Research
--Bhikkhu Analayo
"Exploring the Four Satipatthanas in Study and Practice." Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies. (10.1, 2014, p. 74)
Although my friends tease me that I am a research geek, I do not conduct research for esoteric reasons. My research informs my teaching and personal life while my personal life and teaching inform my research. As I tell my students, because of my research, I am a better professor than I was last semester but am not as good as I will be next semester. I do read and collect knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but, as a researcher, I am always considering the practical applications of my research and how it will benefit my work as a professor and person.
A Pedagogy of Compassion
After the publication of Promoting Student Transformation at the Community College (HASTAC 2020), I decided to further investigate "A Pedagogy of Compassion." Since then, I have augmented my knowledge of Theravada Buddhism as well as compassion from a Christian theological perspective by reading in the fields of education, anthropology, evolution, religious studies, history, neuroscience, philosophy, literature, mental health, and more. Although I have simplified the topic of my research to "compassion/karuna," I am also investigating other virtues such as loving/kindness, equanimity, sympathetic joy, and others in terms of their role in effective teaching and learning.
During 2021, I gave two conference presentations and led a book discussion which incorporated my research research. But 2022 will see the preliminary results of my research begin to emerge.
