Thursday, April 7th, 2022
7:00-8:30 PM ET (6:00-7:30 PM CT)
Register Here to Receive the Broadcast Link

Join us as we consider what contemplative practice means in the community college setting within the context of an extraordinary couple of years amidst a global pandemic, racial justice movements, among many other societal happenings. We’ll share and discuss experience and research around community college contemplative practice, looking at themes of access, language and community. We’ll also discuss practical ways contemplative practices can be used in the community college classroom and beyond.

Marlon Blake currently works as the Assistant Dean of Students at the University of St. Thomas. Marlon has spent the last 12 years in higher education, serving in various leadership roles. Marlon’s current research emphasis focuses on how faculty members use contemplative pedagogy in the classroom. He is currently researching how these practices can better support community college students and improve academic outcomes. Marlon believes as a community college practitioner that contemplative pedagogy can be implemented in the community college system to better serve students, but especially students of color. Finally, Marlon is the founder of the YouTube channel, the Community for Contemplative Conversations.

Stephanie Briggs is owner/designer of Be.Still.Move., a program of contemplative, compassionate, just community building. She is a space holder, storyteller, contemplative creator, and coach whose practices include embodied movement, art, and sound. She is trained in sound healing, Reiki, is a Stephen’s Minister, completed Naropa University’s Authentic Leadership and Mindful Compassion training, and is the creator of Authentic Collaborative Leadership and Breathing N2 Blackness. She laughs often and allows joy to win!

Amy Pucino, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), where she is also engaged in the Contemplative Community Circle of faculty and staff who share contemplative practices with each other and with students. Amy is trained in teaching meditation through The Mindfulness Center of Maryland. Her academic interests include practicing community-based learning and research, building social justice curriculum, and using contemplative practice en route to both strengthening the use of the sociological imagination and working towards personal, professional, and societal growth. Otherwise, she especially enjoys being outdoors with her growing family and compassionate community.

This series will be moderated by David Robinson-Morris, PhD. Dr. Robinson-Morris serves as the Executive Director for The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (CMind), and is the Founder and Chief Reimaginelutionary at The REImaginelution, LLC, a strategic consulting firm working at the intersections of imagination, policy, practice, and prophetic hope to radically reimagine diversity, equity, and inclusion toward racial justice and systemic transformation by engendering freedom of the human spirit. Dr. Robinson-Morris is a scholar, author, philosopher, social justice and human rights advocate-activist, educator, philanthropist, community organizer, DEI practitioner, and administrator. He is the author of a research monograph, Ubuntu and Buddhism in Higher Education: An Ontological (Re)Thinking, published by Routledge.