Pacific School of Religion

Pat Schneider, founder and director emerita of Amherst Writers and Artists in Amherst, Massachusetts, will be leading two week-long morning writing workshop sessions at Pacific School of Religion Summer Session on July 28-August 1, and August 4-August 8.

Schneider is an international writing workshop leader, performer, and author of poems, fiction, plays, libretti, and songs. Seven of her plays have been published and thirteen produced in the United States, Germany, and on U.S public television. The Louisville and Atlanta symphony orchestras have performed her works, including a performance in Carnegie Hall, New York City. She is the author of nine books, including Writing Alone and with Others, Oxford University Press 2003 and Wake Up Laughing: A Spiritual Autobiography. She holds an M.F.A. from the creative writing program at the University of Massachusetts and an M.A. from Pacific School of Religion.

Schneider says of writing: “We are all writers. Since our earliest days we have used language as a tool and as an art form. Each of us can move our closest friend to laughter, to deep emotion, to experience "denouement" by our storytelling. This workshop is for the writer in every person, to free the writer, to give the writer encouragement, confidence, and skill.”

Schneider is also featured in the award-winning film, Tell Me Something I Can’t Forget, about her work using writing workshops to empower low-income women. On Wednesday evening of each workshop week, workshop members and the public are invited to a viewing of the film, which will be followed by a discussion of using writing with underserved populations.

PSR’s Summer Session, beginning July 7, offers a wide range of weeklong open-enrollment courses in functional theology, religion and the arts, spirituality, sexuality, and world religions.

A selection of other courses includes:

• American Buddhisms: An Experiential Introduction (evening course)
• Sexuality in Sacred Art
• Queering the Use of the Bible
• New Media and Communication Theology (online)

Summer Session courses offer the opportunity to engage in theological study without enrolling in a degree program, or to expand the scope of a degree program, in the context of the beautiful and culturally rich San Francisco Bay Area. Summer Session is for people from all walks of life: clergy, lay leaders, teachers, artists, writers, community leaders, spiritual seekers, seminary students, and retirees, who come to enjoy fellowship and pursue their passion for religious studies under the instruction of outstanding scholars in their fields. Courses can be audited, taken for continuing education units, or academic credit. For more information on PSR’s Summer Session 2008, including a list of courses, dates and times, and tuition costs, visit summer.psr.edu.