PLATO Roundtable: Cultivating an Ease with Changing Course
We so enjoyed being invited to open up for PLATO’s Roundtable discussion on cultivating an ease with changing course. Learn more about PLATO and check out the recording here!
Category: Special Projects
Trying out new parent category
Wildlife Recovery Book Launch & Community Discussion
We had a wonderful time at the Lewis & Clark Library with guest scholar Christopher Preston. Our evening involved a blend of author readings & community discussion. Over the course of our gathering, Christopher shared insights and perspectives about the people and wildlife he encountered while researching species recoveries. His encounters with whales, wolves, sea otters, and bison – as well as the scientists that study them – suggest that better ways to think about animals are close at hand. View more here!
Suffering & Scars: A Conversation on the Teach Different Podcast
In this podcast, Steve and Dan Fouts – brothers & co-founders of Teach Different — visit with Marisa Diaz-Waian of Merlin CCC to discuss the role of suffering in shaping our character, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Listen to the podcast here!
Merlin Director Featured in Humanities MT Environmental Humanities Perspective Series
Part of a Humanities Montana series on environmental humanities, this short essay by Merlin Director Marisa Diaz-Waian reflects upon nature, friendship, and this special place called home. Read the essay here!
Community Workshop: “Thinking About Place”
Gertrude Stein’s “there is no there there” has been used as a description for placeless spaces. By contrast, place has some kind of “there” going on. But what is this? What exactly is “place”? There are lots of ways to think about it. In this workshop, we reflected upon Helena’s sense of “place” in terms of our urban outdoors. Learn more & access resources here!
“Philosophy In & By the Community”: Merlin & Helena Community Members featured in Vernon Press Anthology
A 2021 Vernon Press anthology series edited by Stephen Kekoa Miller featuring eight chapters about doing philosophy in innovative ways, both in the schools and the community at large. In our chapter, “Philosophy In & By the Community,” we explore how Merlin CCC — with the help & support of community — has taken shape in interesting, delightful, and unexpected ways. In the process, we discuss our approach to philosophy, the kind of work we do, and some of its characteristics…as well as the significance & beauty of community & place. Learn more here!
Merlin Featured in APA: An “Into Philosophy” Series Interview
An American Philosophical Association special series by Jeremy Bendik-Keymer and the “Into Philosophy” Team. This interview with Merlin CCC Founder & Director, Marisa Diaz-Waian, is part of a collection of collaborative essays/mini-series called “Philosophy as a Way of Life.” Read the interview here!
Hayride-Cemetery Walks: Pumpkins, Ghosts & Cemeteries
We were pumped to team up with Johnson’s Nursery & Gardens, Forestvale Cemetery, and historian Ellen Baumler for some fun days of pumpkin picking and hayride ghost story cemetery tours. After playing at Johnson’s Nursery & Gardens, folks loaded into our hayride wagon and took a ride down the road with us to Forestvale Cemetery, where heard ghost stories, wandered the cemetery grounds, and learned more about its residents and history! Check out the video and photos here!