Stephanie Briggs is the owner of Be.Still.Move., a program of mindful/contemplative embodied movement and arts-based learning. My main focus is on the creation of contemplative compassionate communities, the use of movement and art to investigate individual intersections and trauma, and engaged facilitation in healing, empathy, and compassion practices. I serve on the Board of Directors of the Conference for Community Writers and on the editorial board of the Community Literacy Journal. I recently completed a TEDx Talk on “Developing Empathy as Practice” and was highlighted in the April 2018 edition of Women in Higher Education, “Bringing Movement and Contemplation Into the Classroom,” by Karen Costa. www.wihe.com/article-details/67/bringing-movement-and-contemplation-into-the-classroom/
I most recently was selected as a 2018 Mind & Life Summer Research Institute Investigator for the project, “Anger as a Libratory Process,” which centers on the development of personal dialogues and workshops with African-American faculty around oppression in the academy and the image of the angry Black woman and aggressive Black male in the institution. When these expressions of anger are accessed through Buddhist Wisdom, the outcome is fierce and compassionate wisdom. When combined with African/African-American communal, traditional and contemporary use of storytelling through music, dance, and song, both wisdom traditions see redemption/liberation through engaging with anger and ultimately the cessation of suffering.
I was also named the only recipient of the Frederick P. Lenz Residential Fellowship Program for Buddhist Studies and American Culture & Values at Naropa University for my project, “Visioning the Eightfold Path: Liberatory Contemplative Practical Empowerment for African-American Educators,” a project designed to uncover and re-vision how Buddhism and its contribution to American education and society can address inequities towards African-American faculty, particularly those on predominately white institution (PWI) campuses. Through immersion in Buddhist wisdom and study, this project will determine how art and movement theory and practice can be integrated and, when combined with African/African-American traditions and education, address ways of rethinking and releasing suffering.
In April 2016, I was invited, along with 23 fellows, by the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society in partnership with the Fetzer Institute to engage in conversations towards creating a Building Communities Initiative focused on supporting and developing contemplative communities on college and university campuses. This experience allowed me to expand my “Contemplative Compassionate Classrooms” series that included a keynote for the Maryland Consortium for Adjunct Professional Development, “Be.Still.Move: Creating a Contemplative Classroom,” to focusing on creating a series of workshops on race and gender, “A New Path: Mindfully Building Compassionate Communities in STEM,” at the 2016 Teaching to Increase Diversity and Equity in STEM Institute for the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and “Creating a Compassionate Community: In the Classroom, Programming, and Professional Development” at Northern Kentucky University. In addition, I have led numerous workshops on mindful/embodied movement at Howard University Hospital, Smith College, and Coppin State University. In 2016, I was the recipient of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society's Building Communities Grant for "Practical Empowerment: Building Contemplative Communities With Students of Color" collaborating with Coppin State University, Howard University, the University of the District of Columbia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia State University.
As an assistant professor, English, at the Community College of Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, where I teach Developmental and English Composition classes as well as the History of Hip Hop, I continue to discover new ways of engaging my community college freshmen towards mindful inquiry in the classroom, while remembering that I too, as a beginner, am continually erasing old habits to create what might be a better learning experience for my students as well as in my personal and professional life. In addition to teaching, I facilitated the college’s Contemplative Pedagogy Faculty Learning Community, designed the course, “Creating A Mindful Classroom: Setting Intentions,” for faculty members, and am facilitating a Contemplative Community Circle group for faculty members interested in contemplative pedagogy, building community, and creating campus wide student contemplative circle groups.
I am a graduate of New York University and the New School, both in New York City. As a mindfulness practitioner, I have studied the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa and the Shambhala tradition. In 1998, as a personal trainer and coach, I began infusing meditation and movement into my fitness programs and later developed programs and retreats for small groups, businesses, non-profits, and senior citizen programs. In 2006, I began exploring the use of movement and mindfulness in the college classroom. I studied movement and vocalization with director/choreographer Meredith Monk; Mudra Theater classes with Elaine Yuen, teacher and student of Chogyam Trungpa; the art of play, art, and mindfulness for people of color with Thich Nhat Hanh ordained Buddhist nun, Sister Jewel; and the research-to-performance storytelling to social engagement methodology developed by teacher/poet Sekou Sundiata. I have also completed her MBSR training with Gina Sager. I continue experimenting with modes of movement and art as a form of engagement including drawing, mindful tap dancing, and contemplative photography.
I most recently was selected as a 2018 Mind & Life Summer Research Institute Investigator for the project, “Anger as a Libratory Process,” which centers on the development of personal dialogues and workshops with African-American faculty around oppression in the academy and the image of the angry Black woman and aggressive Black male in the institution. When these expressions of anger are accessed through Buddhist Wisdom, the outcome is fierce and compassionate wisdom. When combined with African/African-American communal, traditional and contemporary use of storytelling through music, dance, and song, both wisdom traditions see redemption/liberation through engaging with anger and ultimately the cessation of suffering.
I was also named the only recipient of the Frederick P. Lenz Residential Fellowship Program for Buddhist Studies and American Culture & Values at Naropa University for my project, “Visioning the Eightfold Path: Liberatory Contemplative Practical Empowerment for African-American Educators,” a project designed to uncover and re-vision how Buddhism and its contribution to American education and society can address inequities towards African-American faculty, particularly those on predominately white institution (PWI) campuses. Through immersion in Buddhist wisdom and study, this project will determine how art and movement theory and practice can be integrated and, when combined with African/African-American traditions and education, address ways of rethinking and releasing suffering.
In April 2016, I was invited, along with 23 fellows, by the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society in partnership with the Fetzer Institute to engage in conversations towards creating a Building Communities Initiative focused on supporting and developing contemplative communities on college and university campuses. This experience allowed me to expand my “Contemplative Compassionate Classrooms” series that included a keynote for the Maryland Consortium for Adjunct Professional Development, “Be.Still.Move: Creating a Contemplative Classroom,” to focusing on creating a series of workshops on race and gender, “A New Path: Mindfully Building Compassionate Communities in STEM,” at the 2016 Teaching to Increase Diversity and Equity in STEM Institute for the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and “Creating a Compassionate Community: In the Classroom, Programming, and Professional Development” at Northern Kentucky University. In addition, I have led numerous workshops on mindful/embodied movement at Howard University Hospital, Smith College, and Coppin State University. In 2016, I was the recipient of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society's Building Communities Grant for "Practical Empowerment: Building Contemplative Communities With Students of Color" collaborating with Coppin State University, Howard University, the University of the District of Columbia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia State University.
As an assistant professor, English, at the Community College of Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, where I teach Developmental and English Composition classes as well as the History of Hip Hop, I continue to discover new ways of engaging my community college freshmen towards mindful inquiry in the classroom, while remembering that I too, as a beginner, am continually erasing old habits to create what might be a better learning experience for my students as well as in my personal and professional life. In addition to teaching, I facilitated the college’s Contemplative Pedagogy Faculty Learning Community, designed the course, “Creating A Mindful Classroom: Setting Intentions,” for faculty members, and am facilitating a Contemplative Community Circle group for faculty members interested in contemplative pedagogy, building community, and creating campus wide student contemplative circle groups.
I am a graduate of New York University and the New School, both in New York City. As a mindfulness practitioner, I have studied the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa and the Shambhala tradition. In 1998, as a personal trainer and coach, I began infusing meditation and movement into my fitness programs and later developed programs and retreats for small groups, businesses, non-profits, and senior citizen programs. In 2006, I began exploring the use of movement and mindfulness in the college classroom. I studied movement and vocalization with director/choreographer Meredith Monk; Mudra Theater classes with Elaine Yuen, teacher and student of Chogyam Trungpa; the art of play, art, and mindfulness for people of color with Thich Nhat Hanh ordained Buddhist nun, Sister Jewel; and the research-to-performance storytelling to social engagement methodology developed by teacher/poet Sekou Sundiata. I have also completed her MBSR training with Gina Sager. I continue experimenting with modes of movement and art as a form of engagement including drawing, mindful tap dancing, and contemplative photography.
