Engage with contemplative science scholars, leaders, and teachers who apply contemplative practices to cultivate the democratic promise for equality, liberty, health, and well-being. This workshop immerses students in community-based engaged learning in which the community is the people of Stanford (students, staff, faculty, alumni, retirees, patients, and members of the local community). The course includes participation in two, Saturday, in-person, half-day sessions and in several online key sessions in the Contemplation By Design Summit. See the course notes section for the names of the Summit speakers and times of the Summit sessions included in this course. Through a three-part process, students will develop skills for: translating theory into practice, engaging in dialogue with the Summit speakers, and designing a contemplative science-based community program. Pre-workshop readings and an intention paper, and a post-workshop reflection paper and group discussion provide opportunities for exploring theoretical and methodological questions encountered in the translation of contemplative science to community programming. This course provides direct experience of a community-based contemplative science program on a university campus. Scholars have pointed to the role of American colleges and universities as embodied places of societal values and aspirations, reflecting both academic traditions and heritages alongside social and scientific change and innovation. Campus communities can engender positive outcomes including skills for inter- and intra-personal personal values, emotional intelligence, and civic engagement. Collectively, these outcomes can contribute to individual and community health and well-being, and a thriving functional democracy. This is a Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center for Public Service.
1-2 units · Medical Option (Med-Ltr-CR/NC)
Engage with contemplative science scholars, leaders, and teachers who apply contemplative practices to cultivate the democratic promise for equality, liberty, health, and well-being. This workshop immerses students in community-based engaged learning in which the community is the people of Stanford (students, staff, faculty, alumni, retirees, patients, and members of the local community). The course includes participation in two, Saturday, in-person, half-day sessions and in several online key sessions in the Contemplation By Design Summit. See the course notes section for the names of the Summit speakers and times of the Summit sessions included in this course. Through a three-part process, students will develop skills for: translating theory into practice, engaging in dialogue with the Summit speakers, and designing a contemplative science-based community program. Pre-workshop readings and an intention paper, and a post-workshop reflection paper and group discussion provide opportunities for exploring theoretical and methodological questions encountered in the translation of contemplative science to community programming. This course provides direct experience of a community-based contemplative science program on a university campus. Scholars have pointed to the role of American colleges and universities as embodied places of societal values and aspirations, reflecting both academic traditions and heritages alongside social and scientific change and innovation. Campus communities can engender positive outcomes including skills for inter- and intra-personal personal values, emotional intelligence, and civic engagement. Collectively, these outcomes can contribute to individual and community health and well-being, and a thriving functional democracy. This is a Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center for Public Service.
Offered in Autumn 2025 at Stanford University.