AI (as large language models) is becoming increasingly woven into our daily lives. Our thoughts, longings, and our ways of making meaning are changing, with new questions arising around what it means to be human and to engage in “spiritual” matters. What trends are surfacing as our tools can seem to listen better than friends, comfort us, or provide us with both a sense of security and a sense of wonder? We’ll explore how generative AI’s unique and complex ways of reflecting back to us invite new takes on old desires for meaning, certainty, and purpose. About our Speaker: Mari Budlong is a mother of four, sister to four, a veteran, coach, and multi-faceted human who believes our humanity is worth tending as we grow alongside our quickly evolving technology. With a deep concern for the relational and ecological impacts of our choices — digital and otherwise — she brings heart, humor, and wonder to conversations where bot meets soul.
This is a one of the best Academy Sessions yet!! In this presentation, Dr. Felicia Wu, Distinguished Professor of Food Safety, Toxicology and Risk Assessment at Michigan State University, will discuss the history of US government agencies in Food, Safety and Nutrition. A detailed analysis is done of the 2026 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans with the controversial inverted food pyramid: https://cdn.realfood.gov/DGA.pdf
Felicia overviews the new revisions to the RFK sponsored Dietary Guidelines for Americans. She provides evidence of the different impacts of vegan, vegetarian and omnivarian diets on men and women. She also discusses the environmental and equity issues that are effected by our food choices and the recommendations of our governments.
At its core Christian Nationalism is a political-ideological view that a particular nation either is or should be a Christian nation — meaning the identity, culture, laws or governance of that country should reflect a specific form of Christianity. It is distinct from simply “being Christian” or “Christian values influencing society.” Rather, it tends to assert that Christianity (or a particular interpretation of it) should enjoy a privileged or dominant status in national life, and that political/civic institutions should reflect or enforce it. There are growing concerns that Christian Nationalist ideas weaken democratic institutions by reducing the separation between church and state, or privileging a particular religious-civic identity over pluralism. It also poses challenges for religious freedom and minority rights: when one tradition is privileged in law or policy, other faiths or secular citizens may find themselves marginalized. Some countries heavily impacted by this movement include the United States, Brazil, Poland, Hungary, Kenya and other sub-Saharan nations.
We began this session by watching a short 20-minute educational video (by James Talarico) on the impact of Christian Nationalism and how we might move beyond it. We then reviewed and discussed the implications of Christian Nationalism for affected nations (with a particular focus on the United States) and for liberal religion as a whole.
The October Academy presentation featured guest speaker Mark Reimers.
How do the billions of neurons in your head, tangled together like jello spaghetti, produce feeling, determination, love and laughter? Waking up, deliberation, remembering, effortful thinking, inner conflict, and day-dreaming are all aspects of consciousness. We will discuss how studies of brain activity during these kinds of experience can help clarify these questions. Will humans of the future understand consciousness? What difference could that make to how they live? Will the science of consciousness lead to enlightenment and understanding or to precise effective Machiavellian manipulation?
