-
JCS Editor • February 26, 2026Contemplation + SENSEmaking
An Interview with Andrew Holecek
JCS: Welcome—I’m excited to talk with you today. I have three core questions, but first I’d love it if you could give us a brief bio and a background of who you are and where you’re coming from. AH: I come from Boulder, Colorado and have an academic background. I got a… -
JCS Editor • January 30, 2026Contemplation + SENSEmaking
Interview with Pir Zia
JCS: I’m so happy to have this opportunity to speak with you, Pir Zia. I’m interested in how you stumbled into the spiritual and contemplative path of your life. Was there anything in your upbringing that encouraged or facilitated this way of living? It does sound like you’ve had a pretty intercontinental life. Did that play a part at all? PZ: Yes,… -
JCS Editor • January 23, 2026Contemplation + Education
An Interview With Robert W. Roeser
JCS: Welcome! Can you tell me a bit about your background in contemplation and education? RR: I’m trained as a PhD in Developmental Science and Education, and I also hold master’s degrees in clinical social work and religion. My research… -
JCS Editor • August 15, 2025Contemplation + Leadership
An Interview With Ian H. Solomon
JCS: Thanks for joining us for this series called Contemplation Plus. What we’re interested in is contemplation and its myriad of expressions. It’s about contemplation and whatever that means to you at the intersection of an area that is the… -
JCS Editor • July 15, 2025Author Insight
An Interview With Bin Song
JCS: What does contemplation look like in Confucianism? BS: First, it’s important to note that the term Confucianism was popularized by nineteenth-century Christian missionaries during Western colonial expansion. In its original language, this tradition has long been called the Ru (儒)… -
JCS Editor • May 29, 2025Contemplation + Science
An Interview With Fadel Zeidan
JCS: You work at this very interesting intersection between a variety of things: pain management, health, neuroscience, psychedelics research, phantom limb syndrome, but also, contemplation. How did you get to this point? Either in your training, in the research that… -
JCS Editor • May 15, 2025Contemplation + Psychedelics
An Interview With Stuart Ray Sarbacker
JCS: How do you bring yogic traditions and psychedelic science together? What brought you to this point? SS: There are a number of different factors. Part of it came out of my own experiments with contemplative practices and with psychedelics,… -
JCS Editor • April 17, 2025Contemplation + Medicine
An Interview With Pierce Salguero
JCS: I’m really curious how you came to this intersection of Contemplative Studies and Health. You’ve largely been studying Buddhist medicine, is that right? What brought you here? Either professionally, personally, or all of the above. PS: I never felt… -
JCS Editor • February 27, 2025Contemplation + The Body
An Interview With Donata Schoeller
Donata Schoeller is the co-founder and academic director of the European Erasmus training program Embodied Critical Thinking and Understanding (TECTU), and the principal investigator and conceptual director of the international research project “Freedom to make sense: embodied, experiential and mindful…
-
JCS Editor • February 26, 2026
Contemplation + SENSEmaking
An Interview with Andrew Holecek
JCS: Welcome—I’m excited to talk with you today. I have three core questions, but first I’d love it if you could give us a brief bio and a background of who you are and where you’re coming from. AH: I come from Boulder, Colorado and have an academic background. I got a… -
JCS Editor • February 20, 2026ISCR 2025 Contemplative Studies Update
From November 3rd to the 6th, 2025, the International Society for Contemplative Research (ISCR) held its third academic conference. The Friday Conference Center offered a pleasant venue for a week’s worth of professional networking, stimulating lectures, and intermittent contemplative exercises. Walking through the front doors on the first day,… -
JCS Editor • February 13, 2026AAR 2025 Contemplative Studies Update
With an Honor Song ringing out, resonantly, at an AAR panel, it’s clear that contemplation as a category, as a way to collect voices, perspectives, and insights, is not just a recapitulation of tired and ingrained modes of academic pursuit. While Contemplative Studies as an organized and self-conscious field is still… -
JCS Editor • January 30, 2026
Contemplation + SENSEmaking
Interview with Pir Zia
JCS: I’m so happy to have this opportunity to speak with you, Pir Zia. I’m interested in how you stumbled into the spiritual and contemplative path of your life. Was there anything in your upbringing that encouraged or facilitated this way of living? It does sound like you’ve had a pretty intercontinental life. Did that play a part at all? PZ: Yes,… -
JCS Editor • January 23, 2026
Contemplation + Education
An Interview With Robert W. Roeser
JCS: Welcome! Can you tell me a bit about your background in contemplation and education? RR: I’m trained as a PhD in Developmental Science and Education, and I also hold master’s degrees in clinical social work and religion. My research… -
Noah Brown, Harvard Gazette • November 21, 2025Had a bad experience meditating? You’re not alone.
Altered states of consciousness through yoga, mindfulness more common than thought and mostly beneficial, study finds — though clinicians ill-equipped to help those who struggle
Altered states of consciousness associated with practices such as yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and breath work are far more common than expected, according to new research by a team including investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital. Although many people surveyed for the…