Press Releases

Naropa University to Continue Buddhist Studies Fellowships
Now Entering Second Year of Research Grant from The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation

BOULDER, Colo. (Sept. 22, 2008)—Now entering the second year of a three-year grant from the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation For American Buddhism, Naropa University continues to advance its position as a center for the study of contemplative spiritual traditions by offering three residential fellowships during the 2009–10 academic year.

The fellowship program enables fellows to spend a semester on the Naropa campus, using the university’s resources while developing a program of study in Buddhism and its relationship to American culture and society. No prior academic study of Buddhism is required. The fellowship is available to academics, artists, independent scholars and social activists.

Vice President for Academic Affairs Stuart Sigman, a co-author of the grant proposal, says that the fellowship program demonstrates the Lenz Foundation’s confidence in Naropa as a leader in contemplative education. Drawing heavily upon the Buddhist heritage of its founder, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Naropa’s focus on contemplative teaching styles and practices makes it an ideal environment within which the visiting fellows can apply Buddhist thought to pressing issues in American culture and society.

Past projects have included “Ethics Embodied: Integrating Zen Buddhism, Contemporary Japanese Philosophy and Western Ethics through a Feminist Lens,” “Practicing Non-Violence, Minding Buddhism” and “Buddhism, Literary Adaptation and Progressive Politics.”

The application deadline for the 2009–10 fellowships is October 30, 2008. Fellows receive financial assistance in the form of round-trip travel expenses as well as a monthly stipend for up to four months. For further information, visit http://www.naropa.edu/cace/faq.cfm

The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism, based in Los Angeles, is dedicated to promoting the benefits of Zen Buddhism, meditation, yoga and related Buddhist practices as a pathway to self-realization and the harmonious blending of the material and spiritual in contemporary American society.

Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education. This approach to learning integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, helping students know themselves more deeply and engage constructively with others. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental leadership, psychology and religious studies.