HIU Experiences 'Cosmic Walk'

HIU took a 'Cosmic Walk' on Tuesday, Sept. 16, with students, faculty, staff, and community members joining the 13.8 billion-year journey.

The walk was led by Sam King, an environmental educator, writer, and activist. Sam serves as lead mentor for the Yale/Coursera online courses in Religions and Ecology. He is also Project Manager for the Emmy award-winning Journey of the Universe film and multimedia project, hosting the "Journey of the Universe: 10 Years Later" podcast.

Under the canopy of a majestic oak grove on HIU's campus, Sam arranged an 138-foot rope into a spiral with each foot representing 100 million years in the history of the universe. Created by Miriam MacGillis of Genesis Farm, the Cosmic Walk is designed to evoke conscious connection to and care for our blue-green planet. 

Participants walked through the spiral viewing photos representing major transformations necessary for life to emerge on Earth. The relatively brief history of human life could be visually compared to the age of the universe. 

A number of students from HIU's MA in International Peacebuilding program and a group of visiting scholars from Indonesia participated in the Cosmic Walk. Sam said he had never facilitated this event with so many international students in attendance.

The program was sponsored by the Forum for Life and Meaning, which benefits Hartford International University and the Spiritual Life Center. HIU's Center for Transformative Spirituality was a co-sponsor. 

Additional resources:

Journeyoftheuniverse.org

Journey of the Universe: 10 Years Later podcast