Contemplative Practice and Social Change

This course is a scholarly endeavor that includes an invitation into experiential education. We will examine the lives of those who have dedicated themselves to various kinds of social change (such as peace work, civil rights, and environmental protection). Many individuals who have taken up the call for social change have also maintained some kind of contemplative practice. We will examine the relationship between contemplative practice and transformational work with attention to such figures as King, Gandhi, Pema Chödron, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Thomas Merton. Students also will be asked to participate regularly in some forms of (non-religious) meditation practice. (Pass/Fail)