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ALA 370: Mindfulness and Peace Global Leadership
May 6-27, 2025
This spring, ten students will join BLI Director Ram Mahalingam for a three-week course at the Japan Center for Michigan Universities (JCMU) in Hikone, Japan, with excursions to Hiroshima and other noteworthy locations. ALA 370: Mindfulness and Peace Global Leadership explores mindful leadership through an interdisciplinary lens to develop a holistic perspective on Global Peace Leadership.
The learning and living community setting at JCMU offers unique opportunities to learn an array of contemplative, creative arts of Japan. It is an ideal academic setting for students to learn culturally embedded mindfulness practices to cultivate a deeper awareness of the interconnected nature of our lives. Students will take inspiration from East Asian Buddhist contemplative practices and three notions of Japanese aesthetics (Mono no aware, Wabi-sabi, and Ma), providing a strong foundational understanding of mindfulness from a cultural and Humanities perspective.
The main goal of this course is to provide a critical interdisciplinary perspective for mindful leadership, drawing from mindfulness research in psychology, creativity, and humanistic management. Students will develop a holistic perspective on Global Peace Leadership to navigate the leadership challenges of an increasingly disconnected and divided community around the globe.
Students will gain insight about current research on mindful leadership while learning several mindfulness practices with a specific goal of cultivating interconnectedness at three levels: intrasectional (deeper connection to one’s emotions, thoughts, and feelings), intersectional (deeper connection to others who embody different social identities) and ecological level (deeper connection to nature). Building on these foundational practices, students will learn about engaged mindful leadership, exploring how mindfulness practices can enable them to be more authentic, open, and engaged mindful leaders who can lead with compassion, generosity, and cultural humility, promoting peace and harmony in their communities.
2025 cohort,
- Felix Lahann
- Eliza Phares
- Tess Carichner
- Sylvia Rodriguez
- Keyla Garcia-Rodriguez
- Samantha Howden
- Bella DiFiori
- Nancy Xu
- Lidia Cappelletti
- Shawn Kelly
Follow along with their adventures on Instagram @umichbli, #BLIinJAPAN
