Sarah Helena Williams

As an alternative, public, liberal arts college, Evergreen has a history of presenting academic programs according to values and principles that today, would, come under the rubric of contemplative education. By inviting colleagues to convivial, enlivening seminars and retreats, this project reinvigorates this aspect of the college’s curriculim. Ivan Illich’s work on "ascetical education"--his desire to "reclaim for ascetical theory, method, and discipline a status equal to that the University now assigns to critical and technical disciplines" complements an interest in the cultivation of spirit or the love of knowing as being (Sophia)that lies dormant in the shadow of secularism.