The Contemplative Studies Initiative is a group of Brown faculty with diverse academic specializations who are united around a common interest in the study of contemplative states of mind, including the underlying philosophy, psychology, and phenomenology of human contemplative experience.
We are currently able, as a group, to provide advice on students’ academic and personal study in this area and we are working towards eventually receiving formal recognition as a Program, Concentration, or a Center to study and teach the underlying philosophy, psychology, and phenomenology of human contemplative experience. Our goal is to develop a coordinated program in this rapidly emerging field that focuses on many of the ways that human beings have found, across cultures and across time, to concentrate, broaden and deepen conscious awareness as the gateway to cultivating their full potential and to leading more meaningful and fulfilling lives.