Spirit & Place, IU Indianapolis

Youth Rising for Nature: Getting Community in Action through Service & Advocacy
2025-11-09 14:00 - 17:00 (America/Indiana/Indianapolis) | Frederick Douglass Park Family Center, 1616 E. 25th St., Indianapolis, 46218, United States
Community Forum & River Clean Up. Attend one or both gatherings.
Join Sea Scope’s youth Eco-Warriors for a two-part event exploring environmental justice, community dialogue, and a Fall Creek cleanup. Facilitated by local experts and inspired by Laudato Si, this experience blends spiritual reflection and action. Connect with neighbors of Martindale-Brightwood and our living earth—come for one or both days!
This two-part experience (attending both Saturdays is optional) connects storytelling, faith, Martindale-Brightwood neighbors, and environmental action. The first session features an expert and youth-led community forum exploring local ecological challenges and reflections inspired by Laudato Si’ – a 2015 papal encyclical focused on environmental stewardship, climate change, and ecological responsibility, emphasizing the moral and spiritual dimensions of caring for the Earth. A week later, participants engage in a hands-on cleanup along Fall Creek restoring natural spaces in disinvested communities while learning how local actions connect to global environmental issues. Through dialogue, reflection, and collective action, attendees will deepen their understanding of stewardship, equity, and the sacred responsibility to care for our shared planet.
Questions? Contact 317-203-9397 or seascopeincindy@gmail.com.
Event Organizers: A partnership between Sea Scope Inc., Earth Charter Indiana, Indiana Conservation Voters, The Garden Community Church, and Indy Parks and Recreation.
Registration: Click here to register for the Nov. 9 community forum.
Community Forum Details (Nov. 9): Doors open at 2PM for fellowship and the forum starting at 2:45PM. All are welcome, especially Martindale-Brightwood neighbors wanting to exercise their neighborhood voice and power!
River Clean Up Details (Nov. 16): See Nov. 16 event listing.

Storytelling is in our Nature
2025-11-11 18:30 - 20:30 | Eugene and Marily Glick Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis, 46202, United States
ASL Interpretation provided by IU Indianapolis’s American Sign Language/English Interpreting Program students
Gather around a (fake!) campfire to hear true tales rooted in family, place, and culture. Hear stories from Lithuania, El Salvador, Ukraine, Greece, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and more! Then, join a guided conversation exploring how storytelling shapes identity, preserves memory, and connects us across generations and traditions.
Step into the warmth of community as we gather to explore the power of storytelling. In this intimate setting, you’ll hear short tales drawn from diverse cultural traditions—stories of Indigenous family members adapting to life in Indiana, El Salvadorian lessons about safety, Pennsylvania Dutch folklore on morality, and more. Each tale offers a window into the ways families and communities pass down values, memories, and wisdom through oral traditions.
After the stories, guests will be invited into a reflective conversation guided by our partners. Together, we’ll explore how stories preserve cultural knowledge, connect us to nature, and express what it means to be human.
Questions? Contact 317-232-1882 or welcome@indianahistory.org.
Event Organizers: A partnership between Indiana Historical Society, Storytelling Arts of Indiana, Ukrainian Society of Indiana, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Cultural Resources Extension Office, and community storytellers: Katrina Mitten, Svitlana Ramer, Flor Ramos-Skidmore, Rachel Serago, and Dani Tippman.
Registration: Click here to register.

Image Credit: Indiana Historical Society

Nature and the Transcendent in Marilynne Robinson's Gilead
2025-11-12 18:00 - 20:00 | Hussey-Mayfield Public Libary – Zionsville Branch, 250 N. 5th St., Zionsville, 46077, United States
“This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it.” — Marilynne Robinson, Gilead
This quote captures the heart of Gilead, Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel that invites us to behold the world with reverence and attention. In a time when speed and distraction dominate our days, Gilead offers a counter-testimony: that light, water, speech, and blessing are sacred gifts—natural things that point us toward the beautiful and the good.
Led by Dr. Richard Gunderman, Chancellor’s Professor at IU Indianapolis, this reflective session—part lecture, part reading group—will explore Gilead through a series of guided readings and visual illustrations. Participants will read and discuss selected passages from Gilead, including a father’s blessing of his prodigal namesake, a summer evening transformed by a lawn sprinkler, and a moment of astonishment at beauty found in a graveyard bathed in moonlight.
Whether you’re a longtime admirer of Robinson’s work, a student encountering Gilead for the first time, or simply someone drawn to stories that speak quietly but profoundly to life’s deeper questions, this event offers space to reflect, discuss, and reconnect with both the inner life and the natural world.
Questions? Contact 317-873-3149 or askalib@hmmpl.org.
Event Organizers: A partnership between scholar Dr. Richard Gunderman and Hussey Mayfield Memorial Library.
Registration: Click here to register.
