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Case Statement

Higher education is no longer working. In the words of Mark C. Taylor, Chairman of the Religion department at Columbia:

GRADUATE education is the Detroit of higher learning. Most graduate programs in American universities produce a product for which there is no market (candidates for teaching positions that do not exist) and develop skills for which there is diminishing demand (research in subfields within subfields and publication in journals read by no one other than a few like-minded colleagues), all at a rapidly rising cost (sometimes well over $100,000 in student loans).

The state of modern education has come about because of the continuation of an outmoded way of structuring the university – a pattern that began a century and a half ago. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau once had a famous conversation, in which Emerson remarked that a modern university teaches all of the branches of education. Thoreau replied, “Yes, all of the branches, but none of the roots.” The trend to increasingly specialize into smaller and smaller subfields has intensified in recent decades, resulting in fragmented thinking at universities in which departments function in virtual isolation from the whole, speaking their own jargon, competing with other departments for funding, and paying lip service to interdisciplinary education that only results in the creation of new specialized subfields. In 1990, Bruce Wilshire, Professor Emeritus from Rutgers, in the Moral Collapse of the University, outlined the dysfunctional structure of higher education, “stressing division and difference … at the expense of connectedness and community.” He decried the loss of liberal arts, originally intended to be “liberated thinking.” He felt the university had deteriorated into a professional diploma mill. Now it can’t even be counted on to produce a job. Higher education is in need of reform from the ground up.

What is needed is an original model of education that is coherent, cohesive and whole in itself, in which all aspects of a school are in relationship to each other. SEED Graduate Institute is seeking funding to establish a graduate institute with such a structure, bringing together five lodges of learning in one whole: Science and Cosmology, Ecology, Expressive Arts, Healing and Indigenous ways of Knowing. The SEED program recognizes that any field can be informed by all other fields. The students will be encouraged to approach their learning as one integrated whole. This not only produces students who will be comprehensive and creative thinkers; it also gives them a better chance to make their mark in a world in which overspecialization has produced diminishing returns. SEED students will be learning the skills that are becoming increasingly in demand as our world becomes smaller and smaller. Complex problems, such as global climate change, world economy, food security and ecological sustainability, do not conform to disciplinary borders. SEED students who bring original thinking to these issues will serve a vital purpose in modern society, as they will be the change agents that introduce whole and balanced solutions to parties that currently cling to fragmentary and partial approaches.

The Need for Dialogue

David Bohm, the renowned physicist and colleague of Einstein, understood that fragmentary thinking produces a fragmentary society. He developed a unique method of dialogue that asked participants to suspend their present assumptions and beliefs and listen deeply for the purpose of understanding, rather than to convert another to one’s point of view. He saw the potential of developing a “participatory consciousness” in a group that begins to think together. Bohm recognized that participatory thought, while largely repressed in modern, Euro-American consciousness, might still be present in Indigenous societies. This awareness was a foreshadowing of what was to come when Blackfoot elder Leroy Little Bear (former dean of Native Studies at Harvard and the future academic dean of SEED) chose to approach Bohm and initiate science dialogues between Native American elders and Western scientists, an action that led to SEED continuing this tradition and the pending launch of SEED Graduate Institute.

Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Dialogue

The SEED program is inclusive, interconnected and whole; it is centered in Indigenous ways of knowing and dialogue as an opening to all ways of knowing. The central position of Indigenous ways of knowing is chosen specifically because it represents an already existing epistemology for understanding the natural world as a complete whole. Dialogue serves a similar purpose, for it allows for the inclusion of all points of view around a circle. The two approaches together ensure that SEED provides an environment in which students are equal participants in the co-creation of knowledge.

SEED began as an open university, or learning network, in 1996. In 1999, it began the Language of Spirit dialogue conference, taking on the tradition begun in 1992 by Little Bear and Bohm. The Language of Spirit conference is considered a Science and Cosmology conference at SEED. In addition to it, SEED has introduced a variety of conferences in each of the areas of learning, including Ecology (Oil and Water: 2006); Expressive Arts (Art and Soul – 2004 and the Talking Stick Film Festival – 2008); and Healing (Peace and Well-Being – 2002 and Songs of the Earth – 2005). While all of these conferences have been successful, The Language of Spirit conference has become the signature conference of SEED. It has continued annually for over a decade since its inception, and has garnered significant critical acclaim, including being the subject of two documentary films and two entire issues of ReVision Journal. A hybrid of Bohmian Dialogue and Plains Indian talking circle has been developed and formalized during the past decade, and this has formed the basis of the core pedagogy of SEED. This form of dialogue has the potential to diffuse seemingly intractable dichotomies – and because of this, the ramifications and potential benefits for society extend far beyond academe – and could be utilized to mitigate or dissolve political disputes or pressing social issues, such as health care reform or global climate change. SEED is currently working to extend the uses of dialogue to these and other arenas.

Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Stewardship of Land

Indigenous peoples are so named because they have remained, to a larger degree, in touch with the lands they have inhabited for centuries. The Indigenous relationship with land is in marked contrast to mainstream society, which has become displaced from nature; yet, in recent times, there is a growing desire among many individuals in non-Indigenous society to reconnect to the land. This desire is more than an increasing awareness of the necessity of altering our patterns of abuse of the air, water and other constituents of life; it is a deep seated longing for relearning how to live in rhythm and harmony with nature, because we know at some level that we must do this in order to heal ourselves and our world.

The SEED program instills a sense of ethical responsibility behind the actions of its students, faculty and administration. It restores a balance between head and heart, spirit and intellect, and promotes the common good, rising above mere self-interest to engage in social cooperation and altruism. These are the ingredients that cultivate wisdom and a more coherent society. The alternative is a continuation of a fractured university and a fractured society based on greed and narrow interests – something we can no longer afford to continue without risking the destruction of all we hold dear.

The Mission and Vision of SEED Graduate Institute

The mission of SEED Graduate Institute is to provide the highest quality graduate education by bringing together Indigenous and other ways of knowing in dialogue for the purpose of fostering original thinking which is increasingly inclusive, interconnected and whole. The Board of Trustees of SEED envisions a world where education reconnects and renews our relationships with Nature in beauty and harmony. If this too is the kind of world you envision, then we encourage you to support SEED at the highest level possible.

Sustaining the Mission of SEED

In order to launch and sustain the Graduate Institute, SEED is currently seeking the support of government as well as private foundational and individual support. To achieve accreditation, we must have adequate non-tuition based financial reserves ($250,000 to $500,000) to ensure that students can complete their graduate degrees and that the school can grow and implement existing and new programs. Since government and private foundational support is known to be dependent on shifting financial forces, it is essential that we establish an inner circle of 100 visionary private donors to contribute an average of $500 per year, which would include twenty-five donors to support SEED at a level of $1000 and up.

Immediate Needs

Our most pressing immediate need is to expand and move our operations from our current location one mile east of UNM to a larger facility that ideally is located within the UNM main or UNM south campus. In doing so, we can continue building a strong partnership with the Native Studies, Geosciences and other UNM departments, and make use of substantial facilities at UNM south campus, including a Rotunda, where we can hold ongoing dialogue groups, as well as various classroom and auditorium facilities where we can establish our programs as an independent school in affiliation with UNM. At the present time, SEED is working with UNM on various grant proposals, including proposals to expand dialogue circles into a think tank that brings together local Indigenous knowledge with leading-edge science to work on global climate change mapping and other ecological, arts and well-being issues.

In order to move to UNM and establish our facilities there, we have set a goal of $50,000 for a short-term campaign, and have received initial pledges of $10,000 toward our goal. We now need an average of $250-$500 from approximately one-hundred more SEED supporters to reach our goal. Please give your support at this critical time to ensure that we can continue to enact our mission and programs and establish our roots at UNM so we may extend our practice of dialogue to better serve our local and well as global communities.