Keith Francis

Majored in physics at Cambridge University and was an engineer at Bristol Aircraft before joining the teaching profession. He was on the faculty of the Rudolf Steiner School in Manhattan for 31 years, teaching science, mathematics, English and music, and serving as High School Administrator and Faculty Chair. Since his retirement he has written several novels and a history of atomic science, and has founded and led the Fifteenth Street Singers. His recent essays and lectures can be found at southerncrossreview.org.

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

Along with enjoying the little bit of actor inside each of us, this work can support us in being more expressive and open in daily life and in building presence and confidence to meet the world. First and last the workshop is experiential, in line with Chekhov's remark that in consciousness the actor needs a large body but a small head!

Future workshop: March 4.

Dorothy Emmerson

A professional actress for over 35 years has appeared in regional theaters, at Lincoln Center, off Broadway, and on Broadway with Maureen Stapelton, Jerry Orbach and Dustin Hoffman. She was on the faculty of the Michael Chekhov studio NYC and has taught the Chekhov acting technique in San Francisco, New York City, Berlin, Croatia and Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. She gave a workshop at the Moscow Arts Theater School and also teaches voice using the Michael Chekhov technique as a basis for her approach to singing.

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

During the last period of Rudolf Steiner’s life, he spoke at length and with increasing urgency regarding the task of humanity in relation to the archangel Michael. The battle that the archangel Michael wages against the forces of evil is for the control of intelligence. What is ordinary intelligence? What is the nature of cosmic intelligence and why and how does the archangel Michael administer it in the hearts of human beings here on earth?

Dr James Dyson

Qualified as a physician in 1975 in London and continued his post-graduate training in Anthroposophical medicine. He worked in a number of hospitals in continental Europe and founded Park Atwood Clinic in the U.K. (the first residential Anthroposophical medical facility in the English-speaking world) where he worked for 25 years, five years as Medical Director. During the last 20 years, he has lectured extensively on both sides of the Atlantic, mainly on medically and psychologically related sub-themes. He is currently completing a masters degree in Psychosynthesis psychology and hopes to complete his first book in the near future.

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

We will divide our journey into ten parts (see topics below).
Each Wednesday’s study will be complimented and supported by an evening of clay modeling on the following Thursday.

This year the Vorstand of the Goetheanum has chosen evolution as the unifying theme of the year for the Anthroposophical Society. Our journey through Goethean Science will highlight the thread of evolution through the realms of nature.

5. Embryology
The deepest secrets of evolution can be seen by peering into prenatal life. This is a world of dynamic form metamorphosis in fluid manifestations.

Future lectures:
Feb 24 & 25 - Geology; Mar 17 & 18 - Physics;
Apr 14 & 15 - Astronomy; May 12 & 13 - Meteorology;
Jun 9 & 10 - Anthropology

David Anderson

David’s extensive education includes a Masters Degree in Art, a Waldorf Teaching Certificate from Emerson College, Painting Teacher Certificate from the Wagner School at the Goetheanum, as well as a public school Teaching Certificate. He has taught drawing and Wagner painting all over the world, including Rudolf Steiner School in NYC, and has offered art classes at the NY Branch for 12 years. In keeping with Goethe’s artistic-scientific method, which requires pictorial, sculptural, imaginative way of approaching nature, David’s artistic training has provided him with a tool to practice Goethean Science. Goethe has always approached his scientific studies with an artist’s eye for form. David Anderson has made an ongoing study of the sciences with this method for many years

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

Future meetings - Mar 23.

$5 Donation requested

Future meetings - Mar 24.

Donations welcomed!

Rustem and Dorothy met at a Michael Chekhov acting conference in Moscow. They became fast friends and have since worked together many times.

Rustem Galitch

Graduated from the Moscow Maly Theatre School and taught speech at the Shepkinskoe Uchilishe (the oldest theatrical school in Moscow). He is an actor specializing in the poetry of Pushkin, Lermontov, Mayakovsky, Blok, Esenin, Gumilev, Bunin and Pasternak to name a few. Rustem has performed his one man poetry shows in both New York and Moscow often using live music to accompany his readings.

Dorothy Emmerson

A professional actress for over 35 years has appeared in regional theaters, at Lincoln Center, off Broadway, and on Broadway with Maureen Stapelton, Jerry Orbach and Dustin Hoffman. She was on the faculty of the Michael Chekhov studio NYC and has taught the Chekhov acting technique in San Francisco, New York City, Berlin, Croatia and Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. She gave a workshop at the Moscow Arts Theater School and also teaches voice using the Michael Chekhov technique as a basis for her approach to singing.

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

Join Doug and Joyce as we explore a jewel of a museum that is our near neighbor! We hope to have a guide from the Rubin to help us with this exploration. Gather in the front lobby at 2 pm and we will repair to the beautiful cafe afterward for stimulating conversation!

The Rubin Museum is located at 150 West 17 St - at the SE corner of Seventh AVE. The museum fee is $10 dollars, with a discounted rate of $7 for seniors, students and artists.

Joyce Reilly

Joyce is a long time member of the NY Branch. Involved in Curative and Waldorf Education for thirty years, she founded Gheel House in 1984, a therapeutic community for people with special mental and emotional challenges in Kimberton, PA.

Doug Safranek

A professional artist whose work is in numerous public and private collections around the country including The NY Historical Society, The Museum of the City of NY, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is represented by the ACA Galleries, NYC. Doug is also a bagpipe teacher and performer. He is an active member of the NY Branch.

Beginners welcome. Bring soft-soled shoes.
Future Workshops – Mar 15, Apr 12

Linda Larson

A eurythmist who facilitates workshops and seminars in various settings, including Waldorf schools and Anthroposophical Society groups. She is the therapeutic eurythmist at the Rudolf Steiner School in NYC, is on the National Council of the Eurythmy Association of North America and has diplomas in eurythmy from the Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland and the London School of Therapeutic Eurythmy. She holds an MFA. from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

Future meetings - Mar 29

Donations welcomed!

We will divide our journey into ten parts (see topics below).
Each Wednesday’s study will be complimented and supported by an evening of clay modeling on the following Thursday.

This year the Vorstand of the Goetheanum has chosen evolution as the unifying theme of the year for the Anthroposophical Society. Our journey through Goethean Science will highlight the thread of evolution through the realms of nature.

6. Geology
The earth was not always in the dead hardened state that we observe today. It was formerly in a more expanded embryonic fluid condition before individual beings were separated out onto the hardened surface of the globe. We will trace the history of the earth back to its living state.

Future lectures:
Mar 17 & 18 - Physics;
Apr 14 & 15 - Astronomy; May 12 & 13 - Meteorology;
Jun 9 & 10 - Anthropology

David Anderson

David’s extensive education includes a Masters Degree in Art, a Waldorf Teaching Certificate from Emerson College, Painting Teacher Certificate from the Wagner School at the Goetheanum, as well as a public school Teaching Certificate. He has taught drawing and Wagner painting all over the world, including Rudolf Steiner School in NYC, and has offered art classes at the NY Branch for 12 years. In keeping with Goethe’s artistic-scientific method, which requires pictorial, sculptural, imaginative way of approaching nature, David’s artistic training has provided him with a tool to practice Goethean Science. Goethe has always approached his scientific studies with an artist’s eye for form. David Anderson has made an ongoing study of the sciences with this method for many years

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

Future meetings - tbd.

Free, donations welcomed!

Along with enjoying the little bit of actor inside each of us, this work can support us in being more expressive and open in daily life and in building presence and confidence to meet the world. First and last the workshop is experiential, in line with Chekhov's remark that in consciousness the actor needs a large body but a small head!

Future workshop: tbd.

Dorothy Emmerson

A professional actress for over 35 years has appeared in regional theaters, at Lincoln Center, off Broadway, and on Broadway with Maureen Stapelton, Jerry Orbach and Dustin Hoffman. She was on the faculty of the Michael Chekhov studio NYC and has taught the Chekhov acting technique in San Francisco, New York City, Berlin, Croatia and Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. She gave a workshop at the Moscow Arts Theater School and also teaches voice using the Michael Chekhov technique as a basis for her approach to singing.

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

In this celebratory symposium, Theosophical historian Michael Gomes will speak about the local spiritual milieu of 1910 into which anthroposophy arrived. Open Center co-founder Ralph White will portray the burgeoning growth of anthroposophy and other spiritual paths and movements in NYC during and through the 25-year life of the Open Center. Alliance for Childhood founder Joan Almon will discuss the wide impact of Waldorf Education, anthroposophy’s most visible daughter movement.

In the afternoon, author Gary Lamb will describe contemporary economic and social innovations within and outside of anthroposophy. Conflict transformation leader Olivia Stokes Dreier will discuss the power of authentic witnessing in war- and genocide-torn communities across the globe. Finally, symposium moderator and writer Walter Alexander will examine the struggle of anthroposophy and other movements to integrate the reality of human spirituality into thinking and practice in everyday life and socially significant initiatives.

Michael Gomes

Michael Gomes, one of the world’s experts on H. P. Blavatsky, has edited a number of her writings, including an abridgement of The Secret Doctrine to be published later this year. He is director of the Emily Sellon Memorial Library in New York.

Ralph White
Evolving Consciousness: Three Decades of Exploration
The last thirty years have been an extraordinary time of growth in the movement towards a more holistic consciousness in America and worldwide. A vast array of ideas and practices have moved from the periphery towards the mainstream of contemporary life, and the New York Open Center has been a central participant in this spiritual and cultural phenomenon. Open Center co-founder Ralph White will reflect on this shift of consciousness and consider the special role of Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy within it.

Ralph White

Ralph White is co-founder of the New York Open Center and lectures frequently on the wisdom streams of Western spirituality. He introduced and edited The Rosicrucian Enlightenment Revisited, and has organized for the last 13 years a series of international conferences on the Western Esoteric Tradition.

Joan Almon
Waldorf Education: Cultivating a Creative Childhood and Humanity for a New Century
What life are we educating children for--a narrowly constructed one that can be compressed into multiple choice questions, or one filled with the resilience and creative intelligence needed to face ever shifting situations, the responsibilities of democracy and global challenges? For Waldorf education, which supports the individual child’s unfolding, the answer is the latter.

Joan Almon

Director of the Alliance for Childhood, an advocacy organization committed to recapturing childhood for all children. She was a Waldorf preschool and kindergarten teacher in Maryland for 18 years and has consulted with Waldorf schools around the world. Joan also served as chairperson of the Council of the Anthroposophical Society in America.

Gary Lamb

Director of the Center for Social and Environmental Responsibility at Hawthorne Valley and the Vice President of the Institute for Social Renewal. He has written two books on Waldorf education, "The Social Mission of Waldorf Education" and "Wellsprings of the Spirit" (both AWSNA Publications), and is now working on a third due for publication in 2010, "Economics as an Expression of Soul and Spirit: The Social Legacy of Rudolf Steiner."

Olivia Stokes Dreier
Bearing Witness: Discovering the Universal Human in the Aftermath of War
In our age, each human being is capable of every possible evil, said Rudolf Steiner. And truly, in the last century, genocidal acts of unspeakable violence have been committed by ordinary people. In response, remarkable initiatives toward reconciliation and forgiveness have emerged. Olivia Stokes Dreier, who has worked in war-torn communities in Africa, South Asia, the Balkans, the Caucuses, and the Middle East, will explore how bearing witness and entering into authentic dialogue open possibilities for social renewal.

Olivia Stokes Dreier

Associate Director of Karuna Center for Peacebuilding and Director of the Graduate Certificate Program in Conflict Transformation Across Cultures at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont. She has led programs in peacebuilding, inter-communal dialogue, and reconciliation in many countries recovering from mass violence in Africa, South Asia, the Balkans, the Caucuses, and the Middle East. She worked for two years with the Gandhian movement in India and for 20 years as a psychotherapist. She helped start the Hartsbrook Waldorf School and is a longtime student of Anthroposophy.

Walter Alexander
Knowing, Experience & Consciousness: Bringing the Orphans Home
Proof of the profound impact of human awareness on the material world arrived forcibly and mostly unwelcome with developments in quantum physics in the late 1920s. Eighty years later, the strength of placebo effects in medicine, Hawthorne effects in human interactions, and the reality of “psychic abilities” still remain troubling to conventional thinking. Drawing on interviews with “alternative” physicians, psychic researchers, social practitioners and philosophers, Walter Alexander, medical writer and Lilipoh editor, will explore worldviews dissolving the gulf between the material world and our knowing of it and being in it.

Walter Alexander

Medical writer, Lilipoh writer and contributing editor, and a former public and Waldorf school teacher, he has long been active at Anthroposophy NYC.

Kevin Dann, Ph.D

Has taught American and world history at the University of Vermont, Rutgers University, and the State University of New York. His books include Across the Great Border Fault: The Naturalist Myth in America and Bright Colors Falsely Seen: Synaesthesia and the Search for Transcendental Knowledge.

Albert Spekman

Currently leads the St. Mark Group, and is a co-lead of the Speakers group. He is a long-time member of the Anthroposophical Society and of Anthroposophy NYC where for several years he served on the Council.

Joyce Monges

A member of the St. Mark Group, and a long-time member of the Anthroposophical Society.

• the founding of pragmatism as the characteristic American way of thinking, and, concerning anthroposophy, the founding of the first anthroposophical study group in New York, 1910;
• the founding of the Anthroposophical Society in Dornach, 1913;
• the refounding of the Anthroposophical Society, 1923;
• the death of Rudolf Steiner, 1925.

The second part will discuss the current spiritual state of anthroposophy in America.

The concluding section will discuss prospects for the future from the perspective of America (and anthroposophy) with respect to religion and spirituality, individuality and the universal human, and the Earth.

Robert McDermott

President emeritus and professor of philosophy and religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He has written extensively on Indian and western philosophy and religion. His publications include The Essential Aurobindo, The Essential Steiner, The Bhagavad Gita and the West, and The New Essential Steiner. He is currently writing Unique Not Alone: Steiner and Others. He served as president of the New York Center for Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner Institute, and chair of the board of Sunbridge College and Rudolf Steiner College. He also served on the council of the Anthroposophical Society of America. He is the founding chair of the board of Sophia Project, two homes in Oakland, CA, for mothers and children at risk of homelessness.

2010 SteinerBooks Spiritual Research Seminar:
Rudolf Steiner’s Fifth Gospel and the Inner Meaning of the Christian Mystery

Details and registration linked here.

PETER SELG is director of the Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Research into Anthroposophy in Switzerland and professor of medicine at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences in Germany. He lectures extensively and is the author of numerous books, including his recent Rudolf Steiner as a Spiritual Teacher: From Recollections of Those Who Knew Him.

CHRISTOPHER BAMFORD is Editor in Chief of SteinerBooks /Lindisfarne Books. He has lectured and written widely on Western esoteric traditions.

RACHEL ROSS is an educator, eurythmist, consultant, and author. She has a practice in therapeutic eurythmy and remedial movement therapy. She is codirector of the Waldorf Resource/Remedial Teacher Training Program.

KWAN-YUK CLAIRE SIT holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the City University of New York and is Professor Emerita at La Guardia Community College. She is author of The Lord’s Prayer: An Eastern Perspective.

ROSS RENTEA, M.D. has been a family physician practicing anthroposophic medicine for nearly three decades. He is a cofounder of the True Botanica Company for the manufacture of anthroposophic supplements and remedies.

MICHAEL GRUBER is an existential analyst in private practice in New York City. He is author of An Unknown Destiny: Terror, Psychotherapy, and Modern Initiation: Readings in Nietzsche, Heidegger, Steiner.

Beginners welcome. Bring soft-soled shoes.
Future Workshops – Apr 12

Linda Larson

A eurythmist who facilitates workshops and seminars in various settings, including Waldorf schools and Anthroposophical Society groups. She is the therapeutic eurythmist at the Rudolf Steiner School in NYC, is on the National Council of the Eurythmy Association of North America and has diplomas in eurythmy from the Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland and the London School of Therapeutic Eurythmy. She holds an MFA. from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers

Future meetings - tbd.

Donations welcomed!

Part 3
Fri May 21
FROM THE TELEPHONE TO THE INTERNET: Automatizing Human Will

Eugene Schwartz

In 1989, Eugene Schwartz’s graduating eighth graders at the Green Meadow Waldorf School gave him the gift of a computer with the words, “Welcome to the 20th Century, Mr. Schwartz!” For the past twenty years Eugene has set himself the task of understanding the ramifications of computer use for the spiritual life of humanity. www.millennialchild.com

$20/$15 Non-Members, $15/$10 NY Branch Members;
or 1 frequency discount ticket; lower fee for seniors (65+), full-time students & active Waldorf teachers