Calendar
Join us from June 25-August 30 for our Summer 2026 program! Our calendar below is regularly updated. In addition to posted programs, we offer daily yoga, Zen Buddhist meditation, regular group hikes, etc.
Ideas or questions? Please email programs@worldfellowship.org!
August 2022
Showing up for Racial Justice
Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) has its roots in the call from the Black liberation movement in the mid 1960’s. Mae will describe SURJ's work and provide ample space for discussion in pairs, small group and with the full group on the concepts the presentation raises. SURJ is a national organization that brings hundreds of thousands of white people into fights for racial and economic justice. At SURJ, we bring our folks in by offering a better alternative: a…
Find out more »Climate and Militarism – Interconnections
Join us for a conversation on the intersection of militarism and climate crisis with Massachusetts Peace Action (MAPA) Peace and Climate working group member Nick Rabb! He will be talking about why it's necessary to organize against systems of domination, including militarized ones, if we are to address the climate crisis. He'd also like to talk about how we get there -- organizing and political tactics that he sees as essential for doing this work. Nick Rabb is a PhD candidate…
Find out more »Beyond Nuclear
Join Paul and Linda Gunter, Co-Directors of Beyond Nuclear, for a program updating us on nuclear weapons- as they have recently returned from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons!
Find out more »No Coal No Gas with Emma-Shapiro Weiss
No Coal No Gas is a campaign to shut down the last coal power plant in New England, in Bow, NH. In just one hour, the Merrimack Generating Station emits as much carbon as the average American does in 26 years. Ratepayers pay millions of dollars in subsidies even though the plant provides less than 1% of our power. Learn more about this strong regional coalition.
Find out more »The Tao of K-Drama
How does ancient Korean wisdom show up on television and how can this wisdom help us navigate modern times? Join us to explore this cross section of ancient wisdom and modernity with Mindy Fullilove. Mindy is a psychiatrist and a professor of urban policy and health at The New School in New York City.
Find out more »Voices of a Peoples History- Readings that Matter
Today would have been Howard Zinn's 100th birthday! In honor of it, circle up with Octavia Driscoll and read some passages from his book, Voices of a People's History.
Find out more »Morning Time- Sound Exploration
Ear concerts? Morning sounding? Singing with friends? Let’s begin the day exploring the creative invitations that sound offers, and the capacity it builds within us to listen more deeply. with Douglas Farrand, Aubrey Murdock, Margaux Simmons
Find out more »Music City Concert
Join us for a wonderful outdoor concert by the Schmauch meeting room, featuring Astral Underground!
Find out more »Astral Underground
ASTRAL UNDERGROUND is a trio ensemble from Enosburg Falls and Sheldon, Vermont, with Margaux Simmons, flutes; John Notaro, drums and percussion; and Ben Maddox, keys and guitar. They play ethereally improvised music that is inspired by each of their eclectic musical backgrounds.
Find out more »And the Category Is….
Join us for a discussion of Ricky Tucker's LA Times Bestseller, "And the Category Is...": a love letter to a legendary Black and Latinx LGBTQ underground subculture, uncovering its abundant legacy and influence in popular culture. As as kickoff to our week of embodiment work, Ricky will focus on how embodied healing has manifested in Ballroom culture.
Find out more »Multi-Modal Art
Long before "Talk Therapy, " Humans expressed themselves by dancing, singing, drawing and community rituals and poets expressed feelings through a non linear format of writing called poetry. We will discover and share feelings in this way, using Movement, writing, drawing and performing. The emphasis is on staying grounded in our senses and exploring, not on creating a finished "product." Anne is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and has an MFA in Dance. She has been an Improviser in Dance…
Find out more »Poetry Workshop
Join Andy Izenson of These Rooms Don’t Know Our Names (a poetry workshop for trauma workers) to share, devour, and write poems together. Poets, non-poets, poetry lovers, and poetry haters welcome! Part 1 of 3!
Find out more »Multimedia Exquisite Corpse
The Exquisite Corpse is a surrealist art technique whereby multiple artists, writers, and creators in any medium play and create together across and between genres, inspired by and bouncing off one another, to release conscious control over the process of creation and allow something new to create itself through us. No prior experience, artistic prowess, or preferred medium required; only playful curiosity! Part 2 of 2
Find out more »Surrealist Salon
After spending the day soaking in art and magic in a beautiful space, we will gather to share art, poetry, and music – things we created that day, things we’ve been working on, or just things we love! Part 3 of 3
Find out more »Improv Workshop
Anne's Improv Theater and Movement class is a safe, structured and inclusive class consisting of numerous exercises and "games," derived from her extensive background in Modern Dance and experimental theater and dance. We will create whimsical characters through simple movement and vocal experiments and play with giving the characters different emotions. Then we will do very short "scenes, "in different locations or "worlds," both fantasy and realistic.
Find out more »That Which Wishes To Articulate Itself In You with Andy
Jewish anarchist mysticism weaves elusively through the worlds of art, politics, and religion, informing all three with the concept of do’ikayt, or “hereness.” This talk will bring together threads of the Jewish roots of the Dada and Surrealist movements as they burst into queerness with the work of Claude Cahun, William S. Burroughs and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, and examine in particular the Cut-Up method as employed by those artists across media before examining an application of the same method to…
Find out more »Guided Meditation with Andy
To help us prepare for the days ahead, this ritual is an opportunity to ground in the thing that nobody can take away from us, no matter how bad things get: the gift of being a creature. If the language of “magic” works well for you, we can use that; if you’d prefer to consider this an exercise in psychological and somatic processing using tools drawn from the work of Eugene Gendlin, Starhawk, Halko Weiss, and Bessel Van Der Kolk, that’s…
Find out more »Multi-Modal Art
Long before "Talk Therapy, " Humans expressed themselves by dancing, singing, drawing and community rituals and poets expressed feelings through a non linear format of writing called poetry. We will discover and share feelings in this way, using Movement, writing, drawing and performing. The emphasis is on staying grounded in our senses and exploring, not on creating a finished "product." Anne is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and has an MFA in Dance. She has been an Improviser in Dance…
Find out more »September 2022
POSTPONED: The Art of Healing Racialized Trauma, Inner-Standings: Embodying Race
Due to funding concerns - this intensive will be postponed until Summer 2023. We hope you'll check back in with us! ..... Are you on an antiracism journey and looking to deepen your exploration? This interactive workshop series will provide participants with embodied experience to bring somatic awareness, and share transformational practices to address racialized trauma to begin healing. As a three-day multiracial group series with morning and afternoon sessions, the workshop combines somatic awareness, somatic dialogue, and somatic witnessing…
Find out more »Improv Workshop
Anne's Improv Theater and Movement class is a safe, structured and inclusive class consisting of numerous exercises and "games," derived from her extensive background in Modern Dance and experimental theater and dance. We will create whimsical characters through simple movement and vocal experiments and play with giving the characters different emotions. Then we will do very short "scenes, "in different locations or "worlds," both fantasy and realistic.
Find out more »Viewpoints with Anne Bassen
The Viewpoints Workshop, besides being a format for improvising, can also be seen as a form of embodied Mindfulness, as the participants will be mindfully focusing on different points of their awareness in the moment. Engaging in The Viewpoints requires each individual to be mindful within themselves but also mindful of the group composition they are creating together in the moment. Sometimes The Viewpoints is called “instant choreography.” Since engaging in The Viewpoints requires each participant to be fully present,…
Find out more »Concert! David and Jacob Bernz
Join us Labor Day Weekend for a folk concert featuring the father/son duo of David and Jacob Bernz! Outside of Schmauch, followed with a campfire and smores! David and Jacob Bernz are a father-son team of folksingers and songwriters hailing from New York State’s Hudson Valley region. David has been performing for over forty years and has toured the United States, Canada and Israel. David had a close relationship with the late Pete Seeger and earned two Grammy Awards for…
Find out more »Celebration of Howie!!
Join the WFC community to celebrate Howie Fain as his last year as recreation coordinator comes to a close. Starting with a morning bike ride, followed by a cookout and party on the lawn with games, and finishing strong with some of Howie's favorite rec activities: Split Rock, stargazing, etc! Come say thank you for all the hikes, bikes, and canoe trips we've all taken with Howie the past 16 years!
Find out more »June 2023
Fun Night!
Every Friday, bring your song, poem, skit, stand-up routine, strange-but-beguiling act, instrument, dance, juggling, etc., to entertain and amuse. All ages, all acts… all love it every Friday!
Find out more »July 2023
Healing Justice: Making the Case for Abolition
Grace Kindeke is Program Coordinator and Ophelia Burnett is Healing Justice Coordinator for American Friends Service Committee - NH. Join us to explore a vision for and practice of abolition in our modern day lives. We will start by grounding ourselves in a history of how incarceration and criminalization have evolved in the US. We will learn how these systems of punishment do not solve the root cause of the social problems people and communities experience and instead perpetuate violent…
Find out more »Jean Rohe
Jean Rohe, appearing as a solo artist this night, writes one-of-a-kind narrative songs, concerned as much with the interior lives of her narrators as with the wider world outside them. Jean recently won the 2022 Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk songwriting contest with her deeply personal and timely song “Animal”. Her latest album as a bandleader, Sisterly, won best Adult Contemporary Album at the Independent Music Awards in 2019.
Find out more »Tell Your Story, Change the World
Fanshen Cox, President of TruJoLo Productions, is a producer, writer, educator and performer. In this workshop, we will explore our own personal narratives together, taking a deep dive into our histories and identities, and consider the impact we can have on the world by sharing our stories. You'll leave the workshop with an outline for a book, film or documentary.
Find out more »World Fellowship Jeopardy!
Cooperative work in teams; competition between teams. Use what you know; learn what you don’t. Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy!; will they make the difference? Categories about things you care about; snack bar prizes for winning teams. Participants from teens to seniors; will there be generational advantages and disadvantages? Where else would you get Jeopardy! with a peace and justice twist?
Find out more »Cuba: What’s Old, What’s New?
Diane Stradling traveled to Cuba for the 11th time this past February. In this session, she will share her experiences in Cuba and describe current U.S.-Cuba Relations.
Find out more »Immigration 101 and How Race Matters
Tanya Greene is Director of U.S. Program for Human Rights Watch. Join us for an Independence Day discussion about US immigration law and the disturbing role of race in keeping people outside of US borders (aka how Biden has been hugely disappointing).
Find out more »WF Book of the Summer
A lightly facilitated weekly discussion of the 2023 Book of the Summer selection, Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng. Day/time may vary based on guest preferences each week, or multiple groups may be held in one week. Check the activity board and dining hall announcements. But come prepared to engage with this WF community read.
Find out more »Fireworks, from Below . . . or Above
Like watching a fireworks display? So do we. For the traditional "looking up" perspective, we'll coordinate a trip to nearby Tamworth for some great viewing of their annual fireworks event. Of course, you can also go see the larger display in North Conway, but we recommend taking a different view on that particular event. Join retired Recreation Coordinator and current Acting Executive Director Howie Fain for his annual night hike up Black Cap mountain for a spectacular bird's eye view…
Find out more »S’more Community Campfire
Gather around the campfire every Wednesday evening for community, stories, bits of music breaking out, stories… and s’mores!
Find out more »Public & Private in Energy, Climate & Weather
Dan Kirk-Davidoff is a climate and energy systems scientist. In this presentation, Dan will share the evolution of public and private organizations operating in the realm of weather and cimate change, and consider how different governance and ownership models influence policy, public and private knowledge and behavior. We'll explore the question: What is the proper role of government and private organizations in weather forecasting and climate analysis and prediction?
Find out more »Up and Over: Major Taylor Road Rides in the Mountains of New Hampshire
Major Taylor Road Rides in the Mountains of New Hampshire are a part of a weekend of celebration and appreciation for the first Black World Champion of any major sport, as bicycle racing was when Marshall "Major" Taylor dominated it in 1899 and beyond. Read about the three rides of varying distances and mountain pass challenges in Up and Over. The weekend is a joint effort of the Major Taylor Association and World Fellowship Center, and includes educational materials and…
Find out more »Russia’s War in Ukraine: How We Got Here and What You Can Do
Dr. Emily Channell-Justice is Director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at Harvard's Ukrainian Research Institute. This presentation will discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian response, and how to help the people of Ukraine. Dr. Channell-Justice is an expert on contemporary Ukraine who has been doing research in the country since 2012; she was most recently in Warsaw in the spring and summer of 2022 to help with the refugee response. Join Dr. Channell-Justice after lunch (provided) for a…
Find out more »Music City Concert
Douglas, Margaux, Ray, Reinita, Janis, and friends from University of Orange perform. UofOrange’s Music City program supports musicians and music-making communities to bridge siloes and build solidarity in Orange, NJ. This concert features performances from several Music City organizers spanning a range from hip-hop to classical to free jazz. UofOrange is a free school of Restoration Urbanism in Orange, NJ.
Find out more »Tao of K-Drama
How does ancient Korean wisdom show up on television and how can this wisdom help us navigate modern times? Join Dr. Mindy Fullilove of University of Orange to explore this cross section of ancient wisdom and modernity. Mindy is a psychiatrist and a professor of urban policy and health at The New School in New York City.
Find out more »Mt. Chocorua Writing Week Introduction
Join Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie and Ellen Meeropol for five days of words and play in the natural beauty of the southern White Mountains, at the Mt. Chocorua Writing Week. Where do we find inspiration? What connects us? How do we maintain a writing practice in a frenetic world? This workshop, offered free for World Fellowship guests, will be a generative and generous space, less concerned with genres and critiques, more focused on connecting with our work, the natural world, and…
Find out more »Mt. Chocorua Writing Week
Join Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie and Ellen Meeropol for five days of words and play in the natural beauty of the southern White Mountains, at the Mt. Chocorua Writing Week. Where do we find inspiration? What connects us? How do we maintain a writing practice in a frenetic world? This workshop, offered free for World Fellowship guests, will be a generative and generous space, less concerned with genres and critiques, more focused on connecting with our work, the natural world, and…
Find out more »Understanding History Through Fiction
Ellen Meeropol is a novelist and co-facilitator of the Mt. Chocorua Writing Week. The novelist Dahlma LlanosFigueroa writes that “history reflects life from the outside in. Fiction reflects life from the inside out. One focuses on events, the other on the effects of those events on characters.” Ellen will read from her new novel, The Lost Women of Azalea Court, and talk about writing fiction based on real-life abuse of power. Q & A to follow.
Find out more »Main St Walk
Take a walk down Tamworth’s Main Street with University of Orange's Urbanism department and Tamworth residents Andy Davis and Hannah Lally. We’ll draw from UofOrange co-founder Dr. Mindy Fullilove’s book “Main Street: How a City’s Heart Connects Us All” to see how Main Streets everywhere are key to helping us solve the problems of our world. UofOrange is a free school of Restoration Urbanism in Orange, NJ.
Find out more »Open Mic: Readings by Writing Week Participants
Participants in the Mt. Chocorua Writing Week are encouraged to read at this open mic event. The event is open to all.
Find out more »Learning about World Fellowship’s Land
Three years ago, World Fellowship granted three separate conservation easements to the Upper Saco Valley Land Trust in order to permanently protect nearly 400 acres of the land and shorefront on Whitton Pond. Part of this process included an assessment of our land to see what was there. Learn about what they identified in their survey - streams, marshes, peatlands, swamps, vernal pools, trees and rich forest soil, and nesting sites for the Common Loon, who have returned to Whitton…
Find out more »Bio Blitz
World Fellowship is hosting a Bio Blitz on Saturday and Sunday, in which small teams will work with naturalists to find and identify as many species as possible on our four hundred wooded acres, wetlands, and ponds within a 24 hour period. This includes trees, plants, birds, insects, mushrooms, birds, and other animals. It will also offer the opportunity for nature drawing lead by experienced illustrators.This event will be led by Larry Millman, author, mycologist and world explorer, who will…
Find out more »Bloco Montanha Verde
Burlington Vermont's own samba street band is guaranteed to get you on your feet and moving to its pulsating carnaval rhythms. The huge sound of drummers playing their contagious brand of Afro-Brazilian percussion is irresistable to people of all ages. Patterned after Brazilian Carnaval percussion orchestras with up to 300 musicians, Bloco Montanha Verde is a smaller scale version of the traditional community street bands found in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. Smaller to fit the scale of their Vermont…
Find out more »Nature Photography Workshop
Gina Bilander presents a Nature Photography Workshop: All ages, levels of skill and equipment are welcome as we learn how to translate what we see and respond to into photographs: the art and science of light. Morning sessions which may include field trips. Daily handouts given on the history of photography and nature essays.
Find out more »Environmental Justice
Green Roots is a community-based organization in Chelsea MA. With a majority Latinix population, the city ranks 2nd in the state for population density with 25% of residents living below the poverty line. A representative will talk about their work to address the the environmental and public health threats in their community. Through organizing and political action they have been successful in cleaning air pollution hot spots, stopping the transport of dangerous fuels by trains through their community and a…
Find out more »Empowerment to Action on the Climate Crisis
Lynne Cherry is a climate activist, author and illustrator of over thirty nature-themed children's books including the NY Times best-seller, Under the Kapok Tree, a picture book about the ecological importance of the Amazon rainforest. She has also founded and directed the Center for Children's Environmental Literature and Young Voices for the Planet, and has produced documentary films which highlight the power the young people have to take action about the climate crisis. Lynne will talk about the actions that…
Find out more »Tools for Climate Justice Work
This session will introduce participants to the skill set of how to analyze environmental and energy (in)justice. Participants will have the opportunity to share their experiences in climate activism.
Find out more »Renewable Energy with Justice
David McDermott Hughes is professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. The transition away from fossil fuels is not primarily an engineering problem. One does not simply install solar and wind farms and collect profits as corporations are doing now – and provoking local resistance significant enough to slow or stop the energy transition altogether. We will discuss alternatives that are both progressive and necessary, including faster ways to retire oil, gas, and the means of achieving public ownership of wind…
Find out more »Ukeleles!
Molly and Dan Watt, the creators of the original World Fellowship Ukelele week, are back. with a long weekend gathering, though with no faculty – and therefore no added program fee. We will all make the program when we get there. Maybe someone will suggest a theme: Beatles, 20s pop, 50s rock-n-roll, folk music, gospel songs, Hawaiian songs and hula? Whatever strikes our fancy. Every evening, singing on the porch after the evening program. Bring your old uke festival resource…
Find out more »Margaret Bourke-White
Gina Bilander shares about the life and work of the pioneering photographer, Margaret Bourke-White. She pioneered the role of a woman photographer by documenting the Soviet Union, WWII, from the beginnings of the Nazi era, while flying on bombing missions to the liberation of the Concentration Camps, India and South Africa's anti-apartheid movement. The power of bearing witness to racism, war and the daily struggles of people's lives remains relevant today.
Find out more »Forest Bathing
Tam Willey (they/them) is a certified forest therapy guide, trainer, mentor and teacher with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy and is the founder of Toadstool Walks, a guiding practice based in Boston, Massachusetts. Slow down and awaken your senses and lean into the sensation of being alive. Inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, forest bathing is a restorative sensory exploration that supports health and healing for all beings. From increased cerebral blood flow to stronger immune defenses,…
Find out more »George & Ruth: Songs and Letters of the Spanish Civil War
George and Ruth: Songs and Letters of the Spanish Civil War, is a two-hander play about the international struggle against fascism leading up to World War II. Told through George Watt’s letters from the Lincoln Battalion in Spain (read by his son, Dan Lynn Watt) to his wife Ruth and letters to George from Ruth, an organizer in New York (read by Molly Lynn Watt). The letters reveal the human side of the Spanish Civil War, through their passionate love…
Find out more »Wednesday Morning Visits to a Farm
Wednesday Morning Visits to a Farm The Olde Ways at Mustard Seed Farm 176 Ledge Hill Road Center Tuftonboro NH Join Dina Farrell for a walking tour through her magical gardens full of edible herbs, flowers, and delicious vegetables. Taste, learn, and experience how humans and plants can thrive while working together. Also, meet her many animals including cows, chickens, and cats After the tour, check out her amazing apothecary shop loaded with herbs, teas, crafts from local artists, jewelry,…
Find out more »A Quest to Thrive: Economics of Enslavement and Portsmouth’s Early Black Community
Angela Matthews is a tour guide on the Black Heritage Trail in Portsmouth, NH. The poignant stories that led to the establishment of the Black Heritage Trail, and its juxtaposition to the house museums that now mark the lives of the privileged whites in that city, bring into focus an economic system dependent upon international slave trade with its constant supply of kidnapped unpaid African workers and their descendants, who, against the odds, created one of this country's oldest Black…
Find out more »Love Without Borders: LGBT Asylum Task Force
The LGBT Asylum Task Force is a church ministry in Worcester, MA that supports LGBTQ+ asylum seekers by providing housing, food, and connection to legal, medical and mental resources at local agencies. Asylees who have fled persecution and danger in their home countries and eventually made their way to this welcoming ministry recount their stories and their resolve to live their lives safely, freely and lovingly.
Find out more »Soccer with Stu Ball
Stu Ball continues his legendary all age, all skills, all everything soccer games. Important note: the listed DAY is only an approximate placeholder; there will be two days scheduled this week, but the actual weekday (M-F) they occur on may vary due to weather, and player availability.
Find out more »Love Can Conquer Suffering: Peace Advocates Working through Grassroots Activism
Kevin Martin is president of national Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund. Peace activists take seriously Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s admonition to address the Giant Triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation, as they are inextricably linked. It could be argued that of the three, militarism is the most easily accepted and least challenged by broader US society. When looking at the gargantuan Pentagon budget (while social and environmental programs go begging for sufficient investment), $2 trillion upgrade…
Find out more »Optimism, Fantasy, and Denial: The Common Ground of the Right and the Left
Arnold Farr, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kentucky, will address how both the right and the left have supported a false narrative about American identity. This narrative has been used in different ways by the two groups, but nevertheless, has led us to our present political and social situation. Some features of this narrative include American exceptionalism, denial about our violent origins, the obsession with comfort, the lack of action driven by a real progressive agenda and the…
Find out more »Seasoned Clams Anti-Nuke Reunion
"Seasoned Clams" is a group of anti-nukers who came together in the 1970s as the New England-Wide Clamshell Alliance to stop a nuclear power plant in Seabrook, New Hampshire through direct action and civil disobedience. We're thrilled that they keep gathering at World Fellowship each summer, not just for reunion, but to share their important continuing work, anti-nuclear and more.
Find out more »Multicultural History of Women & Music & All of Us Finding Our Own Voice
Judy Gorman is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. Our society pushes passive commercial consumption of culture rather than creating and sharing it, which isolates and disempowers us. Most people insist they can not sing and can learn this is not true. This workshop will share decades of research on our musical heritage and will support workshop attendees in exploring how to find their own voice …and use that voice. Songs will be performed and shared. Another world is indeed possible.
Find out more »Tomas Rodriguez, Julian Gerstin and Barry Kornhauser
Bringing a unique blend of repertoire and instrumentation, Tomas Rodriguez (guitar) with Julian Gerstin (percussion) and Barry Kornhauser (cello) present an engaging mix of music ranging from the tunes of Venezuelan harp masters to unique arrangements of the compositions of the Malian kora virtuoso Toumani Diabaté. Their own compositions, emerging from their diverse musical inspirations, include Argentinian milongas, Brazilian choros, and contemporary flamenco.
Find out more »Elections In An Uncertain World: Fearing Them More in ’24? Part 1: What Are The Issues That Motivate Us To Act — Or Not Act?
Chris Owens is the former Campaign Manager for his father, the late Congressman Major R. Owens (D-NY), a former elected Democratic "District Leader," and campaign consultant. Part 1 of Chris' two part workshop: The 2024 Presidential election cycle has started. We will explore the dimensions of this question: Do I have faith in the American "democratic" experiment? Why do I consider myself "motivated" to believe, to vote and/or to volunteer in a political context? Am I motivated enough to persevere…
Find out more »Elections in an Uncertain World: Fearing Them More in ’24? Part 2: What Are The Actions We Can Take? What Are Our Preferences?
In Part 2 of Chris Owens' workshop, we will explore the methods we each use to sustain our beliefs and to advocate for them. Some of us are talkers, some are walkers, some are writers, some are riders, some are strategists, some are activists. What works for me? What do I like to do? Can I sustain my choices over a long period of time?
Find out more »What Will It Take to End Mass Incarceration?
Marc Mauer is the Senior Advisor to the Sentencing Project. This year marks a half century since the inception of mass incarceration. Policy reforms adopted in the past decade have made inroads into reducing prison populations, but a sustained challenge to the system will require a wholesale rethinking of the American commitment to punishment.
Find out more »August 2023
The North Star Project at WFC: People of Color and the Natural World
Winston C. Cox is a career public school educator and proud member of Kilombo Novo, Capoeira Angola, who's been coming to WF for over 40 years. This session explores the profound and historical ways that people of color have relied upon the natural world to support our humanity & liberation movements, from millenia before colonial contact, to the adaptations made upon contact (think North Star, Wade in the Water, plant medicine, etc.). We look to inspire new generations of people…
Find out more »The Right’s Attacks on Public Schools and the Movement for Education Equity
Megan Hester is the National Campaign Director, NYU Metro Center and a lead organizer for H.E.A.L. Together. A new wave of culture wars has politicized and divided communities across the country under the guise of parental rights and curriculum debates. Educational gag order bills banning the teaching of topics of race, gender and sexuality have been introduced in 41 states, and this activity has been financed by political and corporate elites working to drive a racial wedge among diverse communities…
Find out more »“War is the Greatest Evil”
Liz Kelner is a retired social worker, lifelong activist for peace and justice, and group facilitator who's been coming to WFC since 1972. Liz uses Chris Hedge's book of the same name as the foundation for an interactive workshop, beginning with the premise that there is no justification for initiating war, ever, for any reason. A lively exchange of ideas will be encouraged!
Find out more »Ty Citerman
Guitarist/composer Ty Citerman performs with a wide range of ensembles, including his newest Time Phase Trio and radical Yiddish songsters Bop Kabbalah+Voices. This summer, he returns to WFC to perform a special solo set of original music, improvisations, jazz tunes, classical and folk pieces, plus a handful of surprises from his diverse palette of musical interests. Six strings with electronics will make for a truly engaging and provocative Saturday night set.
Find out more »Hiroshima Remembrance Ceremony
Andrea Walsh, past Co-Director of World Fellowship Center, leads our community gathering at WFC Peace Rock for a Hiroshima Day ceremony, and discussion about what peace really means -- for self, community, and the world.
Find out more »English-subtitled world premiere of the film, FATHERS OF A THOUSAND SUNS (83 minute film, followed by discussion)
With Robert Oppenheimer once again in the popular consciousness, on this Hiroshima Day anniversary, learn about the fascinating history of Klaus Fuchs, atomic scientist on the Manhattan Project, only to then be imprisoned in Great Britain for providing the Soviet Union with research from the Project. For the first time, this German-language film will be accessible to English speakers, through subtitles, thanks to the work of Professor Barton Byg, who will present the film at World Fellowship, and the DEFA…
Find out more »World Fellowship as a Dialogue Center
Christoph and Kit Schmauch were Co-Directors of World Fellowship Center from 1970-2000. With their vast perspective of World Fellowship history to aid them, they hone in on select case studies of what has happened in the implementation of dialogue among staff, guests, and program presenters, since dialogue is the essence of WF, and according to Martin Buber, even of life itself.
Find out more »Why is the Web Doing That?
Joel Couch likes knowing how things work, and sharing that with others in an accessible way. By looking at the nuts and bolts of web technology, a story can be told about some of the patterns of behavior that we often see when using the Internet. The goal is not to teach all about the technology, but to explain about cookies, caching, and the kinds of web features that allow usable software to appear in a web browser. He will…
Find out more »A Discussion with Vermont Lt. Governor David Zuckerman (Progressive/Democratic).
As an organizer in 1992, David Zuckerman was greatly inspired by then Congressman Bernie Sanders. He later served for 18 years in the Vermont legislature before being elected Lt. Governor in 2017. As such he is the highest elected 3rd party official in the country. This discussion will focus on the success of Vermont's Progressive Party as well as how issue organizing and politics can blend together to be a more representative democracy than what we generally see today with…
Find out more »Nigeria’s 2023 Elections — Ground-Level Observations & Global Reflections
In February-March 2023, Nigeria went to the polls and has been passing through some of the most problematic and contested elections since its transition to democracy in 1999. Megan Chapman and Andrew Maki, who have lived and worked in Nigeria for the past 11 years, will share their own observations and the lived realities of their neighbors and colleagues in Lagos throughout this period - while reflecting on how political messaging used by the media-savvy party in power reflects recent…
Find out more »Sol y Canto
It’s not summer at World Fellowship without Rosi and Brian Amador and the magical sounds of Sol y Canto. The good news? In 2023, it will be summer at World Fellowship again as they bring their special blend of "Latin roots music to change the world."
Find out more »Latin America’s New Left Surge
Linda Farthing is an independent scholar and journalist working in Latin America whose.latest book is Coup: A Story of Violence and Resistance in Bolivia (2021). Since 2018, voters in eight Latin American countries have chosen leftwing governments at the ballot box. Rather than merely Pink Tide version 2.0, this new phase of left-identified governments face very different circumstances, characteristics and options
Find out more »Conversations Across Generations
Sara Keenan is an educator and coach. This session will create space to experience the value of being a part of an intergenerational community working for social change. What can we learn from generations other than our own? What myths about our generation might we want to dispel? How can we build healthier and more effective social movements through working across generations?
Find out more »Anti-Semitism Today: How the Right Weaponizes It, and The Left Struggles to Address It
Tammy Shapiro is the Senior U.S. Director of the Diaspora Alliance, which takes on antisemitism and pushes back on bad faith accusations. We will discuss how while antisemitism is a growing concern around the world, bad faith accusations by some forces on the right make it harder to build coalitions on the left to address it.
Find out more »Facing Climate Disruption: A Fictional Vision
Chuck Collins discusses his provocative new novel, Altar to an Erupting Sun, that explores current and future social movements to navigate ecological catastrophe and the culpability of the fossil fuel industry. Collins is co-editor of <ahref="http://www.inequality.org/" >Inequality.org at the Institute for Policy Studies and author of numerous books including Born on Third Base, <a " href="http://www.wealthhoarders.com/">The Wealth Hoarders, and Economic Apartheid in America.
Find out more »How War in Ukraine Can End: Taking Proxy War to the Negotiating Table
Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of both CODEPINK and the international human rights organization Global Exchange. How do we move to a place where negotiations can take place re Ukraine in order to end this war? Medea compares Europe to the political scene in D.C and activism in the US, and draws from her recent book, "War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict" in a search for solutions. Medea will be joined by Rob Shetterly, the creator of…
Find out more »David and Jacob Bernz
David and Jacob Bernz are a father-son team of folksingers and songwriters hailing from New York State’s Hudson Valley region. David has been performing for over forty years and had a close relationship with the late Pete Seeger, earning two Grammy Awards for producing “Pete Seeger, at 89” (Best Folk Album 2008) and “Pete Seeger and the Rivertown Kids – Tomorrow’s Children” (Best Children’s Album 2010). His own performance ensembles have included “Dave, Perry, Rande, “Stone Soup” and “Work o’…
Find out more »A Decade of Struggle Against Mass Forced Evictions of the Urban Poor in Nigeria and Benin
What does it mean for 10,000 people to lose their homes, without prior notice and with extreme violence, through voluntary government action in the space of a day? What does it mean for this kind of action to happen repeatedly over decades in a peace-time democracy with near-total impunity? Megan Chapman and Andrew Maki share experiences from supporting urban poor communities through this kind of mass forced eviction in Lagos and Port Harcourt, Nigeria: the strategies used to support communities…
Find out more »Organizing Non-Profit Worker Unions in the Age of Remote Work
Leslie Fine is a union organizer with the Communications Workers of America Local 1180 and has helped workers win dozens of union campaigns. “If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.” Then why are so many passionate dedicated nonprofit workers at a breaking point? Union organizing among non-profit workers has surged in recent years as workers attempt to make their jobs, organizations, and movements more sustainable through collective power. We’ll discuss what that looks…
Find out more »State of The Union: Patterns, Challenges and Opportunities for US Labor Movement in 2020s
Sarah Hughes is a staff organizer at Labor Notes, a media and organizing project that strives to "put the movement back in the labor movement." We'll take a look at trends, hidden patterns, and issues that are making the US labor movement a thing to watch. The stories of unionizing workers have been everywhere. Starbucks baristas, Amazon warehouse workers, nurses, teachers, film and tv crews, manufacturing workers and more seem to be standing up for their rights in numbers not…
Find out more »Race and Unions
Sarah Hughes is a staff organizer at Labor Notes, a media and organizing project that strives to "put the movement back in the labor movement." Organized labor in the US has had a complicated relationship with racial equity and immigration. We'll explore some of the history of unions as they organize to build power for workers, sometimes for all, and sometimes for a select few. We'll look at our own family histories of race, immigration and work and how we…
Find out more »On Women’s Equality Day: Celebrating, Understanding and Protecting the Right to Vote
Olivia Zink, Director of Open Democracy NH, and Liz Tentarelli, President of League of Women Voters NH. On Women's Equality Day, join us to commemorate women’s efforts to win the vote 103 years ago. We’ll talk about some of the tactics and key figures in the long struggle for women’s voting rights. We’ll explore who else has been left out of voting, and why voting is so important but still at risk. What does this statement by an early activist…
Find out more »Lucy Stone is Coming to Town
Storyteller and actress Judith Black will bring Lucy Stone to life on stage. There was a time in our national history when a married woman did not have legal rights to the money she earned, the property she inherited, or the children she bore. During this same era citizens of the United States thought it a legal and rational pursuit to buy and trade human beings. Lucy Stone, (born Brookfield Massachusetts 1818), decided this was not the nation she wanted…
Find out more »Speaking Truth To Power
Judith Black, a storyteller and activist, will support participants in shaping compelling stories that they can use to speak truth to power. As environmental and climate advocates, we often find ourselves trying to persuade people and making presentations to legislators or large organizaitons of the dire need for climate action . . . yesterday. Facts are necessary and useful, but what people retain are stories. Stories are how we make sense of our world.
Find out more »Choral Singing Week
Come lift your heart and share the joy of singing together with director Gina Samardge of the Beacon Rising Choir and musician Andy Reinhardt as accompanist! All levels, all voices welcome. Sliding scale fee 0-$100 - all are welcome.
Find out more »Puttin’ on Some Harmonies
Bring your instruments, bring your Rise Up Singing books or borrow one of ours, and have fun singing old favorites together 'neath Mt. Chocorua's gaze.
Find out more »Beckys Anonymous: Building Towards Universal Liberation through Personal Growth and Collective Action
Alexia Layne-Lomon, Leigh Beck & Kim Wassel Hardy, founding members of Becky's Anonymous – a mutual aid organization for white women to help end white supremacy-- will present a popular education workshop about reparations and how white people can use economic tools to dismantle structural racism. This will be an interactive experience to share resources and make a plan of action so you too can pay reparations now!
Find out more »September 2023
Welcome to Protest Fest @ Fun Night
All the fun of Fun Night, with the added benefit of kicking off Protest Fest weekend with emcees Eroc and Javi! Bring your song, poem, skit, stand-up routine, strange-but-beguiling act, instrument, dance, juggling, etc., to entertain and amuse. All ages, all acts… all love it every Friday!
Find out more »Click “View All 5 Events” below for the complete Protest Fest schedule for today, including a film, storytelling, song workshop, and an evening concert performance with Pamela Means and Guthrie’s Ghost.
Click "View All 5 Events" for the complete Protest Fest schedule for today, including a film, storytelling, song workshop, and an evening concert performance with Pamela Means and Guthrie's Ghost.
Find out more »We Were There!
We Were There! is a film version of Bev Grant's multi-media show about women's labor history created for presentation at the 2021 Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) Convention. Bev is a musician, founder of the Brooklyn's Women Chorus, and labor activist, who lead the World Fellowship Choral Week for many years. Presented as part of Protest Fest 2023.
Find out more »“To Supply the Entire World with Plenty”: Stories From New Hampshire’s Labor History.
To Supply the Entire World with Plenty: Storyteller and former WFC Co-Director Andy Davis dramatizes little known tales of the struggles of the Granite State’s working people, from the strike of the Cocheco “mill girls” in 1828, to the 1920 Palmer Raids in which hundreds of accused Communists were rounded up in 8 NH towns, to the McCarthy Era wave of persecution. Through stories drawn from individual lives, Andy will share tales of courage and reflect on how this history…
Find out more »Music Workshop by Guthrie’s Ghost
Before they entertain you with their Saturday evening performance as Guthrie's Ghost (yes, that Guthrie), this specialty once-a-year super group will share their music & song wisdom with you in an afternoon workshop. Look for more details in this space in the near future. Presented as part of Protest Fest 2023.
Find out more »