Workshops

Dr. Asoka Bandarage is available to present in-person or online workshops, seminars, and lectures in the U.S. and abroad. Please get in touch if you have any questions.

  • Session at Parliament of World Religions 2018.
  • Book Discussion with Bryn Mawr alums, Bryn Mawr Bookshop, Washington DC, 2014.
  • Symposium on Women’s Leadership in Global Context in Honor of Filomina Steady, Wellesley College, 2019.
  • Colorado College Class Field Trip, Sand Dunes National Park, 2019.

These interactive workshops synthesizing conceptual frameworks drawn from academic scholarship and teaching with holistic approaches, such as, meditation and hatha yoga are uniquely designed to explore the non-sectarian Middle Path to psychosocial transformation. Ms. Bandarage has decades of experience in the study and practice of both Buddhist meditation and hatha yoga.

Mindfulness and Social Action

How do we move beyond the current western individualist focus of mindfulness training towards broader ethical action to address contemporary crises? The workshop can be adapted to address particular crises, such as, ethno-religious and racial violence, economic inequality or climate change.

Women’s Leadership in a Changing World

How can the agenda of feminism be expanded beyond integrating women into the status-quo to address global social and economic change and the transition from domination to partnership?

Challenges of Multiculturalism in the 21st Century   

How can altruism, the defining value of human evolution and a socio-economic system based on cooperation be developed to address ethno-religious conflicts and violence around the world?

Sri Lanka: A Microcosm of the World

How can the Sri Lankan case be used to shed light on global struggles for political and economic sovereignty, ethno-religious harmony and environmental protection?

Sample Presentations: 

  • ‘Ethical Path to Social and Ecological Survival’, New School, for Social Research, New York.
  • ‘Consciousness and Social Change’, Conference of the Society for Consciousness Studies, Yale University and Graduate Institute, CT.
  • ‘Women’s Leadership in a Changing World’, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA.
  • ‘Buddhism, Technology and Ecology’, Conference on Buddhism and Technology, Shanghai, China.
  • ‘Transnational Activism and International Policymaking’, Gothenburg, Sweden.
  • ‘Broadening the Discourse on Conflict Resolution’, Harvard University.
  • ‘Buddhism, Peace and Development’, 61 st session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York.
  • ‘Global Crisis and Women’s Leadership’, Keynote Address, International.
  • ‘Women’s Leadership Conference’, Perth, Australia.
  • ‘Creating Unity Amidst Diversity’, New York Open Center. NY.

Workshops:

  • ‘Globalization/Alternatives’, Dhammavijaya Foundation, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • ‘The Process of Partnership: Nurturing South Asian Traditions for Collective Sustainability’, Sponsored by a consortium including Minnesota State Council on Asian- Pacific Minnesotans Black Bear Crossing, Minneapolis.
  • ‘Child and Maternal Health in the Third World’, two day Training Workshop for Physicians from the Third World, School of Medicine/Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA.
  • ‘Ecofeminism, Global Peace and Community’, New York Open Center..
  • ‘Creating Unity amidst Diversity: Integrating Politics and Spirituality’, Interface Foundation.
  • ‘Feminism, Spirituality and Politics are One’, Rowe Conference Center.