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What does it mean to be alive and to be human right now? To what should we devote our lives? 
The world is on fire. War, faltering growth, huge investments in artificial intelligence, increasing political polarization, accelerating inequality and a global move towards populist authoritarianism are undermining economies and political systems across the planet. Meanwhile ecosystems are collapsing and global temperatures continue to increase, driving floods, droughts and fires, and threatening to make a significant fraction of the earth’s surface uninhabitable. 
How did we get here? How can we bear the feelings of grief, rage and powerlessness that opening ourselves up to what is happening often entail? Are we looking at collapse, or could this moment be laying the foundation for opening towards something new? 
I do not, of course, know the answer to these questions, but this class is for you if you’re looking for a highly interdisciplinary, collective conversation about them, pulling together students from across the university and leading-edge practitioners from a wide variety of fields. My experience has been that you are likely to learn at least as much from the other students in the room as from me.
Drawing on a mix of readings, experiential practices and class visits from leading edge practitioners we will explore the idea that a loss of connection – to ourselves, to each other, and to the natural world – is at the root of our current crisis - and that doing the inner work necessary to address this disconnection could not only support us as individuals and communities but might also play a central role in driving broader transformative systemic change. 
Throughout the class we will explore what all this might mean for you – for the way you experience yourself, for how you frame the meaning and purpose of your life, and for how you decide to engage with the world. My hope is that you will leave the class with a supportive personal practice, a much richer sense for the levers that might drive transformative systemic change and some ideas as to what you might do with your own life.
 

Class Structure

In addition to standard class discussion, most classes will also include some kind of experiential practice and many will include guests: people who are actively trying to integrate operating from a different way of being with concrete action on the ground. 

Participants will be asked to write a short reflection paper every other week, attend a weekly 90-minute section and participate in a (small) group project which will be presented in the last class.

Admission is by application only, and applications are available from Fed Chavez, (Fchavez@hbs.edu).  Applications are being accepted until January 25.

If you are interested in learning more, please request a copy of the syllabus from Fed Chavez at fchavez@hbs.edu. This course is open to Graduate Students only. We encourage cross-registrants from Harvard schools to apply. 

Also offered by the Divinity School as HDS 3307 and the Business School as HBS 1553.