JCS Blog
A community forum for news and discussion
JCS Blog
The JCS Blog is an online community forum for news and discussion about the journal and topics related to Contemplative Studies. Posts are brief communications in the form of JCS highlights, community news, research notes, commentary or opinion pieces, new book announcements, and conference or workshop reports.
To submit a post for the JCS Blog, send via the Contact Us form.
Call for Individual Articles & Special Issues
The Journal of Contemplative Studies (JCS) is looking for new scholarship in Contemplative Studies. In particular, we invite submissions from individuals or panels from the recent AAR conference in San Antonio. The journal publishes original research and scholarship on topics related to contemplation with a focus on humanities-based studies, in the most capacious sense, and…
ISCR 2nd Annual Conference
The International Society for Contemplative Research is holding their 2nd annual conference in Padova, Italy from June 19 – 23, 2024. The deadline to submit abstracts is January 31, 2024. Please visit www.iscrconference.org or email admin@contemplativeresearch.org for more details.
Op-Ed: Critical Mindfulness in Contemplative Education
Dr. Nadine Levy, Nan Tien Institute In secular educational settings, mindfulness is taught primarily with reference to its observable and measurable scientific benefits. Educators often refer to findings of brain imaging studies that reveal mindfulness can significantly alter brain structure in ways that would appear to make it particularly applicable to modern life. As a…
Contemplative Studies Panels at AAR Conference: November 18-21, 2023
The Contemplative Studies Unit at the American Academy of Religion is sponsoring five panels at the annual conference in San Antonio, TX from November 18-21, 2023: Spirit Medicine toward Ethical and Decolonial Psychedelic Research and Praxis. Saturday, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Grand Hyatt-Bowie B (2nd Floor). With private investment in psychedelic development, the FDA…
Book Review: Routledge Handbook of Yoga and Meditation Studies
Read the new Review of the Routledge Handbook of Yoga and Meditation Studies (2023). Edited by Suzanne Newcombe and Karen O’Brien-Kop. Reviewed by Alan Brill (Seton Hall University). This review discusses a helpful edited volume featuring recent scholarship on yoga and meditation studies that address the question: “What exactly is meditation?” In response, the editors “aim to…
Generative Contemplation Symposium 2023 Video Proceedings: Self-Emergent Visions
The Generative Contemplation Symposium was hosted by the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia in April 2023. The following is the video proceedings along with searchable transcripts of Session IV: Self-Emergent Visions which focused on the deliberate elicitation of effortless self-emergent visionary experiences. We invite you to watch these creative interdisciplinary explorations between…
Generative Contemplation Symposium 2023 Video Proceedings: Dreams and Illusions
The Generative Contemplation Symposium was hosted by the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia in April 2023. The following is the video proceedings along with searchable transcripts of Session III: Dream and Illusion Practices which focused on the induction of perceptual and cognitive illusions. Video proceedings from other sessions will be posted in…
Generative Contemplation Symposium 2023 Video Proceedings: Nonduality
The Generative Contemplation Symposium was hosted by the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia in April 2023. The following is the video proceedings along with searchable transcripts of Session II: Nondual Awareness Practices which focused on the subject-object dichotomy in meditation. Video proceedings from other sessions will be posted in subsequent posts. We…
CALL FOR PAPERS − SPECIAL ISSUE #5: Contemplation in Africana Traditions
The JCS Editors are delighted to announce a call for papers for a Special Issue devoted to Contemplation in Africana Traditions with guest editors Oludamini Ogunnaike (University of Virginia), Georgette Mulunda Ledgister (Harvard Divinity School), and Funlayo E. Wood (Harvard University). The African continent and diaspora have a rich heritage and strong contemporary practice of…
Generative Contemplation Symposium 2023 Video Proceedings: Attention
The Generative Contemplation Symposium was hosted by the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia in April 2023. The following is the video proceedings along with searchable transcripts of Session I: Cognitive Effort and Control Practices which focused on issues of attention in meditation. Video proceedings from other sessions will be posted in subsequent…
NEW ARTICLE: A Study of Cheng Yi’s Quiet-Sitting Meditation
“A Study of Cheng Yi’s Quiet-Sitting Meditation and Other Contemplative Practices in the Confucian Context” Abstract: This study delves into Cheng Yi’s (程頤, 1033–1107) Ruist (Confucian) contemplative practices, addressing a gap in contemplative studies from a Ruist perspective. As a seminal thinker in the Cheng-Zhu lineage, Cheng Yi developed various practices, including quiet-sitting meditation, beholding,…
CALL FOR PAPERS − SPECIAL ISSUE #4: Philosophy and Contemplation in Tantric Buddhism
The JCS Editors are delighted to announce a call for papers for a Special Issue devoted to Philosophy and Contemplation in Tantric Buddhism with guest editor Yaroslav Komarovski (University of Nebraska – Lincoln). This JCS Special Issue gives attention to intersections and relationships between philosophical and contemplative dimensions of Buddhist tantric traditions. While Buddhist philosophy and tantric…
Call for Book Reviews
We invite reviews of books in Contemplative Studies. Rigorous and insightful reviews are integral to JCS’s mission to inform and connect scholars and practitioners in Contemplative Studies. Proposals are invited to review new publications as well as foundational works of scholarship published in the last few years. A few possible titles for which we are…
CALL FOR PAPERS – SPECIAL ISSUE #3: Contemplative Ecology
The JCS Editors are delighted to announce a call for papers for a Special Issue devoted to Contemplative Ecology with guest editors Douglas Christie (Loyola Marymount University), Simone Kotva (Cambridge University), Ariel Evan Mayse (Stanford University), and Devin Zuckerman (University of Virginia). The guest editors of this Special Issue recognize that the world is in…
BOOK REVIEW: The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Meditation
Read the new Review of the Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Meditation (2022). Edited by Rick Repetti. Reviewed by Francisco Figueroa Medina (Kyoto University). The review outlines the contributions of this important edited volume on recent scholarship about the philosophy of meditation. Medina evaluates claims by contributing authors from a perspective of Buddhist meditation….
CONFERENCE RECAP: Generative Contemplation Symposium at University of Virginia, April 2023
The Contemplative Sciences Center (CSC) at the University of Virginia (UVA) hosted its first Generative Contemplation Symposium in Charlottesville, Virginia from April 20-21, 2023. This gathering convened religious studies scholars, philosophers, cognitive neuroscientists, artists, and Buddhist practitioners to present their research, reflections, and theories on contemplative practices, and discuss the effects of contemplation on human…
The Contemplative Forum: Academic Listserv
Announcing the launch of the Contemplative Forum, an academic email listserv that facilitates scholarly exchanges in Contemplative Studies. Sign-up on the Contemplative Forum webpage. The forum promotes humanistic and transdisciplinary scholarship and research in Contemplative Studies, and connects a global community of scholars, researchers, practitioners, and educators to support field-building activities. The Contemplative Forum is free…
NEW ARTICLE: Religious and Scientific Worldviews in Meditation-Related Challenges
“Relationships between Religious and Scientific Worldviews in the Narratives of Western Buddhists Reporting Meditation-Related Challenges” Abstract: Contemporary Buddhist meditators in the West are likely to find themselves engaged in practices with rich associations with both religious and scientific worldviews. Meditation-related challenges can provoke existential concerns that make unexplored relationships between religious and scientific worldviews more…
Vajrayana Buddhism and Science Workshop Video Proceedings
Over several days in March and early April 2021, Maria Kozhevnikov at the National University of Singapore convened a private online workshop, Bridging Esoteric Vajrayana Buddhism Practices with Science to Enhance Human Cognition. We are delighted to make the transcribed video proceedings of this workshop publicly available. The goal of the workshop was to bring psychologists,…
Propose a JCS Special Issue
The JCS Editors invite proposals to guest edit a Special Issue by filling-in the Special Issue Proposal Form via the Submissions page. JCS Special Issues invite and collate select articles on a coherent theme that collectively contribute to Contemplative Studies. See details on the Special Issues page. Each Special Issue is curated by one to…
CONFERENCE RECAP: International Society for Contemplative Research (ISCR) 2023
The International Society for Contemplative Research (ISCR) held its inaugural conference in San Diego from February 2-5, 2023. The conference promoted interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration amongst diverse fields including Neuroscience, Psychological and Social Sciences, Education and Developmental Sciences, Philosophy, Religion and the Humanities, Social and Environmental justice, Medicine and Healthcare. Experts and trainees from around…
ContemplativeRxiv Pre- and Post-Print Service
The JCS Editors are delighted to announce the launch of our new pre- and post-print service, ContemplativeRxiv. The preprint archive of the Journal of Contemplative Studies (JCS) aims to support a global community of scholars and promote innovations in Contemplative Studies. Pre- and post-print platforms such as ContemplativeRxiv enable authors to submit an article at…
NEW BOOK: The Lamp for the Eye of Contemplation
The Lamp for the Eye of Contemplation: The Samten Migdron by Nubchen Sangye Yeshe, a 10th-century Tibetan Buddhist Text on Meditation. Oxford University Press 2022. Dylan Esler Dylan Esler’s translation of The Lamp for the Eye of Contemplation or Samten Migdron (Bsam gtan mig sgron) by Nubchen Sangye Yeshe delivers a new complete English translation…
SPECIAL ISSUE #2: Mindful Practices and Embodied Critical Thinking
The JCS Editors are delighted to announce a forthcoming Special Issue dedicated to exploring the tensions and transitions between mindful practices and embodied critical thinking. By guest editors Donata Schoeller, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir, and Greg Walkerden. This Special Issue explores embodied approaches to critical, analytic, and systematic thinking in dialogue with meditation practices. We focus specifically…
Generative Contemplation Symposium: University of Virginia, April 20-21, 2023
On Thursday April 20th and Friday April 21st, 2023, the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia is hosting the Generative Contemplation Symposium, an interdisciplinary dialogue on the art and science of effortless and self-emergence contemplative practices. Register here for the full two-day symposium, including a private screening of the documentary film, Tukdam: Between…
SPECIAL ISSUE #1: Psychedelics, Contemplation, and Religion
The editors are delighted to announce a forthcoming Special Issue dedicated to the intersections of psychedelics, contemplation, and religion by guest editors Daniel A. Hirshberg and Stuart Ray Sarbacker: Psychedelics are now enjoying a resurgence of both popular and scientific interest due to the rigorous documentation of their therapeutic potential. While psychedelics induce short-term alterations…
OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS: Journal of Contemplative Studies
On behalf of the Executive Board, we are thrilled to announce that the Journal of Contemplative Studies (JCS) is open for submissions. The Journal of Contemplative Studies is a peer-reviewed, open access digital journal published by the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia. The journal publishes original research and scholarship on topics related…
ISCR Inaugural Conference: February 2-5, 2023
The inaugural conference of the International Society for Contemplative Research (ISCR) will be held on the campus of the University of California, San Diego during February 2-5, 2023. Over the past few decades, as the awareness of the transformative potential of contemplative practices has grown in our cultures, many people have been working in separate…
Contemplative Studies Panels at AAR Conference: November 19-22, 2022
The Contemplative Studies Unit at the American Academy of Religion is sponsoring three panels at the annual conference in Denver, CO from November 19-22, 2022: Engaging The Soul of Higher Education: Contemplative Pedagogy, Research, and Institutional Life for the Twenty-first Century (Information Age Publishing, 2019) . Christian Spirituality Unit and Contemplative Studies Unit. Saturday, 12:30-2:30….
Contemplative Studies Book Series at the University of Virginia Press
The University of Virginia Press is pleased to announce a new series that seeks to publish innovative research, learning, and engagement in Contemplative Studies. The Contemplative Studies series is a peer-reviewed book series that publishes leading research, learning, and engagement related to contemplation across the humanities as well as transdisciplinary scholarship with a humanistic core….