Online Course on Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner: The Man, The Age, The Path

An Online Course with Eugene Schwartz
March 1st through April 1st, 2011

February 27, 2011 will mark the 150th anniversary of Rudolf Steiner’s birth. In conjunction with this, Eugene Schwartz has created a unique multi-media “Online Journey” that will both deepen and broaden our understanding of Steiner’s contributions to the modern world. He will explore Steiner’s biography, the times in which he lived, and, above all, the significance of his path of inner development for the individual, for humanity, and for the future of the Earth.

This online course will be six hours of audio and visual content, but it will divided into short, 15 - 30 minute segments that you may pause at any time. The segments may be listened to or watched as often as you wish during the month that they are online. Although these presentations are meant to be an introduction to the life and work of Rudolf Steiner, long-time students of Anthroposophy will find new insights as well.

How it works: On February 28, registrants will be sent a username and password and a link to the online course’s web page. They may visit that page as often as they wish throughout the month that the course is online.
The fee for the online course is $35.00. Register here

About the Presenter:
Eugene Schwartz has been involved with the work of Rudolf Steiner for over 42 years, and he has been a Waldorf school teacher, an educator of teachers, and an educational consultant for 33 years. He has given nearly 2000 lectures on Waldorf education and Anthroposophy. He has had the privilege of knowing many individuals who knew Rudolf Steiner personally, while his work as a Waldorf consultant brings him into contact with thousands of individuals whose lives are interwoven with Anthroposophy today.

The major themes that will be covered:

1. Rudolf Steiner's life in the context of the times in which he lived. Steiner's strivings and accomplishments will be viewed in relationship to some of the cultural, spiritual, and political leaders of his age. In the course of Steiner’s lifetime, the US Civil War took place, the electric light, the automobile, and the airplane were invented, the Titanic sank, and the First World War erupted. How did these developments, and a host of others, form Rudolf Steiner’s nature and philosophy?

2. What is Anthroposophy? We will touch on some of the foundations of Steiner's worldview, particularly his research into the evolution of humanity and the world; the question of Good and Evil; reincarnation and karma; the role played by Western culture and Christianity; the relationship of science and spirituality. How much of Steiner’s research drew on the work of others? Were his innovations in many fields really original? How is it possible for one man to be an “authority” in so many fields?

3. Steiner's path of spiritual development. Although Steiner's "findings" are frequently cited by admirers and detractors alike, little is said about the methodology he used to arrive at those results. Steiner was unique among teachers of the "perennial wisdom" in his unfolding multiple paths to self-development and higher knowledge. We will look at the “philosophical path” as presented in The Philosophy of Freedom, and examine the meditative approach that lives in a work such as How To Know the Higher Worlds, and examine what was “new” in Steiner’s approach to these paths.

4. Rudolf Steiner and the future. 150 years is a long time gone in our fast-moving world. Does Steiner still have relevance for our times, not to speak of the future? Have such offshoots of Anthroposophy as Waldorf Education, Bio-Dynamic Farming, Anthroposophically-Enhanced Medicine etc strengthened Steiner’s contribution to modern life, or diluted his message? What was Steiner’s hope for our times?