Campus Initiatives
- Brown University's Contemplative Studies Initiative
A group of Brown faculty with diverse academic specializations who are united around a common interest in the study of contemplative states of mind, including the underlying philosophy, psychology, and phenomenology of human contemplative experience. - Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship at Georgetown
Since 2000, CNDLS has supported Georgetown University’s faculty and graduate students with tools, resources, and opportunities for new learning environments. - Emory Collaborative for Contemplative Studies
An interdisciplinary group of faculty, postdocs and students at Emory University who share and investigate the application of contemplative practices in our modern society. - Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA
MARC was created to bring to a renowned mental health research institution the ancient art of mindful awareness in a scientifically supported and rigorous form. - The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University
Creating a community of scholars and researchers from various disciplines, including neuroscientists, psychologists, educators and philosophical and contemplative thinkers around the study of compassion. Offers a teacher certification program. - UCSD Center for Mindfulness
The UCSD Center for Mindfulness is a multi-faceted program of clinical care, professional training, education, research and outreach.
Grants/Awards/Fellowships
- Francisco J. Varela Research Awards
The Varela Awards solicit research grant proposals that stimulate basic and translational research that evaluate both state and trait effects of contemplative practice and incorporate first-person contemplative methods into cognitive/affective neuroscienc
Organizations and Networks: Higher Education
- Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education (ACMHE)
A project of The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society; a professional association that promoting the emergence of a broad culture of contemplation in the academy. - Education and Spirituality Network
A directory and newsletter exploring the role of religious diversity and spirituality in education. - Education as Transformation
Works with colleges, universities, K-12 schools and related institutions exploring the impact of religious diversity on education, strategies for addressing this diversity, and the role of spirituality in educational institutions. - Mindfulness in Education Network (MiEN)
Manages an active Yahoo Group/mailing list with news, announcements and events for educators who want to bring a contemplative awareness to their work.
Programs of Study
- BA in Contemplative Psychology, Naropa University
- BA in Elementary Education, Naropa University
- BFA in Jazz and Contemplative Studies at the University of Michigan
- Concentration in Contemplative Studies, Brown University
- Graduate Certificate: Mindfulness Studies Specialization, Lesley University
The Graduate Certificate in Mindfulness Studies is designed for those aspiring to gain a strong foundation in the history, theory, and practice of mindfulness but who do not wish to pursue the full master’s degree. - Interdisciplinary Certificate in Contemplative Inquiry, University of North Carolina Asheville
The Certificate in Contemplative Inquiry focuses on creating opportunities for greater inquiry, connection, reflection, insight, and communication. - M.A. in Integrative Health Studies, California Institute of Integral Studies
A 40-credit program; first in the nation to prepare master’s level leaders in the expanding fields of integrative health and wellness coaching. - M.Ed. & Certificate, Mindfulness for Educators, Antioch University New England
- M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction: Contemplative Inquiry and Approaches in Education, Simon Fraser University
- MA and Certificate in Holistic and Integrative Education, California State University-San Bernardino
- MA and PhD in Religious Studies with a Contemplative Studies concentration: Rice University
Contemplative studies is especially complementary with work in textual and cultural history, comparative mysticism, psychology and religion, as well as, at Rice, the G.E.M. program. - MA in Contemplative Psychotherapy, Naropa University
- MA in Mindfulness Studies: Lesley University
This Master of Arts in Mindfulness program—first of its kind in North America—is designed for students who wish to enrich their professional and personal lives and the lives of others by being mindful citizens and service providers. - Mindful Communication Certificate, NHTI, Concord’s Community College
An 11-credit Mindful Communication Certificate infusing mindful communication and emotional intelligence (EI) into the teaching of core course content. - Minor in Contemplative Studies, University of Mary Washington
The Contemplative Studies minor is broadly interdisciplinary, incorporating the humanities, arts, and sciences to explore the theory, practice, history, and scientific study of diverse contemplative traditions.
Research
- American Mindfulness Research Association
A comprehensive electronic resource and publication database on the scientific study of mindfulness. - Contemplative Mind in Life: Research Resources
A space for news dedicated to contemplative research in the cognitive neurosciences, clinical sciences, developmental, social and health psychology, and education. - Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory (FNL): Cognitive, Affective, and Contemplative Neuroscience Research
This research is intended to clarify adaptive mind-brain-body interactions and their therapeutic relevance in psychiatric disorders. - Mind & Life Institute
Works to promote the creation of a contemplative, compassionate, and rigorous experimental and experiential science of the mind which could guide and inform medicine, neuroscience, psychology, education and human development. - Spirituality in Higher Education: Students’ Search for Meaning and Purpose
A seven-year study examining the role that college plays in facilitating the development of students’ spiritual qualities. - The Britton Lab at Brown University
The Britton Lab studies contemplative, affective, and clinical neuroscience under the direction of Willoughby Britton, Ph.D. - The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University
Creating a community of scholars and researchers from various disciplines, including neuroscientists, psychologists, educators and philosophical and contemplative thinkers around the study of compassion. Offers a teacher certification program. - The Center for Investigating Healthy Minds
Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, CIHM studies how contemplative practices might play a useful role in changing the mind in a positive manner. - The Contemplative Science Lab/MARGAM
Research in the Contemplative Science Lab under Zoran Josipovic, Ph.D. aims to explore the neural correlates of contemplative practice through a multifaceted approach that looks at the ways meditation and contemplative practice can re-organize the cogniti - The Jha Lab at the University of Miami
Using behavioral methods, event-related potentials, and functional MRI to investigate attention and working memory under the direction of Amishi Jha, Ph.D. - The Lazar Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital
Studying neurological, cognitive and emotional changes associated with the practice of meditation and yoga under the direction of Sara Lazar, Ph.D. - The Lustyk Women's Health Lab at Seattle Pacific University
Investigating the stress response in women, including effects of mindfulness meditation, under the direction of M. Kathleen B. Lustyk, Ph.D. - The Shamatha Project at UC Davis
Under the direction of principle investigator Dr. Clifford Saron and Buddhist scholar Alan Wallace, the Shamatha Project is exploring how three months of intensive training in the practice of meditation affects cognition, behavior, and physiology.
Featured Resource:
Toward the Integration of Meditation into Higher Education: A Review of Research
Prepared by Shauna L. Shapiro, Kirk Warren Brown, and John A. Astin. Edited by Maia Duerr.