“The question is not what you look at, but how you look and whether you see.”
— HENRY DAVID THOREAU
What’s the Latest?
“Out of the Work of The Nature Institute”
Wednesday Evening Lecture and Workshop Series
"Listening Versus Seeing"
An Interactive Workshop with Henrike Holdrege
Wednesday, March 19, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
We can think of our senses as “gates” through which the world can speak to us. In “seeing” the world, we relate differently to the world than in “listening.” During the evening we will explore some of the characteristics and qualities of “seeing” and “listening” to the world.
"Listening Versus Seeing" is the second offering of Out of the Work of The Nature Institute. This series of evening talks and workshops is free and open to the public, no registration necessary. Donations are welcome. Out of the Work of The Nature Institute runs every other Wednesday, March 5 - May 14.
For more information on upcoming evenings visit our events page, here.
The fall 2024 issue (#52) of our biannual publication, In Context, is available in print and online. New writings include a feature by Craig Holdrege on the implications of factor-based thinking in science. An article from our archives, by Martin Wagenschein, makes the case for learning a subject through an exemplary study rather than by a broad survey. You’ll also find a photo collage of activities with our summer Foundation Course participants in our News section, and a report on collaborative Goethean practice by Ryan Shea.
If you were not able to join us in November at the institute for Jon McAlice’s talk, “Celebrating Trees,” we are pleased now to be able to make the audio version available on our podcast, In Dialogue With Nature. In the talk, Jon shares an appreciation for how trees are in the world and how we might gain a sense of kinship with them.
With deciduous trees now in their winter dormancy (here in the northern hemisphere), it’s an ideal time to view their leafless crowns, branches, and trunks — forms which also speak to us. As described in Craig’s archived article from In Context #14, “The Forming Tree,” each tree’s shape and size is not predetermined but rather expresses its individual history in place and time. As a companion to Jon’s talk and your own arboreal observations, we recommend this illuminating reading.
~Featured~
The Trouble With “Factors”
In the biological sciences many concepts are used habitually without careful reflection on the biases they inherently carry with them. One such concept is that of “factors.” In this article by Craig Holdrege, he considers “factors” as related to plant development and growth, with a focus on roots. What picture of organisms arises when we have analyzed their activities and relations into myriad factors? This consideration grew out of our staff’s ongoing research project on “Intelligence in Nature,” and Craig discusses the implications of the factor-based thinking that colors current conceptions of plant intelligence. . . Read more
News From The Institute
Read here about recent staff activities at the institute as well as abroad. You can find field notes from our Foundation Course 2024 summer intensive and more, including a Fall Colors art/observation workshop; talks introducing Goethean Phenomenology to students and professional philosophers; and workshops for bringing Goethean practice into the classroom.
Goethean Authors at Our Online Bookstore
Our online Bookstore offers titles from our faculty and other Goethean authors whose work we value. We encourage you to browse or contact us with any questions.
And More From Colleagues in the Field
In addition to publishing our staff’s work relating to Goethean Science and Phenomenology on this site, we also periodically showcase the work of others in the field. A new such addition to our Writings By Author section is the work of Mark Riegner PhD, who taught Ecology and Evolution for 35 years at Prescott College in Arizona, and has authored four insightful articles that you can link to from here.
About the work of The Nature Institute — In a rare interview, recorded in Brazil, Henrike and Craig Holdrege speak of their transformative work and the Goethean perspective that has long inspired it. This Q & A followed a two-week course, “Seeing Nature Whole,” that the Holdrege’s have frequently taught each December in Florianópolis.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Out of the Work of The Nature Institute
A series with Henrike Holdrege and Jon McAlice
Alternate Wednesdays, March 5 through May 14, 7:00 pm
Mathematics Alive! : Shadow, Ratio, Perspective and Projection
A workshop with Marisha Plotnik and Henrike Holdrege
March 21 -23, 2025 Friday 6:00-7:30, Saturday 9-5:00, Sunday 9-noon
Earth Day Celebration
A talk by Craig Holdrege
Tuesday, April 22, 7:00 pm
From a Reader…
Dear Craig,
Once again I’m introducing papers from The Nature Institute website, this time for a HS botany course, and I’m just so grateful for your work (and Steve’s) and that a resource like yours exists. …I appreciate so much those who approach science thoughtfully, with open minds and hearts. It has lit a fire in several students over the years, and helped to humanize even those who are not especially otherwise interested in science.
- Executive Director, Waldorf High School