Webster University Sponsors Global
Ecology Conference
Webster University invites area residents to be informed,
enlightened and galvanized into action by attending “Global
Ecology: A Creative Opportunity to Design a Sustainable
Future” from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 3, in
Moore Auditorium, 470 E. Lockwood Ave, Webster Groves.
Satish Kumar, Webster’s 2007-08 E. Desmond Lee Visiting
Professor in Global Awareness, is the organizer and guiding
force behind “Global Ecology” as well as a conference
speaker. Kumar said the conference will offer participants
an opportunity to look at the big picture of a world in
crisis, especially in the areas of economics and ecology,
and to find solutions to global problems.
When he was only nine years old, Kumar renounced the world
and joined the wandering brotherhood of Jain monks. He left
the order at age 18 and became a campaigner for land reform;
he then embarked on an 8,000 mile peace pilgrimage, during
which he walked from India to the United States.
In 1973, Kumar settled in England and became editor of Resurgence,
a magazine that publishes articles “on the cutting
edge of current thinking, promoting creativity, ecology,
spirituality and frugality.” He is Director of Programme
for Schumacher College, a residential international center
for the study of ecological and spiritual values.
His books include Spiritual Compass: The Three Qualities
of Life (2007).
Kumar has assembled a stellar lineup of conference speakers.
Among them: Wes Jackson, president of The Land Institute,
the purpose of which is to develop an agricultural system
with the ecological stability of the prairie and a grain
yield comparable to that from annual crops; Frances Moore
Lappé, author or co-author of 16 books, including
her 1971 three-million-copy bestseller, Diet for a Small
Planet; Madhu Suri Prakash, Pennsylvania State University
professor and a specialist in ecological literacy and ecofeminism;
and Thomas Moore, a former Catholic monk and Jungian psychotherapist,
and author of popular spiritual books, including Care of
the Soul. David Carl Wilson, dean of Webster University’s
College of Arts & Sciences, will give opening and closing
remarks.
Attendees are invited to attend a post-conference dinner
at Eden Seminary’s Schroer Commons, directly across
Lockwood Avenue. The 6:30 p.m. dinner will feature organic,
locally grown food.
The cost for the conference, including lunch, is $50. The
student rate is $15. There will be an extra charge for dinner.
To learn more or to sign up online, visit the conference
website: www.webster.edu/kumar
