Poetry, Meditation, Contemplative Education
Dr. Mark Silverberg (hybrid event; co-hosted by Mosaïque and Artful Inquiry Research Group (AIRG))
May 1, 2024 at 11-12pm (EST)
McGill Education Building; Faculty of Education Learning Commons (EDUC 120)
This paper traces the historical development of “American Buddhism” into what religious sociologist Jeff Wilson calls a current “mindfulness movement” by considering the important role of American poets in this story. Considering the connections between poetry and meditation, the paper makes some suggestions about how these dual modes of mindfulness might be enlisted in the classroom to further contemplative education. The paper ends with a case study, looking closely at a single work by contemporary Zen poet Jane Hirshfield whose poetics of mindfulness invites readers, in the Buddhist tradition, to “find out for yourself”.
Dr. Mark Silverberg is Professor of English in the Department of Literature, Folklore, and the Arts at Cape Breton University. He is the author of The New York School Poets and the Neo-Avant-Garde: Between Radical Art and Radical Chic (Ashgate) and editor of New York School Collaborations: The Color of Vowels (Palgrave/ MacMillan). He is also the author of a prize-winning collection of ekphrastic poems, Believing the Line: The Jack Siegel Poems (Breton Books) and has published his own poetry widely. His past research has focused on (avant-garde) American poetry, poetics, interdisciplinary arts and artistic collaborations. His current work explores Buddhist American poetry, mindfulness, and contemplative practices in education. At McGill, he’ll be working with the AIRG group, considering ways in which poetry, meditative practice, and mindful reading can be integrated into university curricula.
This event is co-hosted by Mosaïque and Artful Inquiry Research Group (AIRG).
