Annual Compassion Conference opens Oct. 2 at WCSU

DANBURY, CONN. — The Center for Compassion, Creativity and Innovation at Western Connecticut State University will hold its annual conference on Friday, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, on Western’s campuses.

Each year, the “Creating a Compassionate Community” conference focuses on how to weave compassion into the community on the local, national and international levels.

“The conference combines macro (international and national) and micro (local and individual) approaches to understanding how we can create more compassionate and resilient communities,” said Dr. Chris Kukk, founder of the Center and professor of Political Science at WCSU. “From an award-winning film to a multi-award-winning author, our conference will provide the audience with the pictures, words and inspiration to strengthen their respective communities through one simple idea: compassion.”

The conference will kick off at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 2 with a presentation of the award-winning film “Planetary,” in the Veronica Hagman Concert Hall in the Visual and Performing Arts Center on the Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension, Danbury, followed by a question-and-answer session with the filmmakers.

On Oct. 3, the conference will move to the Ives Concert Hall, in White Hall on the Midtown campus, 181 White St., Danbury. At 11 a.m., Diane Ackerman, New York Times bestselling author, poet and naturalist, will share her vision of a compassionate world and her view of human beings, whom she describes as “the tiny bipeds with the giant dreams.”

In the afternoon, representatives of the Danbury Innovation Center, the Main Street space for inventors and entrepreneurs, will make a presentation on local innovation, followed by Alex Sheen, founder of “because I said I would,” an international social movement and nonprofit dedicated to the “betterment of humanity through promises made and kept.”

For conference details, visit www.wcsu.edu/compassioncreativity/. For tickets, go to https://alumni.wcsu.edu/center-for-compassion-conference. For more information, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.