Events at the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society

Upcoming Events

The Academic Program

The Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education (ACMHE) Second Annual Conference:

The Contemplative Academy

September 24-26, 2010
Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts

Visit the conference webpage for more information.

The conference will focus on initiatives in contemplative pedagogy taking place in classrooms and institutions of higher education. It will explore how contemplative practices cultivate capacities of attention, equanimity, wisdom, and compassion, which are central to the lives of students and educators.

Contributed papers, poster sessions, and artistic presentations as well as plenary talks and contemplative practice sessions will explore the ways that contemplative practice is serving higher education. As educators integrate these practices into classrooms, studios, and co-curricular initiatives, they are learning how they develop greater mindfulness, open heartedness, and insight.

Attendance and Conference Fees
Attendance is restricted to Association Members. New members may join at the conference attendance rate:
$50 for a one-year faculty membership/$30 for a one-year graduate student, part-time, or retired membership.

Conference Fee: $250 regular/ $190 student, part-time, or retired. The fee includes meals from reception Friday evening through mid-morning break on Sunday.

Call for Papers
The conference welcomes proposals concerning contemplative pedagogy, methodology and epistemology within and across disciplines and through co-curricular initiatives. Submissions of proposals for panel discussions are also invited. Please send a title and an abstract of not more that 200 words for a 30 minute paper or performance along with name, institutional affiliation and 50 – 100 word professional biography to beth@contemplativemind.org by May 1, 2010. Notification of inclusion in the program will be made by June 1, 2010. Late papers will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Retreat for Academics

November 11 – 14, 2010
The Garrison Institute
Garrison, NY
Cost: $600 single room; $450 double room; $350 double room with scholarship (a limited amount of financial assistance is available)

Educators report that deepening their own contemplative practice leads to more successful teaching and helps them design courses with a contemplative component.

Our retreats offer instruction in a variety of contemplative practices, including contemplative methods adapted for the classroom. These practices cultivate capacities central to teaching and learning--focused attention, kindness and compassion, and contemplative inquiry--and our retreats include discussions about the relationship of the contemplative perspective to teaching, learning, and knowing. Much of the time is spent in silence, including some silent meals. Ourretreatsare designed to appeal to participants with a wide range of experience in contemplative practice, from beginners to seasoned practitioners.

The Law Program

University of California at Berkeley School of Law and The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, University at Buffalo Law School, Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy (UB Law), University of San Francisco School of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law, City University of New York School of Law, Thelton Henderson Center for Social Justice (Berkeley Law), and The Initiative on Mindfulness in Law and Dispute Resolution (Florida Law) present

The Mindful Lawyer: Practices & Prospects for Law School, Bench, and Bar

October 29 - 31, 2010 (Friday afternoon – Sunday afternoon)
University of California at Berkeley School of Law
Details and registration at mindfullawyerconference.org

The Mindful Lawyer: Practices & Prospects for Law School, Bench, and Bar is a national conference that will bring together the pioneers who have been developing programs integrating meditation and contemplative practices with legal education and practice, and others in the legal profession who are interested in exploring this work. Many law professionals have found that meditation practice has sharpened their legal skills, helped them to manage the stresses of their challenging work, increased their empathy, and deepened their commitment to creating a more just society. The conference will offer a blend of scholarly presentation, practical experience and discussion, and recent developments in neuroscience and psychology relevant to meditation practice. We invite lawyers, law professors, judges, mediators and other dispute resolution professionals, and law students to explore the connections between law and meditation, and to learn and practice meditation. This conference is the first major gathering of its kind since Harvard Law School offered a symposium on Mindfulness and Alternative Dispute Resolution in 2002.

The conference will convene the diverse leadership of the ongoing endeavors in law and meditation and welcome members of the legal profession seeking to integrate the benefits of meditation into their work, institutions, and practice areas. No prior meditation experience is required to benefit from participation in the conference.

The Mindful Lawyer conference will begin with an optional half-day meditation retreat on Friday afternoon. The conference officially convenes on Friday evening and runs through mid-afternoon on Sunday. CLE credit will be available.

The Mindful Lawyer planning team includes faculty members from

Berkeley Law (Charles Halpern (Conference Chair), Angela Harris (currently visiting at UB Law), Jeff Selbin)
University of San Francisco School of Law (Rhonda Magee)
University at Buffalo Law School (Stephanie Phillips, Rebecca French, James Milles)
University of Florida Levin College of Law (Leonard Riskin)

Author, poet, and senior meditation teacher Norman Fischer, who has been intimately involved bringing meditation to the legal profession, will be with us through the weekend, leading meditation and offering his reflections and insights.

The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society has offered meditation trainings for legal professionals and law students since 1998, when it facilitated its first retreat for Yale Law School students and faculty. Since that time, the Center has presented numerous law and meditation retreats, including workshops for judges in California and Washington DC and multi-day retreats for lawyers.

Details and registration at mindfullawyerconference.org.

For more information: contact Doug Chermak, Conference Coordinator and Law Program Director, Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, at mindfullawyerconference@gmail.com.