Small Group Reflection: Gloria Steinem

At the Tufts Humanist Chaplaincy, we hope to foster a comfortable environment for people to engage in honest discussions around the challenges in their lives, and to explore how people outside traditional religion approach questions that many faith traditions engage regularly. Our day to day lives, on campus and off, can be challenging just as they are exciting, but we don’t always have a structured hour in the week to sit down and reflect on the way we’ve grown, and the lessons we can learn from the experiences of others.

At small group reflections, the Humanist in Residence facilitates an open, respectful, and confidential conversation around a theme that concerns and informs many of our choices and experiences in our life journey. The conversation begins rooted in a text (or other piece of culture) written from a Humanist perspective that engages the theme, and from there will be open to the perspectives and experiences of everyone present in the group. Those present are encouraged to bring pieces of culture that inspire their own values on the theme, including and especially those from other faith traditions.

The upcoming small group reflection will begin with a passage from feminist and Humanist activist Gloria Steinem. It will be on Friday, November 4th, at 5:30pm in the Interfaith Center downstairs meeting room. Small group reflections are open to all members of the Tufts community, irrespective of anyone’s belief background. Light refreshments will be served!

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Gloria Steinem is an American writer and activist in feminism and Humanism. Best known as among the founders of Ms. magazine, she was a leader in the second wave feminism of the 1970s and awarded the Humanist of the Year award by the American Humanist Association in 2012. Across her decades of being a public voice for change, she’s been open about how her views and values have evolved as a result of movements like that for Black Lives and for trans* rights.

We’ll open the coming small group meeting with a passage from Gloria Steinem, and from there explore how it does and doesn’t speak to our own values and experiencess.