Mongolia: Nomadic Journeys from the Ancient to the Modern (a travel tour)

Journey to Mongolia, the historical center of the Mongol Empire and the contemporary site of post-Soviet transition in Asia! Nomadic and pastoral traditions remain pervasive in Mongolian society, and it is still possible today to glimpse aspects of the Asian Steppe as even Genghis Khan may have seen it when he founded the Great Mongol State in 1206. Mongolia is also home to a dynamic and globalizing culture, where democracy and free-market capitalism interact with the frontier spirit of the Inner Asian nomad. Mongolia without a doubt is one of the world’s most fascinating countries, drenched in historical mystique and the paradoxes of tradition and societal change in a globalizing world. In partnership with Continuing Studies at RRU, the American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS), an international academic research centre located at the Mongolian National University, will assist and manage this academic travel program once on the ground in Mongolia for a group limited to 20persons.

We will travel to Mongolia for a 9 day travel tour (with two additional travelling days for a total of 11 days away from Canada). While in Mongolia the group will be based in Ulaanbaatar. The group will also make a multi-day excursion to Kharkhorin, the ancient capital of Mongolia. Along the way the group will see Takhi (wild Mongolian horses), Turkic monuments, and the life of nomadic herders, among many other things, receiving firsthand exposure at the intersection between the modernizing present and the traditional past. This is a rare opportunity to travel with academic guides off the beaten track in places of historical significance and witness the traditional Mongolian nomadic lifestyle and modern Mongolian life.

Topics:
Lectures:
History of the Mongols and Mongolian Statehood
Politics & Foreign Relations
Economic Development
Mongolian Geography and Ecology

Co-curricular Site Visits & Field Trips:
City tour of Ulaanbaatar
National University of Mongolia
Gandan Buddhist Monasteries in Ulaanbaatar
Meet with NGOs working on issues of policy, governance and development
Museums of National History, Natural History and Fine Art
Hustai Nuruu National Park – home of native Takhi horses and Steppe wildlife
Erdene Zuu Monastery in Kharkhorin
Pre-Mongol Turkic historic sites and monuments
Visit herding families and participate in daily activities such as putting up a traditional tent, milking animals, preparing food etc.
The program will include all arrangements for the program itinerary including:
Pre-departure hand out materials and discussions.
Academic presentations presented in English by scholars from academic institutions and other local experts – such as leaders of governmental, non-governmental and business organizations. Handouts will be made available to participants such as maps, charts, and statistical information presented during the lectures. In cases where presenters are unable to speak English, an interpreter will be provided.
Participants will spend four nights in the Mongolian countryside at a traditional “ger” camps – the circular felt tents that the Mongolians have lived in for centuries!
Meals: breakfasts and lunches in Ulaanbaatar, and dinners while in the countryside. Participants will be responsible for their own dinners in Ulaanbaatar
Local transportation: meet, greet and round-trip transfer service from the Ulaanbaatar airport to hotel; daily transportation in Ulaanbaatar to all included activities; all transport outside Ulaanbaatar.

PLEASE NOTE: The hotel in Ulaanbaatar where the participants will spend the majority of their time meets all international standards. The tourist “ger” accommodation, however, while clean and comfortable is based on double-occupancy and has a separate building with hot water and toilets.

Who Should Attend?
Anyone interested in travelling to Mongolia to learn on the ground about this fascinating place and its history, culture and peoples.
History buffs and historians, educators.

Your host during the tour will be the American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS) in partnership with Royal Roads University. The ACMS is a consortium of Canadian, US and international academic institutions, and maintains a full-time staffed office and library at the National University of Mongolia. The ACMS provides visiting and local scholars support and resources to facilitate their research and study. The ACMS will arrange academic lectures and unique educational experiences during your visit. At the centre you will have access to one of the country’s best collections of English language books related to Mongolian history and culture. You will also have access to the internet and office equipment such a photocopier, printer, and scanner. The ACMS will be our partner before, during, and after your visit to Mongolia. For more information on the ACMS, please visit www.mongoliacenter.org

Date: Sunday, June 20 through Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Length: 9 days (plus 2 for travel)
Times: various – field trip
Cost: $2800 + GST
Course Code: GLEA1800
Please Register By: Sunday, April 25, 2010

* Note: Cost includes most meals, accommodation, instruction, tours and transportation while in Mongolia. Price DOES NOT include air travel to Mongolia – please call us for more information.

Wild Beauty: An Artful Retreat at Cougar Annie’s Garden

Out on the wild westcoast is a secret garden nestled in among the tall ancient trees called Cougar Annie's Garden, we will take a rich and artful journey to a remote retreat location and spend time sketching, drawing, painting, photographing, journal writing, barefoot mapping and celebrating the poetry of being together, being in wild nature!

Join acclaimed biologist, writer, artist and map-maker Briony Penn, well loved painter Joanne Thomson, American nature photographer Nirvan Hope and ecopsychologist, Hilary Leighton and other kindred souls for an artful journey into the garden. This is the time when the gardens are in full bloom leaving us with full evidence that the universe fully expresses its joy through the blush of the azalea. Everyone welcome! No background in art required.

About the Garden: In 1915, Ada-Annie Rae-Arthur, later known as “Cougar Annie”, settled a homestead with her husband and three children in Boat Basin, 50 or so kilometres north of Tofino in Clayoquot Sound on the far reaches of the west coast of Vancouver Island. There, having pre-empted 120 acres within the traditional lands of the Hesquiat peoples, she lived for seventy years and created a garden that is a centre of beauty and interest.

Today, Cougar Annie’s Garden is owned by the Boat Basin Foundation, a non-profit foundation. Surrounded by rainforest and mountains, this wilderness property offers highly unusual educational opportunities to students and to small groups of visitors. Along with Cougar Annie's Garden and the Temperate Rainforest Field Study Centre, the site is very remote, accessible only by boat or float plane.

*This area is not intended as a tourist destination and those who visit must be motivated, physically fit and independent. Rustic but beautiful and comfortable room and board will be included with registration fees. Marshalling at Middle Beach in Tofino, we will take a water taxi to the Stewardson Inlet and a “crummy” to Boat Basin.

For more information please visit the Boat Basin website: http://www.boatbasin.org/ and we recommend you read Margaret Horsfield’s wonderful book, Cougar Annie’s Garden

Facilitators: Joanne Thomson is a professional Artist and Illustrator with a passion for helping adults discover their own creativity through painting and drawing. With a Master’s degree in Adult Education and training as a Registered Nurse Joanne spent many years teaching Nurses and Care Aides. Now she turns her teaching skills toward assisting adults to use art-making for self-discovery or just for the joy of it.

Dr. Briony Penn is a geographer from Saltspring Island. She has lived most of her life on the shores of the Salish Sea. She is an adjunct professor in the Environmental Studies Program of the University of Victoria and a writer and illustrator with illustrated columns in several regional newspapers. She has been creating maps and teaching community mapping for many years around the province. A founding director of The Land Conservancy of British Columbia, she has been involved with community stewardship initiatives ranging from landowner contact programs throughout B.C. to teaching for the Wetlands Institute and has written and illustrated various books and educational publications.

Nirvan Hope has been an artist all her life. After studying Experiential Aesthetics at Portland State University, she spent many years travelling, painting, meditating and take photographs around the world. As a painter she had her own studio/gallery on Canyon Road in Santa Fe. Wanting to reach a wider audience with her work, she switched to nature photography. Her work intends to inspire others to seek out their own unique relationship with nature. Reaching deep into connection with nature through the bliss of visceral perception, one can record and bring back images of that journey to share and inspire others. Nirvan owns a successful nature photography business in Western Washington: "Earth Rhythms Photography", and is author of the book "Three Seasons of Bees and Other Natural and Unnatural Things.

Hilary Leighton’s early deep and vivid resonance of living processes and universal patterns in wild nature rooted in her a belief that all teaching is an act of love and remembering – this infuses her writing, teaching and learning She is a natural educator, a perennial learner, a tireless advocate for well-being and a wild poet at heart! Hilary holds a MEd, Curriculum and Instruction from SFU, has studied Ecopsychology (EP) at Naropa University, and is completing a three year program in Integrated Body Psychotherapy Practitioner Training, and not least of all embarking on a doctoral program in EP. She is a certified Laughter Yoga Leader, a certified Myers-Briggs facilitator, and although she spends most of her days imagining and designing ways to bring pedagogical spaces of possibility as the Director of Continuing Studies at Royal Roads University, Hilary derives the most satisfaction from the generosity of teaching and encouraging others - especially out on the land.

Seating is extremely limited so please register early to avoid disappointment!

Date: Friday, May 28 through Sunday, May 30, 2010
Length: 2 nights – 3 daysTimes: various – field trip

Cost: $695 + GST

Course Code: GLEA1798

Please Register By: Friday, May 7, 2010

* Note: cost includes water taxis and transportation to Boat Basin from Tofino, room, board, learning activities, lectures, and tours. Participants responsible for their own transportation to Tofino

FOR THE LOVE OF LEARNING…and the joy of lightening up!

This new publication from Brenda Robinson, Continuing Studies facilitator extrordinaire examines how we can bring joy-filled learning experiences to the classroom in at time when education may have gotten altogether too serious!

If you have had the good fortune of being in one of Brenda’s sessions here, you will know that this book really will be a gift!

There are a limited amount of copies available at http://www.robcan.ca/ or by email robcan.mail@shaw.ca or a CD set… see Brenda in action on Youtube www.youtube.com/user/TheRobcanGroup

Are you interested in Green IT?

Learn how implementing Green IT practices can transform your organization’s sustainability. Join Jessica Vreeswijk, BCom, MCPM, MBA in Sustainable Business, and President of Terrabytes Consulting and Green IT Tools.com for a free 2 hour presentation to examine the environmental impact of IT equipment, specific green IT practices, and provide you with resources to help you make smart IT decisions designed to minimize your environmental impact and save you money.

This presentation is perfect for sustainability and IT professionals who want to learn what green IT is and how it can benefit their business. It serves as a precursor to the Conducting A Green IT Assessment course held here on February 18, 2010. http://www.royalroads.ca/continuing-studies/CYGLEL1814-Y09.htm

Length: evening talk - 2 hours
Date: Thursday, December, 3, 2009
Times: 7pm – 9pm
Cost: No charge
To save a seat, please call Continuing Studies at 250-391-2600 ext 4801.

Facilitator: Jessica Vreeswijk, BCom, MCPM, MBA in Sustainable Business Candidate (2009) is the founder and principal of Terrabytes Consulting and Green IT Tools.com. Jessica is passionate about providing green information technology services to a range of organizations, from non-profits to large businesses. With a background in IT operations, project management, and sustainability, Jessica provides organizations with the counsel and tools they require to measure and reduce the environmental and financial impact of their information technology. The Director of IDC (Canada) said this of Jessica’s presentation, "Brilliant presentation. One of the most practical and actionable presentations I've attended on Green IT."

GREEN CHRISTMAS - A Hand-on Making of Fresh Wreaths, Swags and Garland

Using native BC boughs, greens and cones, join acclaimed wild crafter Betty Foote in a relaxed and productive day of creating fragrant Christmas decorations from the wild. This workshop is informative, fun and interactive, and you will leave with fresh, natural decorations for your entire home.

Pack a lunch and we’ll supply the coffee, tea and cookies in the afternoon but register early as seating is limited! All supplies included.

Hands-On Making of Fresh Wreaths, Swags and Garlands

Dates: Saturday, December 12 or Sunday, December 13, 2009

Times: 10 am – 2 pm Cost: $ 65 + GST

Course Codes: GLNA1844 (Saturday) or GLNA1845 (Sunday)

To register call 4801 or visit www.royalroads.ca/continuing-studies

Email: continuingstudies@royalroads.ca

Natural Leaders funding - please vote & promote!

Continuing Studies is supporting an idea from the Children and Nature Alliance (the result of the Get Outside! It’s In Our Nature forum held at RRU last year and co-sponsored by this department) in the Aviva Community Fund, a competition that could result in positive change in communities across Canada.

If the idea receives enough votes, it will have a chance at sharing in $500,000 of funding, and we have 12 days left to vote and every vote counts. You can vote once per day. They need about a hundred more votes. We would really appreciate your help in elevating this idea to the finals.

Please vote for it at http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf1444

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS….!

Chris Leischner who has taught altered book-making for Continuing Studies for the past four years is having her own show on Salt Spring Island this weekend with three other artists, called Rock, Paper, Scissors!

For more on altered books and to read about Chris’s particular talents, view her course offering called Create An Altered Book Earth Journal. Chris will be on campus on March 6^th to providing all of the necessary supplies, expertise, encouragement and inspiration for participants to create their own ecological placebooks and artfully reconnect to the source of all we are (earth) through creative recycling (discarded books and found ephemera). This is a really cool course for those who want to experience this medium firsthand and its many and wide applications (in any content area) and is especially suitable for those who teach and those who want to facilitate diverse ways that self-expression contributes to meaning-making and knowledge as we deconstruct the old to reconstruct something entirely unique to convey the phenomenological.

Where: Noble Studio, 2636 Fulford-Ganges Rd
When: 2-5pm, Saturday October 17, 2009

For further information on Chris' Altered Books course call 250-391-2600 ext 4801 or click here

A Wise Elder

It is with deep gratitude that we send out thanks to the 65 or so Getting’ Higher Choir (GHC) members who sang for the venerable Joanna Macy (respected Buddhist scholar, articulate and passionate writer and speaker, fierce activist, and imaginative teacher) last Thursday evening to a sold-out crowd of 250 on the Quarterdeck! Singing in the evening with a resonant rendition of Gaia- Another World is Possible and led by their co-director, Shivon Robinsong, the choir set a tone of intention and love that wrapped itself around and held the evening.

Joanna was brilliantly inspiring – you could have heard a pin drop the entire time this wise and enlivened elder woman spoke of our dark time and the precious gifts that are making themselves available to us as we take the time to honour the pain for the world and share all of ourselves (and what it means to be fully human), with each other and with the more than human world. Closing with We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For and then a book signing, many lingered on, basking in the glow of what beautiful thing had just happened!

For more information on Joanna Macy visit http://www.joannamacy.net/ or for information on a Continuing Studies course of The Work That Reconnects in November, click here or call ext 4801.

Cougar Annie's Garden Trip 2008

Spotlight on Green Learning...

Date: Thursday, October 8, 2009
Time: 7pm - 9pm
Location: The Grant building - Quarterdeck Cost: $15.00 + GST
Course Code: GLEL1769-Y08

The Hidden Promise of Our Dark Age: The Wisdom, Strength & Beauty We Are Discovering - an evening talk with Joanna Macy

"As we free ourselves from the delusions and dependencies bred by the industrial growth society, something wonderful can happen to us. If we manage to steer clear of panic, we may well find at last the wild power of our creativity and solidarity."

The ecological and social crises we face are inflamed by an economic system dependent on accelerating growth. This self-destructing political economy sets its goals and measures its performance in terms of ever-increasing corporate profits--in other words by how fast materials can be extracted from Earth and turned into consumer products, weapons, and waste. A revolution is underway because people are realizing that our needs can be met without destroying our world. To see this as the larger context of our lives clears our vision and summons our courage. Joanna Macy provides this context in an inspirational evening talk, The Hidden Promise of Our Dark Age.

This is a precious and hope-filled opportunity …please join us!

MORE on Joanna Macy and Her Work...

Eco-philosopher Joanna Macy, Ph.D., is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. She is also a leading voice in movements for peace, justice, and a safe environment. Interweaving her scholarship and four decades of activism, she has created both a ground-breaking theoretical framework for a new paradigm of personal and social change, and a powerful workshop methodology for its application. Her wide-ranging work addresses psychological and spiritual issues of the nuclear age, the cultivation of ecological awareness, and the fruitful resonance between Buddhist thought and contemporary science.

This work is described in her books Despair and Empowerment in the Nuclear Age (New Society Publishers, 1983), Dharma and Development (Kumarian Press, 1985), Thinking Like a Mountain (co-edited with John Seed, Pat Fleming, and Arne Naess; New Society Publishers, 1988), Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory (SUNY Press, 1991), Rilke’s Book of Hours (with Anita Barrows, Riverhead, 1996), Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World (with Molly Young Brown, New Society Publishers, 1998); Widening Circles: A Memoir, (New Society Publishers, 2000); and World as Lover, World as Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal (Parallax Press, 2007).

Over the past twenty-five years many thousands of people around the world have participated in Joanna’s workshops and trainings, while her methods have been adopted and adapted yet more widely in classrooms, churches, and grassroots organizing. Her work helps people transform despair and apathy, in the face of overwhelming social and ecological crises, into constructive, collaborative action. It brings a new way of seeing the world, as our larger living body, freeing us from the assumptions and attitudes that now threaten the continuity of life on Earth.

Joanna travels widely giving lectures, workshops, and trainings in North America, Europe and Asia. She lives in Berkeley, California near her children and grandchildren.

Joanna will continue on to The Haven on Gabriola Island for a long weekend retreat October 9 through 12, 2009 . For more information please visit the Haven website: http://www.haven.ca/programs/the-work-that-reconnects.html

RRU Continuing Studies calendar distributed in today's Times Colonist

More than 250 learning opportunities are unveiled in the new Continuing Studies Calendar distributed today in the Victoria Times Colonist. The vision for this year's ambitious continuing studies calendar . . . comes from this question; 'What life wants to be lived through you?'" said Hilary Leighton, director of Continuing Studies at Royal Roads University. "Perhaps together we can find the answer."

See the new continuing calendar online. Hard copies are also available at libraries, recreation centres and other locations on and off campus.

Has it been a long time or a short time since we last met?

While we carefully designed and co-created this year with our brilliant facilitators and learning partners, we imagined you here on this lifelong path exploring with us over 270 trans-disciplinary (non-degree) educational opportunities and events that promise to be extraordinary!

Join futurist Meg Wheatley (Sept 30th), eco-philosopher Joanna Macy (Oct 8th), and social justice poet Drew Dellinger (May 1st) in one of the most magnificent places on earth - where Edwardian gardens, a 1908 castle and ancient forests meet the ocean and the snow-capped Olympia’s beyond.

And we're bringing back favourites such as the Professional and Applied Communications Skills Certificate, the three Professional Management Skills Certificates and NEW this year -- an Eco-Literacy Certificate with competency areas that cover: systems thinking, social and environmental responsibility, designing with the earth in mind, community-building and collaboration, and more. Not least of all, for those alumni who “learn until they know” instead of when the program ends, we offer a 5 day post-graduate in residency certificate – Foundations in Innovation and Transformation - beginning in January.

Off campus Continuing Studies is proud to co-sponsor an innovative leadership event designed to ignite social change and foster communities of practice called The Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter October 15-18, 2009 at the Tamawaga Campus, on Vancouver Island, just south of Nanaimo. These 3 days will explore how to apply the practices of courageously inviting, designing and hosting conversations that matter (such as Open Space Technology, World Cafe, Circle, and Appreciative Inquiry) during times of uncertainty. Visit www.berkana.org/aoh for registration.

Now is the perfect time to collaborate, participate and learn together!

See you soon…

The Continuing Studies team