Thinking about your concentration? So were a few undecided undergrads - until they chose to concentrate on their thinking instead.
Contemplative studies, an independent concentration that currently boasts five concentrators, takes a hands-on approach to the exploration of human consciousness and self-awareness.
The concentration's foundational course, UNIV 0540: "Introduction to Contemplative Studies," is so popular that it often has a waitlist of over 50 undergrads. The class, capped at 20, encourages students to personally experience the contemplative practices they study, such as meditation, and exposes them to a new perspective on learning.
"It's a newly emerging field that studies contemplative experience across culture and time, from scientific, humanistic and creative arts approaches," said Professor of Religious Studies and East Asian Studies Harold Roth, who advises the five concentrators.
Students concentrating in the field tailor their coursework to their academic interests, which include neuroscience, music, psychology and education.
"It really interested me, the crossover between academia and meditation traditions," said Matthew Sacchet '10, a contemplative studies concentrator who focuses on neuroscience and psychology. "With meditation, you're very much dealing with your own conscious experience. That can appeal to people who find that the sciences can be removed from what's actually happening."
Meditation is just one example of a contemplative practice, Roth said. The methods used in contemplative studies courses "deal with self-analysis, encourage students to apply their studies to their own lives ... and lead to increased self-awareness," he said.
"It is a science refined over centuries and generations that makes available to us one of the biggest unexplored realms on earth: the human mind," said Jonathan Mitchell '09, whose concentration focuses on the musical dimensions of contemplative studies.
Roth said people outside the field often misunderstand the significance of meditation in contemplative studies. "It's perceived by some in religious studies as no different than forcing students to pray or accept Jesus as their savior, forcing them to buy into the truth of a religious system," he said.
Mitchell said he believed such perceptions of meditation are incorrect. Contemplative practices "have no tenets of faith, other than the simple one that the practice will work," he said.
According to Mitchell, the field's scholars consider meditation "a totally earthly practice, like push-ups for your attention."
Three current undergrads have declared independent concentrations in the field of contemplative studies, and two more are waiting for their concentrations to be approved. Because the University does not recognize contemplative studies as an official concentration, students who wish to pursue it must declare an independent concentration.
Elizabeth Baron '10.5 is one of those awaiting approval. She has proposed a concentration in contemplative studies with a focus in education, she said.
"At times, it was very frustrating because it took a lot of time," Baron said about submitting her proposal. "But it was actually a rewarding process because it helped me vocalize what it is that I'm studying."
Roth and his advisees said they wished to see contemplative studies become a recognized concentration with its own department and a major research lab.
"I think it's a very legitimate area of study, and I would like it to be an official concentration," Baron said.
But Roth said the main obstacle to obtaining a lab for research in contemplative studies is financial. "If the funds were available, it could happen tomorrow," he said.
Roth said he is not giving up. "Twenty years ago, women's studies was where contemplative studies is today," he said.
"I think people are really thirsty for self-knowledge and learning that is transformational," said Seth Izen '08, one of three alums who concentrated in contemplative studies. "Instead of just learning data, people want education to provide them with wisdom, guidance and the self-knowledge that (they) crave."
Willoughby Britton, a postdoctoral research fellow in psychiatry and human behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School, has uncovered other possible benefits that meditation may bring.
Britton, who is affiliated with the initiative to obtain official recognition for the concentration, is currently studying the effects of meditation on brain function in Brown undergrads and sixth graders at the Moses Brown School. Britton's study compares brain activity related to emotional processing, memory and attention in subjects who meditate to those who do not.
"The non-meditating group developed a much higher instance of thoughts of killing or hurting oneself," Britton said about the results of the study on the sixth graders.
"Psychological stress is related to huge numbers of diseases," Roth said. "It affects your body and mind in ways you may not even be aware of. Contemplative practices take people out of it, at least for a time."
Izen said he felt the positive effects of meditation first-hand when he spent three months after graduation on a meditation retreat in
Massachusetts.
"I feel like I found out a lot about myself. I feel like I can deal with life a little easier and deal with my reactions to things a little easier," he said.
