His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Visit to Western Massachusetts Friday-Sunday, Oct. 23-25
Hadley, Mass. (PRWEB) September 14, 2015 -- Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, will visit Western Massachusetts October 23-25 for a range of events focusing on education, secular ethics and, specifically, an approach to incorporating care and compassion into all levels of education worldwide. The five events, to take place at Smith and Amherst colleges and the University of Massachusetts, will focus on a global framework for education that the Dalai Lama has been working on with the Hadley-based Mind and Life Institute, the non-profit organization he co-founded in 1987 to more fully understand the connection between science and contemplative traditions. This visit coincides with the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday year.
In collaboration with the Mind and Life Institute, Smith and Amherst College will host panel discussions and dialogues with the Dalai Lama for their student, faculty, staff and alumni communities on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24; and the University of Massachusetts will host the Dalai Lama in a public lecture at the Mullins Center on October 25.
Reporters are invited to attend the events listed below. For more information about covering a particular event, contact the media relations liaison listed at the end of each event description.
Friday, Oct. 23
Morning
Meeting with faculty and students at the Smith College Campus School
The Dalai Lama will visit the Smith College Campus School (an elementary school located on the Smith College campus that serves as the laboratory school for the Department of Education and Child Study) to learn more about the Mind & Life Institute's Call to Care educational research initiative, which aims to cultivate not only students’ intellectual skills, but also positive human traits such as self-awareness, social-awareness, care, and compassion within the classroom and school community. Developed over the past three years in collaboration with researchers, neuroscientists, developmental psychologists and several of the school’s teachers, the Call to Care framework is now being piloted internationally by Mind and Life. For more background see: http://www.smith.edu/news/campus-school-call-to-care/
Audience: Mind & Life Institute Community, and Campus School students and faculty.
Open to the media? Due to the nature of this event (which focuses on schoolchildren), this event will be open only to a very small number of selected media.
Media contact for more information: Stacey Schmeidel, director of media relations at Smith College, sschmeidel(at)smith.edu, 413/585-2190; or MJ Viederman, Director of Communications, Mind & Life Institute, mj(at)mindandlife.org, 603/759-0738.
Friday, Oct. 23
1 p.m.
Smith College Indoor Track & Tennis Facility
Panel discussion: “Secular Ethics: Educating for Care and Compassion” His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will join Smith College President Kathleen McCartney and Richard Weissbourd, director of the Making Caring Common project at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, for a conversation about education, moral capacity and secular ethics. The panel will focus on incorporating care and compassion into the framework of education at all levels worldwide.
Audience: 3,300 Smith students, faculty, staff, parents and alumnae. Tickets are required.
Open to media? Yes. Credentials required.
Media contact for more credentials and more information: Stacey Schmeidel, director of media relations at Smith College, sschmeidel(at)smith.edu, 413/585-2190.
Saturday, Oct. 24
9:30 a.m.
Johnson Chapel, Amherst College
Talk: “The Heart of Education”
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will deliver an address and then participate in a question-and-answer session with Amherst College President Biddy Martin; Cullen Murphy, chair of the Amherst College Board of Trustees and editor-at-large for Vanity Fair magazine; and Amy Demorest, professor of psychology at Amherst College.
Audience: 600 Amherst College students, faculty, staff and alumni. Tickets are required.
Open to media? Yes. Credentials required.
Media contact for credentials and more information: Caroline Hanna, director of media communications at Amherst College, channa(at)amherst.edu, 413/542-8417.
Saturday, Oct. 24
1 p.m.
Johnson Chapel, Amherst College
“Cultivating an Ethical Life”
His Holiness will be in dialogue with Maria Heim, professor of religion at Amherst College; Joseph Moore, professor in the philosophy department at Amherst College; and Richard J. Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This academic discussion will explore questions such as "How does one practically approach the idea of universal responsibility in this day and age?" and "Is there a scientific basis for leading an ethical life?" The dialogue will be moderated by Diana Chapman Walsh, president emerita, Wellesley College.
Audience: 600 Amherst College students, faculty, staff and alumni. Tickets are required.
Open to media? Yes. Credentials are required.
Media contact for more information: Caroline Hanna, director of media communications at Amherst College, channa(at)amherst.edu, 413/542-8417; or MJ Viederman, director of communications, Mind and Life Institute, mj(at)mindandlife.org, 603/759-0738.
Sunday, Oct. 25
1 p.m.
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Mullins Center
The Dalai Lama’s Public Address at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Mullins Center
Audience: Open to all; tickets required. (The Mullins Center capacity for the event is about 7,500. Tickets are available at the Mullins Center Box Office or through Ticketmaster.)
Open to media? Yes. Credentials are required.
“A Force For Good”
An address from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama followed by a conversation involving Daniel Goleman (board member of the Mind & Life Institute and best-selling author) and representatives from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. This is the only event of the visit that is open to the general public.
Media contact for credentials and more information: Ed Blaguszewski, UMass Amherst Office of News and Media Relations, edblag(at)admin.umass.edu, 413-545- 0444; or MJ Viederman, Director of Communications, Mind & Life Institute, mj(at)mindandlife.org, 603/759-0738.
Contact: MJ Viederman Mind & Life Institute mj(at)mindandlife.org 603-759-0738
Caroline Hanna Amherst College channa(at)amherst.edu 413-542-8417
Stacey Schmeidel Smith College sschmeidel(at)smith.edu 413-585-2190
Ed Blaguszewski University of Massachusetts Amherst edblag(at)admin.umass.edu
413-545-0444
MJ Viederman, Mind and Life Instittute, http://www.mullinscenter.com/events-tickets/ticket-information, +1 6037590738, [email protected]
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