This series of conversations between Mark Edwards, Bruce Alderman and audience participants will provide an introduction to the field of planetary meta-studies. Planetary meta-studies is a big picture field of social inquiry, a kind of Earth-system social science, that critically engages with and draws on integrative models and metatheoretical perspectives to study the Earth system in all its majesty, mystery and complexity. In particular, the series will consider the global metacrisis and will offer some avenues for working with the personal and societal challenges that the metacrisis presents. The monthly conversations topics will include:

1. Welcome to the meta-clearing – an introduction to planetary meta-studies and its relationship with Integral Theory and other integrative approaches
2. Big picture stories about the meta-crisis – concerning the science of big pictures, rogue ideologies and planetary boundaries
3. Reflections on the empirical, the actual and the real – the purpose of planetary meta-studies
4. Through the looking glass – meta-level lenses, that they disclose about the meta-crisis and a closer look at the inner workings of our big picture stories
5. Mother Earth and Father Sky – planetary meta-studies, sustainability and Indigenous Knowledge
6. The view from somewhere and somewhere else – some possibilities for diving deeper

Time schedule
1. Friday November 15th, 9am-11am (PST)
2. Friday December 13th, 9am-11am (PST)
3. Friday January 17th, 9am-11am (PST)
4. Friday February 14th, 9am-11am (PST)
5. Friday March 14th, 9am-11am (PST)
6. SESSION NOT YET CONFIRMED: Friday April 18th, 9am-11am (PST)

MEET YOUR HOSTS

Mark Edwards:
I live close to the beach in the beautiful city of Perth in Western Australia and have two adult children and a veggie garden. Education-wise, I have a PhD with Distinction in Organization Theory and a Masters in Human Development, both from the University of Western Australia. I have been an academic since 2008 researching and teaching in the fields of sustainability, organizational transformation, ethics and meta-studies. I am published in research journals such as the Academy of Management Learning and Education, Business & Society, Business Strategy and the Environment, and the Journal of Business Ethics. I have also published books on regenerative sustainability, marketing ethics, and integrative metatheory with the academic publishers Routledge and Cambridge University Press. Before becoming an academic I worked as a registered psychologist with people with disabilities and their families and communities. In recent years, I find myself more engaged in local community activism and practice-based communities.

Bruce Alderman:
Bruce Alderman is the associate director of the Blue Sky Leaders program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). Bruce is also a member of faculty for the Consciousness, Psychology, and Transformation department at National University (NU). He also finds time to work as an integral and transpersonal consultant psychologist. He is a long-time student of David Bohm’s work, and recently led a course with Lee Nichol on the concept and practice of the rheosoma. Prior to working at CIIS and NU, Bruce worked and studied abroad in Asia for several years, teaching courses on creative writing and inquiry at the Rajghat Besant School, a Krishnamurti school in Varanasi, India, and studying and practicing at monasteries and ashrams in Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and Nepal. He has published essays in the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice and Consciousness Journal, as well as in several anthologies on Integral philosophy and spirituality. Recently he launched a YouTube channel and podcast called The Integral Stage, dedicated to exploring integral, metamodern, and other holistic and integrative approaches to addressing the complex social, ecological, and spiritual challenges of our times.