Kairos News
During this winter season at the Center for Anthroposophy (CfA), the directors of our seven programs––a record number!––are forming new courses and line-ups of faculty in preparation for the spring and summer terms ahead. In this issue of Center & Periphery, CfA’s thrice-yearly newsletter, you can read about the latest selection of our in-person and online courses and services. Continue reading…
Explorations Online: A Journey into Anthroposophy and Waldorf Education
As Explorations Online enters its sixth year, the program has connected nearly 400 educators, parents, and lifelong learners from across the globe through its weekend seminars. The program operates on alternate weekends over nine months, creating a sustained learning community focused on anthroposophy and Waldorf education principles. The curriculum integrates theoretical foundations with practical applications, exploring both historical context and contemporary challenges in education. Core components include: Participant experiences have highlighted how the program bridges theoretical understanding with practical implementation. As one graduate noted: “The course provides clarity and practical approaches to working with Steiner’s ideas, making previously overwhelming concepts accessible and applicable.” Looking ahead to 2025-2026, the program welcomes Deborah Dornemann as its new director. Dornemann brings extensive experience from various educational settings, having served as both a teacher across multiple age groups and an administrator in diverse school environments. The next program cycle begins March 15, 2025. For curriculum details and registration information, interested individuals can visit the Center for Anthroposophy website at centerforanthroposophy.org/programs/explorations-online/
For Our Kairos Community
October 3, 2024 Dear Kairos community, Some of our Kairos community members live in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Some caught on the path of destruction just received their electricity back last night and are dealing with either their house challenges or those of neighbors and their towns. I just spoke with Nikki, who lives in one of the most devastated areas affected by Helene, and I want to make sure we keep all who are suffering so much loss in our thoughts and hearts. Asheville, North Carolina, is mostly totally destroyed. There is destruction, debris everywhere, no water or electricity, no way of getting to many places, and houses destroyed or disappeared. Right now, it’s all about the basics: food, shelter, and water. Our Nikki Shoneman, who lives on the outskirts of Asheville, said: at least we don’t have a war on top of this. We suffer, but we are not bombed on top of living in an obliterated environment. It makes me think how it must be in Gaza, Beirut, or Syria right now. It’s nearly impossible to imagine worse than this, yet people experience much worse. Nikki invited children into her house yesterday, knowing she’s being trained to deal with first aid for the soul. Some came but many have left their houses because of the lack of infrastructure. There are few families left in her neighborhood. In Asheville, it’s pure destruction, and further up in the mountains, people are completely cut off, and helicopters are sending packages with food and water. Close to 100 people have lost their lives in this community, and I can only imagine the trauma and how people are still in the shock phase. This was supposed to be a rather safe place regarding natural catastrophes, so this onslaught was not expected. The hurricane was expected to weaken at this stage of her path because of the mountains and the long journey the storm traversed. Nikki shared how she was lucky that their house was salvageable and that trees falling and other destruction on her land was mainly dealt with, water being brought in from a spring by friends, and some food retrieved from a local place with a flashlight as light source and people signing off payments in the future. When we spoke, she was sitting in a long traffic jam on the freeway, trying to get to a place for free food delivery. Let us pray for all these people. I’ve asked Nikki to let us know what we can do. As I mentioned, the basics are needed right now, but this community will need to heal for a very long time; the reconstruction will take many years. I put a video on our Emergency Pedagogy International Whatsapp website. I’m asking Nikki to stay in touch with us and let us know what we can do to help. She can read the situation, and, at some point, an emergency team can be organized, although our team is still not even properly defined; we are just beginning that process. This may be our opportunity to start when the time is right. Right now, disaster distress groups are there, and other helpers are doing all they can to stabilize the situation so people can live with food, water, and shelter. With all my love, Karine You who watch over the soulsSpirits who work out of cosmic wisdomLovingly protect soul human beingsHear our requestBehold our lovewho seek to unite ourselves with the outpouring of your helping forcesSpirit perceiving, love outstreaming
The Transdisciplinary Studies in Healing Education (TSHE) at Antioch University
Happy Michaelmas! At a time when we experience the edge of the abyss, both inwardly as a spiritual reality and outwardly, in world affairs, we are increasingly challenged on all sides. Daily work in our schools and communities demands nothing less than addressing our essential Self. It is not possible to maintain crucial balance and a sense of groundedness unless we consciously reconnect with our own “vertical” in the midst of drowning in the experience of constantly being asked to give beyond our capacities. Taking time and opportunity to go deeper into the sacred fabric of our soul, remembering who we are and what we are longing for, and finding our voice becomes a necessity. Many who join the Transdisciplinary Studies in Healing Education (TSHE) at Antioch University realize that to experience enhanced joy and effectiveness in our personal and professional lives, we must lift ourselves and allow for a new basis for colleagueship and collaboration. Earning a research-based M.Ed. taught by both Antioch and Camphill faculty (domestic and international) invites self-activation and strengthening of new career orientations. Perspectives oriented toward healing and developing new capacities enhance and revitalize our schools and communities. Core themes in TSHE include studies in traumatology, artistic immersion, the mystery of the “I,” consciousness of the human organs that are the basis for physical and spiritual health, and the human encounter. The application date is December 1, 2024. Click here for more info about the THSE program and registration details, etc. I look forward to working with my Camphill colleague Carsten Callesen and other adjuncts in what will be my last TSHE cohort as Director. With warmest wishes, Karine Munk Finser
Pencils, Paints, and “Emergency Pedagogy” for Ukrainian Refugees
Supplied with pencils, paper, paints, and brushes, Karine Munk Finser, Director of CfA’s newly founded Kairos Institute, flew to Scandinavia in mid-March to welcome Ukrainian refugees into her parents’ empty cottage on the Danish island of Bornholm and to begin administering a program of acute healing therapy to mothers and their young children. A licensed art therapist in the U.S., Karine was following up on her mother’s initiative to open her summer home to Ukrainian families seeking refuge on this Baltic island. Beyond housing and basic needs, Karine is offering them a therapeutic program based on “Emergency Pedagogy” pioneered by Bernd Ruf from the Parzival Zentrum in Germany. This program is designed to bring healing artistic elements of Waldorf education to traumatized children and their parents whose lives have been upended by war or natural catastrophes. A seven-year-old girl captured her feeling of release after fleeing her native Ukraine in a drawing she called, “Girl Crossing the Border”. Karine writes, “Notice the darkened sun, the dying flowers on the left, the empty darkness, the deep sorrowful world where everything weeps. The transition is beautifully marked with the dark clouds changing to white clouds and the sun’s return. The rainbow, eternal expression of hope and belonging. The greens, life returning. Most importantly, notice how the girl in the drawing stands and sadly watches the darkness but then, as she crosses the border, she begins to lighten.” Karine, who is also Director of Transdisciplinary Studies in Healing Education at Antioch University New England, will spend the rest of this month with Ukrainian mothers and their children on Bornholm, a remote island located east of Denmark in the Baltic Sea between Poland and the southern coast of Sweden. Bernd Ruf is scheduled to bring his multi-year training in “Emergency Pedagogy” for teachers and art therapists to CfA’s Kairos Institute in Wilton, New Hampshire, starting this summer as part of the Institute’s new program of Waldorf pedagogy through the healing arts. Details of this program can be found here. Those wishing to help Waldorf schools and their families in Ukraine can make donations directly to the Friends of Waldorf Education (Freunde der Erziehungskunst), which has already mobilized a worldwide network of financial and logistic support via its secure website here.
Torin Finser’s upcoming lecture in Atlantic Beach, FL
You are cordially invited to attend this free info session with Dr. Finser on “Building Bridges to Waldorf Teacher Education”.
Summer 2019 Waldorf Teacher Education Programs
Please enjoy this beautiful vignette of our July 2019 Waldorf Teacher Education Programs offered annually by the Center for Anthroposophy and Antioch University.
Newsletter Autumn 2019
The leadership of the Center for Anthroposophy (CfA) was fortunate enough to receive sponsorship allowing them to attend the 100th anniversary celebrations of Waldorf education in the giant Tempodrom pavillion in Berlin. We offer here a few images to capture the flavor of this day of festivities.
Attention all CfA and Antioch Waldorf Program Alumni!
We are conducting a survey of all participants who have taken part in one or more of our courses –– whether foundational “Explorations”, preparatory “Building Bridges”, summer “Renewal Courses”, elementary and high school teacher training programs at CfA or at the Waldorf Teacher Education Program of Antioch University New England.
Registering the Fall Cohort – Waldorf Administration & Leadership Series
Antioch University New England is pleased to announce a learning experience custom designed to bridge the gaps between pedagogy and administrative expertise.
