Contemplative Sciences Center Research

CSC advances transdisciplinary research on contemplative practices and experiences to enhance human wellbeing. We study how diverse contemplative practices, and emergent experiences work in human bodies and minds, cultures and ecologies, and intersubjectively. Our work leverages cutting-edge research in the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, and technology – at intersections of lived experience, innovation, and application – to generate novel solutions to personal, social, and global challenges.   

 

We are the home of the CIRCL Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab, a dynamically experimental collaboratory in the Contemplative Commons, and a faculty network dedicated to investigating contemplation for human transformation.

 

The Journal of Contemplative Studies (JCS) is an online open-access peer-reviewed journal that publishes original research and scholarship along with its sibling magazine for public scholarship, Contemplative Currents. Contemplative Research Fellows are a cohort of postdoctoral researchers who grow their expertise and contribute to advancing research in the CIRCL, and beyond. Salons convene regularly with guest facilitators in the Contemplative Commons to cultivate community and engage in open dialogue about pressing research topics. For mutual enrichment, we host micro-residencies that bring leading international scholars, scientists, artists, and practitioners to engage in research collaborations and university life, and to incubate actionable epiphanies.

 

Contemplative Currents is an online magazine for public scholarship that advances contemplative knowing, practicing, and living.

 

Salons are monthly open dialogues on cutting-edge research related to contemplation and flourishing with UVA and local community members in the Contemplative Commons, hosted by CSC's CIRCL: Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab. Centered on a single word, these gatherings bring together scholars, scientists, and practitioners from diverse perspectives to exchange ideas, generate knowledge, and seek solutions to global challenges.