Generation Dread
While many books explore facets of today’s converging crises, relatively few help readers learn how to face them. Britt Wray’s book Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in the Age of Climate Anxiety is one of the few books that does this. Quillwood Academy founder Eric Garza will facilitate a reading group on the book that will begin on Sunday, April 7, at 1:00 pm US Eastern Daylight Time. To find out what time this is where you live type your city, town, or time zone in the “Add locations” box at this link. Following this orientation the study group meets at this same time every other Sunday through May 19. Registration for this event is offered by donation, which can include a donation of zero. To sign up, type the amount you want to pay in the “Choose price” box, add the study group to your shopping cart, and check out. If you want to pay by personal check or money order, email eric@quillwood.org to arrange payment.
Read a more detailed description of the event, including its schedule, expectations, and a suggested sliding scale by scrolling further down this page.
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Description
This reading group is for those who want to make sense of, and work with, the breadth and depth of the anxiety they struggle with as they read news reports on climate change and other existential risks. The group will also let you meet and interact with others who take these issues seriously. While Britt Wray’s Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in the Age of Climate Anxiety focuses on climate anxiety, the roadmap it offers is also useful for more generalized social and environmental anxieties.
From Generation Dread’s back cover:
When we’re faced with record-breaking temperatures, worsening wildfires, more severe storms, and other devastating effects of climate change, feelings of anxiety and despair are normal. In Generation Dread, Britt Wray reminds us that our distress is, at its heart, a sign of our connection to and love for the world. The first step toward becoming a steward of the planet is connecting with our climate emotions—seeing them as a sign of our humanity and empathy and learning how to live with them. Britt Wray, a scientist and expert on the psychological impacts of the climate crisis, brilliantly weaves together research, insight from climate-aware therapists, and personal experience, to illuminate how we can connect with others, find purpose, and thrive in a warming, climate-unsettled world.
Britt Wray is an author and researcher working at the forefront of climate change and mental health. She is the Director of CIRCLE at Stanford Psychiatry, a research and action initiative focused on Community-minded Interventions for Resilience, Climate Leadership and Emotional wellbeing in Stanford’s School of Medicine.
The book is one of the few that helps people navigate the emotions and dysregulation that naturally emerge as we deepen our awareness and understanding of today’s many converging crises. While individuals will certainly find it valuable to read on their own, the book is particularly poignant when read among a group of like-minded individuals who can support one another’s learning journey.
While participants will hopefully benefit from joining the group, please realize that our meetings are not group therapy sessions. The group’s facilitator, Eric Garza, is an educator and experienced facilitator but he is not a trained or licensed therapist or counselor.
You will not receive a copy of Generation Dread upon registration. If you desire a physical copy of the book, consider supporting one of your local booksellers by buying it from them. Most can order the book for you within a week or two. Electronic versions of the book are also available.
The reading group begins with an orientation on Sunday, April 7, and meets every other Sunday through May 19. Scroll down for a more detailed schedule, what to expect when you register, a brief bio of the event’s facilitator, and the reading group’s pricing and refund policy. Email eric@quillwood.org if you have questions.
Schedule
All meetings will be facilitated using Zoom conferencing software. To participate in scheduled meetings you will need to install the Zoom app on your computer or phone and create an account. All meetings take place on Sundays at 1:00 pm US Eastern Daylight Time. A link to check what time this is where you live can be found above, and will be provided for each session via email correspondence. Each meeting will last approximately 120 minutes (2 hours).
Meeting 1 — Sunday, April 7, 2024: This first meeting serves as an orientation. We will use it to go over group agreements, logistics, and to get to know one another. At the end of the meeting Eric will invite participants to read Generation Dread’s Introduction and Chapters 1-4 (Part One of the book) before our next meeting. Study questions for will be provided to invite deeper reflection as you read.
Meeting 2 — Sunday, April 21, 2024: We will use this meeting to discuss Generation Dread’s Introduction and its first four chapters (Part One of the book). The study questions provided at the end of our last meeting will offer some structure for the discussion, though we will likely explore other topics and themes too.
Meeting 3 — Sunday, May 5, 2024: We will use this meeting to discuss Part Two of Generation Dread, which includes Chapters 5-7. We will use the study questions offered at the end of last meeting to provide a bit of structure.
Meeting 4 — Sunday, May 19, 2024: We will use this meeting to discuss Part Three of the book, which includes Chapters 8-11. We will also use this meeting to wrap our reading group up.
All meetings will be recorded, and those recordings will be made available to participants within a few days. To protect the privacy of those who attend the Zoom meetings, these recordings—and screen captures taken from them—should not be shared with anyone not registered for this study group. Attendance and participation in meetings are encouraged, but not required. Recordings will remain available for 30 days following the reading group’s end.
What to Expect
When you sign up for this event, Eric Garza will provide a structured space for you and other participants to explore the topics and themes presented in Britt Wray’s book Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis. Like all Quillwood Academy events, this reading group will be facilitated in English and will likely attract participants from across the English-speaking world. Participants will come from various ethnic, cultural, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds, and bring to the event a diverse array of life experiences, identities, and worldviews all of which naturally influence how they engage with the world. They will bring with them many styles of communication, as well as different goals and intentions. With this in mind, please allow for cultural differences in communication styles, speaking patterns, and how people use various words. During the event’s orientation Eric will ask participants to abide by a set of agreements to guide our in-meeting conduct. Please read through these before you sign up so you have a sense of what will be expected of you.
When you sign up for this event, expect to receive a confirmation of your registration as well as a receipt of payment within a few minutes. Within a few days you will receive a welcome email with more information, including Zoom login details for our meetings and a link to the reading group’s password protected resource page on the Quillwood Academy website. If you do not see these emails, please check your spam or junk folders in case they were diverted there. If you check these folders and still do not see these emails, email Eric at eric@quillwood.org and he will investigate what the problem is. In addition to these initial emails sent upon registration, Eric will send reminder emails 2 days as well as 2 hours before each meeting so the Zoom links are easy for you to find.
Facilitator
This reading group will be facilitated by Quillwood Academy’s founder, Eric Garza. Eric lives in Vermont’s Champlain Valley, in the Northeastern United States. He has facilitated dozens of educational events through Quillwood Academy, and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Vermont and other colleges and universities for more than a decade. Eric spends much of his time pondering the skills and practices that will help us navigate the changing world we are faced with. His approach to teaching draws on the two decades he has spent exploring educational pedagogy, along with his experience in various contemplative, martial, and place-based traditions. He is not a licensed counselor or psychotherapist. Read a more detailed bio here.
Price and Refund Policy
Registration for this reading group is offered on a donation basis, which can include a donation of zero. To register for this event, type the amount you want to pay in the “Choose Price” box at the top of this page, add the study group to your shopping cart, and check out. If you wish to register at no cost, simply type zero in the box and continue through the checkout process. You need to progress through all of the checkout steps to register for the event. If you encounter trouble with the checkout process, email eric@quillwood.org and Eric will do his best to help you.
In addition to paying via credit card or PayPal, you may also pay by personal check (drawn from US funds) or a money order (denominated in US dollars). Email Eric to arrange payment. If you choose to pay by check or money order, your registration is not complete until your funds are received and any checks clear. Checks should be made payable to Quillwood Academy.
As you consider what to pay, reflect on the amount of income and wealth you have access to, the cost of living in your area, and what benefits participating in this reading group might offer you, both personally and professionally. Those who pay more make it possible for others to pay less—or pay nothing—while keeping the event financially viable. If you want guidance on what to pay, consider that if you attend all five sessions this reading group will offer you roughly 7 hours of contact time with the facilitator. One way to arrive at a monetary amount is to pay for 7 hours at the hourly rate you earn in your job (translated into US dollars, for those who live outside the United States), or in a job you recently had if you do not currently work. You can also use the following sliding scale to guide your decision:
- Low income/wealth: $45
- Middle income/wealth: $160
- High income/wealth: $480
The low income/wealth suggestion above roughly equates to paying for 7 hours of contact time at the current US federal minimum wage ($7.25/hr). The middle value equates to paying for 7 hours of time at the current average US middle class hourly wage ($23.08/hr). The high value is three times the middle value.
The above suggestions are just that, suggestions. You get to decide what to pay, if you pay anything at all. No one will attempt to verify your income or access to wealth, or question your decision. The amount you pay will not impact how you are treated by the facilitator, and no details about participants’ monetary contributions or payment methods will be shared with anyone else in the reading group.
Participants can receive a full refund of their registration fee if they cancel their registration via email on or before Friday, April 12, 2024. After this date no refunds will be given except in extraordinary circumstances.