Online Study Programme: ‘28 Days of Insights, Art and Encounter’
‘28 Days of Insights, Art and Encounter’, the online study programme offered by the Goetheanum, creates a space for finding inner strength and for keeping one‘s thinking flexible by sharing contents and artistic activities with others.
“In times of change or restlessness the need for orientation grows. Focusing on a particular thought of one‘s own choice can be a source of strength in that situation,” says Edda Nehmiz, the Goetheanum Studies coordinator. Not just accepting a given thought but approaching it from different angles, experiencing it as flexible yet not arbitrary – is what the Goetheanum Studies programme is aiming to achieve.
On the one hand, this is enhanced by deceleration. As Faculty member Constanza Kaliks describes, “Through knowledge we decelerate and illuminate what unfolds with ever greater speed in everyday life amidst countless events and decisions.” There are many suitable starting points – the Online Studies begin with texts by Rudolf Steiner. Basic artistic exercises complement the programme, says Constanza Kaliks, who is also co-head of the General Anthroposophical Section at the Goetheanum. Both approaches together create a foundation for “taking on life‘s challenges and dealing with them autonomously.”
As one explores a train of thought with online students from different cultural backgrounds, one becomes more aware of one‘s own habits and patterns. Edda Nehmiz believes that this “enriches one‘s own way of thinking, without covering the thought content with a veil of subjectivity. In order to acquire skills, people in complex situations, who have to juggle daily life, work and family, need flexibility to structure their day.” This is why the Online Studies offer fixed times for studying together and sharing, as well as video contributions that are accessible at individually suited times, and inspirations for becoming active, using painting or movement (eurythmy). Online guided tours of the Goetheanum building complement the course.
Online courses (plenum in English) 28 Days of Insights, Art and Encounter
1 31 January to 27 February 2022, 12 noon CET
2 4 September to 1 October 2022, 9 am CET
English by Margot M. Saar
Photo: Studying online at the Goetheanum (Photo: Edda Nehmiz)