ISCR 2024

Overview

Embodied Cognition and Intersubjectivity in Uncertain Times: Interdisciplinary Frameworks for Contemplative Research and Education

ISCR is excited to announce its 2nd Annual Conference in Padova, Italy, June 19 – 23, 2024.

The conference is a joint effort, brought to life by a vibrant collaboration among the International Society for Contemplative Research, Mind and Life Europe, the Italian Buddhist Union Research Center and the University of Padova (Contemplative Studies Post-graduate Program).

This second annual conference aims to foster the emerging field of Contemplative Research through a rich interdisciplinary dialogue that brings together the clinical and neurosciences, philosophy, religious studies, psychology, developmental science and education, in the fully enculturated and intellectually rigorous study and integration of the profound insights of the world’s prominent contemplative traditions. Our focus is to delve together into pathways for scholarly research through emerging approaches such as “Embodied Cognition”. Since the nineties, embodied cognition has combined cognitive science, philosophy, and psychology to challenge the model of the disembodied brain as a mere computer. Instead of the “brain-as-computer model,” embodied cognition presents a yoking of the brain and the physical body interacting with its environments to produce meaning in the world. Meaning-creation is a key element in the social interactions that constitute our intersubjective worlds. Hence the individual is in a constantly changing matrix of interdependent relationships that flow but retain coherence amidst flux. In our conference, we shall explore the various ways of promoting embodied cognition and fostering our understanding of intersubjectivity through contemplative practices across diverse cultures and traditions.

Our program features discussions with individual speakers, interdisciplinary dialogues, and panel discussions with leading scholars and researchers. These interactions are designed to spark collective inquiry into how contemplative research and a critical first-person perspective can enrich our understanding of human interconnectedness and add depth to our approach to life’s complexities with scientific rigor and culturally aware scholarship.

Venue

The University of Padova

Padova is home to one of the oldest universities in the world, which since the 13th century has seen a constant flow of eminent professors from the scientific world, such as Pietro d’Abano, Nicolò Copernico, William Harvey, Andrea Vesalio, Gabriele Falloppio, Galileo Galilei, Fabrizio d’Acquapendente and Giovan Battista Morgagni, to mention just a few.

The University of Padova takes pride in having established the first European botanical garden, the “Orto dei Semplici” (1545), the first permanent anatomical theatre in the world, the “Teatro Anatomico”(1595), and the first Italian University Library, the “Sala dei Giganti” (1629). Moreover, in 1678 the “Sacro Collegio dei filosofi e medici” (Holy University College of Philosophers and Physicians) awarded the first university degree in the world to a woman, the noble Venetian Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia.

Key Dates

Submissions Open: January 26, 2024
Submissions have now closed

Conference Start: June 19, 2024
Conference End: June 23, 2024

Program Committee