Who We Are

Faculty from across Emory University collaborate with the faculty housed within the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics to teach a diverse array of classes, advise students, and conduct research relevant to the study of contemplative science and secular ethics.   

University programs at the Emory Compassion Center are supported by the following faculty members:  

 

Brendan Ozawa-de Silva

Brendan Ozawa-de Silva, Ph.D., D.Phil., is an Associate Teaching Professor at the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. He is also a Senior Faculty Fellow at the Emory University Center for Ethics and an Advisory Committee and Affiliated Faculty Member with the Emory Center For Mind, Brain and Culture.

Dr. Ozawa-de Silva received doctorates from Oxford University and Emory University with research focusing on emotions, particularly compassion, from the perspective of cognitive science and Tibetan Buddhism. In 2017 he returned to Emory to serve as Associate Director for SEE Learning, in which capacity he worked with Dr. Negi to develop and write the framework and served as a primary curriculum writer for the program.

In 2021 he transitioned back to a faculty role, and he now teaches courses at Emory College for undergraduates, and continues to support the work of the Center, particularly the CBCT and SEE Learning programs. He has co-taught Emory College undergraduate classes with Dr. Negi including REL 354R/HLTH 385 Secular Ethics: The Dalai Lama’s Approach and REL 358R/HLTH 385 Buddhist Meditation: Science, Healing and Happiness. He has also taught THEA 385/HLTH 385 Empathy, Theater and Social Change and ANTH 386/EAS 385/HLTH 385 Others in Mind: Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning in a Globalized World.

 Learn More about Brendan Ozawa-de Silva

 

Robert Roeser

Robert W. Roeser Ph.D., MSW is the Alice Valli Professor of Compassion and Ethics and Professor of Behavioral Social and Health Education Sciences at Emory University. He also serves as the Director of Research for the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-based Ethics in the College of Arts and Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan (1996) and holds master’s degrees in religion and psychology (Holy Names College), developmental psychology and clinical social work (University of Michigan).

Dr. Roeser’s main research interests are in the areas of human motivation, identity and learning; adolescence and early adulthood, schooling as a central cultural context affecting students’ academic, social-emotional and identity development; and the implementation and impacts of mindfulness and compassion training programs on parent, teacher and student outcomes with respect to health and wellbeing, teaching and learning, and the creation of compassionate and equitable learning environments in schools. He also has a deep scholarly interest in indigenous Asian Indian psychologies and related forms of pedagogy, and conducts developmental and educational research in India on efforts at holistic human development and holistic education based on these indigenous ideas. His recent scholarly articles have focused on mindfulness in education, compassion in human development, and the need for new forms of holistic education to meet pressing global challenges.

 Learn More about Robert Roeser

Lobsang Tenzin Negi

Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Ph.D is Teaching Professor in Emory University’s Department of Religion. He teaches Emory College undergraduate classes including REL 354R/HLTH385 Secular Ethics: The Dalai Lama’s Approach, REL 306 Tibetan Buddhism: The Psychology of Enlightenment and REL 358R/HLTH 385 Buddhist Meditation: Science, Healing and Happiness. He is also Program Director for the Emory Tibetan Mind-Body Sciences Summer Program in Dharamsala and Mundgod, India. He and his academic team are working currently to create a Contemplative Sciences Minor for Emory College undergraduates.

Additionally, Dr. Negi is Executive Director of the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University (Emory Compassion Center), formerly the Emory-Tibet Partnership. In this capacity, he has supervised the academic endeavors undertaken by Emory in collaboration with His Holiness the Dalai Lama since 1998. Dr. Negi is also the founder and spiritual director of Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc., in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Dr. Negi has been at the forefront of compassion science, collaborating with numerous researchers from multiple disciplines to examine the mechanisms behind compassion and its effects on the mind and body.

Learn More about Lobsang Tenzin Negi

Art Linton

Art Linton is a Communications Specialist and Teaching Assistant at the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics (Emory Compassion Center). Art works closely with Dr. Negi and Dr. Ozawa-de Silva on various writing projects and programs for The Compassion Center. He also assists Dr. Negi in teaching Emory College undergraduate Religion classes, specifically REL 354R/HLTH 385 Secular Ethics: The Dalai Lama’s Approach, REL 306 Tibetan Buddhism: The Psychology of Enlightenment and REL 358R/HLTH 385 Buddhist Meditation: Science, Healing and Happiness. He also serves as Program Assistant for the Emory Tibetan Mind-Body Sciences Summer Abroad in Dharamsala and Mundgod, India. Art has worked as a staff member at Emory University for more than 20 years, starting with the Emory Violence Studies Program in 1998, then with the Institute for Comparative and International Studies (ICIS) from 2006-2010 and afterward with the Center for International Programs Abroad (CIPA) from 2010-2016.

He served as an adjunct faculty member teaching world religion at Georgia Gwinnett College from 2017 to 2021 and at Georgia State University (Perimeter College Dunwoody) from 2004 to 2007. He has also worked as a copywriter and associate producer at CNN Headline News from 1994 to 1998. Art earned his Master of Arts in Religion and Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Georgia and studied  Sanskrit for two years at Emory.