INTERVIEW WITH ARETE INSTITUTE DIRECTOR, Douglas Pressman, Ph.D.

WHO IS THE SABBATICAL EXPERIENCE INTENDED FOR?

Specifically, it's designed for well-educated people at a mid-point in their lives who are ready for a major break - to take stock of where they are and where they are going. It's meant to jump-start that valuable process, and open up new possibilities in participants' professional and personal futures.


WHAT DOES ARETE MEAN?


Areté (pronounced ah-rhet-uh) is a classical Greek noun meaning the elements which comprise good character.


WHAT TAKES PLACE IN AN ARETE SABBATICAL?


The Sabbatical was designed as a completely new kind of learning experience - tailored for professionals shouldering the burden of today's unprecedented work and personal pressures. It entails a radical break from routine plus a carefully choreographed daily dosage of the timeless requisites of maximum aliveness, creativity and happiness. These elements include intellectual challenge, physical movement, immersion in creative expression, and, not least of all, a supportive learning community. There is also unstructured time for rest and reflection, and, of course, for absorbing the inspirational ambience of Prague, one of the world's architectural and cultural wonders.


arete, learning, Prague, seminars, sabbatical, creativity, leadership, potential, cultural, retreat, alternative, catalyst, personal growth, intelligence, vision, education, experience, future, cultural


Unlike typical professional training programs, the Arete Sabbatical is not about passively sitting in a classroom. The curriculum synthesizes elements from several fertile precedents, among them the "Personal Creativity in Business" course at Stanford, and the equally renowned "Executive Seminar" at The Aspen Institute. In line with classic Greek ideals, our aim is to focus on the whole human being, with the net result that participants attain better balance in their lives. Sabbatical graduates should not merely be happier and refreshed, but better able to access natural creativity and impact their environment in more positive ways.


CAN THIS BE ACCOMPLISHED IN A WEEK?


We can definitely start the process, and give participants the tools they need to keep growing. To begin with, the ideas and exercises we draw upon from creativity course at the Business do an excellent job of assisting talented people unblock their abilities, by helping them look within. has taught his course for two decades, and it is credited by hundreds of successful alumni as having enhanced their work and personal lives. Two years ago I spent six weeks in observing course, and saw for myself the immense impact it has on students at the world's top-rated MBA school.


The multiple dimensions of Arete's Sabbatical are designed to be strongly mutually reinforcing. The Classical Greek ideal of areté, from which we take our name, holds that becoming a balanced person means not merely that you perfect your intellectual, physical and artistic talents, but that you also engage the world. With that in mind, Arete's Sabbatical borrows from other inspirations, including whose seminars assemble leaders from varied walks of life for a week devoted to discussion and reflection on enduring questions from philosophy and literature. Aspen's seminars employ a Socratic format, which spurs participants to look outside themselves and actively connect with others. That is a very healthy and also enjoyable thing.


The Sabbatical involves a series of novel experiences, but there is also a text-based syllabus precisely as with a university course. Participants are not only in for a marvelous week, they will go home with a half-dozen terrific books to help keep them on the path of continued growth.


WHY IS YOUR SABBATICAL PROGRAM IN PRAGUE?


Prague is an enchanting city with exquisite cultural resources that are exceptionally affordable. Secondly, burnout isn't caused just by stress but also by boredom. For this reason a week at the beach, though nice, isn't particularly helpful at changing one's long-term outlook on life and work. Thus when it came to designing a program meant to inspire and reinvigorate participants, we opted for taking full advantage of a context that is enormously different from what most people experience day-to-day. There are literally hundreds of extraordinary venues to choose from in Prague for holding various Sabbatical sessions, and hundreds of world-class thinkers and artists to host them. We have made Prague an integral part of participants' Sabbatical experience. Anyone who associates seminars with enduring a neon-lit conference room in a hotel or office building is in for a pleasant surprise.


  back  next