Year of Compassion to kick off with Compassion Shift event and Tibet Week

By April Hunt Sept. 23, 2025

Emory College of Arts and Sciences will kick off its Year of Compassion with a two-day event designed to help build skills that lead to caring behaviors and resiliency on campus and beyond.

The Compassion Shift Global Launch, happening Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, will consist of free talks, panels and workshops highlighting the work and reach of Emory’s Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics, known as the Emory Compassion Center.

Speakers include psychologist and best-selling “Emotional Intelligence” author Daniel Goleman; Samdhong Rinpoche (virtually), former prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile; and “The How of Happiness” author and psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky.

The first day of panels and conversations will be at the Emory Student Center; the second will be at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Events are free but registration is required.

The Compassion Shift is part of a yearlong initiative dedicated to empathy, healing and human connection celebrating the university’s nearly three decades of collaboration with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, an Emory Presidential Distinguished Professor who turned 90 in July.

“The Year of Compassion reflects the extraordinary work of the Emory Compassion Center and the many ways our faculty, staff and students research and understand both the science and the philosophy of compassion in their teaching, research and daily lives,” says Emory College Dean Barbara Krauthamer.

“This initiative is an opportunity for us to recognize and build on that work together, across disciplines and across the community, and to better understand compassion as a defining part of how we learn, lead and connect with one another,” Krauthamer adds.

Commemorating compassion with exhibits, classes and more

The Compassion Shift event marks a milestone in the Emory Compassion Center’s maturity and the work to scale its programs globally, says Lobsang Tenzin Negi, the Compassion Center’s executive director.

Key to that ambition will be several new web-based applications, including one called “Compassion U” that will make CBCT more accessible worldwide and offer tailored programs to health care providers, business leaders, mental health workers and educators. The new app will debut at the launch event.

“The need for a sense of community and a sense of connection, which compassion can provide, is especially important at this time in our world,” Negi says. “If we learn to come from a place of compassion, we present ourselves in a way that creates the trust necessary for community and unity.”

Krauthamer challenges Emory College faculty, staff and students to incorporate the focus on compassion in coursework and activities throughout the year. An online toolkit has tips and help for those interested in learning more.

Emory College already offers a CBCT physical education course to students. This fall, Negi is teaching a joint religion and human health course on “Meditation, Science and Healing.”

The next Year of Compassion anchoring event will open in January, when the Compassion Center partners with the Michael C. Carlos Museum for the “Compassion: What Moves You?” exhibit.

Scheduled to run through June 2026, the exhibit will include permanent works from the Carlos in addition to uniquely created interactive pieces from Japanese light artist Kosuke Matsushima, interdisciplinary artist Héctor Alvarez from Emory’s Theater Studies department, and others.

The exhibit also will feature Haru, Honda’s “empathy robot” to help gather attendees’ impressions, says Brendan Ozawa-de Silva, an associate teaching professor at the Compassion Center who serves as faculty curator of the event, and co-developed the SEE Learning curriculum with Negi.

That feedback will then be used to regularly update the exhibit, including plans for three performances by the Vega String Quartet in the exhibit space that will evolve based on participants’ experiences.

“We want to share with the whole community what we are doing at Emory to understand and develop compassion, and then see how we can put compassion into action in tangible ways,” says Ozawa-de Silva.

“Compassion is not just being moved but being moved to do something positive in the world to help others,” he adds.

Tibet Week 2025 begins Sunday, Sept. 28. Most events will be held at Atlanta’s Drepung Loseling Monastery. Photo by Kay Hinton, Emory Photo/Video.

Celebrating Emory Tibet Week 2025

The Compassion Shift launch will coincide with Emory Tibet Week 2025, an annual event that celebrates Emory’s affiliation with the Dalai Lama and the Drepung Loseling Monastery in South India as well as the combination of Western and Tibetan Buddhist education traditions.

All programs are free and open to the public. Events will be held at Atlanta’s Drepung Loseling Monastery (1781 Dresden Dr. NE, Brookhaven) unless otherwise noted.

Sunday, Sept. 28

Tibet Week Meditation and Mandala Opening Ceremony
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Mandala Sand Painting
12:30 p.m.-6 p.m.

During the weeklong celebration, the Drepung Loseling monks of the Mystical Arts of Tibet will create a mandala sand painting of Avalokiteshvara Buddha, Buddha of Compassion. The mandala will feature millions of colored sand grains, meticulously placed with metal funnels called chak-purs. There are daily opportunities for the public to watch the monks work on the mandala at the monastery.

Monday, Sept. 29

Mandala Sand Painting
10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Return for the second round of mandala sand painting as the Drepung Loseling monks of the Mystical Arts of Tibet continue to meticulously create their work representing Avalokiteshvara Buddha.

Movie Screening: “Upper Story: On the Road to Well-being”
7-9 p.m., Harland Cinema, Emory University

This film features the Dalai Lama’s lifelong collaboration with scientists to advance human well-being.

Tuesday, Sept. 30

Mandala Sand Painting
10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Tuesday provides another opportunity to observe the progress of the mandala sand painting of Avalokiteshvara Buddha by Drepung Loseling monks of the Mystical Arts of Tibet.

Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI) Panel: Advancing Contemplative Science: Research Collaboration with Monastics
7-8:20 p.m.

Hear a discussion with panelists Dr. Nicole Gerado, Dr. Robin Nusslock, Geshe Thabke and Ven. Kalsang Lhamo.

Book Launch: “Challenger Defender: The Great Tradition of Tibetan Monastic Debate”
8:20-9 p.m.

A brief introduction by author Nancy Scherl, followed by a live demonstration of Tibetan monastic debate and a book signing. The event will be moderated by Tsondue Samphel.

Wednesday, Oct.1

Mandala Sand Painting
10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Observe the continued progress of the mandala sand painting of Avalokiteshvara Buddha by Drepung Loseling monks of the Mystical Arts of Tibet.

CBCT and SEE Learning Panel: “Advancing a Global Culture of Compassion: Impact Stories from SEE Learning and CBCT Affiliates”
7:30-9 p.m.

This panel will be moderated by Leslie Langbert and Iman Sebunya.

Thursday, Oct. 2

No mandala sand painting.

Friday, Oct.3

Presentation and Viewing of Completed Mandala Sand Painting
5:30-6:30 p.m.

Mandala Closing Ceremony
6:30-7:30 p.m.

To signify the end of Tibet Week, the monks will deconstruct the completed mandala and distribute the sand to spread its blessings throughout the community and the world. This ceremony will also be live-streamed.

About the Emory Compassion Center

Started as the Emory-Tibet Partnership in 1998, the Emory Compassion Center has grown to encompass three main programs specifically designed to support a research-based approach to advance the science and practice of compassion.

The Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI) teaches modern science to Tibetan monastics. The SEE Learning (Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning) program provides a comprehensive ethics curriculum for students from kindergarten through college, while the Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT) program unites scientific research with wisdom from contemplative traditions to cultivate compassion in adults.

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