AAR-WR Panel: The Emergence of Spiritual Ecology in My Octopus Teacher

Join us at this years American Academy of Religion, Western Region, Annual Conference for an academic panel on the spiritual emergence of ecology in the acclaimed documentary, My Octopus Teacher. 

Moderator: 

Chantal Noa Forbes, California Institute of Integral Studies

Respondents: 

Laura Michetti, California Institute of Integral Studies

Kimberly Carfore, University of San Francisco

Ezekiel Fugate, California Institute of Integral Studies

Matthew Hartman, Graduate Theological Union

Overview: 

The Ecology and Religion unit and the Religion, Film, and Literature unit will co-host a roundtable discussion that explores themes presented in the newly released environmental documentary My Octopus Teacher, currently screening on Netflix. Roundtable respondents will address how this film interprets the meaning of sustainability by fostering the emergence of spiritual ecology in times of spiritual emergency.

My Octopus Teacher follows documentary filmmaker Craig Foster. Following a physical, mental, and emotional breakdown, Craig commits himself to skin dive daily in the Great African Kelp Forest off the West Coast of South Africa. Here Craig sets out to explore this underwater world by applying the art of tracking that he learned from the First Peoples of the Kalahari Desert to navigating the kelp forests. Craig meets a female Octopus with whom he forms a unique relationship, tracking with her daily for the duration of her life. Through this journey, Craig comes to learn what it means to engage in a phenomenological spiritual ecology and what it means to form an integral part of our sacred environment.

If you would like to attend this or other panels at this years AAR-WR Annual Conference, please register at the following link, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/138867190505 

To learn more about the full AAR-WR Annual Conference schedule please visit this link, 

https://www.aarwr.com/annual-meetings.html 

Image copyright: The Sea Change Project