Click on names that are underlined below to see personal bio
Connie
Barlow -
Evolutionary Evangelist with Michael Dowd and author of several
science
and children's books about evolution
In a special
presentation Connie will share her "River of Life"
(based on the
book "Ancestor's Tale" by Richard Dawkins)
Dwight
Collins - Pres., Collins Family Foundation;
Prof., Sustainable Ops Mngnt, Presidio School of Mngnt,
Michael
Dowd - Evolutionary Evangelist with Connie Barlow
and author of Thank God For Evolution
“Science and Wisdom in
Service of an Inspiring Future”
Cheryl
Genet -
Professor of Philosophy, Cuesta College; Director, Orion Institute
"Adventures in Synergy"
Russell
Genet - Professor of Astronomy Cuesta College; Director, Orion Observatory
“Humanity in the Cosmos”
Louis Herman - Professor of Politics, University of Hawaii
"Future
Primal: An Old-New Politics for Evolving Humanity"
Peter Hess - Director Faith Project National Center for
Science Education
Barbara Marx Hubbard - President of the Foundation
for Conscious Evolution
Pauline Le Bel -
Screenwriter, novelist, songwriter, and playwright
"Bringing the Universe Story Home”
Jack Palmer -
Jack
- Professor of Psychology, University of Louisiana at Monroe;
"Evolutionary Psychology: The Ultimate Origins of Human Behavior"
Linda
Palmer
–
Health and
psychology researcher/writer/editor, Jiva Institute
Brian Swimme - Prof of
Mathematical and
Evolutionary Cosmology, California Institute for Integral Studies,
Co-author with Thomas Berry of "The Universe Story"
Richard
Trowbridge - Professor of Wisdom Studies
"Wisdom: Theory and Practice"
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Participant's Bios are presented here in
alphabetical order.
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Biography |
Other Information |
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Connie Barlow is an acclaimed author of popular science books and
articles, and developer of THE GREAT STORY website. Connie's
most recent book, The Ghosts of Evolution (Basic Books), was Amazon.com's top-recommended science book for several months in
2001. Her previous books, Green Space, Green Time: The Way of
Science (Copernicus Books), Evolution Extended: Biological
Debates on the Meaning of Life (MIT Press), and From Gaia to
Selfish Genes: Selected Writings in the Life Sciences, all
explore the nexus of science, spirit, and meaning. She is
founding member and webmaster of Torreya Guardians, an internet
community of botanists, naturalists, and others dedicated to
ensuring the continuing persistence in the wild of America's
most endangered conifer tree: Torreya taxifolia. A Unitarian
Universalist, she is a well-known developer of curricula for
children's religious education programs. Since 2002, she and her
husband (Rev. Michael Dowd) have lived entirely on the road, as
"America's evolutionary evangelists".
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www.TheGreatStory.org |
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Dwight
Collins
teaches Sustainable Operations Management at
the San Francisco based Presidio School of Management. He is the
founder and president of Colbridge & Company. Previously, Dwight
directed Aspen Technology’s Strategic Planning Practice, which
provided strategic planning optimization consulting services to
senior executives. Dwight founded a Semiconductor Industry
Practice at Chesapeake Decision Sciences through which he was
instrumental in devising strategic enterprise planning and
customer order promising systems for several semiconductor
companies. In this time frame, Dwight also implemented supply
chain optimization capabilities for Shaw Industries, the largest
carpet producer in the US, and chemical company Rohm & Haas.
Earlier in his career, Dwight worked as a Senior Operations
Analyst at Exxon Corporation, a Senior Consultant at the
Logistics Management Institute (LMI) (a Washington, D.C. think
tank), and as Captain in the US Air Force. Dr. Collins earned a
BS degree in Engineering Physics, and MS and Ph.D. degrees in
Operations Research, all from Cornell University.
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Collins Family Foundation
www.collinsff.org
Presidio
School of Management
www.presidiomba.org
Colbridge and Company
www.colbridgeandco.com
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Michael
Dowd graduated summa cum laude from Evangel
University in Springfield, Missouri (affiliated with the
Assemblies of God), where he received a B.A. in biblical studies
and philosophy. He also graduated with honors from Eastern
Baptist Theological Seminary (now, Palmer Seminary) in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (affiliated with the American Baptist
Church), where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. Dowd
served as a congregational minister for nine years, pastoring
United Church of Christ (UCC) churches in Massachusetts, Ohio,
and Michigan. His 1991 book, EarthSpirit: A Handbook for
Nurturing an Ecological Christianity (Twenty-Third Publications)
was one of the first attempts to look appreciatively at biblical
Christianity from the perspective of a modern cosmology.
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www.TheGreatStory.org
www.ThankGodforEvolution.com |
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Cheryl
L.
Genet, Ph. D. earned her doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Science
and Theology. As director of the Orion Institute’s Science and
Human Meaning program, she focuses her research on scientific
paradigms, cosmological stories, interfaith relations, and
understanding our emerging global community. She taught at
Central Arizona College and more recently at California
Polytechnic State University Osher Institute for Life-Long
Learning. Currently she teaches philosophy at Cuesta
College, and is the Managing Editor of the Collins Foundation
Press.
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www.OrionInstitute.org |
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Russell
M.
Genet, PhD, is a
Research Scholar in Residence at California Polytechnic State
University, Professor of Astronomy at Cuesta College, and
Director of the Orion Observatory.
He is the author of a dozen books and over one hundred
scientific papers. He observes eclipsing binary stars and
studies cosmic evolution. Russ, who pioneered the world’s first
fully robotic observatory (featured in the PBS special The
Perfect Stargazer), was the 51st President of the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific.
His latest
book, Humanity: The Chimpanzees Who Would Be Ants, tells
the evolutionary story of how we came to be, drawn from the best
science of our time, and suggests possible future scenarios. Back to Top |
www.OrionObservatory.org |
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Peter M.
J. Hess
- His position as Faith Project Director
for the National Center for
Science Education (NCSE) in Oakland, California.involves
outreach to churches and other faith communities to promote the
compatibility of evolutionary biology and religious belief.
Peter earned his M.A. in philosophy and theology from Oxford
University, and his Ph.D. in ecclesiastical history from the
Graduate Theological Union. His scholarly work focuses on the
interactions between science and religion in the modern world,
particularly the impact of theology on the Scientific Revolution
(1600-1900) and the response by theologians to discoveries and
new paradigms in the developing sciences. His book on
Catholicism and Science, co-authored with Paul Allen of
Concordia University, will appear in April, 2008 (Greenwood
Press); he is also writing on the religious and ethical
implications of the rapidly approaching end of affordable oil.
Peter has taught theology, philosophy and history since 1980,
and currently teaches in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at
Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California. A fellow of the
International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR), he is
also an active member of the European Society for the Study of
Science and Theology (ESSSAT), the Center for Theology and the
Natural Sciences (CTNS), and the Metanexus Institute of
Philadelphia. An avid rock climber and volcano mountaineer,
Peter and his wife Viviane have two sons, Michael and Robert. Back to Top |
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Louis
Herman.
Professor
Herman is a political philosopher and head of the political
science program at the University of Hawai`i-West O`ahu Campus. He was
born and raised in South Africa, educated at Cambridge, England
(medicine and the history and philosophy of science), and was
initiated into utopian politics through involvement with the
Israeli Kibbutz movement. He came to Hawaii to get some
philosophical distance from his origins and complete a PhD in
politics. He now returns regularly to his birthplace in South
Africa for his work as executive producer with an international
team on a feature length documentary film Primal Quest, dealing
with the convergence between the ancient shamanic wisdom of the
San Bushman, the hunter gatherers of the Kalahari, and the
latest scientific insights from evolutionary cosmology. His book
manuscript, Future Primal: A Politics Beyond Modernity
provides the background research and vision for the film. He has
also authored articles and papers on related themes.
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Primal Quest
website
http://socrates.uhwo.hawaii.edu/
SocialSci/louisher/LHerman-Quest.html |
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Barbara
Marx
Hubbard
is President of the Foundation for Conscious
Evolution, received her Bachelor Degree from Bryn Mawr College
cum laude in Political Science. She took her junior year abroad
at the Sorbonne and the Ecole des Sciences Politiques in Paris.
She was given a first ever Doctorate in Conscious Evolution by
Emerson Theological Institute. Barbara has helped create the
field of conscious evolution. She wrote a first evolutionary
networking “Center Letter” in 1967-69 to over 1000 people,
working with Dr. Jonas Salk, Abraham Maslow, Lancelot Law Whyte
and others to ask the question: “What is the next step for the
future good?” She founded The Committee for the Future in 1970
in Washington DC., where she co-produced 25 SYNCON conferences
for SYNergistic CONvergence. These advanced, multi media,
multi-disciplinary events brought diverse people from every
field and function together in a wheel shaped environment to
seek common goals and match needs with resources in the light of
the growing potential of the whole system. She wrote and
narrated the Theater for the Future; a multi-media story of
creation that places humanity in the story and visualizes what
it might be like when everything we know we can do work. Back to Top |
www.BarbaraMarxHubbard.com |
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Pauline Le Bel
has been a fulltime artist for over 30 years – an Emmy-nominated
screenwriter, award-winning novelist, songwriter, playwright,
voice teacher, festival organizer and “evolutionary troubadour”.
She is an experienced actor/singer who has worked professionally
in theatre, film and radio. She was called "a musical instrument
linked to a soul" for her dramatic portrayal of chanteuse, Edith
Piaf, in a play she co-wrote. Her published/produced writing
credits include: a novel, two screenplays (The Song Spinner, a
family movie for Showtime), 4 musicals, a radio drama, songs for
films, 3 CDs of her own songs, and articles for various
publications. Her powerful, earthy voice has been heard in
theatres and concert halls across Canada, in the U.S. and the
U.K. and her poetic, musical interpretation of the universe
story has delighted international audiences. For three years,
she was Artistic Director of Voices in the Sound, an arts and
nature festival she created and organized, and is the author of
a cosmological musical about her home, Bowen Island, Canada. She
is part of a growing community working to integrate art, nature,
science and spirit to support a radical transformation in human
consciousness.
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www.suncoastarts.com/
paulinelebel.html
www.suncoastarts.com/paulinelebel.html |
Jack
A.
Palmer is Professor of Psychology at the
University of Louisiana at Monroe, where he has taught since
1989. Jack and his wife Linda coauthored a text human evolution,
Evolutionary Psychology: The Ultimate Origins of Human Behavior,
published by Allyn & Bacon in 2002. Jack primarily teaches
Neuropsychology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Positive
Psychology. His evolution courses and textbook take the larger
“Evolutionary Epic” perspective, which is somewhat rare in
psychological science. Jack’s current research focuses on
investigations of the effect of rearing experiences (ontogeny)
on adult psychological traits; and the neurological substrates
of moral reasoning. He has been named “Researcher of the Year”
and “Professor of the Year” by his dept. The Palmers are
long-time practitioners of the meditative discipline Sant Mat.
Their daughter works in television and film production on the
West Coast, and their son (now deceased) was a computer
programmer and graphic designer.
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Vita and narrative bio:
About our book, Evolutionary Psychology:
Jiva Institute:
Sant Mat:
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Linda
K. Palmer, is co-author (with Dr. Jack A. Palmer)
of Evolutionary Psychology: The Ultimate Origins of Human
Behavior. Early in life, Linda made her living as an artist.
Later she worked as manager of the Survey Research Institute,
University of Georgia, and editor-in-chief of Edition Naam
publishing. She has served on numerous non-profit boards, taught
psychology at Louisiana universities, and was a therapist in
private practice. In 1998, Linda left academia and spent seven
years in spiritual centers, studying full-time with renowned
mystic, Thakar Singh. She produced over a dozen books from his
discourses, including his last work, Live the Life of Soul.
Linda currently conducts psychological research with Jack,
serves as editor for Jiva Institute, and does freelance editing
and writing. Linda and Jack have a daughter who works in
television and film production; their son (now deceased) was a
computer programmer/graphic designer.
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Brian
Swimme: Mathematical Cosmology,
(Gravitational Dynamics)
University of Oregon, 1978 Evolutionary cosmology, science and
spirituality, the role of humanity in the unfolding story of
Earth. His
research focuses on the evolutionary dynamics of the universe,
the relationship between scientific cosmology and more
traditional religious visions, the cultural implications of the
new evolutionary epic, and the role of humanity in the unfolding
story of Earth and cosmos. In 1998 he founded the international
Epic of Evolution Society, a forum for artists, scientists, ecofeminists, ecologists, religious thinkers and educators
interested in the new story. He is the author of The Hidden
Heart of the Cosmos (Orbis, 1996), Manifesto for a Global
Civilization (with Matthew Fox) (Bear and Company, 1983),
The Universe is a Green Dragon (Bear and Company, 1984) and
The Universe Story (Harper, 1992) which is a culmination
of a ten-year collaboration with cultural historian Thomas
Berry. Brian's media work includes the video series, Canticle to
the Cosmos and The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos.
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Richard Trowbridge: Founder, Transletix, The Flourishing
Earth, The Wisdom-Centered Life In 1996, after attaining an MA
in Philosophy from Vermont College on the topic of worldviews, I
began The Self-Liberation Center for Human Development. This
organization, while not successful (copies of back editions of
the newsletter The Possible Self are available upon
request), did lead to The Flourishing Earth and Transletix--Training
Athletes of Human Potential. In 2006 I complete a doctoral
program at Union Institute and University, studying the concept
of flourishing in a more focused way. This led to a focus on
wisdom. Currently I teach critical thinking, human relations,
and moral philosophy to undergraduates, and wisdom and thinking
skills to people over fifty. Work in progress: a translation of
Charles de Bovelles, Liber de Sapiente, The Book of the Sage
(completion date: November 2008). |
http://wisdomcenteredlife.org |
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