1947 Cannes Film Festival. In Haiti, Deren not only filmed many hours of voodoo ritual, but also participated in them, and adopted the religion. In the Mirror seamlessly and effectively interweaves archival footage and observances from acolytes and contemporaries such as Stan Brakhage and Jonas Mekas with an original score by experimental jazz legend John Zorn. Documentarian Martina Kudlácek has fashioned a fascinating portrait of Deren’s spiritual journey in voodoo as well her strikingly beautiful and poetic body of work. This Edition features Maya Deren "fragments" Witch’s Cradle (1943), starring Marcel Duchamp, and Ensemble for Somnambulists (1951).

Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Mural Art Traditions with Artist Leo Tanguma
12–1 p.m.; El Centro de la Gente

Leo uses his paintings to expose social injustice and often the experiential side of mental illness. He will be presenting on famous muralists as well as speaking on his mural “So Long in Darkness…” which exposes the stereotypes and truths that contribute to society's view of mental illness, and shows us a picture of the daily struggle many individuals face.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Movers & Shakers Networking Tea and launch of NaropaLINK
12:00–1:30 p.m.; TBA

A Time to Gather in Round Table Discussions and a More Intimate Environment:
* Talk about what you offer to the Naropa community (VISIBILITY for your group/commitment)
* Ask for more volunteers, sponsors, collaborators, etc.
* Announce activities (MARKETING)
* Hear what’s going on from other students & groups!!!
* Share passions, enthusiasm and tea with your fellow student MOVERS and SHAKERS!
* Tell us what you want/need to assist your work (Money? Trainings? Support? Attendance? Etc.)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Creating Sustainable Change: Brown Bag Dialogues
5:30–7:00 p.m.; Paramita TBD

A discussion and open dialogue on collaboration, ally building, and strategies for effective action in a holistic and inclusive manner. Open to everyone! Bring your lunch! Facilitated by Lee Scriggins.

Thursday, October 9, 2009
Historical Backdrop Series: Colorado Latino History
2 p.m.; El Centro de la Gente

Colorado is shaped by its many communities and experiences of the Southwest, in particular the Latino community. A discussion on how religion, politics, historic events and movements all have helped shape Colorado today.

Dr. Shirin Ebadi is a lawyer, human rights activist, and the recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her work defending women and children’s rights in Iran, and advocating an interpretation of Islam, which is compatible with democracy and human rights.

Monday, October 12, 2009
The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, An Epliogue
Hosted by Performing Arts Department
Written by Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber of the Tectonic Theater Project
Directed by Colleen Mylott, Guest Artist
Talk-back hosted by Stephen Wangh, Guest Artist and associate writer of The Laramie Project
7 p.m.; Nalanda Studio Theater (Room 9190), Nalanda Campus
Free and open to the public

On October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard was beaten and left to die tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. A month after the murder, the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town. From these interviews, they wrote the play The Laramie Project, which they later made into a film for HBO.
Ten years later, members of the Tectonic Theater Project returned to Laramie to find out what had happened there in the years since the murder. The epilogue focuses on the long-term effects of the murder of Matthew Shepard on the town of Laramie. Naropa University’s Performing Arts Department is presenting a staged reading of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later at the invitation of the Tectonic Theater Project, as part of a one-hundred city, simultaneous premiere across the country and the world.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Contemplative Practice and the Call to Justice: Sharing Wisdom Across Traditions

The Fall 2009 Community Practice Day is on the horizon. In the world of higher education, this is an event that sets Naropa University apart. By marking our contemplative identity as central to our mission and purpose, we proclaim a more integrated educational paradigm, where the heart unites with the head and where difference is honored and celebrated as both separate and one. Community Practice day is a time to deepen our commitment to this journey.

I would like to give you a framework to help you begin to think about the context within which you may offer your practice. We intend to focus on the interface between contemplative practice and social and ecological justice. A key question that emerges from this perspective is: How does contemplative practice inform our actions towards dismantling unjust systems, transforming our relationship to the earth, and bringing human dignity and peace to the world? We would like to explore the answers to this question from many vantage points and therefore invite a variety of contemplative practices arising from a variety of traditions. As examples, centering prayer, walking a labyrinth, listening circles, non-violent communication, loving kindness practice, sacred chanting are all relevant to this theme. While it is not necessary, consider allowing your practice to be a specific answer to a specific community or world issue, if that fits for you. (i.e. meditation for trauma victims, practices to heal our connection to the earth, etc.)

If you are interested in offering a practice, please contact Chris Peraro, Contemplative Practices Assistant, by Friday, September 25 (This is necessary to coordinate rooms and times properly!), by email at cperaro@naropa.edu or by phone at 303–546-5298. Please include in your request any special needs that you may have (how large of a space, cushions, chairs, etc.).

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Shirin Ebadi Processing Group
12:00–1:30 p.m.; El Centro de la Gente

This group will meet to discuss and process the presentation from Dr. Shirin Ebadi. Those who are interested in continuing the conversation and creating possible action items for Naropa are encouraged to attend. Please visit the School of Extended Studies website for more information, http://naropa.edu/extend/index.cfm. Dr. Shirin Ebadi is a lawyer, human rights activist, and the recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her work defending women and children’s rights in Iran, and advocating an interpretation of Islam, which is compatible with democracy and human rights.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Men’s Group Series: Tough Guise
5–7 p.m.; El Centro de la Gente

A provocative film in the crisis in masculinity, pop-cultural imagery and the social construction of masculine identities and the impact on men, women and people of color. Discussion to follow.

Friday, October 16, 2009
Luminous Emptiness
8 p.m.; Performing Arts Center
Directed by Guest Artist Katsura Kan

Luminous Emptiness is a multi-media, staged adaptation of the text BARDO THODAL, better known in the U.S. as THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. This ancient Tibetan text was intended to serve as a guide for the deceased soul from the moment of death through to the moment of the next rebirth. Katsura Kan, a native of Kyoto, Japan and a Master Butoh artist, will direct the second-year MFA Theater ensemble. The original inspiration for the production came from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Naropa University’s founder, who envisioned a modern interpretation of the text that would be accessible to a contemporary audience. Luminous Emptiness is a co-production of the Golden Sun Foundation for World Culture and Naropa University’s MFA Theater: Contemporary Performance Program. “$15 general admission; $10 students and seniors; $5 Naropa students, faculty, staff and alumni w/ ID . Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79202

Saturday, October 17, 2009
Luminous Emptiness
2 p.m. & 8 p.m.; Performing Arts Center
Directed by Guest Artist Katsura Kan

Sunday, October 18, 2009
Luminous Emptiness
2 p.m.; Performing Arts Center
Directed by Guest Artist Katsura Kan

Monday, October 19, 2009
Monday Night Film Series, curated by Leeny Sack
7 p.m.; Nalanda room 9195.

My Dinner with André (110 min)
In Louis Malle’s captivating and philosophical My Dinner with André, actor and playwright Wallace Shawn sits down with friend and theater director André Gregory at an Manhattan restaurant, and the two proceed to discuss Gregory’s involvement in Grotowski’s paratheatrical phase. Playing variations on their own New York–honed personas, Shawn and Gregory, who also wrote the screenplay, dive in with introspective, intellectual gusto, and Malle captures it all with a delicate, artful detachment. A fascinating freeze-frame of cosmopolitan culture, My Dinner with André remains a unique work in cinema history. This is one of the first films that extrapolated from autobiographical theatre that was happening at the time, and became a mainstream film.

Thursday, October 22, 2009
Historical Backdrop Series: Colorado Native American History
5 p.m; El Centro de la Gente

Colorado is shaped by its many communities and experiences of the Southwest, in particular the Native American community. A discussion on how religion, politics, historic events and movements all have helped shape Colorado today.

Thursday, October 22, 2009
Exploring the Graduate School Search Process
12:00–1:30 p.m.; Arapahoe Campus in Sycamore 8140

Friday, October 23, 2009
7-Ate-9 Faculty Arts Gala
Hosted by Undergraduate Music, Performance, Visual Art and Writing & Poetics Departments
7 p.m.; Lincoln Building

Come celebrate the wealth of talented Naropa arts faculty. An evening of cross-pollination with a reading by Poetics Faculty, followed by a reception and viewing of Visual Arts Faculty work, and then performances by Music and Performance Faculty. Dress in your gala best and come for any or all of the festivities. $15 general admission; Free for seniors, students and Naropa community w/ ID.

Monday, October 26, 2009
Finding Sacred Ground in the Changing Landscape of Money: Upgrading Heart, Soul and Humor with your Cash and Credit
Facilitated by Denise Barnes, '89, founder of Soul Savvy.
6:30–8:30 p.m.; Paramita Campus in the Jim Spearly Lecture Hall

Co-sponsored with Alumni Relations and Boulder Business and Professional Women organization. All alumni workshops are free and open to current students. Please RSVP online or by phone. For more information on the workshops and facilitators, please visit the Alumni Relations website

Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday Night Film Series, curated by Leeny Sack
7 p.m.; Nalanda room 9195.

What’s Underground about Marshmallows (vhs; 60 min)
“RON VAWTER PERFORMS JACK SMITH” was the second half of Vawter’s theatre piece, "ROY COHN/JACK SMITH", performed first in New York in 1989, then nationally and internationally until his death from AIDS in 1994. In this complete and uninterrupted version of Jack Smith's Marshmallows, Vawter, a long-term member of the Wooster Group, captures that Queer Saint's intense rapture - conjured out of that frayed, obsessive, eroticized and glamorous Hollywood magic which had come to camp out on the movie set of his own mind. Recorded at The Kitchen in New York City on 10/31 and 11/1, 1993, this was Vawter's last performance of the piece.

Vanguard filmmaker and seminal performance artist, Jack Smith was one of the most accomplished, influential underground artists in the 1960's, 70's, and 80's. Innovative and idiosyncratic in his films and later performances, Smith explored a deceptively frivolous camp aesthetic, importing allusions to B-Grade Hollywood films and elements of social and political critique into the arena of high art. He blew his "queerness" up big, using it both as an entertainment and as confrontation.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Film Series: The Business of Fancydancing
4–7 p.m.; El Centro de la Gente

Two Native American best friends are reunited sixteen years later at a funeral and one confronts his past. Intersections in Native American and LGBTQ communities are poignantly portrayed.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Graduate and Professional School Fair
10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.; Performing Arts Center (PAC)

Thursday, October 29, 2009
Pre-Inauguration Event
The Naropa Dialogues: Spiritual Practice & Social Engagement
7–9 p.m., Nalanda Events Center

Moderator: Professor of Religious Studies Judith Simmer Brown
The Sakong, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, Naropa University lineage holder
Father Thomas Keating, is one of the architects of the Centering Prayer movement.
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies, and Former Naropa World Wisdom Chair

Friday, October 30, 2009
Pre-Inauguration Event
A Day of Service

Integral to Naropa University's mission statement is cultivating in students a sense of purpose that accompanies compassionate service to the world. On this Day of Service, Naropa staff and students put their wisdom and compassion into practice through creative, helpful and effective action at local organizations.

Friday, October 30, 2009
El Centro Halloween Open House
12:00–4:30 p.m.; El Centro de la Gente

Join us for a spooky good time! We’ll have a pumpkin carving contest, best pumpkin recipe contest, Halloween themed films, refreshments and drinks. Bring a friend and come in costume if you’d like!

Saturday, October 31, 2009
Inauguration of Dr. Stuart C. Lord
10 a.m.–noon, Nalanda Events Center

Reception to Follow

Ongoing Events

Mondays, 6 p.m.
Sports @ Naropa!
Ultimate frisbee game on on the lawn behind the Arapahoe campus. Come join the fun! Everyone welcome regardless of experience or skill level! Basketball team forming for the Boulder Rec Center league. Contact Phil for more info: 860-462-8785; philbattos@gmail.com.

Tuesdays, 7–9 p.m.
Insight Meditation- Vipassana, A Buddhist Meditation tradition of Southeast Asia
Led by David Chernikoff a faculty member of Naropa University.
Unitarian Universalist Church, 5001 Pennsylvania. For more information, please see www.insightcolorado.org

Wednesdays and Thursdays, 6 p.m.
Sports @Naropa!
Pickup soccer games Wednesday & Thursday at 6pm on the lawn behind the Arapahoe campus. Come join the fun! Everyone welcome regardless of experience or skill level! Basketball team forming for the Boulder Rec Center league. Contact Phil for more info: 860-462-8785; philbattos@gmail.com.

Thursdays, 3–7 p.m.
Community Market
Join us on the green each week for free bike tune ups, healings, baked goods, produce and much more.

Ongoing throughout the Fall Semester
Registration for Text Messaging
http://webreg.naropa.edu

For the safety and well-being of its community, Naropa University will implement numerous tools to alert faculty, staff and students to campus emergencies, as well as keep them informed of snow-day closures and related events. Voicemail, email and an on-campus public address system will be utilized along with the single most critical component, text messaging, which allows you to be instantly notified by cell phone or personal digital assistant (PDA).

Registration for the text messaging service starts now. All Naropa students and faculty are strongly encouraged to log in to Naropa's web registration page, from which you may access a secure site and add your personal information to the text messaging alert system. Staff will receive additional instructions via email.

When registering, it is necessary to have your phone with you and turned on. Please opt in now; it only takes a minute.

Tuesdays through Thursdays
Drop-in Counseling Center
11:30 a.m.–2 p.m.
In the Snow Lion Building (entrance on the East side)

Need Some Support? Having a Hard Time Adjusting? Wondering About Community Resources? Just Want To Talk? Drop By the Naropa Counseling Center. For more information or to set up an appointment, call 303-245-4697.

Career Services is a free service for Naropa students and alumni and can assist you in making meaningful and positive academic and career decisions. The process of career development and planning can be difficult, and they are here to help you:

If you would like to schedule an appointment, please call 303-245-4863 or email ssteward@naropa.edu

Naropa Writing Center Open
Sycamore Hall across from the student lounge
Monday–Thursday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday: 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
303-245-4606

The NWC provides a respectful, collaborative environment for all writers in the Naropa community. We can assist you with essays, scholarship applications, resumes, creative work, theses, and more!

Our trained Writing Fellows can help with any stage of the writing process – from brainstorming and organization, to revising and documenting sources. Appointments are available on the hour and half-hour, for 25 or 50 minutes. Or you can just stop by for writing and documentation style handouts. Best of all, the Naropa Writing Center is free!

Rape Crisis Hotline
For more information, or a volunteer application, please check out our website, call 303-443-0400 x102 or email Julie Washnock. Training dates are listed below.

Men's Prevention Education Program
For more information, a training schedule and a volunteer application, please check out our website, call 303-443-0400 x103 and ask for Marti Hopper or email her at marti@movingtoendsexualassault.org.

Go to MESA for more information on required training dates, job descriptions and application forms.

Service-Learning Opportunities with Prison Dharma Network
Prison Dharma Network (PDN), an international interfaith network founded by Naropa adjunct faculty member Fleet Maull is always in need of service-learning participants for its various programs working with prisoners and youth at risk in the Boulder area. PDN is also in need of people to respond to prisoner's book and information requests, as well as teach yoga and meditation at the Boulder County Jail. We support thousands of prisoners in the practice of all forms of the contemplative path: meditation, yoga, centering prayer, chi kung, etc. Please contact Sarah Gurganus at pdn2@indra.com or visit Prison Dharma Network for more information.

Volunteer Work with Shambhala Prison Community
The Shambhala Prison Community works in about sixty prisons nationwide and is looking for dedicated practitioners of meditation to work with prisoners who are themselves practicing meditation and studying the Dharma. Current need also involves volunteers who can assist with shipping literature from our libraries to prisoners. If you are interested in this extraordinarily rewarding work, we would be delighted to discuss with you the possibilities of your becoming a volunteer.

To find out more about how you can help ease the suffering of the incarcerated, email the Shambhala Prison Community at prison@indra.com, or call 303-544-5923. Please identify your interest in volunteering in the subject line.

Naropa University Extended Studies offers increased discounts for Naropa community members.
Alumni: 15%
Students: 30%
Full-time Faculty/Staff: 50%
Adjunct Faculty: 50%
MI & TA: 30%

Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) Student Discount
An hour before any performance, students can purchase tickets at DCPA for only $10.