There is much to be awake to at the August 2005 Conference in Ann Arbor!

The six keynote presentations — one Thursday evening, two each Friday and Saturday, and the final one Sunday morning — could each stand alone as the centerpiece of its own conference. Each of these six keynotes is shared by two distinguished representatives of Anthroposophy, one a member of the Vorstand, the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical Society at the Goetheanum, and the other a member or General Secretary from the United States or Canada.

Read on to get a sense of the depth and breadth of what is to come and to learn more about who will be speaking.

Thursday evening, August 11^th at 7:00 p.m., Virginia Sease and MariJo Rogers open the conference with The Challenge of Thinking with the Heart. In describing their shared keynote, they have said, “Normally we imagine that we feel with our heart, but we are challenged by Rudolf Steiner to learn how to think with our heart if we wish to keep pace with our times.” Michael, as the regent of our age, “liberates thought from the sphere of the head; he clears the way for it to the heart …” said Steiner in Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts, “At the Dawn of the Michael Age.” These speakers will address the challenge of thinking thoughts which manifest sufficient logical substance on the one hand and the will for inner warmth on the other. They quote the fore-mentioned source, “The Age of Michael has dawned. Hearts are beginning to have thoughts; spiritual fervor is now proceeding, not merely from mystical obscurity, but from souls clarified by thought.”

MariJo Rogers Click image for larger view.

MariJo Rogers lives in California where she works in world-wide corporate responsibility for a technology company. Her career as a writer and photographer included positions in banking, health care, and travel. She taught for 17 years at St. Michael's School, the Sacramento Waldorf High School, and Rudolf Steiner College. She has been a member of the Anthroposophical Society for twenty-one years. She is co-General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in America.

Virginia Sease Click image for larger view.

Virginia Sease was born in Pennsylvania and earned her doctorate in German from the University of Southern California. She taught in a university and a waldorf school in Los Angeles and has been a member of the Executive Council of the Goetheanum since 1984. She directs the English language Anthroposophical Studies Program at the Goetheanum.

• Friday's topics and speakers
• Saturday's topics and speakers
• About the Eurythmy Tour performance