About the Program
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society believes that a fully democratic society requires a system of higher education that trains students for reflective insight as well as critical thinking. We believe that the cultivation of mindfulness amid the busy-ness of contemporary life can open up the possibility for developing new wisdom through introspection, to complement existing intellectual and analytic undertakings. We also believe that contemplative practices can help shape the direction of social action, contributing to an integration of the ethical and the political, the spiritual and the practical; the undergraduate college is one place where these issues can and should be thoughtfully explored.
In academia, contemplative practices have rarely been explored for their impact on the development of thought or pedagogy. Through our retreats, the Contemplative Practice Fellowship Program, and annual Summer Sessions on contemplative curriculum development we hope to establish the ground for examining contemplation in modern western culture and in other periods and cultures.
If you would like information on the Academic Program or the Contemplative Practice Fellowships which this web site does not provide, please contact Beth Wadham at beth(at)contemplativemind.org.
Program Staff
Mirabai Bush
Executive Director,
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society
Arthur Zajonc
Academic Program Director,
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society
Professor of Physics, Amherst College
Beth Wadham
Academic Program Associate,
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society
beth(at)contemplativemind.org
Sunanda Markus
Fellowship Program Coordinator,
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society
fellowships(at)contemplativemind.org
The Academic Program Committee
Sharon Daloz Parks
Associate Director, Whidbey Institute
Charles Halpern
Chair of the Board, the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society
Visiting Scholar, Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley
Deborah Klimburg-Salter
Director, The Cultural History of the Western Himalayas, University of Vienna
Joan Konner
Professor and Dean Emerita, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
David K. Scott
Former Chancellor, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Honorary Members:
Brian Stock
Professor of Literature, University of Toronto
Steven Rockefeller
Professor Emeritus, Middlebury College
Robert A. F. Thurman
Professor of Indo-Tibetan Studies, Columbia University
