Operation of GEI Study Groups
So you are interested in a discussion course organized by the Granite Earth Institute (GEI). Here is a brief description of how our courses work.
A course group normally consists of seven to twelve people who meet for eight or nine sessions of one to two hours each. The course uses a workbook of readings and discussion questions published by the Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI). Each group chooses one of five workbooks for its subject area:
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Voluntary Simplicity (8 sessions)
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Deep Ecology and Related Topics (9 sessions)
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Discovering a Sense of Place (8 sessions)
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Choices for Sustainable Living (9 sessions)
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Globalization and Its Critics (9 sessions)
Each course has:
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an organizer, such as a church group, adult education program, business, or GEI itself,
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a mentor (or volunteer), who has been trained by GEI, and
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a coordinator, who is a group member.
The mentor is present only at the first and last meetings of the course, serves as the link between GEI and the course group, and facilitates the first meeting. The coordinator oversees the nitty-gritty of meeting place and course.
Each meeting has a facilitator; this position rotates among the membership of the course group. The facilitator keeps the group from getting bogged down and monitors group dynamics.
Course groups normally meet weekly, preferably in a public space, but at one or more members homes if necessary. The time and place of meeting may have been decided by the course organizers or may be arranged by the coordinator to meet the needs of the members.
Ideally all members will attend all sessions. This helps build group cohesion. Members are strongly discouraged from missing more than two sessions.
Each participant should obtain a workbook for the course topic from the mentor or organizer prior to the first meeting. Workbooks are provided by GEI; we hope that those who are able will donate $20. Please make checks payable to Granite Earth Institute. There is no required fee to participate in a course except for possible charges by the host organization.
Prior to each meeting, each participant reads the materials for that meeting in the workbook. This provides a common ground for discussion. The facilitator chooses from a number of discussion questions to get the meeting started, but discussion may move in any direction.
The last meeting for every subject is called Celebration and does not have any preliminary readings. Most course groups choose to share food. The mentor is invited and obtains feedback from the group.
To obtain a mentor and start a course, please contact us by phone, mail, or email
as shown on our Home Page.
