Hopework Statement
Hopework imagines and puts into the world an approach to teaching and learning
that values the nurturance of human growth and maturity, individually and
socially, as the development essential at every age and stage of life that
contributes to building a more humane, just, and equitable society in which
individuals reach their highest potentials and lead satisfying and meaningful
lives in community with others.
Hopework facilitators attend to holding a space that is safe enough for
each teacher-learner to express from the head and the heart the stories of
their unique and diverse experiences and perspectives in a space that is
also quiet and respectful enough for each to hear the special gifts that
may be found in other’s stories.
This living circle of individuals comes alive by each giving their life's
stories and being fed by the stories of others. The circle connects them
more powerfully to the reality of their present circumstances and helps them
to see with fresh eyes new hopes and bolder actions for being themselves
while working together to bring to life the highest hopes, dreams, and ideals
they hold for the world.
Hopework activities past and present include occasional weekend-length retreats;
monthly pot-luck suppers; a University of Minnesota month-long residential
course called Philosophy Camp;
the Building Alliances Project, funded by the John P. and Eleanor R. Yackel
Foundation, a series of conversations and retreats where southwest Minnesota
residents reflect on challenges and opportunities in their region.
Philosophy Camp 2010: May 24 - June 18 (6 cr)
Phil 4326 – Lives Worth
Living: Questions of Self, Vocation, and Community
Explore questions of self, vocation; and community at a retreat center
on the prairie of southwestern Minnesota. Creating our own community of
learners and engaging with innovators in the local area around Windom will
form the backdrop for investigating these questions: What is an authentic
self? What is vocation? What kind of community do I want to have around
me? What makes communities resilient and able to persist and flourish through
change?
Hopework began as a series of weekend-length retreats planned and
organized by a small group of volunteers who came to agree on a topic
and the flow of activities for the weekend. It's work continues through
a number of informal threads, including monthly Sunday potluck suppers.
See the Event
schedule and announcements for upcoming events.
Living inside hope
"Codi, here's what I've decided:
the very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you
hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire
it from a distance but live right inside it, under its roof. What
I want is so simple I almost can't say it: elementary kindness. Enough
to eat, enough to go around. The possibility that kids might one
day grow up to be neither the destroyers nor the destroyed. That's
about it. Right now I'm living in that hope, running down its hallway
and touching the walls on both sides.
"I can't tell you how good it feels. I wish you knew. I
wish you'd stop beating yourself up for being selfish, and really
be selfish, Codi. You're like a mother or something. I wish you knew
how to squander yourself. "
From Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams (New York, HarperCollins,
1990),
p. 299.
