Friday, April 21

5:00: Registration begins

6:00: Wine and cheese reception begins

7:00: Welcome Fools!

7:15 - 8:00: David Miller, “My Foolish Friends”
Talk
David Miller will introduce the weekend theme by providing images and models of historical and archetypal fools and jesters, together with some of their stories.

8:00 - 10:00: Festive Fools Open Mic:
Poetry, music, and other splendid performance turns from the Fools.

Saturday, April 22

8:00 - 9:00: Breakfast (continental style)

8:30: Setup of Fools “Show and Tell” Displays, Book Store

9:00 - 9:30: Community Introductions 
Intro of co-created poem, and the only time we're going to put you on the spot and force you to talk about yourself! (If you're hyperventilating, breathe -- this is just an opportunity to say hello and put names, faces, and interests together.)

9:30 - 12:00: David Miller “Imagining the Real: Calisthenics”
Workshop
Martin Buber once said that in this life one has to "imagine the real."  In this workshop, David Miller will introduce exercises in living in imagination, not only as a creative way of depicting the world and life by forming images, but also as a way of de-picturing the world and life as deformation and deconstruction of conventional ways of viewing.  It will be a workshop in otherness and in imagining things otherwise than they sometimes seem.

12:00 - 1:00: Lunch

12:30: Bookstore Open

1:00 - 2:00: What is Myth and Why Should Anybody Care?
Fools Conversation
For most Americans, a myth is a falsehood. Imaginary isn’t “real.” Dreams are for people who don’t accomplish anything. How are we, as a community, defining these things? Does myth still exist? Why is it important? What can people working these ideas bring to our communities, and how can we present these ideas in a way that seems relevant to the rest of the world?
Facilitators: David Miller, Leigh Melander

2:00 - 3:00: Imaginal Education: When Students Imagine Learning and Learn Imagining Fools Conversation
Many, if not all of us are educators – whether formally or informally. What makes an imaginal education? Is an education really an education without imagination? How can we challenge our educational systems to understand imagination’s importance and actively conjure it as a core value?
Facilitators: Mary Harrell, Gene Melander, David Miller

3:00-3:15 Break

3:15 - 4:15: Assessment: Divine Madness or Simply Maddening?
Fools Conversation Breakout Session
In academic, nonprofits, and even commercial worlds, assessment is a hot topic these days. While acknowledging that self-analysis and a consistent questioning of our successes and processes are important, much assessment currently is at best banal, at worst, damaging. How do we imagine an imaginal, inspired type of assessment (both in public contexts and in our own lives) that recognizes the less than tangible moments when growth and change really occur?
Facilitators: Annette Marcus, David Miller

3:15 - 4:15: Imagining Foolish Therapy: From Talking Cure to Creating New Worlds
Fools Conversation Breakout Session
What is the role of therapist in defining and supporting imagination? What are the foolishly wise directions, challenges, successes, and new ideas in imaginal and depth psychology?
Facilitators: Pat Berry, Brad Olson

4:15 - 5:15: Film: Mythmaking with Artists' Images: Responsibilities and Impacts
Fools Conversation
As soon as there was one person to talk and one to listen, storytelling has been a part of human culture. As we have told myths, we have done so orally and in writing. Then, in the last century, a new medium emerged: film. Suddenly, stories are being told with the literal creation of the images in the storytellers’ heads. How is this different? Are film and video watchers no longer co-imaginers in the story? What is the impact of this defined imagery on the making and understanding of myth and story? What are the responsibilities of the film-making community and the audience in recognizing these image-stories?
Facilitators: Jane Stewart, Andy Bealer

Sunday, April 23

8:00 - 9:00: Breakfast

8:30 Bookstore open

8:30 - 10:00: Imagination Embodied: Engaging the Creative
Workshop Breakout Session
Time to get out of your head! How do our bodies imagine? A playful chance to explore a little Commedia dell'Arte and find the fool within through a different kind of imaginal calisthenics.
Facilitator: Susan Kelejian

9:00 - 10:00: Myth in Academia: Finding Soul, Finding Work
Fools Conversation Breakout Session
For those of us in imaginal and mythic disciplines, it isn’t always easy to find openings to join the academy. But, the higher education landscape is changing. What challenges and opportunities do these changes afford those interested in an academic career?
Facilitators: David Miller, Gene Melander

10:00 – 10:15: Break

10:15 - 11:15: Publishing; How To Spread the Word(s), Literally
Fools Conversation
Academic publishing? Commercial publishing? Self-publishing? We will talk about the glories and challenges inherent in each of these approaches to getting our work and words out into the world.
Facilitators: Sophia Heller, Cynthia King

11:15 - 12:00: Community Mythos: Touching Fingertips, Finding Constellations
Fools Conversation
It is our hope that this gathering will have provided opportunities for Fools to imagine a community of practice. Where do we go from here? What are the entities that already exist to support a community working in myth and imagination: how do we both support them and derive support from them?
Facilitators: Leigh Melander and all Fools

12:00 - 1:00 : Lunch (With special surprise!)

1:00: Farewell to Fools!

Ongoing Foolish Threads

Fool's Gold
During breaks and over meals, Fools are invited to check out each other's displays of their work and interests. We've chosen to do this informally so no Fool is put on the spot -- this is your chance to connect with one another about common interests and potential project collaborations on your own terms.

The "Bookstore"
We will have an array of Spring Journal Books books both by and for David Miller available for purchase from Spring, as well as current Spring Journals and subcription forms. A volunteer Fool will be on hand so you can buy, buy, buy during meals!

In addition, if any Fools have books or other media that you've produced and would like to make available to your fellows, please feel free to bring them! You can add them to the Bookstore array. Please note, however, that you should be prepared to do your own staffing/selling -- we decided that instead of the Imaginal Institute getting involved in these sales that it made far more sense for you to have the opportunity to cut your own deals with one another directly. (And we won't be taking any cut of the purchase!)

Fools Poem
In the spirit of imagining together, we'll be putting up poster board with accompanying Sharpies so Fools can, as the spirit moves them, add a line or two that captures their sense of what they're experiencing as the weekend progresses. By the end of the gathering, we hope to have a poem's worth of images and ideas! It will, of course, be ridiculous, but with any luck, it will also be sublime...