Contributed by David Young
In its third installment, CARP partnered with GPA to provide a Culture Wars pilot seminar with over 40 GPA members as participants. The event was facilitated by Mi Young Eaton and the speakers included Gerry Servito, Robert Beebe, and Cheryl Wetzstein.
Participants were coming into this content without much expectation. It was their first time experiencing Culture Wars and they came with the intention to prepare for entering life after high school.
This pilot program was really about giving the participants an opportunity to experience the type of discussions and issues they will experience outside of the GPA program. For example, being introduced to the divisive nature of American politics and general polarization around pressing issues such as sexuality, education, and media.
The pilot sought to introduce “Headwing” ideology as a perspective that can be uplifting, reconciliatory, and provide a principled response to pressing cultural issues. Participants were discovering Headwing ideology throughout the program. The intention was to prepare them to be a more proactive voice after leaving GPA when dealing with the current cultural climate of America and the world. This allowed participants to be aware of and shape their own worldview while learning about other views.
“It allowed me to gain a sense of a broader view of how people view current world issues and allowed myself to gain a self realization of what worldview i take as well.”
“I felt the reality of the situation in current colleges and I could relate to the fact that society makes it difficult to speak up about our personal ethical views.”
“I actually thought the information was very VERY relevant. I took a lot of good points from this lecture, especially seeing the affect postmodern thinking has had on me.”
“The most important idea to me from this talk was that we should be pro-something and understand why instead of just being anti-everything. The effects of education and how it has changed over time was really relatable because I saw the changes in my own life. I also really like the idea of implementing the three great blessings into education.”
“It helped me to feel more confident going back home and especially for my future when I go to college.”
Some participants were engaged the content while others found the content relatively new. The pilot program is part of a process to communicate a Headwing perspective in a way that’s relevant to the current generation.
Currently, a team has been selected to begin creating content over the summer to share with CARP chapters and to use as a basis for future presentations, seminars, and media. There will be ongoing changes, including a re-branding and new name for the program. The working intention of the program in development is as follows:
- To deliver a Headwing perspective that will stimulate respectful dialogue, reconcile and elevate the discussion of pressing cultural issues of the day.
- To establish and embody a culture and environment of awareness, authenticity, open-mindedness, respect, and honesty among college students and professors where participants are empowered to impact the cultural discussion on American campuses.
If you’d like to join this team or would like more info please email david@carplife.org