• Earth on Fire: Brewing Plagues and Climate Chaos in Our Backyards with Evaggelos Vallianatos

    In Earth on Fire: Brewing Plagues and Climate Chaos in Our Backyards, scholar and author Evaggelos Vallianatos makes the case that industrial animal agriculture lies at the heart of two of the most urgent crises of our time: pandemic disease and climate chaos. In this session of Process Explorations, Evaggelos will present the ideas from his latest work, drawing on the agricultural traditions of ancient Greece and China's ecological civilization debates to trace a through-line from humanity's earliest relationships with land and animals to the conditions that gave rise to COVID-19 and the broader era of global industrial farming dependent on pesticides, petroleum, and heavy machinery.

    Free
  • The Path of Light: The Universal Message of the Karkariyya Sufi Order with Zaineb Baddouri

    In this presentation, Zaineb Baddouri will engage in an exploratory discussion of the Karkariyya Order and the central message of its living teacher, Shaykh Al-Karkari. The Shaykh emphasizes the processual, direct witnessing of the Divine Presence as Light as mode and method of the student's journey toward self-knowledge, ethical formation, and transcendence of consciousness. Through daily meditative practice, sincere action, and 7 foundational techniques, students of the Karkariya embark on an inner and outer journey of transformation and purification.

    Free
  • Fines, Fees, and Futures: The Shadow System of Court Debt with Alejandra Davila

    In this presentation, Alejandra Davila will explore court debt as a living system that perpetuates itself through interconnected cycles of punishment and profit. The presentation will be structured in three parts: Context, Cycles, and Campaigns. Alejandra will briefly trace the history of fines and fees, unpack how court debt sustains and deepens itself across communities, and explore the organizations campaigning to end fees and right-size fines. The session will close with a conversation on the shifts—cultural, political, and relational—that could make a justice system genuinely just.

    Free
  • Process Explorations Summer Finale: Wisdom for Building Alternative Futures

    This session marks the finale of a six-month series in Process Explorations – “Building Alternative Futures.” The theme echoes the 2015 conference sponsored by John B. Cobb, Jr., "Seizing an Alternative: Toward an Ecological Civilization." It also underscores the urgency of the present moment in global history, seeking to analyze the present, imagine the potential futures before us, and build toward those futures. As we conclude the series, we celebrate the finale with wisdom from our process mentors and friends, poetry, music, art, and conversation.

  • Little By Little: Exploring Justice, Ecology, and Spirituality with Music | Patrick Ioakimedes

    In this SPARKS Exchange, Patrick Ioakimedes will share music videos of his original songs Little By Little and Tales of PSi as well as a live performance. In his presentation, he will explore themes such as justice, ecology, sustainability, and spirituality as expressed in his music. For the experiential portion of this session, attendees will co-create a participatory protest chant to explore the intersection of music and activism.

  • The Future of Meaning Conference: The Philosophical Renewal of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness

    The Future of Meaning Conference is being held in Savannah's beautiful historic district, May 19–22, 2027. Under the theme "The Philosophical Renewal of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness," this unique gathering brings together leading voices in philosophy, theology, and culture for four days of presentations, dialogue, fellowship, contemplation, and music.