Katja Hahn D’Errico to Present Final Arthur Zajonc Lecture on Contemplative Education on June 17

Katja Hahn d’Errico, former adjunct faculty in the College of Education’s social justice program, will present the sixth and final Arthur Zajonc Lecture on Contemplative Education on Saturday, June 17, in the Marriott Center on the 11th floor of the Campus Center.

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Hahn d’Errico, who retired from UMass Amherst in 2022, was also director of the IMPACT service-learning Residential Academic Program at Commonwealth Honors College, where she worked to refine the integration of contemplative practice and social justice theory in her curriculum for a community service program.

The lecture is part of a day-long program celebrating the impacts and accomplishments of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (CMIND) featuring leaders from CMIND and the UMass Amherst Libraries, former Arthur Zajonc Lecture Awardees and others carrying on the work of CMIND. It honors Zajonc and his groundbreaking work in contemplative pedagogy, epistemology and learning. Throughout the day there will be opportunities to come together in contemplation and conversation with inspirational activities and practices.

CMIND, which ceased operations in September 2022, was founded in the mid-1990s with programs in areas including youth leadership, journalism, environmental activism, law and—its largest program—education. From 2008, CMIND’s work focused on contemplative practices in colleges and universities, exploring how contemplative practices can support personal, institutional and systemic change in higher education. Based in Florence, Mass., CMIND offered many resources designed to serve faculty, staff, students and administration; held retreats, webinars and workshops; and connected individuals and organizations through the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education.

The Arthur Zajonc Lecture Series honors the former director of CMIND, former president of the Mind & Life Institute and an emeritus professor of physics at Amherst College. His research includes the experimental foundations of quantum physics and the relationship between science, the humanities and contemplative traditions. As director of CMIND, Zajonc fostered the use of contemplative practice in college and university classrooms and developed the foundations for contemplative pedagogy. When CMIND sunsetted last fall, its records went to the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center (SCUA), in the UMass Amherst Libraries, who are co-organizers of this event.

Registration for the event, which is open to the public, is $50 and includes coffee, lunch and a reception at the end of the day. A student rate or rate for those who find that cost is a barrier is also available. For more information and to register, visit https://umass.irisregistration.com/Site/CMIND.