Deep Listening is a contemplative practice that opens up our ability to truly listen, openly engage, and deeply connect as a community. The term “Deep Listening” was coined by American Composer, Pauline Oliveros. This session will break down the boxes of the virtual world so we can find our collective creativity. 

Leila Ramagopal Pertl is an Instructor in Music Education and harp at Lawrence University. Brian Pertl is the Dean of the Lawrence Conservatory of Music. Together they teach classes on world music, present hands-on executive training seminars in creativity in the workplace, and are leading advocates for the importance of music education in all of our lives.

“Loving Kindness Meditation” with Constance Kassor

In an increasingly frenetic world, simply sitting still and paying attention is a radical act of resistance. The meditation known as “loving-kindness” (or metta) is a practice that can be used to generate radical love for oneself and for others. 

Through this practice, we can learn to better recognize the ways in which we all experience and perpetuate suffering, and begin to recognize that a world in which we operate from a place of radical love is possible. 

Constance Kassor is an assistant professor of religious studies at Lawrence University. Kassor teaches courses on Buddhist thought and Asian religious traditions.