Contemplative practices: What's happening at Vanderbilt University Law School?

In an e-mail from Julie K. Sandine, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at Vanderbilt Law, I learned of some programs her law school offers its students. I wanted to tell you about them so asked permission to post her e-mail; she graciously consented. Sandine writes:

We’ve just concluded our fourth year of offering Supportive Practices, a non-credit offering for 1L students that teaches mindfulness meditation, Qi gong, cognitive strategies and other techniques that can help reduce stress and enhance concentration, as well as one’s overall sense of well-being.  We meet once a week for an hour during the first 10 weeks of class.  
 
We have also offered a Professionalism in Practice non-credit offering for the past four years, which just concluded as well and is held once a week for an hour during the first 10 weeks of class.  (Its name was changed this year, as it was previously entitled “Ethics & Professionalism”).   In this offering, in addition to reading about and discussing many issues of ethics and professionalism in a small group setting, we ask students to engage in self-reflection and submit weekly journal reflections.
 
When I taught Professional Responsibility last year, I also required that students submit weekly journal reflections as a part of their final grade.  I feel self-reflection is an important part of the process of forming one’s professional identity (but not something people do regularly or even feel very comfortable doing) and so sought to encourage students to get into the habit of engaging in this process.  I also started each class session with the day’s reading from “The Reflective Counselor” in an effort to make students aware of the importance of quiet reflection, purposeful thought, and becoming more mindful of the many components of one’s life, personally and professionally.  I will be teaching PR again in the spring semester and plan to again incorporate contemplative practices to some degree.
 
Interestingly, Vanderbilt University has a Contemplative Pedagogy group (of which I am a part), which meets regularly and shares ideas for including a contemplative practice in the classroom setting.  One of our legal clinic faculty has also joined the group.

Excellent, Julie! Thank you. As I have said before, Tennessee seems to be cutting edge.

Note: Click to see what is being offered at other law schools.