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