Celebrating the Spirit: Towards a Global Ethic
2 Day Conference Program Outline
University of California, Berkeley
June 20 and 21, 1995
We developed the program outline which follows to provide a broad range of opportunities for people to engage with each other about what the possibility of a Global Ethic might mean for them in their own lives. We have based the plenary presentations, and the panel and dialogue topics on the document Towards A Global Ethic: An Initial Declaration, which was developed for the 1993 Parliament of the World's Religions.
The conference format offers several different ways for people to come together, beginning and ending with large group presentations, discussions and celebration, with a series of concurrent sessions focused on specific themes from the Global Ethic document. These concurrent sessions will include:
* A panel where individuals from different faith traditions will describe the teachings of their own tradition, as a prelude to discussion of one aspect of the Global Ethic with the participants in the audience;
* A dialogue session, for people who wish to engage with each other based on their own experience;
* A series of "how-to" workshops, where participants can come and learn from people who have worked in their own communities or organizations to "implement" the behaviors described in the Global Ethic; and
* An on-going discussion of the text of the Initial Declaration itself, with an opportunity to suggest ways in which we might make its language more inclusive and accessible.
In addition to the formal programs, we will offer other opportunities for Networking and Informational Exchange, a Press and Media Room, and a Common Space, where participants can come and express themselves using a variety of creative media and formats.
Celebrating the Spirit is part of the 9 Weeks for the Earth Celebration. It will be preceded by a weekend of religious services focusing on the Global Ethic in congregations throughout the Bay Area and Northern California. It will be followed by other events focused on children and youth, interfaith cooperation and the United Nations 50th Anniversary Celebrations.