Jason Frederick Lambacher delivers a paper derived from his Art & Politics of Walking course

IAS faculty member Jason Frederick Lambacher delivered a paper derived from his Art & Politics of Walking course at the Western Political Science Association’s (WPSA) annual conference in San Diego, CA in April 2019. Lambacher presented new work at a WPSA mini-conference titled, The Politics of the Mindfulness Revolution. The conference took a critical look at the multiple and competing forces of the “mindful revolution” in the contemporary zeitgeist, including yoga, meditation, education, pedagogy, corporate mindfulness, mindfulness in prisons, and various types of Buddhism. Lambacher discussed the class he developed for the Discovery Core which, along with a practicum, explores the theme of walking with first quarter UWB students. In the course, Lambacher uses walking as a mindful platform to explore interdisciplinary connections between human evolution, health, cognition, creativity, spirituality, place-based knowledge, environmental protection, urban design and wild trail networks, pedestrian rights, citizenship, public space, protest marches, social movements, and more. The paper integrates and analyzes student work from the course to reflect on how course design could be improved in order to maximize its impact on students transitioning to college life.