Registration: $195*

* We're valuing the entire course at $195, but we don't want to turn anyone away on financial grounds. You're invited to pay whatever you can afford. We just ask that you consider the resources you have available, your desire to support our work, and a sense of mutual respect. If you can contribute more than $195, that will help us offer scholarships to folk who don't currently have the resources to pay to register for the course.

We are pleased to announce another Image Seminar, an opportunity to engage thoughtfully with meaningful questions on art and spirituality in a group of like-minded thinkers, guided by faculty who understand the unique impulses and challenges facing people grappling with questions of spirituality and doubt, life and craft.

From our course guide, Gareth Higgins:

We live in anxious times, with our vision often limited to suspicion of others, concern about the future, and withdrawing into enclaves of the familiar.  It can become a self-fulling prophecy, a vicious cycle which does not nurture the security, never mind the happiness we seek. It's becoming clearer by the day that we need to be dislodged from the narrow circles of self-oriented, tribal thinking. There is a more expansive universe, characterized by connection, sharing, and taking responsibility for co-creating the next good day.

Image and The Porch are places where we talk about these things, and learn together how to share and live into a better story for the sake of, interwoven with, and animated by the common and cosmic good. We've been doing it for a few decades now, and we’re continuing this experiment in transformative storytelling with Dreaming the World.

Dreaming the World is a seven week course led by Gareth Higgins, based on the idea that how we look at the world shapes how we experience it. We'll watch seven movies—one from each continent—and learn about a more global way of thinking. Gareth will share a short video introduction for each film as well as a written essay too. Registrants are invited to join a members' Facebook page for conversation. Finally, attendees are invited to a weekly video call to discuss the movie and its implications for how we might live better. (You can join that video call in person, or just watch or listen to the recording later.)

For Seven Weeks…

You'll watch one movie at home, each week for seven weeks (one each from Asia, Africa, North America, Europe, South America, Oceania and even Antarctica). Films will be watched via links we provide. Some are free, some are on streaming services, but you may not need a streaming account to watch. Some will come with a small rental fee, but we aim for all to be watched directly without needing a subscription. All films have optional closed captions/subtitles, and if you’re unfamiliar with how to watch movies at home, we’ll provide all the information you need to do so.

"The geography of my mind is the geography of the world I walk in." — John Moriarty

Participants will receive:

• A short video introduction for each film.
• An essay reflecting on the film for you to read after watching it.
• A weekly video call to discuss the movie. The call will take place at 7 p.m. Eastern on Tuesdays, and the movie can be watched at any time before the call takes place. If you can’t make that time, we’ll also be recording the call so you can watch and listen later. And if you prefer to watch, read, and reflect on your own, you are welcome to take the course without attending the call.
• Access to a private Facebook Group for folk to discuss as well.
• Course materials featuring the list of films and other recommendations for reading and exploring, links to watch the films (free when available, but some will require a separate rental fee of around $4 per film).
• For those who want it, Porch Circles for further connection, building relationships and learning more about how we can translate the lessons and encouragements of these amazing films more deeply into our lives.

You can do the course on your own, or take advantage of the opportunity to meet others interested in the same emerging story of seeing the world through the eyes of the other, leading to more connection, sharing, and making a better world. The course lasts seven weeks, ending on November 11, but you can join at any time and catch up with what you've missed.