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August 17 to 24, 2019
LOVE & JUSTICE
Our theme speaker, Cathy O'Neil, will challenge us to think about one of the great impediments to social justice: shame. She will help us understand and explore how shaming serves to justify and perpetuate inequality in our society. In fact, she will illuminate how shame is built into the very algorithms that regulate access to medical, financial and social support. Can we use love and empathy to reduce societal shame and promote equality and justice? How might our own shame keep us from acting on behalf of others? What better time to deepen our commitment to love and justice than our week together at LOAS II? We look forward to exploring these topics with you!
Theme Speaker: Cathy
O'Neil Cathy will engage our conference theme of love and justice through the lens of shame: Cathy will break down shame as a social mechanism: who uses it, and to what end? when is it an appropriate civil rights tool, and when is it a form of oppression? Who profits or gains power from mass shaming campaigns, and how does social media weaponize shame? What will the long-term effects be? Closer to home, how do we learn to recognize how we participate in shaming ourselves and others? Cathy O’Neil earned a Ph.D. in math from Harvard, was a postdoc at the MIT math department, and a professor at Barnard College where she published a number of research papers in arithmetic algebraic geometry. She then switched over to the private sector, working as a quant for the hedge fund D.E. Shaw in the middle of the credit crisis, and then for RiskMetrics, a risk software company that assesses risk for the holdings of hedge funds and banks. She left finance in 2011 and started working as a data scientist in the New York start-up scene, building models that predicted people’s purchases and clicks. She wrote Doing Data Science in 2013 and launched the Lede Program in Data Journalism at Columbia in 2014. She is a regular contributor to Bloomberg View and wrote the book Weapons of Math Destruction: how big data increases inequality and threatens democracy. She recently founded ORCAA, an algorithmic auditing company.
She also plays fiddle and sings in a bluegrass band called the Tomtown Ramblers (https://www.facebook.com/tomtownramblers/) Minister Of The
Week: Rev.
Eva Cameron In addition to her service as a minister, Eva has also served as a Regional Transitions Coach and has provided services for cancer survivors. She has organized a Peacekeepers Corps, chaired the Cedar Valley Interfaith Council and taught Ministerial Formation as an adjunct professor. Eva has organized retreats, been a member of the Blackhawk Evangelical Association, has been a Girl Scouts Cluster Leader and has spoken before the Parliament of World Religions. Eva has a relationship with the UU community in the Kashi Hills of India and has spent time there recently. There is much more to Eva’s resume, and it will be exciting to hear about her adventures as we get to know her. Eva’s family roots are here in New England, especially in New Hampshire, although she has lived in other parts of the country and grew up in a multi-cultural environment in Chicago. She is single and has grown children as well as a loving Doberman named Sophie. She loves the outdoors, especially fishing, canoeing and hiking. She is open, warm and joyous. Eva believes in a ministry that is collaborative and creative and is built on loving relationships. She draws on the wisdom of all faith traditions and loves to sing.
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As we gather with people we cherish in a place that is
our spirit's home, we will consider the relationship between love and
justice. As author and meditation teacher Sharon Salzburg reminds
us, love is at the root of a radical re-imagining of human relationships
in the world. This week will be full of opportunities to connect
with one another through music, fellowship and games. We will share
conversation and contemplation so we can return to our daily lives
feeling inspired and empowered to make the changes we envision and help
bend the arc of history toward justice. 
