Listening to the Land with Visiting Scholar Melissa Nelson
How can a rematriated science address the roots of the polycrisis? Can society move beyond an anthropocentric, male-dominated science to a relational one rooted in justice and care? As an Anishinaabe ecologist and transdisciplinary scholar-activist, Commonweal New School Visiting Scholar Melissa Nelson is working to find ways to return to and revitalize the Indigenous and […]
Invitation to Listening to the Land with Visiting Scholar Melissa Nelson
In this introduction to Listening to the Land, September 2026 Visiting Scholar Melissa Nelson invites us to join her at the edges of experience and inquiry to explore what it means to rematriate science. An Anishinaabe ecologist and transdisciplinary scholar-activist, Melissa proposes that the fragmented thinking characteristic of dominant, patriarchal systems both creates and continues to perpetuate the polycrisis we now face. A solution lies in uplifting the historically marginalized scientific knowledges of women and Indigenous peoples, whose relational approach can bring healing and integration to the roots of an extractive system, transforming it into one that serves justice, life, and the Earth.
Celebration of Life: Rachel Naomi Remen
Join us in celebrating the life of one of Commonweal’s most beloved voices: Rachel Naomi Remen, MD. Rachel was a pioneer and influential leader in the field of healing and integrative medicine. She was co-founder and medical director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program, which she helped build alongside Commonweal co-founder Michael Lerner, and which was featured in Bill Moyers’ landmark PBS series Healing and the Mind.
Explore the Worldview of Rachel Naomi Remen
One of our most beloved voices, Rachel Naomi Remen, died August 8, 2026. We offer this course in honor of her presence, which will be greatly missed. Rachel spent a lifetime at the threshold between medicine and mystery. This course gathers recordings from her decades at Commonweal New School, inviting you to sit with her not as a distant authority but as a companion—someone who spent her life listening closely to what it means to be human.
Art for Our Common Good: Creativity, Health, and Civic Life | Part 2
What role can art play in helping us meet this moment? As communities face growing loneliness, burnout, environmental anxiety, and civic division, the arts can create spaces for healing, connection, and hope. Join us for part 2 of this podcast, a conversation with Visiting Scholar Dr. Catherine Olweny and Host Lisa Simms Booth.
The Rematriation of Science: Restoring Balance through Indigenous Knowledges
As an Anishinaabe ecologist, Commonweal New School’s fall Visiting Scholar Melissa Nelson is working to find ways to return to and revitalize the Indigenous and feminist roots of science. Meet Melissa and find out more about her worldview at this event—first in conversation with Host Jaune Evans, and then in an experiential process around her new work.
Exploring Art and Creativity as a Space for Healing, Connection, and Hope
Throughout our 50 years of work healing people and the Earth, Commonweal has always embraced the power of arts and creativity in bringing inspiration, vision, and healing in our bodies, souls, and communities. In this course, join in our exploration of how art and creativity bring healing, connection, and hope—through conversation, writing, poetry, music and sound, film, visual arts, and more.
Art for Our Common Good: Creativity, Health, and Civic Life | Part 1
What role can art play in helping us meet this moment? As communities face growing loneliness, burnout, environmental anxiety, and civic division, the arts can create spaces for healing, connection, and hope. Join us for part 1 of this podcast, a conversation with Former National Endowment of the Arts Chair Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, Stanford Arts Director Deborah Cullinan, and Host Lisa Simms Booth.
The Superhumanities
In part 10 of the Secret Body series of conversations, Michael Lerner talks with author Jeffrey Kripal about his book The Superhumanities.