Feb 1 Globalization and life after COVID-19
Description:
Our first session will cover the definitions of globalization, its history, and some pros and cons of globalization. Global international travel helped accelerate the transmission of COVID-19, turning it quickly into a global pandemic. This session will explore the economic and social implications of COVID-19 on the global world, including perspectives about its impacts on the everyday lives of students from Asia, the Pacific, and the US.
Our first session will cover the definitions of globalization, its history, and some pros and cons of globalization. Global international travel helped accelerate the transmission of COVID-19, turning it quickly into a global pandemic. This session will explore the economic and social implications of COVID-19 on the global world, including perspectives about its impacts on the everyday lives of students from Asia, the Pacific, and the US.
Speakers and Performers
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Manfred Steger (Speaker)
Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and Global Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Culture & Society at Western Sydney University. Manfred B. Steger previously held executive positions as Head of School of International and Community Studies, Director of the Globalism Research Centre, and Research Leader in the Global Cities Research Institute at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Professor Steger has served as an academic consultant on globalization for the US State Department and is the author or editor of twenty-seven books on globalization, and social and political theory, and nonviolence, including: The Rise of the Global Imaginary: Political Ideologies from the French Revolution to the Global War on Terror (Oxford University Press, 2008); the bestselling Globalization: A Very Short Introduction, 5th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2020); and Globalization Matters: Engaging the Global in Unsettled Times (with Paul James; Cambridge University Press, 2019). |
Photo credit: The Necessary Stage
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Haresh Sharma (Playwright)
Resident Playwright of The Necessary Stage, Singapore Theatre-making in Singapore: Questioning, Challenging, and Provoking the Audience Haresh Sharma is a multi-award-winning playwright who has written more than 100 plays, many frequently republished. His play, Off Centre, was selected by the Ministry of Education as a Literature text for N and O Levels. Haresh is the first non-American to be awarded the prestigious Goldberg Master Playwright by New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2011. |
Feb 8 Okinawan Diet for a Healthy Long Life
Description:
One of the ten leading global health threats is noncommunicable diseases mostly caused by dietary habits and physical inactivities. Due to medical advances, life expectancy has been increasing globally; however, quality of life is an important factor to consider in longevity. This session will focus on the diet known to be associated with longevity - the Okinawan Diet. We will find out the secrets of the elderly in Okinawa, Japan, who are some of the leanest, healthiest, and the longest living people in the world.
One of the ten leading global health threats is noncommunicable diseases mostly caused by dietary habits and physical inactivities. Due to medical advances, life expectancy has been increasing globally; however, quality of life is an important factor to consider in longevity. This session will focus on the diet known to be associated with longevity - the Okinawan Diet. We will find out the secrets of the elderly in Okinawa, Japan, who are some of the leanest, healthiest, and the longest living people in the world.
Speakers and Performers
Photo Credit: The Center for Okinawan Studies, UHM
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Bradley J. Willcox MD, MSc, FGSA (Speaker)
Professor and Director of Research at the Department of Geriatric Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai’i, at the Kuakini Medical Center (KMC) Campus Dr. Willcox is also Director of the NIH-funded KMC Center of Biomedical Research Excellence for Clinical and Translational Research on Aging, Principal Investigator of the KMC Hawaii Lifespan Study and KMC Hawaii Healthspan Study, and co-Principal Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study. Dr. Willcox trained in Medicine at the University of Toronto, Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and Geriatric Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and he is Board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine. He has published widely in the genetic, environmental and clinical aspects of healthy aging. He is a frequent reviewer for major medical journals and is on the Editorial Board of the Journals of Gerontology, the leading gerontological journal. Dr. Willcox is also on the Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) for the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA), which reviews all intramural NIA research programs. Norman Kaneshiro (Performer)
Lecturer in Ethnomusicology, Okinawan Ensemble, Music Department and Center for Okinawan Studies, The University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Norman Kaneshiro, born, raised, and living in Honolulu, is the grandson of Okinawan immigrants on both sides of his family. He is co-founder and co-director of Ukwanshin Kabudan Ryukyu Performing Arts Troupe, a volunteer Okinawan music instructor, and a lecturer at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Ethnomusicology Program. Ukwanshin Kabudan Ryukyu Performing Arts Troupe strives to preserve the traditions of Ryūkyū/Okinawa, through education using the stage, workshops, and community programs. Website: Ukwanshin.org. |
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Lawrence Lau (Chef)
Chef Instructor, Culinary Department Kapi’olani Community College Chef Lau and his Culinary Arts students will give Exchange participants residing in Hale Manoa and Hale Kuahine an opportunity to sample representative Okinawan dishes. |
Feb 22 Equal Opportunity for the Human Race
Description:
Globalization has negatively impacted the lives of vulnerable indigenous and marginalized populations, especially people of color, who have been experiencing injustice due to dislocation, land dispossession, and various forms of political, cultural, economic, and gender-based oppression. The focus of our discussion will be on movements for social justice and cultural efforts among indigenous and minority populations to claim space, resist oppression, and assert their human rights to survival, autonomy, recognition, self-representation, and equal opportunity.
Globalization has negatively impacted the lives of vulnerable indigenous and marginalized populations, especially people of color, who have been experiencing injustice due to dislocation, land dispossession, and various forms of political, cultural, economic, and gender-based oppression. The focus of our discussion will be on movements for social justice and cultural efforts among indigenous and minority populations to claim space, resist oppression, and assert their human rights to survival, autonomy, recognition, self-representation, and equal opportunity.
Presenters and Performers
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James V. Fenelon (Speaker)
Professor and Director of Center for Indigenous Peoples Studies, California State University, San Bernardino Dr. Fenelon published Redskins?: Mascots, Indian Nations, after Culturicide, Resistance and Survival of the Lakota (Sioux Nation) and Indigenous Peoples and Globalization (with Thomas Hall), and is working on Indian, Black and Irish: Capitalism, Colonization and Racism in America (Routledge). He has published numerous articles and chapters (36), is Lakota/Dakota from Standing Rock, with Gaelish Irish, French, Scandinavian descent, and advocates for social justice. |
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Miki Vale (Performer)
“Follow the path your heart beats" Miki Vale is an international Hip Hop performing artist and cultural ambassador, Teaching Artist and commissioned playwright with San Diego's Old Globe Theatre and founder of SoulKiss Theater, an arts education organization for queer Black womxn. Miki has performed and participated in panels at landmark venues and festivals in the US and internationally, from Hollywood and D.C. to Mumbai and Cairo. For her contributions to Hip Hop culture, Miki has earned a San Diego Hip Hop Honors Award, a Female Perspective Award, and several San Diego Music Award nominations. For her work within the LGBTQ community, Miki was awarded the 2017 Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Honor. Miki is as dedicated to cause as she is to her craft. Using art as education, she fuses her experience in the worlds of Hip Hop and theatre to explore their impact on race, class, and gender. She facilitates Hip Hop and playwriting workshops for learners of all ages and demographics. Her experience ranges from teaching in classroom settings, performing at social justice events, and serving as a U.S. cultural Hip Hop ambassador for Next Level Egypt (funded by the U.S. State Department). |
Mar 1 Inequity and Inequality in Education
Description:
Everyone has the right to learn. However, this right is not given to every child in the world equally. In this session, we will talk about some of the educational disparities found around the world, their contributing factors, and stories of successful programs that have helped address these disparities. We will also discuss things we can do to help reduce the educational disparities in our home countries.
Everyone has the right to learn. However, this right is not given to every child in the world equally. In this session, we will talk about some of the educational disparities found around the world, their contributing factors, and stories of successful programs that have helped address these disparities. We will also discuss things we can do to help reduce the educational disparities in our home countries.
Speakers and Performers
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Fernando M. Reimers (Speaker)
The Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice of International Education and Director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative and of the International Education Policy Masters Program at Harvard University. Dr. Reimers is an expert in the field of Global Education. His research and teaching focus on understanding how to educate children and youth so they can thrive in the 21st century. He is a member of UNESCO’s high level commission on the Futures of Education. At the moment, he is leading a large comparative study of how 20 universities around the world have partnered with elementary and secondary schools to sustain an educational opportunity during the Pandemic. He has written or edited thirty-seven books, of which the most recent include the following: (1) Education and Climate Change: the Role of Universities, (2) Implementing Deeper Learning and 21st Century Reforms: Building an education Renaissance after a Global Pandemic, (3) Educating Students to Improve the World, (4) Audacious Education Purposes: How governments transform the goals of education systems, (5)Empowering teachers to build a better world: How six nations support teachers for 21st century education, and (6) Leading Education Through COVID-19. |
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Hsieh, Yung-Chuan 謝永泉, or Syaman Macinanao (Performer) An Indigenous Tao singer, songwriter, native language teacher, and cultural practitioner on his home island Pongso no Tao, also known as Lanyu, or Orchid Island, in Taiwan. Syaman Macinanao is a former Catholic missionary and the current leader of Iraraley traditional village council, working on indigenous Tao language revitalization through music and education. To motivate the younger generation to learn their culture and language, he dedicates himself to promoting traditional singing and knowledge with his 40-year fieldwork experiences. Meanwhile, he also composes new songs in the Indigenous Tao language that incorporate diverse musical elements and everyday life stories. His first native language album, "akokey: Hsieh Yung-Chuan's Songs of Iraraley," includes both traditional and his new-composed pieces performed with family members. Through singing, he hopes to increase intergenerational interactions, foster a sense of community, and facilitate indigenous language use in daily life. |
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Chiang, Chiao-Wen 江巧雯 (Moderator and Translator)
Chiao-Wen is a graduate student from Taiwan, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at the Music Department of UHM. Chiao-Wen’s research focuses on the music, culture, environment, and resistance of the Indigenous Tao/Yami ethnic group in Taiwan. |
Mar 8 Leading as a Global Citizen
Description:
One of the important skills for a global citizen is the ability to lead, encourage, and enlighten local citizens effectively to solve local problems. As a former Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Sports, and a former Mongolian Parliament Member, Ms. Oyungerel Tsedevdamba will share her experiences in her latest work “Toilet Revolution”. In this session, we will learn about the project for low-income families to change the toilet from soil polluting outhouses, which is the one of the biggest problems in Mongolia, into the environmentally-friendly, modern dry toilets. We will also hear how performance makers from TeAda Productions, "a nomadic theatre of color," explore issues pertaining to immigrant and displaced communities through an artistic process of "conscious listening, community building, and creative courage."
One of the important skills for a global citizen is the ability to lead, encourage, and enlighten local citizens effectively to solve local problems. As a former Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Sports, and a former Mongolian Parliament Member, Ms. Oyungerel Tsedevdamba will share her experiences in her latest work “Toilet Revolution”. In this session, we will learn about the project for low-income families to change the toilet from soil polluting outhouses, which is the one of the biggest problems in Mongolia, into the environmentally-friendly, modern dry toilets. We will also hear how performance makers from TeAda Productions, "a nomadic theatre of color," explore issues pertaining to immigrant and displaced communities through an artistic process of "conscious listening, community building, and creative courage."
Presenters & Performers
Oyungerel Tsedevdamba (Speaker)
Local Solutions NGO Founder
Oyungerel Tsedevdamba grew up as a herder girl in Communist Mongolia. She received a scholarship to study planning economy in the USSR and, after the fall of communism, she earned a Master’s Degree in Market Economy in Russia. She subsequently received a Master’s Degree from Stanford University where she was a Fulbright Fellow. She is an Eisenhower Fellow and a World Fellow of Yale University. From 2000 to 2004 Oyungerel headed Liberty Center, at that time Mongolia’s most active human rights organization. She later served as Adviser to the Prime Minister of Mongolia and subsequently to the President of Mongolia on human rights and civic participation. During 2010-2016, she served as an elected president of the 90,000 member Democratic Women’s Union. In 2012, she won an election to Mongolia’s Parliament and was appointed as the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. She initiated a nationwide, behavior changing, socio-economic campaign “Let’s Change Our Toilets” in 2017 and leads the campaign to date.
In 2015, Oyungerel was awarded the Chevalier de L'ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture of France for her efforts to end the death penalty in Mongolia and for her work in preserving and protecting Mongolia’s cultural heritage including the much publicized Tyrannosaurus bataar case. Oyungerel is the author of 11 books and co-author of two with Jeffrey. Jeff and Oyuna live in Ulaanbaatar.
Local Solutions NGO Founder
Oyungerel Tsedevdamba grew up as a herder girl in Communist Mongolia. She received a scholarship to study planning economy in the USSR and, after the fall of communism, she earned a Master’s Degree in Market Economy in Russia. She subsequently received a Master’s Degree from Stanford University where she was a Fulbright Fellow. She is an Eisenhower Fellow and a World Fellow of Yale University. From 2000 to 2004 Oyungerel headed Liberty Center, at that time Mongolia’s most active human rights organization. She later served as Adviser to the Prime Minister of Mongolia and subsequently to the President of Mongolia on human rights and civic participation. During 2010-2016, she served as an elected president of the 90,000 member Democratic Women’s Union. In 2012, she won an election to Mongolia’s Parliament and was appointed as the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. She initiated a nationwide, behavior changing, socio-economic campaign “Let’s Change Our Toilets” in 2017 and leads the campaign to date.
In 2015, Oyungerel was awarded the Chevalier de L'ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture of France for her efforts to end the death penalty in Mongolia and for her work in preserving and protecting Mongolia’s cultural heritage including the much publicized Tyrannosaurus bataar case. Oyungerel is the author of 11 books and co-author of two with Jeffrey. Jeff and Oyuna live in Ulaanbaatar.
Ova Saopeng (Performer)
Associate Artistic Director of TeAda Productions, producer, actor, teaching artist, and playwright Ova Saopeng is a refugee from Laos and is passionate about elevating the refugee and immigrant experience on the American stage. His community and ensemble based creations include Masters of the Currents, Refugee Nation, Global Taxi Driver and Native Immigrant. These critically acclaimed plays received numerous development and touring awards including NEFA, MAP, NEA, NPN Creation, and NET funds. Ova has worked with a number of national theatre companies, like The Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis for Dragonwings, the Center Theater Group for Wondrous Tales of Old Japan, and East West Players for Twelf Nite O’Wateva. He has toured colleges and universities nationwide with Asian-American led here and now theater company and Southern California primary schools with children’s theater companies We Tell Stories and Waters Edge Theater. |
Leilani Chan (Performer)
Founding Artistic Director of TeAda Productions and an award-winning performance artist, actor, playwright, director, and cultural worker Leilani Chan is the Founding Artistic Director of TeAda Productions. Chan was awarded the 2019/20 Santa Monica Artist Fellowship and is currently the Co-Chair of the National Asian American Theater Conference & Festival (#HICONFEST CAATA.net) to be held in Hawai’i in May 2022. Born and raised in Honolulu, HI, she has called Los Angeles home since 1993. After working with multiple L.A. theaters of color, she founded TeAda Productions in 1999. Over the last two decades TeAda has supported the development of both solo and ensemble plays by artists of color, many of which have gone on to be presented at other venues throughout LA County and nationally. Leilani Chan's vision for TeAda has always been to support the presentation of stories from people and communities rarely represented on the American stages. She has spearheaded the development of TeAda’s Methodology which is rooted in community-based devised theater ensemble practices and deep community engagement work that establish long lasting relationships with underserved communities. Chan is Co-Creator/Director of TeAda’s current touring show “Masters of the Currents,” a devised ensemble play which tells the stories of Micronesians in the U.S., many of whom are recently arrived Climate refugees. This play premiered at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth for over 3000 students, toured to Maui, Hilo, & had its continental premiere at Brava Theater Center in San Francisco’s Mission District, followed by a tour to Pangea World Theater in MSP. This new work received a NEFA’s National Theater Project and the MAPFUND awards is Chan’s 4th NPN Creation Fund. Her previous projects “Global Taxi Driver,” explored immigration and mobility in the 21st century. Leilani is co-creator, along with her partner Ova Saopeng, of "Refugee Nation," the first nationally touring play about Laotian refugees in the U.S. |
Mar 22 Cultural Identity in the Global World
Description:
In this session, we will explore the relationships between Indigenous, local and global aspects of forming and negotiating one’s individual and communal identity. Writer-director Takeshi Fukunaga will share with us his experiences of making Ainu Mosir (2020), a film set in Hokkaido, Japan. EWC Leadership Program, the Matsunaga Institute for Peace & Conflict Resolution, and Ceeds of Peace will partner to facilitate a session on cross-cultural communication and dialogues. In this highly interactive session, we will learn useful skills to actively engage in challenging conversations.
In this session, we will explore the relationships between Indigenous, local and global aspects of forming and negotiating one’s individual and communal identity. Writer-director Takeshi Fukunaga will share with us his experiences of making Ainu Mosir (2020), a film set in Hokkaido, Japan. EWC Leadership Program, the Matsunaga Institute for Peace & Conflict Resolution, and Ceeds of Peace will partner to facilitate a session on cross-cultural communication and dialogues. In this highly interactive session, we will learn useful skills to actively engage in challenging conversations.
Presenters & Performers
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Takeshi Fukunaga (Filmmaker)
Takeshi Fukunaga is a filmmaker born and raised in Hokkaido, Japan. After living in U.S. for 16 years, he moved his base to Tokyo in 2019. His first feature film, Out of My Hand, premiered in the Panorama section at Berlin International Film Festival in 2015; it won U.S. Fiction Award, the top prize at LA Film Festival and Emerging Filmmaker Award at San Diego Asian American Film Festival. The film was nominated for the John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award and released worldwide through Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY in 2016. Takeshi was selected for Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation Residence and Sam Spiegel International Film Lab to develop his second feature film, Ainu Mosir. The film won Special Jury Mention in the International Narrative Competition at Tribeca Film Festival and Best Film at Guanajuato Film Festival in 2020. It was also nominated for the Outstanding International Motion Picture category at the 2021 NAACP Image Award. Takeshi is currently developing his third feature project, which is selected for a screenwriting residency in Berlin, Nipkow Program. Ainu Mosir (2020) is a coming of age story in which an Ainu boy gradually comes to a realization about what it means to belong to an Indigenous community in Japan and on Hokkaido, finding a balance between centuries-old traditions, the ancestors, and the needs of his contemporary community. Given the challenging conditions of the Indigenous and minority populations in North East Asia (mentioning China’s approach towards the Uyghurs is perhaps enough), the film engages in subtle ways with advances in Japan’s legislation (2019) towards full recognition of Ainu’s Indigenous status and Ainu cultural revival, reflected also in the 2020 unveiling of the first Ainu National Museum in Shiraoi, Hokkaido. |
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Gretchen Alther (Speaker)
Senior Leadership Development Specialist, EWC Leadership Program Gretchen Alther builds programs that strengthen individual and community leadership. She is expanding the East-West Center’s leadership programs for women; directs the Center’s flagship residential course, the Asia Pacific Leadership Program; and contributes to other short- and long-term training both in Hawai‘i and across the region. With over 15 years of experience as an international educator and humanitarian, Ms. Alther infuses her program design with a commitment to equity and to grassroots communities. Previously, Ms. Alther designed and managed multimillion-dollar programs to support disaster relief, conflict zone aid, and resilience in marginalized communities in the US, Myanmar, Pakistan, Nepal, Gaza, Colombia, Haiti and beyond. She has recently worked with the UNFPA Arab States Office to operationalize their resilience framework in Syria and the broader region. Ms. Alther serves on the advisory committee of the Institute for Climate and Peace, and is a founding board member of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security. She earned an M.A. from Brandeis University, postgraduate certificates in leadership and peacebuilding from the East-West Center and Chulalongkorn University, respectively, and a B.A. from Texas A&M University. |
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Scott Nishimoto (Speaker)
Ceeds of Peace Executive Director Scott Nishimoto was born and raised here on the island of O`ahu. He was raised by two incredible storytellers, mentors, and community catalysts – Michiko and Warren, both retired oral historians. The stories they’d bring home to his dinner table about violence, injustice, and inequality inspired him to attend law school to study social justice. There, he became actively involved in community organizing and peace initiatives. After finishing law school, he followed his passion into the non-profit world where he worked with adults with disabilities for nearly 7 years at a local non-profit called Abilities Unlimited. In his role as the Vice President of Workforce Development & Community Relations, he was able to develop several innovative programs designed to help adults with disabilities to gain employment, independence, and dignity. Even more than his qualifications, though, Scott believes it’s his identity as a father that shapes his plans and actions for Ceeds of Peace. As the father to his daughter, Elle, he has a deep personal urgency pushing him to bring his community and the world closer to this goal of peace, as distant as it may sometimes seem. |
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José Barzola (Speaker)
José Barzola has a passion for creating social change through nonviolence, nurturing relationships that transcend cultural barriers, and focusing on issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity. He is a highly organized higher education administrator with almost 20 years of experience and success in administration, student development within academic and student affairs. José has also been an affiliate faculty teaching courses on peace and conflict resolution, a professional mediator and facilitator for almost 10 years both in New York and Hawaii. He is currently the Educational Specialist and Affiliate Faculty at the Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, a Peace Educator with Ceeds of Peace, a Program Advisor for the Institute for Climate and Peace, and a Board of Director for the Conflict Resolution Alliance, a local nonprofit that aims to develop and support peacebuilders in Hawai'i. |
Mar 29 Connecting and Communicating Globally
Description
The technological revolution has profound, world-wide reach, significantly accelerating various processes of globalization. As new technologies continue to enter our lives, we must consider their profound benefits alongside the new, serious threats they pose. Among these are concerns about protecting personal information, sensitive and regulated data. Our guest speaker Dr. Jenifer Sunrise Winter will talk broadly about data governance, including data privacy and security. Our guest artist Michelle Ryan will invite us to explore strengths and vulnerabilities of a different kind. As the Artistic Director of Restless Dance Theatre, she promotes and celebrates diversity, making it possible for young artists with or without disability to come together and "create movement in a safe and fun environment where the participants' ideas become dance."
The technological revolution has profound, world-wide reach, significantly accelerating various processes of globalization. As new technologies continue to enter our lives, we must consider their profound benefits alongside the new, serious threats they pose. Among these are concerns about protecting personal information, sensitive and regulated data. Our guest speaker Dr. Jenifer Sunrise Winter will talk broadly about data governance, including data privacy and security. Our guest artist Michelle Ryan will invite us to explore strengths and vulnerabilities of a different kind. As the Artistic Director of Restless Dance Theatre, she promotes and celebrates diversity, making it possible for young artists with or without disability to come together and "create movement in a safe and fun environment where the participants' ideas become dance."
Speakers and Performers
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Jenifer Sunrise Winter (Speaker)
Professor in the School of Communications and Co-Director of the Pacific Information and Communication Technology for Development Collaborative (PICTDC) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Dr. Winter's research addresses data governance, policy, and ethics related to big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). Dr. Winter is PI of an NSF-funded grant addressing one of the grand challenges of this big data era—how we can harness health data resources for societal good amidst many competing claims on the value to be derived from these data and the substantial risks for individual privacy and security. In related work, Dr. Winter explores the governance of AI and personal health information (PHI), assessing the increasing challenges to governing the PHI essential for advancing AI/machine learning innovations in healthcare. She is Co-Editor of the Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society and Co-Chair of the Research Committee at the Pacific Telecommunications Council. Dr. Winter currently serves as Chair of the interdisciplinary Communication and Information Sciences PhD program. |
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Michelle Ryan (Guest Artist)
Artistic Director of Restless Dance Theatre, Australia Michelle has enjoyed a career in the arts spanning over 25 years. She was part of Meryl Tankard’s Australian Dance Theatre for nearly eight years, followed by engagements in Europe as Tankard’s assistant. A founding member of Splintergroup, she also worked at Dancenorth. Michelle returned to performing in 2011 as a guest artist for Alain Plattel Out of Context for Pina, followed by Take Up Thy Bed and Walk (2012) by Gaelle Mellis. Her Intimacy (2015), a collaboration with Torque Show, won the 2015 Australian Dance Award for Independent Dance; Michelle was awarded the Adelaide Critics Circle Award for her performance. Her next project, Michelle’s Story, directed by Meryl Tankard, won the People’s Choice Award for Best Short Film at the 2015 Adelaide Film Festival and the 2016 Australian Dance Award for Best Film. Michelle Ryan was appointed Artistic Director of Restless Dance Theatre in 2013. She has created four works for the company, In the Balance (2014), Touched (2015), Intimate Space (2017), and Guttered (2021). Intimate Space received a Ruby Award for Arts Innovation and Enterprise and an Adelaide Critics Award for Best Professional Group. Michelle was inducted into the South Australian Woman’s Honour Roll in 2015. She is the recipient of the 2020 Australia Council for the Arts Dance Award. Michelle celebrates diversity in all elements of her work. |
Apr 5 Lessons from wisdom and compassion - spreading happiness and kindness
Description:
Finding Freedom: Mindfulness and Compassion Meditation
As the Spring 2021 Exchange series draws to a close, we turn to matters and practices pertaining to physical and emotional wellbeing. Antonia Sumbundu will offer perspectives drawn from contemporary psychology and traditions of ancient wisdom alike to reflect on how the application of mindfulness and compassion might support us in living a life of more authentic joy, ease of being, and care for oneself and others. We will conclude the session by sharing a meal together and reflecting on the engaging experiences we shared this semester.
Finding Freedom: Mindfulness and Compassion Meditation
As the Spring 2021 Exchange series draws to a close, we turn to matters and practices pertaining to physical and emotional wellbeing. Antonia Sumbundu will offer perspectives drawn from contemporary psychology and traditions of ancient wisdom alike to reflect on how the application of mindfulness and compassion might support us in living a life of more authentic joy, ease of being, and care for oneself and others. We will conclude the session by sharing a meal together and reflecting on the engaging experiences we shared this semester.
Speakers & Performers
Antonio Sumbundu (Speaker)
Tergar Meditation community
“There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path” Buddha
A mother of two, Antonia lives in Denmark and has been involved with Tergar since its inception in 2009, as a leader in Tergar Copenhagen, as a facilitator, and now as an Instructor. She is also a member of the Tergar Board of Directors. She continues to play a key role in the training and mentoring of Tergar group leaders throughout Europe.
Antonia was first inspired to become a meditator after seeing a segment from The Lion’s Roar, a film about the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, but it was in 1988 after attending a talk by the Dalai Lama that she began practicing formally. Antonia’s first Buddhist teacher was the 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. Following his death in 1992, she studied with a variety of teachers, including Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Chokling Rinpoche, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. In 2002, she met Mingyur Rinpoche, and began to receive teachings from him.
She was already a meditator with a keen interest in the clinical application of meditation when she began studying psychology. While chairing the Danish association for Cognitive Based Therapy, Antonia met Dr. Mark Williams, a renowned clinical psychologist and researcher in the field of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and began a long and productive collaboration with him. Antonia was one of the first psychologists to be trained in MBCT, and since then her work has focused on training professionals in MBCT and exploring the unique characteristics of MBCT supervision. She holds a Master’s degree in MBCT from Oxford University, and is an Associate with the Oxford Mindfulness Center.
Tergar Meditation community
“There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path” Buddha
A mother of two, Antonia lives in Denmark and has been involved with Tergar since its inception in 2009, as a leader in Tergar Copenhagen, as a facilitator, and now as an Instructor. She is also a member of the Tergar Board of Directors. She continues to play a key role in the training and mentoring of Tergar group leaders throughout Europe.
Antonia was first inspired to become a meditator after seeing a segment from The Lion’s Roar, a film about the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, but it was in 1988 after attending a talk by the Dalai Lama that she began practicing formally. Antonia’s first Buddhist teacher was the 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. Following his death in 1992, she studied with a variety of teachers, including Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Chokling Rinpoche, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. In 2002, she met Mingyur Rinpoche, and began to receive teachings from him.
She was already a meditator with a keen interest in the clinical application of meditation when she began studying psychology. While chairing the Danish association for Cognitive Based Therapy, Antonia met Dr. Mark Williams, a renowned clinical psychologist and researcher in the field of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and began a long and productive collaboration with him. Antonia was one of the first psychologists to be trained in MBCT, and since then her work has focused on training professionals in MBCT and exploring the unique characteristics of MBCT supervision. She holds a Master’s degree in MBCT from Oxford University, and is an Associate with the Oxford Mindfulness Center.
