Institute of World Culture
Program for 2025

Theme for the Year:
CONCORD AND COMMUNITY

 

Forum
Concord and Community

Saturday, January 11th, 2025
2:00–4:00 pm (PST). Free and open to all.
Live webcast (details below) and
In Person at
Concord Hall, 1407 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara, CA
Presenters: Robert Moore and Kirk Gradin

Ancient wisdom traditions as well as poets and mystics from diverse cultures, portray the entire cosmos as a vast unified community, each living being indissolubly and interdependently interconnected with all other beings, each mirroring the whole in resplendent, though largely invisible, concord. On the visible human plane, however, we often seem enmeshed in polarization, internal and external disharmony, discord and strife with neighbors, communities, sects and institutions. What lies at the roots of such conflict and where are the hidden aquifers of healing solidarity and fraternity? Can philosophical and practical idealism, aims, paradigms and their resonant exemplars, past or present, help us move more wisely and creatively toward the white light of reconciliation, the restoration of harmonious kinship with each other and with Nature despite our diversities, current faults and past failures? This forum will attempt to engage us in such pressing questions as an introduction to the Institute of World Culture’s 2025 keynote theme: “Concord and Community.”

Biographical Information
Robert Moore is a life-long student of Plato and of wisdom traditions East and West. He has lived a life of service to the Santa Barbara community as an RN in acute rehabilitative medicine with a second career in non-profit educational programing and planning. As a member of IWC since its inception, he is known as a center of communal harmony, good humor and intuitive insight.

Kirk Gradin is a semi-retired local architect, illustrator and writer on topics of mystic philosophy, the spiritual in the arts and mythic symbolism. He has given recent presentations on ‘Pythagorean Harmonics’, ‘New Paradigms of Consciousness’, the Irish mystic George William Russell, and Henry David Thoreau.

Live webcast begins at the same time as the in-person program at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/user/iwcinsantabarbara/streams
A video of this program will also be available at the same link for future viewing.

Image: Institute of World Culture Stain Glass Window
Click here for a printer-friendly flyer

 

 

Forum
Celebrating Cultural Diversity in Music


Saturday, January 25th, 2025
2:00–4:00 pm (PST). Free event
Live webcast (details below) and In Person at
Concord Hall, 1407 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara, CA
Presenters: Scott Marcus and the UCSB Middle East Ensemble

The University of California Santa Barbara Middle East Ensemble will present a lecture/demonstration celebrating the cultural diversity of Middle East music traditions. Directed by UCSB Professor Scott Marcus, the Ensemble will present a three-part program: First, music representing religious traditions from Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen. Second, examples of shared traditions (Lebanese/Persian; Syrian/New York; Azerbaijani and its neighbors). Third, they will conclude with two songs, Armenian and Egyptian, celebrating gatherings of family and friends. Join us for an afternoon of exciting music and celebration with one of Santa Barbara’s most loved musical groups!

Live webcast begins at the same time as the in-person program at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/user/iwcinsantabarbara/streams
A video of this program will also be available at the same link for future viewing.

Image: UCSB Department of Music
Click here for a printer-friendly flyer