MCLA Green Living Seminar to Explore the Church's Role in Addressing the Climate Crisis

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass.—Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will host the next installment of its Green Living Seminar Series on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in the Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation, Room 121.
 
The presentation is free and open to the public and will be recorded and available at mcla.edu/greenliving.
 
Rev. Dr. Jim Antal, author of "Climate Church, Climate World," will present "How the Church Can Engage with the Urgent Moral Crisis of Climate Change."
 
The talk will explore the history of the Church's ecological concern, the shifts needed for religious leaders to harness the power of faith to restore the natural world, and how congregations can remain political without becoming partisan, stated a press release. Rev. Dr. Antal will also address how communities of faith can respond to the rise of Christian Nationalism, the importance of proclaiming truth in the face of climate denial, and how individuals and institutions can embrace grief, acknowledge discontinuity, and accept their vocation in this moment.
 
Rev. Dr. Antal serves as Special Advisor on Climate Justice to the head of the United Church of Christ. During his tenure leading the 350 UCC churches in Massachusetts, he preached on the climate crisis in more than 400 settings.
MCLA's Green Living Seminar Series brings environmental experts, scholars, and practitioners to campus throughout the academic year to engage students and community members in conversations about sustainability, ecology, and our relationship with the natural world.
 
For more information, contact Elena Traister at elena.traister@mcla.edu or 413-662-5303.

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MCLA STEM Week Brings Hands-On Science to Berkshire Students

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — From exploring the night sky in an inflatable planetarium to measuring the copper content of pennies in a college chemistry lab, students from across Berkshire County visited MCLA for a hands-on opportunity to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts
 
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts welcomed elementary, middle and high school students throughout the week of Oct. 19 through 23 as part of the state's STEM week. 
 
The college serves as the regional center for the Berkshire STEM Network, a state-funded partnership that aims to broaden efforts to expand science education through partnerships with local schools, museums and community organizations, said Ann Billetz, Berkshire STEM network coordinator and MCLA biology teacher. 
 
The week's activities benefited both local students and the college community by providing hands-on learning experiences for younger students while giving MCLA students opportunities to apply their classroom knowledge by interacting with them, Billetz said. 
 
Throughout the week, MCLA welcomed students from Abbott Memorial Elementary School in the town of Florida and Clarksburg Elementary School, and from Hoosac Valley Middle School in Cheshire for hands-on activities exploring astronomy, biology, chemistry and marine science, along with opportunities to interact with college students. 
 
The excitement among younger students was evident throughout the week, Billetz said, recalling a seventh-grade physics activity in which a student correctly identified Galileo during a discussion of Newton's work and later excitedly shared the moment with her teacher.
 
"To see them excited about what they're doing, to have them be able to go home and talk about the experience they had at MCLA is phenomenal," Billetz said. 
 
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