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DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20250921T100000
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DTSTAMP:20260530T180620
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SUMMARY:Hayride Philosophy Walk: On Story & Meaning (*NO MORE SEATS LEFT*)
DESCRIPTION:What We’ll Explore\n\n“Interpretation is revelation based on information.” (Freeman Tilden)\n\nInterpretation is oft defined as a kind of educational activity that places hands-on experience and thinking and meaning-making as primary (over the acquisition\, say\, of just a set of facts).  It is also a tradition that has deep roots in the cultural and philosophical movements of the Enlightenment and Romanticism and has been influenced by such figures as Plato\, John Locke\, Lean Jacques Rousseau\, John Dewey\, Freeman Tilden\, and more.  \nJoin long-time interpretive professionals Ken Soderberg & Darby Bramble for a hayride philosophy walk on Merlin Nature Preserve & Little Falcon Farm where we’ll examine how we perceive and come to know and understand the world by way of interpretation. Using interpretive principles and sensory exploration\, we’ll connect with the landscape and one another while we identify and explore meaning and connection with the world around us. \n\n\n\n\n\nWhen\nSunday\, September 21st from 10am-1pm\n(Please arrive 15 minutes prior to our walk start time to give yourself time to get situated in our hayride wagon comfortably.) \nRSVP\nGiven hayride & nature preserve logistics\, RSVP’s are required.  Space is limited.  \n~ There are no more seats left. Please e-mail marisa@merlinccc.org if you would like to add your name to our waiting list & we will contact you if there is a cancellation. ~ \n\nCost\nFREE (Donations Very Much Appreciated)\nOther\nWear weather appropriate attire & comfortable shoes\, and bring a snack/water.  We’re sorry\, but no dogs for this walk (due to nature preserve and hayride wagon logistics). The walking portion of our meandering will be on a flat and relatively well-maintained dirt road approximately 1.5 miles in length.  \nWhere\nMerlin Nature Preserve/Little Falcon Farm (our group will meet/park at the old Silver City Saloon location and ride the hayride wagon from there onto the preserve.) \nDirections/Parking/Meeting Spot: Our group will meet at the old Silver City Saloon located at 6042 Lincoln Road West. Our hayride trailer will be parked in the lot (you won’t miss it!). Please note that the Silver City Saloon sign is gone and a part of the facade has been removed.  However\, the basic sturcture still remains and is recognizable. To get there from Helena\, take either the 15\, N. Montana Ave. or Green Meadow Drive to Lincoln Rd.  Turn left onto Lincoln Road & head west (toward Marysville/Canyon Creek).  Drive roughly 6.5 miles.  The Silver City Saloon parking lot will be on your right hand side.  Click here for google maps directions. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHayride Philosophy Walk Leaders\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDarby Bramble has invested a lifetime into educating the public and interpreting natural and cultural resources across the West. As an interpretive park ranger at Hovenweep National Monument\, and Saguaro and Grand Canyon National Parks\, she led tours of archeological sites and historic structures for visitors from around the world. In Lolo\, Montana she worked as Program Coordinator for Travelers’ Rest Preservation and Heritage Association\, where she built a flourishing education program\, oversaw the volunteer program\, supported the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and collaborated with local tribes in cultural programming and the “Winter Storytelling Series.” \n\n\n\nCurrently\, Darby works as the Museum Education Officer at the Montana Historical Society\, where she oversees tours and fieldtrip at the Montana Capitol\, Original Governor’s Mansion and starting December 2\, the History Museum at the Montana Heritage Center. When she’s not working at the Historical Society\, she can be found in her garden growing food to share with the community\, butchering local meat\, discussing Montana history with her husband who works for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes\, exploring state parks and public lands in Montana\, or cheering for her three teenage children on soccer pitches and cross-country courses across the state. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMakoshika\, Chief Plenty Coups\, Lewis and Clark Caverns\, Bannack —  these are only some of the beautiful places that Ken Soderberg has been fortunate enough to help provide a voice for through his work with Montana State Parks. \n\n\n\nA combined love of the outdoors (and the frightening thought of starvation if he pursued an acting career) led him to a degree in park management.  \n\n\n\nThankfully his brief theater training was put to use throughout his 35 year career in parks. Each park has a story to tell. Whether the script came alive through the words of a park ranger he helped train or an exhibit he helped to create\, giving voice to these special places remains one of his most cherished career memories. \n\n\n\nTo come full circle you can find Ken at the Grandstreet Theater these days either on stage or behind the scenes building the magical sets that help bring the story to life. \n\n\n\n\nMake a Donation Here\nOur philosophy activities are FREE to the community.  While donations are never expected\, they are always appreciated and help to keep programs like these going. Donations help to cover activity leader honorariums\, implementation\, and resource archiving\, and more!  If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution you can do so by clicking here.  For those facing more challenging financial circumstances\, we ask that you please try to “pay it forward” with acts of kindness for your neighbors and community.  \n\n\n\n\nCommunity Sponsor & PartnerThank you to our community sponsor & partner Doubletree by Hilton Downtown Helena.
URL:https://merlinccc.org/calendar-event/philosophy-walk-hayride-story-meaning/
LOCATION:Merlin Nature Preserve\, 6042 Lincoln Road West\, Helena\, Montana\, 59602\, United States
CATEGORIES:Philosophy Symposiums,Philosophy Walks
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://merlinccc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Philosophy-Hayride-Walk_Story-and-Meaning.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Marisa Diaz-Waian":MAILTO:marisa@merlinccc.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20250726T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20250726T123000
DTSTAMP:20260530T180620
CREATED:20250304T002617Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250705T035922Z
UID:10000198-1753522200-1753533000@merlinccc.org
SUMMARY:Philosophy Walk: On Civil Disobedience
DESCRIPTION:What We’ll Explore\n\n“If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government\, let it go\, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth\,—certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring\, or a pulley\, or a rope\, or a crank\, exclusively for itself\, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another\, then\, I say\, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine.” (Henry David Thoreau) \n\nIn Thoreau’s essay Civil Disobedience\, Thoreau takes the position that unjust laws exist.  But does that mean we should be content to obey them? What are the alternatives?  Amend them and obey until we have succeeded?  Transgress them at once? \nIn this walk led by community philosopher Mitch Conway we’ll  explore how we might respond to the world in cases of injustice asking: When do the unjust actions of a government make one “the agent of injustice to another”? When is civil disobedience the necessary\, just course of action?  And when is one justified in hoping\, “perchance it will wear smooth”?  \nWhen\nSaturday\, July 26th from 9:30am-12:30pm\n(Please arrive 10 minutes prior to our walk start time to give yourself time to get ready to stroll.) \nRSVP\n\n\nLet us know you’re coming. RSVP here!\n\n\nCost\nFREE (Donations Appreciated)\n \nOther\nWear weather appropriate attire & comfortable shoes.  Dogs are allowed on this trail but need to be on leashes.  We recommend that you also bring or wear bug repellent. \nWhere\nMissouri River Beaver Creek Trail (Hauser Dam Trail) \nDirections/Parking/Meeting Spot: From Helena\, head toward Lake Helena via the I-15 & East Lincoln Road or Highway 287 & Lake Helena Drive. Once at Lake Helena\, head north on Hauser Dam Road. Just before the dam crossing\, there will be a small lot off to the left side (parking is free). If there are no spots available in the lot\, cars will frequently parallel park along the road closer to the dam crossing (where there is also a restroom and some signage). Our group will meet in the lot. From there\, we’ll walk across the dam as a group and begin our walk. The trail follows the Missouri River until Beaver Creek Recreation Area (where some restrooms are located). It’s well-maintained but can get rocky and a little uneven in various locations so make sure to wear good shoes. \n\n\n\n\n\nWalk Leader\nMitchell Conway is a Community Philosopher at Merlin CCC\, a branch facilitator/educator at Cottonwood ALC\, and serves on the Academic Advisory Board & Questions? Journal for The Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization. \nA student of philosophy\, a theater maker\, and a teacher who cares ardently about empowering young learners\, his work has often been an interweaving of education\, story\, and inquiry. At the BIRD Theatre in Tottori\, Japan\, among other productions\, he collaborated with Korean group TUIDA to create The Poetry Class about the colonial period and Pacific war; he also directed students at Kei Ai High School in Romeo & Juliet. Using applied theater\, he performed with Village Playback Theatre creating improvisations from audience members’ personal stories\, and for a three-month residency he taught embodied methods of community dialogue through the Colombo Americano in Medellin\, Colombia. He has also taught theater to elementary school students at 82nd St. Academics and middle school students at Summer Institute for the Gifted. \nFor a year\, Mitch taught at the English Immersion Program in Umphium Mai refugee camp on the Thailand-Myanmar border using a curriculum based in literature and critical thinking. With the New York Foundling at Queens College\, he supervised the academic component of The Dorm Project\, a program supporting youth in foster care through college. Mitch has a Bachelor’s degree in Theater from Skidmore College and a Master’s degree in Philosophy & Education from Teachers College\, Columbia University. Mitch has recently presented at the North Eastern Philosophy of Education Society (NEPES) and Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (PLATO) conferences. He also relishes walking in the forest.  \nMake a Donation Here\nOur philosophy activities are FREE to the community.  While donations are never expected\, they are always appreciated and help to keep programs like these going. Donations help to cover activity leader honorariums\, implementation\, and resource archiving\, and more!  If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution you can do so by clicking here.  For those facing more challenging financial circumstances\, we ask that you please try to “pay it forward” with acts of kindness for your neighbors and community.  \n\n\n\n\nCommunity Sponsor & PartnerThank you to our community sponsor & partner Doubletree by Hilton Downtown Helena.
URL:https://merlinccc.org/calendar-event/philosophy-walk-on-civil-disobedience/
LOCATION:Missouri River Beaver Creek Trail (Hauser Dam Trail)\, Helena\, MT\, 59602\, United States
CATEGORIES:Philosophy Symposiums,Philosophy Walks
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://merlinccc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Philosophy-Walk_On-Civil-Discourse_2025.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Marisa Diaz-Waian":MAILTO:marisa@merlinccc.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20250615T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20250615T120000
DTSTAMP:20260530T180620
CREATED:20250205T041902Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250614T161924Z
UID:10000183-1749978000-1749988800@merlinccc.org
SUMMARY:Philosophy Walk: Conservation & the Environment Through a Big Picture Lens
DESCRIPTION:What We’ll Explore\nIn this walk led by philosopher Evelyn Brister we’ll explore environmental science and conservation through a philosophical lens\, incorporating considerations about justice\, quality of life\, and sustainability along the way. Some specific foci we’ll be exploring within this broad context include: outdoor recreation\, bio-tech\, and ethical decision-making. Our walk will be held at the newly established Prickly Pear Park in East Helena.  EXCITING!!! \n\n“I love working with communities on environmental issues\, and I love working with scientists on conservation research and practice. Something I do as a philosopher and educator is to explore how to balance differing viewpoints and priorities\, while also addressing ethical questions that tend to get lost in the mix. Philosophers play lots of roles\, and one is helping people step back from their immediate projects to look at the bigger picture. When we’re talking about environmental conservation\, the big picture is especially important because decisions affect a lot of different people\, as well as non-humans\, and they continue to have an impact through time. I work with ecologists and conservation scientists on research related to wetland restoration and coral reef restoration—that work is often about how to let various ethical priorities guide research and practice. In my new book\, A Watershed Moment: The American West in the Age of Limits\, the authors  present practical approaches to addressing ecological\, economic\, and cultural issues that are motivated by philosophical views on justice\, quality of life\, and sustainability.” — Evelyn Brister\, Professor of Philosophy at Rochester Institute of Technology & Faculty Affiliate in Public Policy and Environmental Policy. \n\n \nWhen\nSunday\, June 15th from 9am-12pm \nWhere\nPrickly Pear Park (1525 RTE 518\, East Helena) – Just south of HWY 287 \nRSVP\nRSVP here! \nCost\nFREE (Donations appreciated) \nOther\nWear weather appropriate attire & comfortable shoes.  See also our companion Philosophy Symposium event on Monday\, June 16th w/ guest scholars Evelyn Brister and Travis Brammer. \n\n\n\n\n\nWalk Leader\nEvelyn Brister is a Professor of Philosophy at Rochester Institute of Technology and a faculty affiliate in Public Policy and Environmental Science. Her research examines ethical and political issues in land management and conservation science. She is the editor\, with Robert Frodeman\, of A Guide to Field Philosophy (Routledge\, 2020)\, a collection of essays examining collaborations between philosophers and policymakers\, and she has written over two dozen articles in philosophy and environmental science. She spends as much time as she can in and around Yellowstone.   In her new book\, A Watershed Moment: The American West in the Age of Limits\, she and other authors  present practical approaches to addressing ecological\, economic\, and cultural issues that are motivated by philosophical views on justice\, quality of life\, and sustainability. \nMake a Donation Here\nOur philosophy activities are FREE to the community.  While donations are never expected\, they are always appreciated and help to keep programs like these going. Donations help to cover activity leader honorariums\, implementation\, and resource archiving\, and more!  If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution you can do so by clicking here.  For those facing more challenging financial circumstances\, we ask that you please try to “pay it forward” with acts of kindness for your neighbors and community.  \n\n\n\n\nCommunity Sponsors & PartnersThank you to our community sponsors & partners Doubletree by Hilton Downtown Helena and the Lewis & Clark Library.
URL:https://merlinccc.org/calendar-event/philosophy-walk-conversing-with-nature-through-a-philosophical-lens/
LOCATION:Prickly Pear Park\, 1525 RTE 518\, East Helena\, Montana\, 59635\, United States
CATEGORIES:Philosophy Walks
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://merlinccc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Philosophy-Walk_Conservation-and-the-Environment_June-2025.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Marisa Diaz-Waian":MAILTO:marisa@merlinccc.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20241013T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20241013T130000
DTSTAMP:20260530T180620
CREATED:20240720T021923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241010T154243Z
UID:10000095-1728813600-1728824400@merlinccc.org
SUMMARY:Philosophy Walk: Re-Indigenizing Public Lands (Registration Full)
DESCRIPTION:What We’ll Explore\nIn this walk led by Dr. Shane Doyle (Apsáalooke nation) we’ll reflect on the significance of public lands as both the nexus point & the dividing line between ancient ways of life and the post-colonial world.  Some of the questions we’ll consider include together: \n\nPublic lands belong to everyone\, and no one; how do we most appropriately honor those lands in perpetuity? And what variables should be considered when thinking about how best to protect (all or parts of) those landscapes?\nDid wilderness exist before white people came to Montana\, and if it didn’t\, how would we know?\nHow do Tribal oral traditions inform our understanding of wilderness from an Indigenous perspective?\n\n\n  \nWhen\nSunday\, October 13th from 10am-1pm \nWhere\nTen Mile Creek Park (1505 Williams St.\, Helena MT 59602) \n~ As you are head west out of Helena\, turn right (North) onto Williams Street and follow it around until you see the fenced parking area on the east side of the road. ~ \nRSVP\nOur walk is at max capacity. If you’d like to be placed on a waiting list please e-mail us at marisa@merlinccc.org & we will contact you if someone cancels to see if you’d like to join us. \nCost\nFREE (Donations appreciated) \nOther\nWear weather appropriate attire & comfortable shoes \n\n  \nWalk Leader\n \nShane Doyle\, Ed.D (Independent Educational & Cultural Consultant\, Native Nexus Consulting) is a Crow tribal member who grew up in Crow Agency\, and currently resides in Bozeman\, MT.  A singer of Northern Plains tribal style of music for 30 years\, Shane also holds a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction\, and completed a post-doctoral appointment in genetics with the University of Copenhagen\, Denmark\, in 2016.  With 20 years of teaching experience\, Shane is a full-time educational and cultural consultant\, designing American Indian curriculum for many organizations\, including Montana public schools\, the National Park Service\, and the Museum of the Rockies.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Bozeman-based Extreme History Project\, Hopa Mountain\, and the Archaeological Conservancy\, as well as serving on the Montana Arts Council culture and aesthetics committee and the Governors Parks in Focus Committee.  Shane was a founding member of the Montana Wilderness Association’s Hold Our Ground Campaign in 2017\, and speaks throughout the region on the topics of northern Plains Tribal culture and the importance of public lands in Montana.  He was instrumental in the repatriation of the Anzick Clovis Child\, and worked as a consultant and actor for the History Channel’s “Lost Treasure of the Little Bighorn Battle.” \n\n  \nMake a Donation Here\nOur philosophy activities are FREE to the community.  While donations are never expected\, they are always appreciated and help to keep programs like these going. Donations help to cover activity leader honorariums\, implementation\, and resource archiving\, and more! If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution you can do so by clicking here.  For those facing more challenging financial circumstances\, we ask that you please try to “pay it forward” with acts of kindness for your neighbors and community.  \n 
URL:https://merlinccc.org/calendar-event/philosophy-walk-reindigenizing-public-lands/
LOCATION:Ten Mile Creek Park\, 1505 Williams St.\, Helena\, MT\, 59602
CATEGORIES:Philosophy Walks
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://merlinccc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Re-Indigenizing-Public-Lands.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Marisa Diaz-Waian":MAILTO:marisa@merlinccc.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20240928T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20240928T130000
DTSTAMP:20260530T180620
CREATED:20240720T020914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240912T013505Z
UID:10000094-1727517600-1727528400@merlinccc.org
SUMMARY:Philosophy Walk: On Travel
DESCRIPTION:What We’ll Explore\nAccording to urban legend\, some famous novelist (maybe Tolstoy or Dostoyevski?) once quipped that there are only two stories: “A stranger comes to town” and “Someone goes on a journey.”  \nRegardless of who first said it\, there’s something to the notion that travelling is essential\, both to the ways we live\, and to the stories we tell to help make sense of those lives. \nIn this walk\, we’ll explore some of the ways that travel can be a space of encounter\, transformation\, and meaning.  We’ll compare modern experiences of travel with traditional theories and practices\, including: \n\nthe deliberate\, mindful walking of philosophers across the ages\, from Aristotle (whose school became known as the “Peripatetics\,” literally\, “the people who walk around”) to Henry David Thoreau\nthe practice of pilgrimage in literature and in human life\, from Chaucer and the traditional travels that inspired the Canterbury Tales\, to contemporary spiritual journeys to shrines\, temples\, and other numinous sites around the world\nthe traditional account of human beings as “self-movers\,” in that we’re choosers and initiators of action and motion\, not just passively getting bounced along by external forces.\n\nAs we walk and talk together throughout the morning\, we’ll think through what each of these three case studies can illuminate for us\, regarding contemporary practices of travel: \n\nHow might different approaches to travelling enhance (or impede) our fundamental human capacities and abilities?\nHow can travel create (or obstruct) opportunities for meaningful\, transformative encounters?\nIn what ways can the journey itself — or the even the mode in which we travel — be just as significant as the destination\, or even more so?\nAnd when we travel — whether close to home or to exotic destinations\, whether as a vacation or as part of our daily routine — how can we dance between purposeful planning & mindful openness to the unexpected?\n\n  \nWhen\nSaturday\, September 28th from 10:00am-1:00pm \nWhere\nSpring Meadow Lake (Our group will meet in the main/North side of the lot at the far end of the entrance) \nRSVP\nSign up here! \nCost\nFREE (Donations appreciated) \nOther\nWear weather appropriate attire & comfortable shoes \n\n  \nWalk Leader\n \nDavid Nowakowski is a philosopher and educator in the Helena area whose professional work is dedicated to helping people of all ages and backgrounds access\, understand\, and apply the traditions of ancient philosophy to their own lives.  David began studying ancient philosophies and classical languages in 2001\, and has continued ever since.  A scholar of the philosophical traditions of the ancient Mediterranean (Greece\, Rome\, and North Africa) and of the Indian subcontinent\, reading Sanskrit\, Latin\, and classical Greek\, he earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University in 2014.  His work has appeared in a variety of scholarly journals\, including Philosophy East & West\, Asian Philosophy\, and the Journal of Indian Philosophy\, as well as in presentations to academic audiences at Harvard\, Columbia University\, the University of Toronto\, Yale-NUS College in Singapore\, and elsewhere. \nAfter half a decade teaching at liberal arts colleges in the northeast\, David chose to leave the academy in order to focus his energies on the transformative value of these ancient philosophical and spiritual traditions in his own life and practice\, and on building new systems of education and community learning that will make this rich heritage alive and available to others. \nA hermit by nature and by committed choice\, he balances contemplative solitude with his active work in teaching\, counseling\, and the healing arts.  David can be reached at david@merlinccc.org or via his personal website. \n\n  \nMake a Donation Here\nOur philosophy activities are FREE to the community.  While donations are never expected\, they are always appreciated and help to keep programs like these going. Donations help to cover activity leader honorariums\, implementation\, and resource archiving\, and more!  If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution you can do so by clicking here.  For those facing more challenging financial circumstances\, we ask that you please try to “pay it forward” with acts of kindness for your neighbors and community.  \n 
URL:https://merlinccc.org/calendar-event/philosophy-walk-on-travel/
LOCATION:Spring Meadow Lake\, 2715 Country Club Drive\, Helena\, 59601\, United States
CATEGORIES:Philosophy Walks
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://merlinccc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Philosophy-Walk_On-Travel.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Marisa Diaz-Waian":MAILTO:marisa@merlinccc.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Denver:20240822T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Denver:20240822T203000
DTSTAMP:20260530T180620
CREATED:20240720T014730Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240816T182046Z
UID:10000093-1724349600-1724358600@merlinccc.org
SUMMARY:Philosophy Walk: Conversations with the World
DESCRIPTION:What We’ll Explore\nQuite often\, discussions of ethics circle around lists of rules to follow.  What happens if we take a different approach altogether\, and think of our ethical lives as a series of conversations with the world\, with the communities we inhabit\, and with our neighbors?  In this evening’s walk and discussion\, we’ll reflect on what it would mean to focus our ethical lives around dialogue\, relationship\, and conversation.  \nWe’ll begin with a suggestion from Aristotle\, who notes a close link between ethics and habits.  Here\, we can examine ethics as a conversation between ourselves and the families and communities in which we’re brought up\, where our characters are formed — as well as ongoing adult conversations with those same societies\, or with other communities that we choose for ourselves. \nThen\, drawing from Plato’s Phaedrus and Matthew Crawford’s work on communities practice\, we’ll move on to consider the deeply transformative place of love\, and its associated vulnerability\, in our moral lives.  Here\, we’ll reflect on the difference between ethical judgments based in abstractions\, and those that spring from relationships with individuals and communities. \nFinally\, we’ll reflect on what it would mean to expand the frame of our ethical conversations in various directions.  How might we include what ecologically-informed thinkers in recent decades have called the “more than human world” of other animals\, plants\, and ecosystems?  Or conversations across the years and the generations\, with our ancestors (something like Chesterton’s “democracy of the dead”) and our descendants? \nThroughout our own conversation\, we’ll examine specific strategies for\, and implications of\, organizing our ethical lives as conversations.  And we’ll reflect on some of the ways that approaching ethics as a series of conversations with the world might help us to celebrate and embrace the diversity of individual human lives\, of communities and cultures\, and of the more-than-human world. \n  \nWhen\nThursday\, August 22nd from 6pm-8:30pm \nWhere\nSpring Meadow Lake (Our group will meet in the main/North side of the lot at the far end of the entrance) \nRSVP\nClick here to let us know you’re coming! \nCost\nFREE (Donations appreciated) \nOther\nWear weather appropriate attire & comfortable shoes \n\n  \nWalk Leader\nDavid Nowakowski is a philosopher and educator in the Helena area whose professional work is dedicated to helping people of all ages and backgrounds access\, understand\, and apply the traditions of ancient philosophy to their own lives.  David began studying ancient philosophies and classical languages in 2001 and has continued ever since.  A scholar of the philosophical traditions of the ancient Mediterranean (Greece\, Rome\, and North Africa) and of the Indian subcontinent\, reading Sanskrit\, Latin\, and classical Greek\, he earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University in 2014.  His work has appeared in a variety of scholarly journals\, including Philosophy East & West\, Asian Philosophy\, and the Journal of Indian Philosophy\, as well as in presentations to academic audiences at Harvard\, Columbia University\, the University of Toronto\, Yale-NUS College in Singapore\, and elsewhere. \nAfter half a decade teaching at liberal arts colleges in the northeast\, David chose to leave the academy in order to focus his energies on the transformative value of these ancient philosophical and spiritual traditions in his own life and practice\, and on building new systems of education and community learning that will make this rich heritage alive and available to others. \nA hermit by nature and by committed choice\, he balances contemplative solitude with his active work in teaching\, counseling\, and the healing arts.  David can be reached at david@merlinccc.org or via his personal website. \n\n  \nMake a Donation Here\nOur philosophy activities are FREE to the community.  While donations are never expected\, they are always appreciated and help to keep programs like these going. Donations help to cover activity leader honorariums\, implementation\, and resource archiving\, and more!  If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution you can do so by clicking here.  For those facing more challenging financial circumstances\, we ask that you please try to “pay it forward” with acts of kindness for your neighbors and community.  \n 
URL:https://merlinccc.org/calendar-event/ethics-as-conversations/
LOCATION:Spring Meadow Lake\, 2715 Country Club Drive\, Helena\, 59601\, United States
CATEGORIES:Philosophy Walks
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://merlinccc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Philosophy-Walk_Conversations-with-the-World.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Marisa Diaz-Waian":MAILTO:marisa@merlinccc.org
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