March 7 - 26, 1999
THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE: Life, Knowledge, and Creativity
taught by Humberto Maturana and Brian Goodwin
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Knowledge is a biological phenomenon. All living beings
- plants, animals and humans - experience the world in their own ways.
Through their internal processes, each organism engages in a creative
relationship with the external world, bringing forth a myriad of different
ways of knowing. The course explores this radical approach to 'knowing' as
an ongoing creative act, identified as the process of living itself. Through
a rigorous conceptual itinerary, in which every concept builds on preceding
ones, until the whole is an indissociable network, the course will be a
journey towards an understanding of the nature of cognition. It will also
examine ways of knowing that are unique to humans, arising from their shared
biological and cultural heritage and language. It is an invitation to
participants to let go of their usual certainties and come into a different
biological insight of what it is to be human and know the process of
knowledge itself.
HUMBERTO MATURANA is a professor of biology at the University of Chile,
specialising in neurobiology and the biology of cognition. He is the
co-author of The Tree of Knowledge.
BRIAN GOODWIN is Emeritus Professor of biology at the Open University, and
is now a resident at Schumacher College developing the MSc in Holistic
Science. Students of the MSc will participate in this course. Brian Goodwin
is also author of "How the Leopard Changed its Spots".
FURTHER DETAILS OF THIS COURSE CAN BE FOUND ON:
http://www.gn.apc.org/schumachercollege/aamatweb/tolmain.htm
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT SCHUMACHER COLLEGE CAN BE FOUND ON:
http://www.gn.apc.org/schumachercollege/
Full course fee: 1350 pounds sterling, which includes tuition, residential
accommodation, food and field trips. If you cannot afford the full fee,
please ask for details of our special bursary and scholarship schemes,
mentioning your nationality and profession/area of study. Some scholarships
are available to people who can best use the knowledge gained on the course
to contribute towards a sustainable future.
Transferable Masters Level Credits are available on this course, for those
wishing to be assessed, awarded by the University of Plymouth.
SCHUMACHER COLLEGE is an international centre for ecological studies which
welcomes course participants from all over the world. The short residential
courses are led by thinkers and writers with an international reputation for
the significance and originality of their work, such as Fritjof Capra,
Stephanie Mills, Thomas Moore, Christine and Ernst von Weizsaecker, David
Orr, Wes Jackson, Wangari Maathai, Amory Lovins, Brian Goodwin, Juliet
Schor, Marion Woodman, Peter Matthiessen and Humberto Maturana. Courses are
attended by people from all over the world, from all ages and backgrounds,
and take place in a supportive learning community designed to live out
ecological values.
FURTHER DETAILS OF THIS AND OTHER COURSES ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST. PLEASE
SEND YOUR FULL NAME, POSTAL ADDRESS AND EMAIL ADDRESS TO:
<schumcoll@gn.apc.org>
CONTACT: The Administrator, Schumacher College, The Old Postern, Dartington,
Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EA, UK; Tel: +44 (0)1803 865934; Fax: +44 (0)1803 866899;
Email: <schumcoll@gn.apc.org>; Web: http://www.gn.apc.org/schumachercollege/
SCHUMACHER COLLEGE IS A DEPARTMENT OF THE DARTINGTON HALL TRUST, A
REGISTERED EDUCATIONAL CHARITY.