Engaging with Meditative Inquiry in Teaching, Learning, & Research
A Free International Online Conference
Aug 16-18, 2022
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Featuring thought-provoking presentations by a diverse group of scholars, teachers, practitioners, and artists on the transformative potential of meditative inquiry
Day 1, Aug 16
Morning Sessions
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9:00 - 9:20
Land Acknowledgement and Welcome
Ashwani Kumar (Conference Chair)
Opening Remarks
Jacqueline Gahagan (Associate Vice President (Research) MSVU)
Antony Card (Dean of Education, MSVU)
Alice Salt (Editor at Routledge)
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9:20 - 10:20
Engaging with Meditative Inquiry in Teaching, Learning, and Research
Ashwani Kumar - Introducing Meditative Inquiry and the Edited Collection
Adam Garry Podolski - Artmaking and Meditative Inquiry in the Spirit of Dialogical Collaboration
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Break
10:30 - 12:00
Keynote Panel 1: The Contributions of Meditative Inquiry to the Field of Education
Michael Corbett - Educational Research Methodology and Meditative Inquiry: Three Meditations
Kent den Heyer - On Becoming Subjects to Our Learning and Lives
Lisa Merriweather - Someone Please Call 911: Meditative inquiry, Àṣẹ, and Spirit Murdering
Jack Miller - Meditative Inquiry/ My Journey
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Afternoon Sessions
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1:00 - 2:00
​A Conversation on Meditative Inquiry
Ashwani Kumar & William Pinar
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Break
2:10 - 3:40
​Journal Editors’ Panel: Meditative Inquiry and Holistic and Alternative Education Theories and Practices
Paul Freedman & Laurel Tien - Meditative Inquiry and Holistic Education: Resonant Practices
Helen Lees - A Talent for Meditative Inquiry Through Alternative Education Concepts?
Carlo Ricci - The Connections I Make Between Self-determined Learning and Ashwani’s 7 Key Principles of Meditative Inquiry
Teresa Strong-Wilson - Touching Interiority, Given Time and Space: A Journal Editor’s Perspective
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Break
3:50 - 5:20
Holistic and Contemplative Education Scholar’s Panel
Ehaab Abdou - Reflecting on the Meditative Inquiry Volume in Relation to Contemplative Practices in the Classroom
Alexandra Fidyk - Silence as Generative Process & Practice
Martin Morrison - Exploring the Implications of Meditative Inquiry on Culturally Relevant and Responsive Pedagogy
and the “African Nova Scotian Dream Keepers”
Darlene St. George - Visual and Poetic Storying: Threads of Creation-Centred Practice
Day 2, Aug 17
Morning Sessions
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9:00 - 10:20
​Book Contributors’ Panel 1: Reflection, Contemplation, and Meditative Inquiry
Adrian Downey - Mindset and Meditative Inquiry
Christina Flemming - Arts & Letters: Meditative Inquiry as Invitation
Chris McCaw & John Quay - Meditative Inquiry in Dialogue with Heideggerian, Deweyan, and Buddhist Praxis
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Break
10:30 - 12:00
Book Contributors’ Panel 2: Dialogue and Meditative Inquiry
Vikas Baniwal - Ruminations on Dialogue as a Form of Meditative Inquiry
Krista Ritchie & Paul Stemmler - The Dialogic and Vulnerable Nature of Learning: Perspectives From Positive
Psychology and Meditative Inquiry
Rajean Willis & Laura Leslie - Explorations of Trauma through Meditative Inquiry
Afternoon Sessions
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1:00 - 2:20
​Book Contributors’ Panel 3: Diverse Cultural Perspectives and Meditative Inquiry
Susan Brigham - Exploring the Connections Between Africentric Principles and Meditative Inquiry; Understanding
Their Significance for Teaching and Learning in Adult Education Contexts
Diane Obed - Synergies Between Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Meditative Inquiry
David Sable - Meditative Inquiry and Mindfulness
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Break
2:30 - 3:50
​Book Contributors’ Panel 4: Structure, Consciousness, and Change
Nayha Acharya - My Journey with Meditative Inquiry: Teaching, Learning, and Researching in Law and Dispute Resolution
Mohamed Kharbach - Meditative Inquiry and Critical Discourse Analysis: A Hybrid Approach for Doing Educational Research
Michael Cosgrove & Shannon Power - On the Significance of Meditative Inquiry in Teaching, Learning, and Living: A
Dialogue Between Two Teachers
Break
4:00 - 5:30
Holistic Teachers’ Panel on Meditative Inquiry
Alexandra Barclay - Holistic Teaching with a French Twist
Dawn Erley - Dialogical Meditative Inquiry in the English Classroom
Carolyn Prest - 21 Pillars: Promoting Meditative Inquiry in the Public School Classroom
Yelena Smith - Crocheting the Sacred Threads of Indigenous and Holistic Knowledges in History Classes
Jack Ward - Practical Applications in a High School English Classroom
Day 3, Aug 18
Morning Sessions
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9:00 - 10:20
​Panel on Meditative Inquiry and Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Angie Kolen, Leigh-Ann Macfarlane, Suzanne Le-May Sheffield, & Gavan Watson
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Break
10:30 - 11:50
Keynote Panel 2: Interdisciplinary Exploration of Meditative Inquiry
Balaganapathi Devarakonda - Exploring the Focus of Human Action: A Space that Conflates Meditative Inquiry and Philosophical Counselling
R. Michael Fisher - Meditative Mind(ing) a Fearlessness Worldview Through Dialogue: It Won’t Be Easy
Kelly Resmer - Chemistry Laboratory Teaching and Learning Guided by Meditative Inquiry
Afternoon Sessions
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1:00 - 2:30
​Practitioners’ Panel on Meditative Inquiry
Laurie Cook - We Know What We're Against, But What Are We For? Meditative Inquiry in Practice in Community
Lindsay Leighton - Awareness, Inquiry, and Love through Science
Stephanie McDonald - How Might Dialogical Meditative Inquiry Inform the Practice of an Existentially Minded
Community Mental Health Therapist
Neeraj Verma - Meditative Inquiry for the Field of Medicine
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Break
2:35 - 3:15
​Closing Remarks
Antony Card (Dean of Education, MSVU)
Scott MacMillan (Coordinator, Teaching and Learning Centre, MSVU)
Conference Organizing Committee: Bonnie Petersen, Iain MacLeod, Alexandra Barclay
Conference Chair: Ashwani Kumar
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In-Person Cultural Evening Event and Reception at MSVU
5:30
Doors open. Feel free to chat and settle in to your places. Light snacks will be offered. We will start the program promptly at 6:00.
6:00
Land Acknowledgement
Guided meditation
UBC’s Faculty of Education Alumni Educator of Year Award Presentation to Dr. Ashwani Kumar
Performances
- Ashley Julian-Rikhana (Indigenous Flute Music)
- Ashwani Kumar, Nayha Acharya, & Ketan Kulkarni (Indian Classical Music)
7:00
Dinner (Buffet)
7:45
Performances
- Emiyah Simmonds (An Ode to Meditative Inquiry and Dialogue: Poetry Recitation)
- Sobaz Benjamin (African Drumming)
Door Prizes
Closing Remarks