Update – January 13, 2012
Thank you to everyone for your excellent work and interest in the International Symposia for Contemplative Studies.
Click here to read or download the abstracts from the accepted presentations.
Click here to read or download the abstracts from the accepted posters.
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The International Symposia for Contemplative Studies will bring together academics and other interested attendees for presentation, discussion, and collaborative networking in the emerging field of contemplative studies, which includes contemplative basic science, contemplative clinical science, contemplative philosophy and humanities, contemplative education, and those domains of contemplative practice that relate to and interact with these fields of research and scholarship. These distinct though overlapping fields each focus on advancing our understanding of the human mind and how training the mind through the use of contemplative practices can lead to a reduction in suffering, enhanced health and cognitive/emotional functioning, and increased social harmony. It is also increasingly clear that a multidisciplinary approach is critical for understanding the mind and its effects on health and society at large. The International Symposia seeks to encourage and help shape a cohesive interdisciplinary field of contemplative studies in which basic and applied science, scholarship, education, and contemplative traditions collaboratively develop an integrated way of knowing in which first- and third-person perspectives are equally and synergistically included.
The Mind & Life Institute, serving as the coordinator of this collaboratively organized International Symposia, is soliciting proposals for concurrent symposia, workshops, panels, roundtables, paper presentation sessions, and poster sessions. Each of these types of sessions will be allocated 1 ½ hours of time within the program. Submissions may focus on conceptual, theoretical, empirical, and/or methodological issues. Proposals that are integrative and cut across traditional disciplines are particularly encouraged, although discipline-specific proposals also are sought.
Organized Paper Symposium
Symposia consist of a set of thematically focused presentations on a particular topic, with a chairperson responsible for facilitating discussion and integration. Proposals for symposia should be limited to no more than three speakers, plus a chairperson/discussant, with 30 minutes reserved for interactive discussion, facilitated by the chair, between the presenters and the session audience. Proposals should include the names, affiliations, email and telephone contact information for the proposed session chair and speakers. Abstracts, limited to 150 words for the overall symposium description and 150 words for each presentation within the symposium, should provide sufficient specificity of content to allow the planning committee to adequately evaluate the proposal.
Workshop
A workshop is a session focusing upon a particular set of scientific or scholarly research methods, with a high degree of interaction between the presenter(s) and session audience. Proposals for workshops should be limited to no more than three presenters, and should indicate the method by which audience interaction will be facilitated. Proposals should include the names, affiliations, email and telephone contact information for the proposed presenters. Abstracts, limited to 300 words, should provide sufficient specificity of content to allow the planning committee to adequately evaluate the proposal.
Roundtable Discussion/Scientific Dialogue
A roundtable discussion/scientific dialogue (RD/SD) does not present research findings, but rather addresses an area or issue of fundamental importance to the field, in a format that encourages a lively exchange of different points of views. Proposals for roundtable discussions may include up to five discussants. Proposals should include the names, affiliations, email and telephone contact information for the roundtable chair and participants. Abstracts, limited to 300 words, should provide sufficient specificity of content to allow the planning committee to adequately evaluate the proposal.
Individual Paper Presentation
Individual paper presentations may include new research results, as well as theoretical, historical, or other relevant scholarship. The planning committee will be responsible for grouping accepted presentation proposals into thematically-linked sessions of four presentations each. Proposals should include the name, affiliation, email and telephone contact information for the presenting author. Abstracts, limited to 150 words, should provide sufficient specificity of content to allow the planning committee to adequately evaluate the proposal.
Individual Poster
Poster presentation proposals may include new research results, as well as theoretical, historical, or other relevant scholarship, and will be reviewed for acceptability and grouped thematically for placement during a 1.5 hour time block. The poster session will be held in the early evening along with a reception, and will not compete with any other sessions. Proposals for poster presentations should include the name, affiliation, email and telephone contact information of the presenter, plus a 150 word abstract, providing sufficient specificity of content to allow the planning committee to adequately evaluate the proposal.
