Hello and welcome to the website of Manitou Movie School.

In this introduction I'll set aside my usual tendency to verbosity and get straight to the heart of this effort, which is a pilot project in Phase I of development and the direct result of a Master's thesis I just completed at Regis University in 2014.

My thesis contained three major components:

1. Envisioning my ideal school, a center for life-long learning, one where I would enjoy both attendance and work, being a student and a teacher, a learner and facilitator.

2. Invention of a unique method of instruction I call cinema-based education, or movie-based instruction, and demonstrating its application through a specific course example titled History of the Sixties on Film.

3. Consideration of cannabis as a learning tool, or educational medicine; namely its use as a catalyst for whole-brain development, an aide for enhancing communication between the right and left cerebral hemispheres, reintegrating right and left brain specialties/talents, and most generally, restoring balance in an otherwise left-brain dominated mode of seeing and behaving.

Thus from these three components of my thesis, Manitou Movie School was born as a pilot project to put theory into practice. Details of my thesis and more may be found here.

After graduating from the University of Northern Colorado in 1986, it appears I've been in school ever since. Part of this "continual attendance" has been a matter of practicality, a means to find a career and gain employment. But the better part, whether I was actually in school or not, boils down to the simple fact that I love to learn; and not just learn, but learn about all sorts of stuff, stuff all over the world, all across subjects and disciplines, including all that stuff inside of myself, all the ideas and thoughts, all the words and images and worlds they concoct.

Thus, whether I am destined or have chosen this path of life-long learning, I have resolved to pursue with all my being and follow my heart in the process.  This in fact was the reason I attended Regis for my Master's, the soul of my thesis, and finally the motivation of laying it all on the line and creating Manitou Movie School.

While I have created an initial vision and mission for Manitou Movie School, which may be found here, as well as made an initial attempt to summarize its intent, which may be found here, none of these statements and explanations says as much about the intended purpose and focus of this school as its invitation to: Explore Your Self - Explore Your World.

As I see it, however intelligent each of us thinks we may be, and however advanced our civilization and technology; our current rate of knowledge growth may soon overwhelm the usual modes of education. Indeed, if we look at how much our vision and capability expanded in the 20th century alone, we may gain a hint of what the immediate years ahead have in store. Such is the challenge Manitou Movie School seeks to meet with its approach of movie-based instruction, along with its emphasis on project-oriented learning, co-creative education, and building a cannabis friendly community.

Whatever one might think of it, and there is indeed a lot to think about, cannabis is here to stay. And its use--whether for medicine, recreation, or product-oriented consumption--is only going to increase. And rightly so, as its wide-ranging benefit both for us humans and this planet is undeniable.

But this is not to say that we don't need to learn more about. In fact, quite the opposite. As both a trained pharmacist and cannabis consumer and researcher, I know a heck of a lot about this substance, its beneficial effects and interesting side-effects. But as much as I know, I have only scratched the surface as there are many areas both outside my realm of expertise, as well as outside the limits of our current knowledge, even as far as our understanding has come these past few decades.

Then there are the social, cultural, economic, and political components of cannabis, areas we are just now beginning to explore and experiment with in an open manner. And thank goodness for this, as the most damaging side-effect of cannabis is not in its use, but in a society's treatment of it, where stereotyping, discrimination, criminalization, and resulting alienation cause far far more harm than the consumption of this plant ever has or could.

Indeed, when compared to the damage of alcohol, tobacco, and most prescription drugs, cannabis is far superior in safety and effectiveness. And as far as its use and experimentation in youth, reports of harm are either greatly exaggerated or nonexistant; and, again, our sweeping this issue under the rug or condemning it only causes far more harm than good. As with other issues such as sex and alcohol use, education is our best bet.

Given this, our next step is to go here.

School Beginnings

A Passion for Learning

Realizing Cannabis Fitness