Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Meditation in Higher Education: The Next Wave?

  • Published:
Innovative Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article describes the design and advocacy of the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz and Contemplative Studies curriculum at The University of Michigan School of Music. The curriculum combines meditation practice and related studies with jazz and overall musical training and is part of a small but growing movement in academia that seeks to integrate contemplative disciplines within the educational process. The article considers issues such as the structure of the curriculum, the reconciliation of contemplative studies and conventional notions of academic rigor, the avoidance of possible conflicts between church and state, and other challenges encountered in gaining support for this plan, after weeks of intensive debate, from a 2/3 majority of the faculty.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander, C., & Langer, E. (Eds) (1990). Higher stages of human development. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andresen, J. (2000). Meditation meets behavioral medicine. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 7(11), 17–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin, J. (1998). Zen and the brain. Cambridge, MA: MIT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohm, D. (1980). Wholeness and the implicate order. London, England: Ark.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chalmers, D.J. (1996). The conscious mind: In search of a fundamental theory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chalmers, D.J. (1995). Facing up to the problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2(3), 200–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Churchland, P. (1998). Neurophilosophy: Toward a unified science of the mind/brain. Cambridge, MA: MIT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalal, A.S. (2001). A greater psychology: The psychological thought of Sri Aurobindo. New York, NY: Tarcher/Putnam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennett, D. (1991). Consciousness explained. Boston, MA: Back Bay Books, Little and Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forman, R., (Ed.) (1990). The problem of pure consciousness. New York, NY: Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences. New York, NY: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st century. New York, NY: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goswami, A. (1993). The self-aware universe: How consciousness creates the material world. New York, NY: Tarcher.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffen, D. (1997). Parapsychology, philosophy and spirituality. Albany, NY: SUNY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halpern, C. (1999). Preface. A contemplative approach to law. Williamsburg, MA: Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • John, R., & Dunne, B. (1987). The margins of reality. San Diego, CA: Harcourt and Brace.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, S. (1983). Mysticism and philosophical analysis. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield, V. (1995). Synchronicity, science and soul-making. Chicago, IL: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, M., & White, R. (1995). In the zone: Transcendent experience in sports. New York, NY: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orme-Johnson, D., Dillbeck, M., Wallace, R. K., & Landrith, G. (1982). Intersubject EEG coherence: Is consciousness a field? International Journal of Neuroscience, 16, 203–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radio, D. (1997). The conscious universe. San Francisco, CA: Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riskin, L. (2002). The contemplative lawyer: On the potential contributions of mindfulness meditation to law students, lawyers and their clients. Harvard Negotiation Law Review, 7(1), 1–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarath, E. (1995). Is the paradigm shifting without us? International Journal of Music Education, 25, 29–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarath, E. (1996). A new look at improvisation. Journal of Music Theory, 40(1), 1–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarath, E. (2002). Improvisation and curriculum reform. In R. Colwell & Carol Richardson (Eds.), The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning (pp. 188–198). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shear, J. (1996). The hard problem: Closing the empirical gap. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 3(1), 54–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wade, J. (1996). Changes of mind: A holonomic theory of the evolution of consciousness. Albany, NY: SUNY

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, R.K. (1991). The neurophysiology of enlightenment. Fairfield, IA: MIU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilber, K. (2000). Integral psychology. Collected Works, 4. Boston, MA: Shambhala.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation, The University of Michigan School of Music, USA

    Ed Sarath

Authors
  1. Ed Sarath
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sarath, E. Meditation in Higher Education: The Next Wave?. Innovative Higher Education 27, 215–233 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024072313202

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024072313202

Search

Navigation