His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, a University Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory, will visit campus for the third time on Oct. 8-10.
Some events will be open to the local community while others will be limited to the Emory community.
The public events – a public talk and panel session – will take place Oct. 8 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.
The move to Gwinnett for these events from the Woodruff P.E. Center is the largest change in this year’s visit and will minimize campus disruption, according to Michael Kloss, the chief of protocol and the executive director of the Office of University Events at Emory. He also wrote that the WoodPEC is too small to hold the event.
Dates, times and titles for the Emory events are tentative but will include a “Secular Ethics 101” lecture in Glenn Memorial Auditorium and a “Conversation with Scholars” about secular ethics in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts on Oct. 9. A “Traditional Buddhist Teaching” will take place Oct. 10 in Glenn Memorial.
“His Holiness has spent many years developing his ideas of these ‘Secular Ethics,’ a theme which has been a primary focus of many of his teachings and books in recent years,” Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, the director of the Emory-Tibet Partnership, wrote in an email to the Wheel. “As His Holiness’s official university, it gives us great pleasure to create a platform from which he can speak about a topic that is so dear to his heart.”
Kloss wrote in an email to the Wheel that he anticipates releasing about 1,500 tickets mostly to students through a lottery system. He added that the largest event will be the “Secular Ethics 101.” Kloss clarified that the Dalai Lama uses the phrase “secular ethics” to mean “beyond religion,” rather than simply “without religion” to still respect religion’s role in our ethics.
“While previous visits have featured events on a variety of topics from happiness to creativity, peace-building to contemplative sciences, the events of this visit are all focused on ethics and what it takes to be a citizen in the 21st century,” Kloss wrote.
Kloss also wrote that hosting the events in these areas will provide a “more intimate feel.” This is the first time His Holiness will speak in the Schwartz Center and the first time in more than 25 years that he will be in Glenn Memorial.
“The mission of Emory University, to educate the heart as well as the mind, resonates deeply with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s lifelong philosophy,” Negi wrote. “At the same time, both His Holiness and Emory recognize that there is so much that our different traditions can learn from one another, which has led Emory to undertake several projects that further this mutually beneficial relationship.”
This visit marks an extension of the Emory-Tibet Partnership, founded in 1998, and the Dalai Lama’s acceptance of University President James W. Wagner’s invitation to visit Emory when Wagner visited Dharamsala, India in March 2011.
His Holiness visited the University in 2007 – when he was named Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory – as well as in 2010 for events focused on science research and meditation, creativity and spirituality, interfaith dialogue and compassion.
“The Dalai Lama has made invaluable contributions to our understanding of what it means to be an ethical citizen of the world,” Wagner said in an April 23 University press release. “We are looking forward to the return of Emory’s Presidential Distinguished Professor and the opportunities for our faculty and students to engage with him on these vital issues.”
The public talk, titled “The Pillars of Responsible Citizenship in the 21st Century Global Village,” will take place from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and will focus on the compassionate human values and the Dalai Lama’s vision for secular ethics. Paul Root Wolpe, the director of Emory’s Center for Ethics, will moderate a subsequent question-and-answer session.
In addition, the panel discussion, titled “Secular Ethics and Education” and open to the public, will also include top scientists and educators and will take place from 1 to 3 p.m.
The panel will explore the application of secular ethics to modern education. Panelists include Negi, Emory C.H. Candler Professor of Primate Behavior Frans de Waal, University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry Richard Davidson and Panel Moderator and Amherst College Professor of Physics Arthur Zajonc.
“[The Dalai Lama’s] relationship with Emory is special, and we are afforded a very generous amount of focused time,” Kloss wrote. “In return, we do our best to make sure that his time here is meaningful and reaches the largest number of people possible.”
Gary Hauk, the vice president and deputy to the president, wrote to the Wheel that the Emory-Tibet partnership has brought together faculty and researchers from all across Emory.
“Since his first appearance on Emory’s campus … the Dalai Lama has encouraged development of a special kind of partnership that takes advantage of Emory’s penchant for interdisciplinary collaboration,” he wrote.
College freshman Naomi Maisel wrote in an email to the Wheel that she is especially excited to attend the public talk and panel.
“Not only is it going to be incredible to hear him speak, but I think the fact that he’s coming really solidifies his involvement in Emory,” she wrote. “By actually participating in an event with him, I will hopefully further understand his presence on Emory’s campus as well as his teachings.”
Maisel will be taking the “Dalai Lama’s Ethics” philosophy class next semester and will be meeting the Dalai Lama this summer in Dharamsala.
“I am also secretly hoping he will remember me,” Maisel wrote.
Free tickets for the two days of Emory events will be available starting Sept. 1 at dalailama.emory.edu. Tickets for the public events can be purchased at GwinnettCenter.com starting on April 26 at 10 a.m. and range from $35 to $90. Each ticket gives admission to both events.
– By Karishma Mehrotra
Photo courtesy of Emory Media
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