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December 2024 Newsletter
At year's end, the Contemplative Sciences Center celebrates a year of new partnerships, new opportunities, and a new chapter. Find out more in the December 2024 edition of the newsletter (Archived PDF).
CSC News
View the full list of all our newsletters in the archive.
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Kelly Crace Named Executive Director of the Contemplative Sciences Center
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - The University of Virginia announced today the selection of Kelly Crace as executive director of UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center. Crace will officially begin his new post on January 8, 2025.
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Compassionate Schools Project Curriculum Study Findings Show Benefits For Students
The Compassionate Schools Project (CSP) curriculum, Flourish, a collaboration between the Contemplative Sciences Center, the UVA School of Education and Human Development, Kentucky's Jefferson County Public Schools show elementary school students, particularly those from high-poverty areas, can benefit from the Compassionate Schools Project's Flourish curriculum.
NINFEO Art Installation
In fall 2024, we welcomed international artist Wolfgang Buttress for the commissioning of his latest piece, NINFEO, an immersive sound, light, and sculptural experience housed in the Contemplative Commons. NINFEO contains 3,320 laser-etched illuminated crystal blocks inspired by the water lilies of the Dell Pond.
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CSC Newsletter August 2024
The Contemplative Sciences Center and our partners are thrilled to offer a robust roster of programming in the Contemplative Commons this fall! See what is going on there and in other CSC news. View the August 2024 CSC Newsletter (Archived PDF).
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CSC: What If We Learned Contemplation Like We do Arts or Sports?
As with football or violin practice, young people could gain versatile life skills through routine contemplative training. CSC’s Director of Research Michael Sheehy examines teaching contemplation in the classroom in an article for the magazine Psyche.
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Karsh Institute of Democracy Student Dialogue Fellowship
The Good Life Political Project at UVA's Karsh Institute of Democracy invites students from all backgrounds and with a diverse range of views and experiences to apply for the Student Dialogue Fellowship, which will convene multiple cohorts of UVA undergraduate and graduate students for a monthly dinner series in the fall of 2024. Dialogue Fellows will have the option to continue their engagement with the program into the spring of 2025, where they will contribute to the development of the program’s future iterations and will have the opportunity to collaborate with thought leaders at the University.
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CSC is Piloting New Programming for Fall 2024
This fall 2024 semester, the Contemplative Sciences Center and partners will pilot select activities for UVA students and the general public; and host several academic classes. The building will not have public business hours but will be open during that programming. The Contemplative Commons' official public grand opening will be spring 2025 (stay tuned!) Piloted programming includes drop-in opportunities for students as well as events that are open to the public including Meditation from the Dell.
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CSC's CIRCL Awarded Funding to Study Contemplative Sleep Practices
The Tiny Blue Dot Foundation announced the funding of twelve neuroscientific research projects related to “The Science of Perception Box.” CIRCL, CSC's Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab, is among the awardees along with collaborators at Northwestern University for their study, "Transformative Benefits of Contemplative Sleep Practices and a Novel Pathway to Deliver Benefits to the General Public."
CSP Flourish Included in CASEL Program Guide
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has designated Flourish: The Compassionate Schools Project Curriculum as a Promising Program for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). Flourish is one of 14 programs in the 2024 review cycle selected for inclusion in the CASEL Guide to Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs.
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CSC Newsletter April 25, 2024
See the latest news and updates from the CSC Newsletter April 25, 2024 (Archived PDF).
CSC Newsletter April 1, 2024
The April 2024 Newsletter includes "A Conversation with the Dalai Lama," Contemplative Commons News, JCS Series: “What is Contemplation;" New Student Advisors; Tom Tom Festival Panels; Video: What is a Psychedelic Experience?
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UVA Today Feature: How Do You Fight Climate Anxiety?
UVA Today highlighted From Fear to Action: Thriving in a Changing Climate, a talk hosted by the University of Virginia’s Environmental Institute and Contemplative Sciences Center with Britt Wray, a Stanford University researcher focused on the intersection of climate change and mental health — Febr
In The News: Coverage of Britt Wray Climate Change Event
Channel 29 News interviews Britt Wray after her talk hosted by UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center, Environmental Institute, and Public Service Pathways.
CSC Newsletter Feb 7 2024
See the latest news and updates from the CSC Newsletter Feb 7 2024 (Archived PDF).
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Michael Sheehy Discusses Lucid Dreaming with National Geographic
CSC's Michael Sheehy weighs in on the state of becoming aware of one's dreams as it occurs, in the December 12, 2023 issue of National Geographic.
CSC Newsletter November 1, 2023
See the latest news and updates from the CSC Newsletter November 1, 2023 (Archived PDF).
CSC Newsletter September 6, 2023
See the latest news and updates from the CSC Newsletter September 6, 2023 (Archived PDF).
Contemplative Commons Site Tour 8.25.23
CSC Staff toured the site of the Contemplative Commons, a 57,000 square-foot complex of indoor and outdoor spaces that will bring together students from across UVA for participatory forms of deep learning.
Daily Progress Highlights Leadership, Service of Two Fellows in Dalai Lama Fellows Program
“I always had that dream that I want to work in the villages in my home state, but when I got there I started developing this fear of ‘Can I really sustain in this kind of work?’” Shrutika Silswal told The Daily Progress.
Daily Progress Top Story: Dalai Lama Fellows Leadership Assembly
The Daily Progress featured the 2023 Dalai Lama Fellows Contemplative Leadership Assembly held at UVA July 28-August 1, 2023.
CSC Newsletter July 12, 2023
See the latest news and updates from the CSC Newsletter July 12, 2023 (Archived PDF).
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Building Innovation - UVA Today Features Contemplative Commons
UVA Today highlighted the construction and renovation that ramps up during the summer and featured CSC's Contemplative Commons.
CSC Newsletter May 17, 2023
See the latest news and updates from the CSC Newsletter May 17, 2023 (Archived PDF).