Home » Programs » Kairos Institute » Kairos Institute Faculty
Kairos Institute Faculty
News & Views
Stay up to date and read our extensive archive.
Discover the Heart of Waldorf Education with “Listening to Our Teachers” by Torin Finser
We are thrilled to announce the release of Listening to Our Teachers, a profound exploration of the Waldorf educational experience by esteemed author and educator Torin...
Read MoreKairos Institute: Traumatology and Spirituality
Wilton, New Hampshire, July 7-12 In today’s world, we are constantly bearing witness to global crises and tragedies, and therefore, we live in a world...
Read MoreCenter & Periphery Newsletter — Winter 2024
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...
Read MoreTraining Waldorf High School Science and Math Teachers through the Arts
High school teachers specializing in science and math are especially helped by a training saturated in the arts––especially the performing arts––as this new video of...
Read MoreSign up for our Newsletter!
Charles Andrade
Charles paints in the colorist style that he evolved from his initial training in England at Tobias School of Art & Therapy. His paintings can be found in private collections in North America, Europe, and New Zealand. Charles owns and operates Lazure Custom Wall Designs, a mural and decorative painting business specializing in Lazure, a unique European glazing finish that creates healing inner environments. Charles teaches fine art classes and offers Lazure and painting workshops worldwide.
Monica Armstutz
Monica Talaya Amstutz completed the Dorion School of Anthroposophical Music Therapy (AMT) in 2005, after her training as a Certified Music Practitioner. Since then, she has worked as an AMT with different populations, age groups and in varied settings, most consistently in the Camphill Communities. She also teaches the lyre to children (from 5 years old onward) and adults in groups and individually.
Monica has given presentations about AMT and has lead courses and workshops for early childhood teachers and parents of young children about the importance of the ‘mood of the fifth’, providing an in-depth experience and understanding of the different stages of a child’s musical development and needs. She wishes to inspire parents for and teaches the singing of lullabies.
Earlier in her life she trained to be a kindergarten- and later a special education teacher and raised her own five children.
Carsten Callesen, B.A.
Over the course of the last 30 years, Carsten has lived and worked with children, youth, and adults with developmental disabilities in Camphill communities in Scotland, England, and the United States. In true Camphill style, he has tried his hand at almost everything. He has carried responsibilities as a houseparent, workshop leader, teacher, administrator, counselor and therapist. Carsten holds a Bachelor of Arts in the Art of Eurythmy and holds a diploma in Eurythmy Therapy.
He currently lives at Camphill Special School where his overall responsibility and focus over the past ten years has become more directed towards the medical and therapeutic field. He serves the community as Director of Medical and Therapeutic Services, is a licensed EMT and are currently pursuing a nursing degree.
Carsten is a faculty member in the Camphill Academy (Curative Education) and adjunct faculty member of Transdisciplinary Healing Education Program, Antioch University. A motto he lives by is that in life we find a true path of learning and he continues to be a therapist at heart, where the listening ear is at the core.
Maria Ver Eecke
Maria is presently the therapeutic eurythmist for the School of Eurythmy, Spring Valley, NY. She taught eurythmy for forty years in Waldorf schools, a charter school, and a home-school program. Maria met anthroposophy in Maseru, Lesotho, when she was a class teacher in an English-medium preparatory school. Currently she is the editor of the newsletters for the Eurythmy Association of North America and the Association of Therapeutic Eurythmy in North America.
Karine Munk Finser, M.Ed.
Director of Kairos Institute. Director of Transdisciplinary Studies of Healing Education, Antioch University New England. Director of Professional Development at the Center for Anthroposophy, art therapist and painter.
Karine Munk Finser was born on the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark, and later lived in Belgium, France, Switzerland and England before finding her home in the United States. Karine is an art therapist with a diploma from the Medical Section, Goetheanum. She ran the Center for Anthroposophy’s Renewal Courses for 21 years while being employed as a faculty member at Antioch University New England. In 2014, she began the Transdisciplinary Studies in Healing Education program (TSHE)
Torin Finser, Ph.D.
Director of Building Bridges and Waldorf Leadership Development programs, founding trustee of CfA, Director of Waldorf Programs at Antioch University New England, post doctoral certification in Management Development, Harvard, author of 14 books, including Organizational Integrity and Leadership Development.
Laura Geilen
Laura Geilen teaches movement and games, circus arts, Spacial Dynamics® and clowning to adults, kids and special needs populations. She is drawn to teaching circus arts as they naturally and playfully provide a variety of challenges necessary for healthy child development. Seeing children grow in skill, self-confidence, social and spatial awareness is what has motivated her to offer camps and classes continually over the last 20 years. She enjoys bringing all people a renewed experience of their creativity, authenticity and aliveness through the transformative power of play.
Connie Helms, M.Ed.
Connie is a consultant to Waldorf schools in the eastern U.S., conducting workshops, observations, and classwide screenings. For several years she has been a co-director of the Educational Support Program offered by the Association for a Healing Education and she mentors Learning Support teachers. Connie holds a Waldorf teacher certification from Antioch University New England, a Waldorf Remedial certification from AHE, a Masters in Special Education from Lesley University and a B.A. in psychology from Connecticut College.
Connie formerly worked as the Educational Support teacher at the Lake Champlain Waldorf School in Shelburne,Vermont; before that she was a Resource teacher in public schools. In addition to her current work teaching and mentoring, she has a private practice doing Extra Lesson with children and adolescents in Vermont. Her three children attended Waldorf schools in Vermont from Kindergarten through eighth grade.
Bernd Ruf
Presenter, Founder of Parzival School & Emergency Pedagogy
Author of Educating Traumatized Children, Bernd Ruf is the founder of the worldwide Emergency Pedagogy crisis intervention center, based in Karlsruhe, Germany. Skilled teams are sent out to help traumatized children in places of the strife of war, or ecological disasters.
Debra Spitulnik, M.Ed.
Debra Spitulnik is an adjunct professor of Creative Speech at Antioch University New England, and faculty member for the Center for Anthroposophy. As a core faculty member of Kairos Institute she leads the training in artistic and healing Speech and Drama. Debra has led the development of pedagogical speech and believes that Creative Speech brings healing and nourishment to the soul and empowers the voice. She infuses all her classes with three decades of her unique experiences as a class teacher, subject teacher and speech teacher. She teaches speech, drama, storytelling, and curriculum to teachers nationwide.
Goetheanum Diploma in the arts of Speech and Drama., PerformInternational; M.Ed., Waldorf Education, Antioch University New England; B.S. Elementary and Special Education, Syracuse University.
Juliane Weeks
Juliane Weeks has taught at a public school in Berlin, Germany, before becoming a class teacher at the Karl Schubert Schule, a Waldorf School for children with special needs. After her move to the United States, she founded and directed an Early Childhood program in Concord, Mass while raising her own four children. With the move of the family to southern NH, she became involved in the care of adults with developmental challenges. Along with her social therapeutic work, her special interest in healing music led her to pursue a training to become a Certified Music Practitioner (CMT) and later on a music therapist with a diploma in anthroposophic music therapy. Since then she has served a wide range of individuals of all ages and abilities in many different settings, Clinics, Waldorf Schools, Life Sharing Communities, the Therapeutic Community Inner Fire and others. In addition to her therapeutic work, she has offered workshops, lead singing groups and music courses within the Camphill Academy, in Early Childhood trainings at Sophia’s Hearth, during Renewal summer courses and introduced Music and Healing as a part of the Healing Education program (MEd) at Antioch University.