An online retreat with Dr. Kerr Mesner
Friday, June 11th, 10am-3pm ET/7am-12pm PT
Sliding scale fee: $175-$125
ACMHE members receive $25 discount (join here), access grants available to cover $50

Registration Has Now Closed

Contemplation shapes our activism… and our activism needs the grounding roots of contemplation. In this daylong retreat, we will combine contemplative and arts-based practices to reflect on our own activist journeys. We will draw on a range of accessible creative practices to explore and share with each other our journeys as contemplative activists. We will practice deep listening—to ourselves, to each other, and to that deeper wellspring from which contemplative practice arises.

Our day will include a combination of large and small group discussions, arts-based contemplative practices, and individual and group experiences. Creative practices may include (but are not limited to) free writing, found poetry, and gentle theater-based work. Participants are encouraged to bring their own arts-based practices to the retreat day as well. No special supplies are required other than items that can be found around the home.

This retreat is geared to people with no creative experience, lots of experience, and everyone in between!

Takeaways: 

This retreat is facilitated responsively to the needs of the participants, and will be experiential, interactive, and participatory. Our day will include:

• Sharing of arts-based contemplative practices in community
• Time for deep listening and sharing of stories in community
• The option to enjoy the lunch break with others in online community 
• The opportunity to share one’s artistic rendering or work in progress with the other retreat participants
• Opportunities to pause, reflect, and recharge for one’s work as a contemplative activist. 

Kerr Mesner, PhD, is a Visiting Assistant Professor and Chair: Women’s, Transgender, and Queer Studies, at Wells College. He is a spiritual director, a queer/transgender theologian, a theatre performer and educator, and an activist. Kerr’s current areas of activism and writing include contemplative practice, anti-oppressive approaches to education, transgender studies, gender and sexual diversity in education, and arts-based education. Kerr brings a background in theology, pastoral ministry, professional musical theatre, and queer activism to these current areas of research.