Starting college can make you stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed -- and that's not just in the classroom.
The Contemplative Science Center at the University of Virginia is combating those freshman year symptoms with three wellness dorms, dedicated to mindfulness, stress management, and well-being.
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David Germano, Professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies and director of the Contemplative Sciences Center at UVA, said they are piloting programs that would bring yoga right into the residence.
"The students can just say, 'Ok, I'm going to take some time off and just devote it to myself,'" he said.
The dorms are implementing these programs to help facilitate student wellness, improve performance in the classroom, and spur creativity. Germano hopes that eventually every residence, including Greek housing, will get on board.
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For now, the center is offering retreats -- off-campus activities that take students out of their ordinary environment to focus on personal development.
Watch the video above to hear more about how Germano hopes to help students manage anxiety and develop resilience on campus, as he explains the wellness programs to Sonia Jones, the co-founder of Sonima Foundation and Sonima Wellness. The Sonima Foundation offers health and wellness programs to students across 89 schools in California, Florida, New York and Texas.
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Brown University
Course Title:Philosophy of Mysticism
School's Description Of Course: Covers important attempts to understand the nature of religious experiences and mysticism. We will look at several philosophical issues surrounding religious experience, including: (a) whether mystical experiences are too private for outsiders to understand or evaluate them; (b) what the relationship between religious experiences, language, and culture is; (c) whether religious experiences justify religious beliefs; and (d) how gender and religious experiences are related. We will treat theorists from various perspectives, including philosophical, historical, theological, psychoanalytic and neuroscientific.
School's Description Of Course: Covers important attempts to understand the nature of religious experiences and mysticism. We will look at several philosophical issues surrounding religious experience, including: (a) whether mystical experiences are too private for outsiders to understand or evaluate them; (b) what the relationship between religious experiences, language, and culture is; (c) whether religious experiences justify religious beliefs; and (d) how gender and religious experiences are related. We will treat theorists from various perspectives, including philosophical, historical, theological, psychoanalytic and neuroscientific.
Vassar College
Course Title:An Examined Life: Religious Approaches to Enduring Questions
School's Description Of Course: What is a good life? How do we understand dying and death? Does God exist? Is there evil? Why do we suffer? How do we love? What’s the proper way to treat one’s neighbor? This class will explore the variety of ways that religious thinkers have responded to these ancient, persistent, and troubling questions about the nature of human existence. Our focus will be on philosophical texts, however we will also consider filmic representations of these problems.
School's Description Of Course: What is a good life? How do we understand dying and death? Does God exist? Is there evil? Why do we suffer? How do we love? What’s the proper way to treat one’s neighbor? This class will explore the variety of ways that religious thinkers have responded to these ancient, persistent, and troubling questions about the nature of human existence. Our focus will be on philosophical texts, however we will also consider filmic representations of these problems.
University of Chicago
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Course Title:Interpretations of Myth
School's Description Of Course: Mythic narratives figure prominently in virtually all religions and depending on one's definition, in much historical, political, and cultural discourse as well. Given the ubiquity of myths, the fascination they exercise, and the privileged position they often enjoy, mythic discourse has received much critical attention, and a wide range of theories have been advanced, treating myths as true stories, false stories, sacred stories, disease of language, means of revelation, the origin of philosophy and poetry alike, second order semiosis and ideology in narrative form. This course will survey some of the most influential theories and test them against a wide range of myths drawn from various cultures, religions and historic eras.
School's Description Of Course: Mythic narratives figure prominently in virtually all religions and depending on one's definition, in much historical, political, and cultural discourse as well. Given the ubiquity of myths, the fascination they exercise, and the privileged position they often enjoy, mythic discourse has received much critical attention, and a wide range of theories have been advanced, treating myths as true stories, false stories, sacred stories, disease of language, means of revelation, the origin of philosophy and poetry alike, second order semiosis and ideology in narrative form. This course will survey some of the most influential theories and test them against a wide range of myths drawn from various cultures, religions and historic eras.
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University of Southern California
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Course Title:Body, Mind And Healing
School's Description Of Course: The body, illness and healing from a cultural perspective, including comparative studies of folk healing systems, curing rituals and Western biomedical practices.
School's Description Of Course: The body, illness and healing from a cultural perspective, including comparative studies of folk healing systems, curing rituals and Western biomedical practices.
Harvard University
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Course Title:Well-Being
School's Description Of Course: What makes someone's life go well? Is it pleasure, desire satisfaction or something else? How should questions of well-being bear on one's reasoning about what to do, and on one's relations with other people? Can you assess your well-being by evaluating parts of your life individually, or does it depend on the shape of your life as a whole? Readings will include work by Richard Kraut, Derek Parfit, T. M. Scanlon, J. David Velleman and Susan Wolf, among others.
School's Description Of Course: What makes someone's life go well? Is it pleasure, desire satisfaction or something else? How should questions of well-being bear on one's reasoning about what to do, and on one's relations with other people? Can you assess your well-being by evaluating parts of your life individually, or does it depend on the shape of your life as a whole? Readings will include work by Richard Kraut, Derek Parfit, T. M. Scanlon, J. David Velleman and Susan Wolf, among others.
Boston University
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Course Title:Sacred Journeys
School's Description Of Course: An introduction to the comparative study of religion through the theme of the sacred journey/religious quest in Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and popular literature. Topics include heroic, romantic and/or mystical quests; voyages to the underworld; apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic journeys.
School's Description Of Course: An introduction to the comparative study of religion through the theme of the sacred journey/religious quest in Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and popular literature. Topics include heroic, romantic and/or mystical quests; voyages to the underworld; apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic journeys.
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University of Chicago
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Course Title: Understanding Wisdom
School's Description Of Course: Thinking about the nature of wisdom goes back to the Greek philosophers and the classical religious sages, but the concept of wisdom has changed in many ways over the history of thought. While wisdom has received less scholarly attention in modern times, it has recently re-emerged in popular discourse with a growing recognition of its potential importance for addressing complex issues in many domains. But what is wisdom? It’s often used with a meaning more akin to "smart" or "clever." Is it just vast knowledge? This course will examine the nature of wisdom -- how it has been defined, how its meaning has changed, and what its essential components might be. We will examine how current psychological theories conceptualize wisdom and consider whether, and how, wisdom can be studied scientifically; that is, can wisdom be measured and experimentally manipulated to illuminate its underlying mechanisms and understand its functions? Finally, we will explore how concepts of wisdom can be applied in business, education, medicine, the law, and in the course of our everyday lives. Readings will be drawn from a wide array of disciplines including philosophy, classics, history, psychology, behavioral economics, medicine and public policy.
School's Description Of Course: Thinking about the nature of wisdom goes back to the Greek philosophers and the classical religious sages, but the concept of wisdom has changed in many ways over the history of thought. While wisdom has received less scholarly attention in modern times, it has recently re-emerged in popular discourse with a growing recognition of its potential importance for addressing complex issues in many domains. But what is wisdom? It’s often used with a meaning more akin to "smart" or "clever." Is it just vast knowledge? This course will examine the nature of wisdom -- how it has been defined, how its meaning has changed, and what its essential components might be. We will examine how current psychological theories conceptualize wisdom and consider whether, and how, wisdom can be studied scientifically; that is, can wisdom be measured and experimentally manipulated to illuminate its underlying mechanisms and understand its functions? Finally, we will explore how concepts of wisdom can be applied in business, education, medicine, the law, and in the course of our everyday lives. Readings will be drawn from a wide array of disciplines including philosophy, classics, history, psychology, behavioral economics, medicine and public policy.
Brown University
Course Title:Religion Gone Wild: Spirituality and the Environment
School's Description Of Course: A study of the dynamic relation between religion and nature. Religion, in this course, includes forms of spirituality within and outside the bounds of conventional religious traditions (for example, Buddhism and Christianity, on the one hand; ecofeminism and nature writing on the other). Topics in this study of religion, philosophy and ecology will include environmental justice, environmental degradation, and depictions of humans in relation to the natural world.
School's Description Of Course: A study of the dynamic relation between religion and nature. Religion, in this course, includes forms of spirituality within and outside the bounds of conventional religious traditions (for example, Buddhism and Christianity, on the one hand; ecofeminism and nature writing on the other). Topics in this study of religion, philosophy and ecology will include environmental justice, environmental degradation, and depictions of humans in relation to the natural world.
New York University
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Course Title:Life and Death
School's Description Of Course: An introduction to philosophy through the study of issues bearing on life and death. Topics may include the definition and value of life; grounds for creating, preserving, and taking life; personal identity; ideas of death and immortality; abortion and euthanasia. Gives training in philosophical argument and writing.
School's Description Of Course: An introduction to philosophy through the study of issues bearing on life and death. Topics may include the definition and value of life; grounds for creating, preserving, and taking life; personal identity; ideas of death and immortality; abortion and euthanasia. Gives training in philosophical argument and writing.
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Oberlin College
Course Title:Happiness, Death, and the Meaning of Life
School's Description Of Course: An exploration of three topics and the connections between them. What is happiness? Should we aim at it? Is death in itself a bad thing, and if so, why? Would immortality be a good thing? What would it be for life to have a meaning? Does meaning require mortality? How are happiness and meaning related, if at all? And how should recent work in psychology on happiness and meaning inform our philosophical thought about these questions?
School's Description Of Course: An exploration of three topics and the connections between them. What is happiness? Should we aim at it? Is death in itself a bad thing, and if so, why? Would immortality be a good thing? What would it be for life to have a meaning? Does meaning require mortality? How are happiness and meaning related, if at all? And how should recent work in psychology on happiness and meaning inform our philosophical thought about these questions?
Pomona College
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Course Title:Ideas of Love
School's Description Of Course: We read texts from the Western canon and compare their presentations of love. Questions that might be raised include: How is love presented differently in different eras and why? Does love mean something different in philosophical texts and theological texts? And how have ideas of love supported conceptions of virtue, ethics, power and meaning? Course texts include works by Plato, Augustine, Shakespeare and Orwell.
School's Description Of Course: We read texts from the Western canon and compare their presentations of love. Questions that might be raised include: How is love presented differently in different eras and why? Does love mean something different in philosophical texts and theological texts? And how have ideas of love supported conceptions of virtue, ethics, power and meaning? Course texts include works by Plato, Augustine, Shakespeare and Orwell.
Princeton University
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Course Title:Mind and Meditation
School's Description Of Course: This course examines the philosophy, history, and methods of Buddhist meditation. Primary readings will be Buddhist works on the nature of the mind and the role of meditation on the path to liberation (nirvana). We will ask how traditional Buddhist views have been reshaped by modern teachers, and we will interrogate the significance of current research on meditation in the fields of neuroscience, psychology and the philosophy of mind. In addition to other coursework, students will be practicing meditation and keeping a log and journal.
School's Description Of Course: This course examines the philosophy, history, and methods of Buddhist meditation. Primary readings will be Buddhist works on the nature of the mind and the role of meditation on the path to liberation (nirvana). We will ask how traditional Buddhist views have been reshaped by modern teachers, and we will interrogate the significance of current research on meditation in the fields of neuroscience, psychology and the philosophy of mind. In addition to other coursework, students will be practicing meditation and keeping a log and journal.
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University of Southern California
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Course Title:The Physical World And Our Place In It
School's Description Of Course: We will look at a variety of debates in Metaphysics and Epistemology, concerning what sorts of entities we are and how we relate to the material world we inhabit. What does it mean to be a person, and what does it take for people to persist? Can we ever act freely, if everything that happens is causally determined by earlier events? What can we even know about the material world, given that our knowledge seems to be mediated by our senses, and our senses can deceive us? What does knowledge require? And: What sorts of material entities are there? Are things like symphonies, novels and other repeatable artworks material? What about things like shadows and holes, that in some sense seem to exist but in another sense seem to just be modifications of other material things? And how might we deal with puzzles for material entities, such as puzzles involving constitution and individuation?
School's Description Of Course: We will look at a variety of debates in Metaphysics and Epistemology, concerning what sorts of entities we are and how we relate to the material world we inhabit. What does it mean to be a person, and what does it take for people to persist? Can we ever act freely, if everything that happens is causally determined by earlier events? What can we even know about the material world, given that our knowledge seems to be mediated by our senses, and our senses can deceive us? What does knowledge require? And: What sorts of material entities are there? Are things like symphonies, novels and other repeatable artworks material? What about things like shadows and holes, that in some sense seem to exist but in another sense seem to just be modifications of other material things? And how might we deal with puzzles for material entities, such as puzzles involving constitution and individuation?
Harvard University
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Course Title:Human Being And The Sacred In The History Of The West
School's Description Of Course: A culture's understanding of what it is to be human interacts with its understanding of what is sacred. Great works of art in the culture typically reflect or articulate these notions. This course will explore the themes of human being and the sacred as they are manifested in some of the greatest works in the history of the West. Readings chosen from among Homer, Aeschylus, Virgil, the New Testament, Augustine, Dante, Luther, Pascal, Kant, Melville and others.
School's Description Of Course: A culture's understanding of what it is to be human interacts with its understanding of what is sacred. Great works of art in the culture typically reflect or articulate these notions. This course will explore the themes of human being and the sacred as they are manifested in some of the greatest works in the history of the West. Readings chosen from among Homer, Aeschylus, Virgil, the New Testament, Augustine, Dante, Luther, Pascal, Kant, Melville and others.
Claremont McKenna
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Course Title:Visionaries, Prophets, and Transformative Leadership
School's Description Of Course: This course examines the transformative leadership visions, methods and practices of internationally recognized religious and secular founders, innovators and societal prophets. It analyzes their leadership styles, communication strategies, marketing techniques, psychological appeals, and how they kept their leadership styles and religious or secular visions grounded in the hopes and dreams of the masses. Each week we analyze one but occasionally two (for contrast) leaders like Moses, Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther, Bartolomé de las Casas, Theodor Herzl, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Chairman Mao, Gandhi, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Dorothy Day, M.L.King, Gustavo Gutiérrez, Billy Graham, Rosemary Radford Reuther, Indira Gandhi, Muhammad Yunus, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama.
School's Description Of Course: This course examines the transformative leadership visions, methods and practices of internationally recognized religious and secular founders, innovators and societal prophets. It analyzes their leadership styles, communication strategies, marketing techniques, psychological appeals, and how they kept their leadership styles and religious or secular visions grounded in the hopes and dreams of the masses. Each week we analyze one but occasionally two (for contrast) leaders like Moses, Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther, Bartolomé de las Casas, Theodor Herzl, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Chairman Mao, Gandhi, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Dorothy Day, M.L.King, Gustavo Gutiérrez, Billy Graham, Rosemary Radford Reuther, Indira Gandhi, Muhammad Yunus, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama.
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Vassar College
Course Title:Inner Paths: Religion and Contemplative Consciousness
School's Description Of Course: The academic study of religion spends a lot of time examining religion as a social and cultural phenomenon. This course takes a different approach. Instead of looking at religion extrinsically (through history, philosophy, sociology, scriptural study, etc.) “Inner Paths” looks at the religious experience itself, as seen through the eyes of saints and mystics from a variety of the world’s religious traditions. By listening to and reflecting upon “mystic” and contemplative narratives from adepts of Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Daoist and other traditions we learn to appreciate the commonalities, differences, and nuances of various “inner paths.” Readings include John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila, Rabbi Akiba, Rumi, Thich Nhat Hanh, Ramakrishna and Mirabai.
School's Description Of Course: The academic study of religion spends a lot of time examining religion as a social and cultural phenomenon. This course takes a different approach. Instead of looking at religion extrinsically (through history, philosophy, sociology, scriptural study, etc.) “Inner Paths” looks at the religious experience itself, as seen through the eyes of saints and mystics from a variety of the world’s religious traditions. By listening to and reflecting upon “mystic” and contemplative narratives from adepts of Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Daoist and other traditions we learn to appreciate the commonalities, differences, and nuances of various “inner paths.” Readings include John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila, Rabbi Akiba, Rumi, Thich Nhat Hanh, Ramakrishna and Mirabai.
Yale University
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Course Title:Infinity
School's Description Of Course: The idea of infinity. Traditional and contemporary versions of the paradoxes of space, time, and motion, as well as the paradoxes of classes, chances and truth. Some elementary arithmetic, geometry, probability theory and set theory.
School's Description Of Course: The idea of infinity. Traditional and contemporary versions of the paradoxes of space, time, and motion, as well as the paradoxes of classes, chances and truth. Some elementary arithmetic, geometry, probability theory and set theory.
Indiana University
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Course Title:An Interdisciplinary History of Empathy
School's Description Of Course: Our working definition of empathy is the feeling of other people’s feelings. As we study the history of this idea from ancient Greece to the present, we will investigate and complicate that definition. From President Obama, who named empathy a valuable trait in a Supreme Court justice, to an audience at a pole vaulting contest who lean in their seats as the pole vaulter curves over the bar, empathy is a central concept in government, athletics, art, science and the humanities. Empathy has a privileged seat at our human table, but how did it get there? What are its roots? What can the history of empathy tell us about the concept psychologically, socially and physically? Why is empathy such a pervasive and important idea in diverse cultures and disciplines? This course is an interdisciplinary study of the history of empathy. We follow expressions of the concept in philosophy, medicine, literature, psychology, art and aesthetics, social and behavioral science, education, psychotherapy and morality. Beginning with Greek theories of shared feeling as the basis of physical and social organization, we work our way to modern interpretations of empathy in aesthetic appreciation and criticism, attitude, cultural understanding, perspective-taking, human development, interpersonal relationship and neuroscience. Students will write three five-page papers, one on assigned topics, and two on topics of personal choice. All readings are primary documents, and include works of Hippocrates, Plato, Erasmus, Rabelais, Montaigne, Joshua Reynolds, Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, Herder, Keats, Freud, Edith Stein, Charles Cooley and Carl Rogers, among others.
School's Description Of Course: Our working definition of empathy is the feeling of other people’s feelings. As we study the history of this idea from ancient Greece to the present, we will investigate and complicate that definition. From President Obama, who named empathy a valuable trait in a Supreme Court justice, to an audience at a pole vaulting contest who lean in their seats as the pole vaulter curves over the bar, empathy is a central concept in government, athletics, art, science and the humanities. Empathy has a privileged seat at our human table, but how did it get there? What are its roots? What can the history of empathy tell us about the concept psychologically, socially and physically? Why is empathy such a pervasive and important idea in diverse cultures and disciplines? This course is an interdisciplinary study of the history of empathy. We follow expressions of the concept in philosophy, medicine, literature, psychology, art and aesthetics, social and behavioral science, education, psychotherapy and morality. Beginning with Greek theories of shared feeling as the basis of physical and social organization, we work our way to modern interpretations of empathy in aesthetic appreciation and criticism, attitude, cultural understanding, perspective-taking, human development, interpersonal relationship and neuroscience. Students will write three five-page papers, one on assigned topics, and two on topics of personal choice. All readings are primary documents, and include works of Hippocrates, Plato, Erasmus, Rabelais, Montaigne, Joshua Reynolds, Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, Herder, Keats, Freud, Edith Stein, Charles Cooley and Carl Rogers, among others.
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Pomona College
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Course Title:The Art of Living
School's Description Of Course: Considers the possibility of a human life itself as a religious practice of aesthetic creativity. By tracking exemplars within the Western tradition in both art and theory, investigates the potential for living such a life successfully, the discipline required to do so and the hazards that it faces.
School's Description Of Course: Considers the possibility of a human life itself as a religious practice of aesthetic creativity. By tracking exemplars within the Western tradition in both art and theory, investigates the potential for living such a life successfully, the discipline required to do so and the hazards that it faces.
Colorado College
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Course Title: Religious Experience
School's Description Of Course: The out-of-body journey of the shaman, a quiet act of prayer, the ecstasy of the Christian mystic, the enlightenment of the Buddhist monk, the reverie of the nature lover, 'speaking in tongues' among Christian charismatics -- these are examples of what many call 'religious experience' and regard as the very essence of religion. This course will examine primary texts that testify to the reality and power of religious experience in various traditions and will acquaint students with scholarly analyses of the claims of devotees and adepts.
School's Description Of Course: The out-of-body journey of the shaman, a quiet act of prayer, the ecstasy of the Christian mystic, the enlightenment of the Buddhist monk, the reverie of the nature lover, 'speaking in tongues' among Christian charismatics -- these are examples of what many call 'religious experience' and regard as the very essence of religion. This course will examine primary texts that testify to the reality and power of religious experience in various traditions and will acquaint students with scholarly analyses of the claims of devotees and adepts.
Iowa State University
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Course Title:Death as a Part of Living
School's Description Of Course: Consideration of death in the life span of the individual and the family with opportunity for exploration of personal and societal attitudes.
School's Description Of Course: Consideration of death in the life span of the individual and the family with opportunity for exploration of personal and societal attitudes.
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Emory University
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Course Title:Religion And Healing
School's Description Of Course: Designed to explore the mind/body connection as a paradigm to understand religion and healing. Will examine the role of faith, ritual, prayer and meditation in various models of healing.
School's Description Of Course: Designed to explore the mind/body connection as a paradigm to understand religion and healing. Will examine the role of faith, ritual, prayer and meditation in various models of healing.
Princeton University
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Course Title:Musical Cultures of the World
School's Description Of Course: Course explores aesthetic principles and social context underlying traditional and popular musics of various world regions, drawing examples from Spain, Cuba, Japan, Bali and India. Issues explored include conception of melody and rhythm in each culture; the impact of language, pedagogical methods, patronage systems, gender and ethnic or class identity have had on musical composition and performance; and the role of identity, migration, globalization, and politics in the development of genres.
School's Description Of Course: Course explores aesthetic principles and social context underlying traditional and popular musics of various world regions, drawing examples from Spain, Cuba, Japan, Bali and India. Issues explored include conception of melody and rhythm in each culture; the impact of language, pedagogical methods, patronage systems, gender and ethnic or class identity have had on musical composition and performance; and the role of identity, migration, globalization, and politics in the development of genres.
Vanderbilt University
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Course Title: The Meaning of Life
School's Description Of Course: Accounts of life’s meaning. The relations between ways of living, happiness and the fact of death. The individual’s role in giving meaning to life. Readings from Mill, Tolstoy, Kierkegaard and several contemporary thinkers.
School's Description Of Course: Accounts of life’s meaning. The relations between ways of living, happiness and the fact of death. The individual’s role in giving meaning to life. Readings from Mill, Tolstoy, Kierkegaard and several contemporary thinkers.
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University of San Diego
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Course Title:Contemplative Traditions
School's Description Of Course: Emphasizing peer-directed conversation, this course is a seminar on meditation and contemplative prayer from a historical contextualist, textual, comparative and experiential perspective. The course examines contemplative practice in various religious traditions through close textual analysis of important and representative texts.
School's Description Of Course: Emphasizing peer-directed conversation, this course is a seminar on meditation and contemplative prayer from a historical contextualist, textual, comparative and experiential perspective. The course examines contemplative practice in various religious traditions through close textual analysis of important and representative texts.