Dr. Jan Sellers
Labyrinth Facilitator, Lecturer & Adviser
Jan is a Quaker, writer, educational developer and freelance lecturer, with a passion for working with labyrinths. She draws on these creative and beautiful resources to support individuals, teams and organisations who – for an hour, a day, or longer – would welcome quiet time and space for reflection in the midst of busy lives.
Jan is an experienced and trained facilitator of labyrinth events, each designed to suit your interests and organisation. Her teaching materials include a hand-painted canvas labyrinth that can be laid flat on the ground like a carpet; Jan also uses rope labyrinths and other materials, often creating a temporary labyrinth installation on the spot with low cost resources (this itself can be a fascinating team activity).
Jan’s professional background is in education and guidance. She has worked in universities, colleges and schools and in not for profit adult education here in the UK and in the USA.
Creative connections have always been important for Jan. Her doctoral thesis (Kent, 2001) used the image of quilting to explore the careers of women part-time teachers in Adult and Community Education.
Jan worked at the University of Kent from 1993 where she established the Student Learning Advisory Service and more recently developed and supported creative campus initiatives on the Canterbury and Medway campuses. In 2005 Jan was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for her work in student development at the University of Kent. This enabled her to create the University of Kent’s Labyrinth Project in 2007, leading to the construction of the beautiful Canterbury Labyrinth on the Canterbury Campus. Jan has since supported colleagues at a number of universities and other organisations to create their own Labyrinth Projects.
Now retired and working freelance, Jan understands the labyrinth as a beautiful and tranquil resource, an opportunity for quietness, for reflection and for stillness in this hectic life.
Jan is a National Teaching Fellow, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Publications include:
Learning with the Labyrinth: Creating Reflective Space in Higher Education (Jan Sellers and Bernard Moss, eds), 2016. London: Bloomsbury.
Working with the Labyrinth: Paths for Exploration (Ruth Sewell, Jan Sellers and Di Williams, eds), 2012. Glasgow: Wild Goose.
Contact Jan to discuss
Labyrinth Workshops: personal, professional or academic development including a reflective labyrinth walk.
Introduction to the Labyrinth: facilitated labyrinth walk and introduction for groups new to the labyrinth.
Quiet Days, Retreats and Short Courses: exploring quietness together.
Temporary Labyrinth Installations: for conferences, retreats, festivals, other special events
Consultancy & Training: for those seeking to set up their own labyrinth project in an academic or professional setting.
Lectures and seminars: details on request.