Release of my new Integral Philosophy DVD Set

This week I'm launching a new 2 DVD set on integral philosophy. DVD#1 is an interview of me by Boulder Integral's Jeff Salzman (recorded on February 3, 2009) wherein we cover the essential elements of integral theory. This video interview thus serves as a basic introduction to the integral worldview as I understand it. DVD#2 is a conversation between philosopher Michael Zimmerman and I (recorded on January 8, 2009) on the spiritual implications of evolution. This second DVD is a somewhat more advanced discussion, which covers some of the subject matter of the book I'm now working on (see the previous blog post for a description of this book-in-progress). Both DVDs were filmed at Boulder Integral, and are now being published by my company, Now & Zen. You can watch a 6-minute preview of DVD#1 and a 4-minuite preview of DVD#2 here:

http://www.stevemcintosh.com/Evolution_of_Consciousness.php

Back in 2007 I blogged about the launch of the new Boulder Center for Integral Living (see the blog post of May 9, 2009 on this website). This community center for the fostering of integral culture was founded by Jeff Salzman and his colleague Ross Hostetter, and since its inception in 2007, it has grown into an impressive institution. Its name has been abbreviated to "Boulder Integral" and it is now headquartered in a former church here in downtown Boulder, Colorado. You can see their website at this link:

http://www.boulderintegral.org

During the last two years I have attended (and given) a variety of lectures, workshops, and conferences at Boulder Integral, and I feel that this organization has now made a significant contribution to the emergence of the integral worldview. Moreover, I've become close friends with Jeff (who happens to live two doors down from me) and with Ross and his wife Mary, resulting in me being invited to serve on Boulder Integral's board of directors.

One of the experimental directions pursued by Boulder Integral has been the production of integral videos. In connection with this endeavor, Jeff hired film director David Riordan, who has worked in Hollywood and who directed the recent "Future of Christianity DVD" in partnership with Integral Life. Over the past few months Jeff and David have conducted interviews with a variety of integral thinkers and activists (including the interview in DVD#1) and have now assembled an archive of interviews. They also experimented with a variation on the interview format, taking the form of conversations or dialogues, the first of which was the dialogue between Michael Zimmerman and I, resulting in DVD#2.

Michael Zimmerman is a professional philosopher with a distinguished academic career, and was an original member of Ken Wilber's Integral Institute. His new book, Integral Ecology, (co-authored with professor Sean Esbjörn-Hargens) makes a significant contribution to the integral worldview. Michael moved to Boulder in 2006 to become Director of the Center for Humanities and the Arts at the University of Colorado. And shortly thereafter he and I began taking hikes in the local mountains and have now become good friends. Whenever Michael and I would get together the conversation was exceptionally stimulating, so we thought it would be worthwhile to experiment by recording one of our conversations on video, with this new DVD being the outcome.

At the moment, Boulder Integral has no plans to publish these experimental videos as DVDs, so Jeff was happy to let me cherry pick the best of these and distribute them through Now & Zen. Since Now & Zen had previously published a DVD interview of me by EnlightenNext's Carter Phipps, the process of publishing this new Integral Philosophy DVD Set went pretty smoothly. Overall, I'm proud of the results and feel that these videos are a tangible fruit of the excellent work done by everyone involved with Boulder Integral.