Developing Healthy, Contemplative Communities
Contemplative courses, mindful living experiences, and personal reflection help students become powerful and resilient agents of change. In Contemplative Communities, we approach problems, issues, and each other with curiosity and compassion to better serve our lives and communities. Coursework, clubs, and community service allow Plymouth State students to design contemplative and mindful approaches to problem-solving in personal, local, and national contexts.
Contemplative Communities is comprised of students, staff, faculty, and community members who are dedicated to purposeful living to reduce suffering and increase joy through use of contemplative practices. Through coursework and other activities, students engage in contemplative inquiry, create contemplative spaces on campus, advise an emerging student organizations, and draw input from our broader communities about how best to serve, responding nimbly to needs as they arise. The group is particularly interested in integrating coursework and community engagement, offering students real-world experience by applying contemplative approaches to problem-solving, and supporting students’ residential life so that they may develop and practice a sense of agency, resilience, and curiosity in and beyond the classroom.
We aim to create a climate for contemplation and action, for reflection and service, for mindfulness and agency. To this end, we engage in meditative and contemplative practices as well as discussions about purpose and meaning to more effectively and ethically serve our communities.
Opportunities to get involved
From the classroom to student organizations and online, there are many opportunities for students to engage in Contemplative Communities,
- Contemplative Action, Purposeful Expression (CAPE) student organization, contact Joe Scala
- Living with Purpose: A first-year student discussion series to bring students into small group discussions on issues they find pressing. The experience is designed to help students increase a sense of agency, to increase resiliency, and to ensure the university recognizes the student as a whole person—with emotional and spiritual needs and questions.
- Courses, partnerships, and community events arise throughout the year. Learn more by joining the Contemplative Communities Facebook Group.
- Contemplative Education Group in Microsoft Outlook for PSU students, faculty, and staff.
- All are welcome to attend Community Meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in Frost Commons. We come together mindfully and compassionately to identify and serve campus and community needs and to support one another in our efforts to decrease suffering and increase joy. (Sept 18, Oct 10 & 16, Nov 6 & 20, Dec 4 & 18).
Find Your Degree Program
Explore majors and degree programs associated with Integrated Clusters involved with this project:


