Join Hawah Kasat and the esteemed teaching faculty for the Mind & Life Institute’s Summer Research Program taking place at the historic Garrison Institute in New York (located 50 miles north of New York City in the Hudson River Valley).
The Mind & Life Institute’s 2026 Summer Research Institute will gather a bold and diverse community of scientists, contemplatives, cultural thinkers, and policymakers to explore one of the most urgent questions of our time: What holds us together in an age of fracture?
Polarization isn’t just a global challenge—it lives in our nervous systems, in the ways we perceive each other, and in the structures we build. Over five immersive days, participants will step inside a monastic ecosystem where science meets contemplative practice, where dialogue sparks innovation, and where connection is treated as both a human capacity and a designable condition.
This year’s theme, “Depolarization: Cultivating Connection in a Divided World,” charts a pathway from personal awareness to collective transformation. Together, we’ll examine how connection is disrupted, what restores it, and how these insights can shape the cultures, institutions, and technologies of our shared future.
SRI 2026 will feature leading voices from affective science, compassion research, intergroup dialogue, business and policy making, systems thinking, and contemplative traditions. Expect rigorous inquiry, grounded practice, and unexpected moments of awe and belonging.
Join us as we illuminate the science and practice of connection—and imagine new ways of living it into the world. Applications are now closed.
Mind & Life’s 2026 Summer Research Institute is made possible through the longstanding support of the Hershey Family Foundation, with additional support from the Gaden Phodrang Foundation. We are deeply grateful for their partnership in advancing this work.
Contemplative education integrates academic study with practices that cultivate mindfulness, self-awareness, reflection, and compassion. It is based on the idea that education should not only focus on the development of cognitive skills and knowledge acquisition but on the inner development of individuals—emotionally, ethically, and spiritually.
Depolarization: Cultivating Connection in a Divided World with the Mind & Life Institute
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June 7 – June 12, 2026 –
Join Hawah Kasat and the esteemed teaching faculty for the Mind & Life Institute’s Summer Research Program taking place at the historic Garrison Institute in New York (located 50 miles north of New York City in the Hudson River Valley).
The Mind & Life Institute’s 2026 Summer Research Institute will gather a bold and diverse community of scientists, contemplatives, cultural thinkers, and policymakers to explore one of the most urgent questions of our time: What holds us together in an age of fracture?
Polarization isn’t just a global challenge—it lives in our nervous systems, in the ways we perceive each other, and in the structures we build. Over five immersive days, participants will step inside a monastic ecosystem where science meets contemplative practice, where dialogue sparks innovation, and where connection is treated as both a human capacity and a designable condition.
This year’s theme, “Depolarization: Cultivating Connection in a Divided World,” charts a pathway from personal awareness to collective transformation. Together, we’ll examine how connection is disrupted, what restores it, and how these insights can shape the cultures, institutions, and technologies of our shared future.
SRI 2026 will feature leading voices from affective science, compassion research, intergroup dialogue, business and policy making, systems thinking, and contemplative traditions. Expect rigorous inquiry, grounded practice, and unexpected moments of awe and belonging.
Join us as we illuminate the science and practice of connection—and imagine new ways of living it into the world. Applications are now closed.
Mind & Life’s 2026 Summer Research Institute is made possible through the longstanding support of the Hershey Family Foundation, with additional support from the Gaden Phodrang Foundation. We are deeply grateful for their partnership in advancing this work.
Contemplative education integrates academic study with practices that cultivate mindfulness, self-awareness, reflection, and compassion. It is based on the idea that education should not only focus on the development of cognitive skills and knowledge acquisition but on the inner development of individuals—emotionally, ethically, and spiritually.
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