PROJECT COMPASSION SYMPOSIA AND CONFERENCES

"Compassion is not just feeling with someone, but seeking to change the situation. Frequently people think compassion and love are merely sentimental. No! They are very demanding. If you are going to be compassionate, be prepared for action!" 
 
-Desmond Tutu
 
Symposia 
 
Compassion Definitions Conference 
March 4-5, 2009 
Stanford University

Conference Agenda
Conference Materials
Session Abstracts

CCARE proposes that its inaugural conference focus on the challenges posed by the diverse perspectives of the different disciplines including philosophy, neuroscience, neuroeconomics, psychology and contemplative traditions that are engaged in the study of compassion and altruistic behavior.  This conference will present an unprecedented forum for a variety of diverse disciplines to engage and understand the perspectives of each other, especially with relation to the question how compassion and its associated concepts, altruism and empathy are defined.  The principal goal of the conference will be to build the lexical foundation necessary to allow scholars from different disciplines to effectively and productively discuss and explore concepts and plan future studies. The conference will produce several white papers and published material for release to the public.

Speakers:

Bill Harbuagh, Ph.D., Economics, University of Oregon 
Ulrich Mayr, Ph.D., Psychology, University of Oregon
Felix Warneken, Ph. D., Psychology, Max Planck Institute 
Jim Andreoni, Ph. D., University of California, San Diego 
John Dunne, Ph.D., Religious Studies, Emory University 
Owen Flanagan, Ph.D., Philosophy, Duke University 
Paul Ekman, Ph. D., Professor Emeritus, Psychology, UC San Francisco 
Richard Davidson, Ph.D., Psychology, University of Wisconsin 
Tania Singer, Ph.D., Neuroscience, Zurich University 
Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., Stanford University/McGill University 
Tracy Spinrad, Ph.D. Psychology, Arizona State University 
Wendy Farley, Ph. D., Religious Studies, Emory University 

Conference for the Language of Mental Life 
July 2010 
Telluride, CO 
 
This conference originated at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman who, in their recent dialogue on emotional balance, encountered numerous terms that confounded scholarly discussion.  In partnership with the Telluride Institute and the Tan Tao charitable trust, this working conference will chart a lexicon with scholars in the language of mental life in Pali, Sanskrit and Tibetan together with linguists and psychologists to better map a conceptual interface between Western psychology and contemplative theory.  The refinement and depth of experience of mental phenomena in contemplative practice can be likened to connoisseurship, which often accrues specialized terminology.  This can prove confounding to researchers as cultural components and refinement of experience often mis-translate or have no counterpart in prevailing research paradigms.  This ambitious undertaking hopes to accelerate interdisciplinary research by creating a meaningful and working lexicon for researchers working with contemplative scholars in neuroscience, psychology, linguistics and other fields. 
 
The finished lexicon will be freely available to the public and posted on this site. 
 
Participants 
 
B. Allan Wallace, Ph.D., Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies 
Carl Bielfeldt, Ph.D., Religious Studies, Stanford University 
Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles 
David Meyer, Ph. D., Psychology, University of Michigan 
Evan Thompson, Ph.D., Philosophy, University of Toronto 
John Dunne, Ph.D., Religious Studies, Emory University 
Mark Siderits, Ph.D., Philosophy, Illinois State University 
Matthieu Ricard, Ph.D. Shechen Monastery 
Paul Ekman, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Psychology, Uinversity of California, San Francisco 
Philippe Goldin, Ph.D., Psychology, Stanford Univeristy 
Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., Stanford University/Institute of Tibetan Classics