Visiting Scholars and Lectures

Upcoming Events:

An Evening with Meredith Monk, The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism Distinguished Guest Lecturer, co-sponsored by Naropa University's School of the Arts

What: "An Evening with Meredith Monk" solo performance concert
When: March 13th, 2013, 7:00 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show
Where: Boulder Theater 
Cost:
Gold Circle $40
Reserved $30
General seating $20
plus applicable service charge

Meredith Monk is a critically acclaimed composer, singer, director/choreographer, and creator of new opera, music-theater works, films, and installations. She has received numerous awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship and two Guggenheim Fellowships. A pioneer in what is now called "extended vocal technique" and "interdisciplinary performance," Monk creates works that thrive at the intersection of music and movement, image and object, light and sound in an effort to discover and weave together new modes of perception. Her groundbreaking exploration of the voice as an instrument, as an eloquent language in and of itself, expands the boundaries of musical composition, creating landscapes of sound that unearth feelings, energies, and memories for which there are no words. To learn more about Meredith Monk, please visit www.meredithmonk.org.

The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism promotes the benefits of Zen Buddhism, meditation, yoga, and related Buddhist practices, in a manner complementary to American society.

Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education, and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental leadership, and religious studies. 

Past Events:

November 16-17, 2011

The Frederick P. Lenz Distinguished Lecturer in American Buddhism: Gary Snyder

Wednesday, November 16th, 12 - 1: 30 p.m.

Gary Snyder will speak on the topic of Buddhism, American Culture and Values
Nalanda Events Center, 6287 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder

Thursday, November 17th, 7:30 p.m.

Reading and Book Signing
Performing Arts Center, 2130 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder

April 5-6, 2011

The Frederick P. Lenz Distinguished Lecturer in American Buddhism: Joanna Macy

Eco-philosopher Joanna Macy is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. A respected voice in movements for peace, justice, and ecology, she interweaves her scholarship with four decades of activism. She has created a ground-breaking theoretical framework for personal and social change, as well as a powerful workshop methodology for its application.

You can watch Joanna Macy's lecture online at Watch Naropa.

April 7, 2010

The Frederick P. Lenz Distinguished Lecturer in American Buddhism: Paula Green, EdD: "Building Peace in a Stormy World: A Journey of Service, Hope, and Faith"

Dr. Green is the founder and Executive Director of Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, a US-based NGO focused on international conflict transformation, inter-communal dialogue, and reconciliation. She also serves as Professor of Conflict Transformation at the School for International Training, where she founded and directs CONTACT (Conflict Transformation Across Cultures), an annual Peacebuilding Institute and Graduate Certificate Program for peacemakers from around the world. Dr. Green was selected as a winner of the Unsung Heroes of Compassion, an award that was given to her by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in April 2009.

Dr. Green has decades of experience as a psychologist, educator, and consultant in the field of inter-group relations and conflict resolution. Her work has taken her to many regions of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. She is a sought-after teacher and dialogue facilitator, program director, and mentor for a generation of graduate students and activists pursuing professional skills in peacemaking.

September 10-13, 2009

The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation Distinguished Guest Lecturer in Buddhist Studies and American Culture and Values: Jan Willis, PhD: "Dharma Diversity: The Many Forms and Faces of Buddhism in America"

Dr. Janice Willis is a Professor of Religion at Wesleyan University. She is one of the earliest American scholar-practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, and has published numerous essays and articles on Buddhist meditation, hagiography, women and Buddhism, and Buddhism and race. In 2001 she published Dreaming Me: An African American Woman’s Spiritual Journey. She has studied with Tibetan Buddhists in India, Nepal, Switzerland and the U.S., and has taught courses in Buddhism at Wesleyan since 1977. Time magazine named Dr. Willis one of six "spiritual innovators for the new millennium", Ebonycalled her one of its "Power 150" most influential African-Americans, and she was profiled in a 2005 Newsweek article about “Spirituality in America.”

April 7–9, 2009

The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation Distinguished Guest Lecturer in Buddhist Studies and American Culture and Values: Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, PhD: "Five Expressions of Zen: A Path to Service"

Enkyo Roshi is a Zen Priest and certified Zen Teacher in the Soto tradition. She studied with John Daido Loori Roshi of Zen Mountain Monastery and Taizan Maezumi Roshi of the Zen Center of Los Angeles/Zen Mountain Center. In 1997, she received Shiho (dharma transmission) from Roshi Bernie Tetsugen Glassman and in June 2004, she received inka from him in an empowerment ceremony held at the House of One People in Montague, MA. Roshi currently serves as co-spiritual director of the Zen Peacemaker Family, a spiritual, study and social action association, and holds a PhD in media ecology from New York University.

September 22–24, 2008

The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation Distinguished Guest Lecturer in Buddhist Studies and American Culture and Values: José Cabezón, PhD: "Thinking through Texts: Toward a Critical Buddhist Theology of Sexuality"

Dr. José Cabezón is the first XIV Dalai Lama Professor in Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a major center for the study of world religions. Not only is he one of the leading scholars of Tibetan Buddhism, Professor Cabezón is active in interreligious dialogue, gender and gay studies, and pioneering insights into the role of the practitioner in the academy. Born in Cuba and raised in Boston, he was the first in his family to attend college. A former monk, he served as Spanish interpreter for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In addition to his expertise in Tibetan and Spanish, Cabezón also has some fluency in Sanskrit, Pali, Japanese, Hindi, Latin, French and German.

June 4–6, 2008

The International Conference on Media, Spiritualities and Social Change
In conjunction with the University of Colorado, Naropa sponsored Mark Silk, PhD, director, Leonard Greenberg Center on Media and Public Life, Trinity College. Professor Silk is the author of Spiritual Politics: Religion and America Since World War II and  Unsecular Media: Making News of Religion in America. He is co-editor of Religion by Region, an eight-volume series on religion and public life in the United States, and co-author of One Nation Divisible: Religion and Region in America Today.

Dr. Silk presented a keynote lecture, Think Locally, Act Globally, on Thursday, June 5th at CU’s University Memorial Center.

Abstract: For forty years, the environmental movement has been animated by the imperative to think globally and act locally. But the challenge of our time is to know how to think locally in order to achieve global objectives. Local ways of conceptualizing community differ profoundly. In a world that often seems overwhelmed by transnational forces and institutions, accomplishing global ends requires profound awareness of the social metaphysics of particular places.

Academic Affairs

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