This master lecture roundtable panel brings together eminent scholars in the field to explore the very idea of Contemplative Studies and its future. Panelists will explore critical questions and probe the importance of collaborative research processes that involve first, second and third-person perspectives and span the disciplines. They will explore questions such as:

  • What is Contemplative Studies?
  • What do the humanities, arts and sciences have to learn from each other in the evolution of CS as academic discipline?
  • What circumstances/contexts/conditions are optimal to foster the emergence of new knowledge from these collaborations?
  • Are there particular questions that lend themselves well to such research?
  • What are the boundary conditions for Contemplative Studies research? What role do each of the disciplines have in creating or challenging such conditions?
  • Are there voices — disciplinary and otherwise — that are privileged in contemplative studies discourse? Those that are excluded?
  • What is the role of critical first person contemplative practice in this type of research/scholarship?
  • What are your greatest personal challenges in approaching collaborations with epistemological humility, suspending certainty about the possible outcomes and holding space for the unknown?
  • What skills or perspectives or attitudes support the ability to enter into and work within a system of thought that is outside our own discipline?
  • What is your view of the future of Contemplative Studies/Sciences Scholarship/Research?
Amishi Jha, PhD

University of Miami

Convening Faculty, Fellow, Grantee, Planning Committee Member, Research and Programs Council Member

Amishi Jha is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami, and Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, prior to which she was an … MORE

Harold Roth, PhD

Brown University

Convening Faculty, Fellow, Grantee, Planning Committee Member

Harold D. Roth is Professor of Religious Studies and the Director of the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University. Roth is a specialist in Classical Chinese Religious Thought, Classical Daoism, … MORE

Ed Sarath, PhD

University of Michigan

Ed Sarath, Ph.D., is professor of music and also director of the University of Michigan program in creativity and consciousness studies. He divides his time between teaching, scholarship, performing, composing, … MORE

Erin McCarthy, PhD

Research Consultant, Mind & Life Institute; St. Lawrence University

Convening Faculty, Fellow, Planning Committee Member

Erin McCarthy (she/her) is a professor, speaker, author, mindfulness coach, philosophical counselor, and parent of twin teenagers. After completing her undergraduate degree in French and Philosophy at Trent University, she … MORE