Spirit & Place

David Darling is an innovative cellist whose improvisational mixes of jazz, pop, rock, country, and New Age have earned world-wide respect and several honors including two Grammy awards, most recently for "Prayer for Compassion" (2010). Raised and educated in Indiana, he is co-founder of Music for People, an international organization that teaches music improvisation.

Jane McGonigal, best-selling author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World (2011), is a game designer and futurist who harnesses the power of Internet games for public good. As creative director for Social Chocolate, she invents games powered by the science of positive emotion and social connection. 

McGonigal's appearance made possible in part IU School of Informatics-IUPUI and the IU Kelley School of Business-IUPUI.

Susan Sparks is a professional comedian, former trial lawyer, and currently serves as senior pastor of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City. Author of Laugh Your Way to Grace: Reclaiming the Spiritual Power of Humor (2010), she has also been featured in O Magazine, The New York Times, USA Today, among others. 

Sparks' appearance made possible in part by Northside Interfaith Clergy Group.