Who We Are
Our History
Initially created as a pilot program through a grant from the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism, the Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education is now providing important leadership in the growing contemplative education movement.
The Center is made possible through the generous support of the Schocken Foundation, the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism, and individual donors.
Our Staff
Charlotte Rotterdam, MTS
Director of Naropa University’s Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education (CACE)
Beginning in 1995, she served as Program and Managing Director of Naropa’s School for Extended Studies for ten years; most recently she directed the University’s 40th Anniversary, which included the Radical Compassion Symposium and the inauguration of the Francisco Varela Lecture Series on Science & Mindfulness. She was Program Director at Shambhala Mountain Center and Executive Director and Board President of Tara Mandala Buddhist Retreat Center, where she is also an authorized teacher. An Instructor at Naropa, she has taught in the Religious Studies department and continues to teach the Contemplative Learning Seminar in the Core College. Charlotte received her Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. Her essays on the intersection of spiritual practice and motherhood have been published in Mandala and in an anthology, Fearless Nest.
Jordan Quaglia, PhD
Assistant Professor of Contemplative Psychology & the Research Director for CACE
Jordan Quaglia, PhD, is Associate Professor of Contemplative Psychology, Director of the Cognitive and Affective Science Laboratory, and Research Director of the Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education at Naropa University. Jordan has served as a Panelist for multiple United Nations Day of Vesak conferences, a Fellow and Senior Investigator for the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute, and a Contemplative Social Justice Scholar for Contemplative Mind in Society. His research, supported by funding from the Mind and Life Institute and John Templeton Foundation, has been featured in leading scientific journals and books, and relies on a range of tools, from neuroscientific measures to virtual reality, to study topics such as mindfulness, compassion, and lucidity. For more about Jordan’s research: www.CASLaboratory.org
Carla Burns, MDiv
Program Manager for the Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education
Carla Burns, MDiv, is an instructor in Naropa’s Core College and Graduate School of Counseling & Psychology, with an emphasis on the exploration of loving-kindness through the wisdom of the body, emotions, and the elements. She is particularly passionate about the ways in which contemplative practice communities can come to understand and hold multiple ways of being and knowing, and how we embody and utilize space as a means to personal, collective and cosmic liberation. In addition, she is certified Mindfulness Instructor at Naropa University, she co-developed Naropa’s Embodied Mindfulness in Teaching Training program and is the Program Manager for the Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education.
