James O'Dea

James O'Dea, President, Institute of Noetic Sciences, former director Amnesty International.

James O’Dea is the President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences which conducts and sponsors research into the potentials and powers of consciousness, including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention, and intuition, and is committed to educating the general public about this research.  The Institute is dedicated to scientific rigor, open-minded approaches, diversity of perspectives and multiple ways of knowing.  It is not a spiritual sect and does not promote political causes.

Previously, he spent ten years as the director of the Washington DC office of Amnesty International, where he testified before Congress, met with two U.S. presidents and numerous foreign heads of state and government leaders, and represented Amnesty International to the State Department, the White House, and the World Conference on Human Rights.  Subsequently, he spent five years as executive director of Seva, a non-profit organization dedicated to international health & development issues. Seva is a Sanskrit word meaning service.

During the past five years, James created and currently co-leads a series of dialogues called "Compassionate and Social Healing." The dialogues bring together leaders and activists in a variety of fields related to human rights, peace, and social reconciliation initiatives.

James is a native of Ireland and has lived and worked in Turkey and Lebanon, and witnessed civil conflict and massacres, which influenced him deeply.  He brings a sense of urgency about the issues the world currently faces, as well as an Irish sense of humor and love of language.     www.noetic.org

Keynote: You Were Born for the Challenge of This Epoch
Ballroom, Tuesday, April 24
8:45 am - 10 am
In a time of dying empire, ecological devastation, clash of cultures , beliefs and ideologies, we can be numbed and overwhelmed with the speed and scale of  breakdown.  Yet in the midst of chaos and complexity, evolution's vast enterprise is nothing less than the irreversible momentum of a new global consciousness.

 You were born for this degree of complexity and hardwired for the unfolding drama and multiplicity of challenges now accelerating in several dimensions. Evolution has tested you in its great cauldron.  Behold the emergence of the deliciously nuanced, compassionate and culturally creative global citizen of the 21st century. Your curriculum is a dailogue that weaves science, spirituality and sustainability.  Your allies rise in the millions to commune  and collaborate with you in the playing field of a global commons.

 Goal: To demonstrate that in the midst of massive breakdown evolving humanity has all that is needed to rise to the challenges of this epochal moment in our collective development. 

• Clarify the nature of the inner and outer challenges that face us and the scale of the breakdown globally. 

• Explore the new science that suggests we are hardwired for these challenges.
  
  
• Evoke the nature of the emerging human and the emerging planetary civilization.

Workshop: Science, Peace and Transformation
La Terraza, Tuesday, April 24
10:30 am to 12 noon

The prevailing understanding is that we are hardwired for competition, aggression and dominance. New science suggests that we are actually hardwired for love, gratefulness and  forgiveness and that attitude and belief are primary. The science of peace has been gathering momentum. Examine the ways science can play a major role in creating a culture of peace.  At the same time, research has begun to provide greater evidence of sustained transformation in the lives of individuals. Explore how that transformation is sustained and discover models for social and collective transformation.