We will cover body image, violence, addiction, time, and imagination itself. We want to empower ourselves and our children with tools of analysis and with a sensual and emotional intelligence reinforced by creative action - to real media, to perceive relationship, and to generate images from within. Wisdom and experience go hand in hand. The joy of living artfully is not connected to buying things and consuming images, but to the strength and confidence in one's imaginative action in the world. So much of our culture, especially the school culture, distracts us from the experiences of losses in our lives.
Adolescents often face multiple losses, both developmentally as well as literally.
Many experience the loss of voice, the loss of innocence, the loss of family through divorce or death, the loss of culture, and the loss of friends. This class will explore adolescence and loss through the use of literature and writing, and ways to guide teens in navigting loss. Students will select books and films that are relevant to their interests, and engage in an exploration of loss in their own lives and families. This course will consider these questions as students explore technology and its influence on students and clients, and develop strategies to respond effectively. In this class we will first explore the nature of spiritual and religious experience as a source of meaning for individuals, communities, and cultures.