Goddard Staff, Author at Goddard College

Divested From Fossil Fuels, Goddard Invests in People and Planet

Adapted from a post originally published January 14th, 2015 Goddard College achieved the finalization of its divestment. In January 2015, the College moved its endowment funds out of fossil fuel investments and into fossil fuel free accounts at Trillium Asset Management in Boston. Goddard was the third college in Vermont to divest, joining both Sterling… Continue reading Divested From Fossil Fuels, Goddard Invests in People and Planet

Goddard College Invented Low-Residency (and we’re Re-Inventing Online Degrees)

At Goddard College, we believe higher education degrees should match the ambitions of the student, helping them envision and advance their particular concern, career and goal. Getting a degree should bring about exciting, transformational change, not just a piece of paper for the mantle. And most importantly, you shouldn’t have to turn your life and… Continue reading Goddard College Invented Low-Residency (and we’re Re-Inventing Online Degrees)

Ghost Stories From the Greatwood Campus

Halloween time again, little pretties. Students, faculty, staff, and locals have recounted tales of strange occurrences rumored to have taken place at the Greatwood Campus of Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. The former sheep farm owned by the Martin family transferred ownership in 1938 to the Goddard Seminary and became the Greatwood campus for Goddard… Continue reading Ghost Stories From the Greatwood Campus

President Emerita Reflects on Louise Glück’s Poetic Influence

Dear Goddard, This is an epic moment for us—what Goddard is now, what it has been, what it always will be: our DNA. As we rejoice and celebrate both affirmation of our accreditation status and our former Vermont State Poet and faculty winning the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, I want to share a personal… Continue reading President Emerita Reflects on Louise Glück’s Poetic Influence

Ancestral Portals, Biodiversity, & Coexistence

A global transformation is underway. Petrocapitalism is unravelling at the seams and in its stead, bartering and mutual aid networks, cooperative and solidarity economies, and Indigenous economies are being built and strengthened across our communities. White supremacy appears to be losing some ground (literally in Oklahoma) to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and… Continue reading Ancestral Portals, Biodiversity, & Coexistence

Ten Things I’ve Learned from Unschooling

By Kathleen Kesson, former Director of Education at Goddard College. Families who unschool, or home school (at least 2 million kids in the U.S.) usually reach this decision after much deliberation, and after weighing innumerable factors: available time and energy, capacity, desire, and finances. Now, overnight we have hundreds of thousands of young people with… Continue reading Ten Things I’ve Learned from Unschooling

Manifesting Goddard in Your Life

I was like many Goddard students. I discovered this remarkable student-centered pathway in the 1990’s but did not enroll until 2006. It took that long to manifest Goddard in my life, but it was well worth the discovery. I was an artist, educator and social worker in the midwest growing my tribe of five beautiful… Continue reading Manifesting Goddard in Your Life

Kipnuk Kindergarten: Education Adventures in the Alaskan Tundra

by Maureen Benoit Kipnuk is a special place to live. This small village of about 700 people on the southwest coast of Alaska is located on tundra with access to major waterways like the Kuskokwim River, the Kuguklik River, and 4 miles from the Bering Sea. Kipnuk is in an extremely remote area accessible only… Continue reading Kipnuk Kindergarten: Education Adventures in the Alaskan Tundra

Alternative Education Enters the Mainstream

by Bernard Bull People often tell me that at one point in their lives they wanted to be a teacher. Well, what happened? Usually, I find that their reasons for not pursuing education came from a limited view of what was available and possible in education. Or else they thought they missed their chance. If… Continue reading Alternative Education Enters the Mainstream

Sustainability School in Guatemala is Inspired by Goddard

By Matt Paneitz I spent over a decade in San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala helping to transform 500 tons of trash (including 15,000 used tires) into a school campus. Many would call it “a crazy endeavor”. Through this work I started an NGO called Long Way Home with a mission “to use sustainable design and materials to construct… Continue reading Sustainability School in Guatemala is Inspired by Goddard

“The Human Compass” – An Expressive Arts Practice by Casey Jakubowski

VIDEO: Casey Jakubowski’s Multimodal Expressive Arts Process, “The Human Compass.” Casey created a new Multimodal Expressive Process as a component of her coursework this semester in the Expressive Arts Therapy Concentration at Goddard College that incorporates movement, music, and drawing. The individually designed course is called “Crisis Intervention: Expressive Arts Crisis Intervention With Adolescents.” Her… Continue reading “The Human Compass” – An Expressive Arts Practice by Casey Jakubowski

Goddard launches new MFA concentration in Performance Creation

Goddard’s Performance Creation Concentration is the first low-residency program in the country designed specifically for theater artists, choreographers, musicians, or other artists working specifically in performance creation. PLAINFIELD, Vt. – Stephanie Batten Bland is the founder and artistic director of Company BBB, an interdisciplinary dance theater company performing original works that she conceives and choreographs. Since… Continue reading Goddard launches new MFA concentration in Performance Creation

MFAIA News: December 2018

Top: Katie Schwerin, Mt. Monadnock Labyrinth. Photo: Bill Whyte. Below: Images of the installation process. Photos: Reuben Radding, current MFAIA-VT student. The Mt. Monadnock Labyrinth Current MFAIA-VT student Katie Schwerin recently completed a public arts project titled, The Mt. Monadnock Labyrinth, a land art installation located near the Dillant-Hopkins Airport in Keene, NH. The labyrinth… Continue reading MFAIA News: December 2018

MFA in Creative Writing Launches New Anthology

Goddard College is pleased to announce the 2018 release of a new edition of Alchemy of the Word: Writers Talk About Writing, published by GenPop Books. This anthology consists of thirty essays by faculty members in Goddard’s MFA in Creative Writing Program. All were originally delivered as keynote or commencement addresses between 2000 and 2018.… Continue reading MFA in Creative Writing Launches New Anthology

Human Animal Interaction Studies Concentration in Psychology Program

The Goddard College Psychology Program is proud to announce a new concentration in Human Animal Interaction Studies. Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) and Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA) have grown exponentially in popularity in recent years. Animal-assisted therapists work as professionals and volunteers in a variety of settings, treating issues such as relationship conflict, depression, and trauma, with children,… Continue reading Human Animal Interaction Studies Concentration in Psychology Program

Indigenous and Decolonial Art Concentration

“Ceremonial activism” with Cease Wyss (Skwxwu7mesh/Sto:lo/Metis/ Hawaiian/Swiss) and Anne Riley (Cree and Dene) at the spring 2017 MFAIA residency, Puget Sound, Fort Worden, Washington. Photo: Goddard College Spurred on by the resurgence of indigenous movements, a profound inquiry into indigenous and decolonial practices has spread rapidly throughout the Americas. This resurgence has generated both institutional… Continue reading Indigenous and Decolonial Art Concentration

Alum John Eichenberger Uses Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed in Counseling Practice

A young man shook his head in shame and embarrassment. An offhand remark to a client had resulted in a rift in the therapeutic relationship. He wanted with all his being to repair it. Now, among peers, he explored the event. Not a single person said, “Well, this is what you should do.” No need.… Continue reading Alum John Eichenberger Uses Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed in Counseling Practice

Featured Alum: Neel Murgai (MFAIA ’10)

Hi I am Neel Murgai, a 2010 Goddard MFA-IA graduate. I am a sitarist, composer, overtone singer, frame drummer and teacher. My practice draws from many traditions, including Indian classical, jazz, minimalism, experimental music and more. I had already been a professional musician for over a decade before I attended Goddard. My education there helped… Continue reading Featured Alum: Neel Murgai (MFAIA ’10)