August 15 to 22, 2015
Your
Chairs for LOAS 1, 2015 are Rebecca
Armstrong and Dawn Reed
Archived: Feb 2017
"Small
Star, Big Universe"
 This
week we will explore the many ways — political, social, artistic,
spiritual — that we interact with each other and our world. There will
be continuing morning and afternoon workshops as well as one-shot
‘Starbursts,’ athletic and musical activities, and ample time for
hanging out in the rocking chairs on the best porch in New England. We
will soothe, uplift, entertain, and replenish ourselves and each other
as we share a week on this beautiful island. Come join us!
Theme
Speaker: Dorian
Warren
"The
American Dream in the 21st Century"
Dorian
Warren will address where the notion of the American dream came from,
how people have experienced it, and why it so defines us; challenges to
the American dream over the last 40 years (rising inequality, lower
social mobility, continuing patterns of discrimination, and lack of full
inclusion in our democracy); potentially disruptive demographic,
technological, and environmental changes on the horizon; and the
possibility of a reimagined American dream for the 21st Century.
Dorian
T. Warren
is an Associate Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs and
the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University.
He is also Co-Director of the Columbia University Program on Labor Law &
Policy, a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, and an MSNBC Contributor.
Warren
specializes in the study of inequality and American politics. His research and
teaching interests include labor organizing, politics & policy, race and
ethnic politics, African-American politics, urban politics and policy, American
political development, community organizing, social movements, and social
science methodology.
As
a commentator on public affairs, Warren has appeared regularly on television and
radio, and currently hosts his own show entitled Nerding
Out
on MSNBC's
online platform, Shift.
He is the author of the forthcoming The Three Faces of Unions: Inclusion
& Democracy in the U.S. Labor Movement (Oxford University Press), and
(with Virginia Parks) Boxing
Out: Walmart & the Politics of Labor Market Regulation from Below
(Russell Sage Foundation Press).
Minister of the Week:
Rev. Ana Levy-Lyons
The
Rev. Ana Levy-Lyons is Senior Minister at First Unitarian in Brooklyn,
NY. She brings to her ministry a passion for social and environmental
justice and a belief in the power of liberal religion to transform our
world. She also brings a love of creative, embodied, music-centered
worship from her previous life as a musician.
Ana grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. After receiving a B.A. in
Music from Brown University, she started a web design business and worked in
online advertising, while also pursuing a career writing and performing music,
winning the International SIBL Songwriting Competition for her song “Hunger”
and receiving a rave review in Billboard magazine.
Ana went on to receive an M.Div. from the University of
Chicago Divinity School. Prior to First U in Brooklyn, she served as Acting
Associate Minister at the Unitarian Church of All Souls in Manhattan, and before
that as Minister for two Chicago UU congregations, in Beverly and Park Forest,
Illinois. She has won numerous awards for her sermons; her sermons and articles
have been published in UU World, Criterion, and Tikkun Magazine, where she
is a contributing editor.
Ana lives in Manhattan with her husband Jeff, four-year-old
twins Miriam and Micah (who love to sing and play the drums), and a big, dumb
dog named Yofi.
Registrar: Patti
Emmons
Group Youth Leaders
GROUP |
LEADERS |
AGES/GRDS |
LOCATIONS |
Malaga |
Tanya
Kensley, Sam Francis, and Ann Ford |
Ages 0 to 3 |
Louisa's Barn |
Lunging |
Anne McPherson
& Ellen Emers |
Age 4 to Grade 2 |
Kiddie Barn |
Cedar |
Fred Mills and Henry Kaempf |
Grades 3 & 4 |
Lawrence |
Duck |
Scotty
Bohnen & Lize Lange |
Grades 5 & 6 |
Parker |
Smuttynose |
Toby
Dills & Christine Monty |
Grades 7 & 8 |
Brookfield |
Appledore |
Andrew
Kensley & Ken Keech |
Grades 9 to 12 |
Marshman |
Workshops and Starbursts:
WORKSHOPS
Week long classes offered daily |
Fermata
Nowhere:
A Capella with Shoal
with Graham and Kristina Fuller
This is a reprise of last year’s a
capella workshop! In 2014, the "singing flash mob"
learned songs such as "Home" and "Happy" and
shared their work with the other LOAS 1 island-goers with song
breakouts on the front porch, among other locations.
This year's workshop will continue
to strive to foster creativity, joy, and community through a capella
music. Since the music is performed without instruments,
participants only need to bring their voices. Singers of all
ability-levels are welcomed!
Kristina and Graham Fuller are from
Longmont, Colorado, where they both enjoy participating in music in
many different formats.
|
Achieving
Peace and Economic Justice in a Challenging World
with Tom Kennedy
Our focus in the just society
workshop will be on understanding and discussing the key economic
and social drivers creating an increasingly unequal distribution of
wealth around the world and what we can and should do to restore the
American Dream. Our
sources will include summaries of Thomas Picketty’s recent master
work on Capital in the 21st Century, Robert Putnam’s
analysis of the state of the American Dream in Our Kids and shorter
materials as well. We will also evaluate top 10 lists on various fun
topics. Brave
enthusiasts can share our conclusions with the conference through
tastefully worn stickers.
Relevant
summaries of the written materials to be discussed will be available
before the LOAS I conference to anyone who requests them from tkennedy@kjmlabor.com.
|
Exploring our Differences
with David Whitford
During year's book club on island
time we'll consider questions of
race, class, gender, religion and age, inspired by the the promise
of this years's conference to "explore the many ways that we
interact with each other and the world."
Each day we'll read and discuss one
or maybe two notable examples of magazine journalism. We'll
talk about the pieces themselves and the journalists who wrote them,
and we'll examine questions of craft, execution and meaning. There
will be daily, manageable assignments designed for the reading
habits of porch-rockers and rock-sitters. Participants are
under no obligation to commit to perfect attendance but instead
should feel free to peruse the assignments and join us for the
topics that interest them.
Hard
copies of all the assignments will be provided but those who have
bring e-readers are encouraged to bring them. Once the reading list
is ready, advance copies of the texts in digital form can be
obtained by emailing davidwhitford@gmail.com,
Subject: LOAS 2015 reading list
|
Basic
Yoga
Cynthia
Eisemann
Using
a vinyasa -- sun salutation -- format, we will explore all the poses
that echo the heavens and sky. Beginning each session with
breathing, balancing and grounding moments, we will warm up, taking
into consideration all the levels of practice of those in the room. Surya
Namaskars -- sun salutations -- will get us moving, and there will
be occasional challenge poses to allow us to laugh at ourselves. We
will also incorporate some partner/group exercises to bring us
closer together. Rounding off the practice will be Savasana, corpse
pose and a meditation to take you through the day. Namaste
|
Assemble Yourself
with Hally McGehean and Quinn
Kostman
In the spring of 1912
Pablo Picasso affixed an Italian postage stamp onto his own
depiction of a letter. That moment is the storied genesis of
collage. The word collage comes from the french coller
meaning to glue and is generally art that co-opts
pre-existing materials on a two-dimensional surface. When found
objects are repurposed in three-dimensional work it is known as assemblage.
“Assemble Yourself”
will explore the art of three dimensional collage using the
techniques of twentieth and twenty-first century artists like
Picasso, Dustin Yellin, Yang Yongliang, Rodrigo Torres, and Geoffrey
Farmer. The workshop will encourage experimentation and refinement
with the goal of finding the conceit in the story that is told when
the process and the material come together.
We
will also facilitate conference-wide participation in an assemblage
in the lobby.
|
Symphony for the Non-Musician
with Tim "Love" Lee
If
you can listen, you can compose and perform your own symphony! Over
the week we will listen to music for inspiration, create musical
instruments, compose a symphony for them, and the perform the
finished piece for everyone. No musical knowledge or skills needed
at all, just a pair of ears, and an open mind. (Of course, musicians
are welcome, too!)
|
S T AR B U R S T S
Single, 45 Minute Mini-Workshops to fill in your days
|
Stenciling
with June House -one
time event
Here’s
your chance to make your own Star Island original! Stenciling is
fast and fun. You bring the stuff you want to stencil -- any kind of
cotton clothing you wish, tote bags, socks, pieces of driftwood….
I will bring original stencils, paints, and applicators. You will
leave this workshop with one or more original creations celebrating
Star Island. … Something you will wear/use year after year when
you return. I love my tote bag, stenciled many years ago. (photo
attached) This old bag is more dear to me than any Gucci or Prada
could ever be. It comes with me to the Island every year.
If you wish to make your own tote, blank canvas bags are typically
available in the craft department in big box stores. Dharma Trading
(online) also has quite an assortment. Give it a wash to remove
sizing before you come to the island.
Bring an item you want to Stencil Join June Thursday: 3:30-5 in Sandpiper
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Tea Tasting
Brian
and Emily Levine
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Storytelling
Rob
Meier
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Movement
Cynthia Eisemann
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Human-Powered Water Skiing
Will
and Stephanie Ronco
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