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Frequently Asked Questions
(Click on the question to find the answer.)
What is the W. Alton Jones Campus?
What is URI's Environmental Education Center?
What will happen during the men's gathering?
Who conducts the program?
How are workshops run?
What are the accommodations like?
Will there be a phone available?
What are the arrival and departure times?
What should I bring?
What shouldn't I bring?
How do I get to the Environmental Education Center?
What is the W. Alton Jones Campus?
The University of Rhode Island 's unique
2,300-acre wilderness area is devoted to preservation, research, educational
conferences, and year-round environmental education. Over 40,000 acres of state
parks and forests adjoin the campus, making this one of the largest preserved
regions in southern New England. Special features of the campus include
Eisenhower Lake, the historic Woodvale Farm, a 1,000-acre Environmental Research
Area, and the botanically unique Nettie Marie Jones Nature Preserve.
What is URI's Environmental Education Center?
Located on the W. Alton Jones Campus, our
Center serves as an outdoor school for more than 10,000 students each year
providing experiences with nature as the subject, classroom, and teacher. We
strive to help children and adults develop a familiarity with our natural
surroundings and an active concern for the quality of the environment. School
teachers bring their students here on field trips which last up to 5 days.
During the summer we offer camps for ages 5 to 16. On weekends we offer
educational retreats such as the Men's Gathering, act as a host site for
instructional conferences, and rent out our facilities to adult and youth
groups. To Top of Page
What will happen during the men's gathering?
Friday evening starts with a light meal and
then we gather in the Opening Circle to share a little about why each of us has
come. After that we all retire for a restful night's sleep. Saturday activities
include three optional 90-minute workshop sessions, as well as several hours of
free time for hiking, playing, snow activities, discussion groups, or whatever.
After dinner there's an open mike, where anyone who wants can entertain the
group with song, poetry, theater, dance, stories, comedy, juggling, etc. Dancing
and drumming follow. Sunday begins with the last workshop session, followed by
the Closing Circle, lunch, and clean-up.
Who conducts the program?
Workshops and all other program segments are
led by participants. A committee of previous participants works with the W.
Alton Jones Campus staff to handle behind-the-scenes details. W. Alton Jones
Campus staff will be on hand throughout the weekend. To Top
of Page
How are workshops run?
Workshops generally last 1.5 hours. There are
3 workshop sessions on Saturday and one on Sunday. Any participant who wants to
may lead a workshop. Simply fill out the Call for
Workshops Form and mail it in. We reserve the right to omit workshops
considered inappropriate. We will not know what workshops are being offered
until Friday evening after the Opening Circle. The following is a list of past
workshops:
- New Games/Initiatives/Trust
and Team Building
- Dream Work and Active Imagination
- Men at Midlife (Ages 35 to 50 years)
- Pain and Secrets: What You Always Wanted to
Say But Never Knew How to Feel
- Basic Hand Drumming
- To Tell a Story (storytelling techniques)
- Dealing with Depression
- Tension Reduction
- Conscious Loving: Bringing All of Ourselves
to All of Our Relationships
- Sweat Lodge
- Sexual Identity, Heterosexism, and
Homophobia
- Beginning Drumming Workshop or Help for the
Rhythmically Impaired
- Grieving Our Fathers
- Sex: A Discussion
- Control/Power/Responsibility
- Creating Models of Friendship
- Group Massage
- Big Choices-Big Changes (discussion for
people wanting support for dealing with major life changes)
- Chants and Songs for Men
- Fathers and Sons
- Listening Skills
- Tai Chi
- Divorce: Pain and Healing
- Coping with Stress, Friendship and
Trust To Top of Page
What are the accommodations like?
Our kitchen is staffed with professional men
and women from URI dining services. Meals include vegetarian alternatives. Our
knotty pine dining lodge with field stone fireplaces, hardwood floors, and five
meeting rooms provides a rustic, comfortable learning environment. Five
winterized cabins are electrically heated and complete with bunkbeds, showers,
and lavatory facilities. Each cabin has between eighteen and twenty beds.
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide child care.
Will there be a phone available?
One pay phone will be available for use
throughout the weekend. Two other phones are on site for emergency use. If you
need to be reached, the following numbers are available for emergencies:
- (401) 397-3304 Ext. 6043, Monday - Friday,
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
- (401) 397-3304 Ext. 6044, daily, 7:00 AM -
6:30 PM
- (401) 792-2121, URI Police, 24-hour
service To
Top of Page
What are the arrival and departure times?
Please plan to arrive between 6:30 and 7:30pm
on Friday evening. If you are traveling a great distance and cannot make it by
7:30pm, we will put some dinner aside for you. The Opening circle will begin at
8:00 PM. The program ends after lunch on Sunday, with farewells around 2:00 PM.
We appreciate your assistance with basic cleaning responsibilities. The men and
women of the Alton Jones staff will take care of final clean-up.
What should I bring?
- Sleeping bag or bed roll (2 blankets, 2
sheets)
- Pillows
- Flashlight
- Toilet articles, towels
- Waterproof shoes or boots
- Rain jacket
- Warm clothes, including long underwear,
sweater, sweatshirt, winter jacket, winter hat, scarf, gloves
- Ice skates, cross-country skis (conditions
permitting)
- Musical instruments, drums, ritual objects
- Material for the "Open Mike" (a
piano will be available)
- Materials related to men's issues
- Large comfortable pillows for sitting on
the floor, or back jack chairs
- Artwork, craftwork, or photographs for
exhibition (Throughout the weekend there will be an exhibition of things
that participants have created or wrought with their hands such as artworks,
craftwork, drawings or photographs of buildings built or gardens planted,
etc.)
- Books, etc. for the resource
table To Top of Page
What shouldn't I bring?
- Alcohol or drugs
- Animals
- Children under 18
How do I get to the Environmental Education Center?
From I-95, take exit 5B to Route 102 North.
Travel for approximately 2.5 miles. Turn left at the "URI W. Alton Jones
Campus" sign. Follow the paved road straight onto the campus continuing
past the grey "Office and Information" building and the duck pond. At
the "T" in the road, bear left, following signs to the Environmental
Education Center. To Top of Page
The next RI Men's Gathering is
February 15 - 17, 2008.
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University of Rhode Island