The poet and scientist Goethe developed a new approach to science involving a way of seeing that weds artistic sensibility with exact thinking and observation. The Nature Institute is inspired by Goethe's approach, and in its weeklong intensive summer courses aims to open up this new way of seeing to course participants.

We often view science as a discipline that deals with the world in cool and distant objectivity, gaining understanding of the world through experiments and instruments that overcome human limitations. Goethe wrote provocatively that the human being is the “best and most exact scientific instrument,” and he believed that science involves human development: “If we want to achieve a living understanding of nature, we must become as flexible and mobile as nature herself.” He saw that we can transform ourselves to ever better fathom the wisdom and depths of the world.

Much today stands in the way of this transformation. We form abstract concepts about the world that we take to be more real than the things themselves. Filled with our own predilections, we don't perceive carefully how the world actually appears and how we are interacting with it. And our experience is increasingly mediated by all sorts of instruments and gadgets, so we lose faith in our senses and in our ability to judge.

To counteract these habits of mind, The Nature Institute's weeklong intensive summer courses emphasize immediate experience and practice. Participants practice observation: observation of natural phenomena, observation of thought processes, and observation of how we form judgments about the world. And this observing always involves doing-getting out into nature and observing and drawing plants; painting elements of a landscape; drawing geometric forms that “track” a progression of thought. By weaving together reflection and observation, taking in and actively creating, science and art, we bring ourselves into inner movement, and transformation begins. Our own process of knowing becomes more transparent and nature shows herself from new sides.

As one participant in the 2003 course stated, “It is such a gentle Aha! experience for me-a peeling away of a veil or film that has covered my eyes for years. It again gives me context and tools for seeing the familiar in a deeper and more penetrating way.”

To read other comments from summer course participants, click here.

The topic of evolution leads into the mysteries of the development of life on earth. It is hard to think of an area of biological inquiry that shows so deeply the interrelatedness of all life forms and that raises such fundamental questions about our own origins. Evolution is also a topic of controversy, one in which scientific and religious worldviews often restrict open-minded inquiry. Perhaps the primary challenge in any consideration of evolution is: how can we learn to think evolutionary processes in a way that does justice to the phenomena themselves?

In this course we will study phenomena that introduce and depict the dynamism and complexity of evolution. It will become clear that any deep understanding of evolution demands an evolution of human consciousness itself. We will therefore also work on honing our capacities to perceive, discern, and think developmental processes. The course will integrate scientific and artistic explorations.

• Morning seminars from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm
• Lunch break from 12:30 pm to 2 pm
• Afternoon activities from 2 pm to 5:30 pm

The course begins on Sunday, June 23, at 7:00 pm and ends on Saturday, June 29, at 1:00 pm

Tuition: $560 (less $30 if you register by May 1)
Tuition includes materials, as well as morning and afternoon snacks.

Please download and complete a registration form by June 1.

We are pleased to be able to offer a limited number of tuition reduction scholarships. To apply for a scholarship, contact us at info@natureinstitute.org or call 518-672-0116.

For course location, meals, and lodging please see below.

How does earth move? How does air rest? What is the sound of water? What language does warmth speak? Using Goethean observation and artistic practice, we will build our awareness of the four elements. The mornings will be spent in nature observations and experiments, led by Henrike Holdrege, and in the afternoons we will explore the elements around us using watercolor, pastel, charcoal and collage, led by Laura Summer. These techniques are both exciting and very forgiving; no experience is necessary. Materials for painting and collage will be provided. Please bring your own sketch book and colored pencils.