Faculty Achievements
John Hagelin receives Doshi Family Bridgebuilder Award
At Loyola Marymount University’s 2017 Ayurveda conference, MIU President John Hagelin was presented with the 2017 Doshi Family Bridgebuilder Award, an award which honors those dedicated to fostering understanding between cultures, peoples, and disciplines. Dr. Hagelin was recognized for his work connecting modern science and spirituality.
Past recipients of the Doshi Award have included Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh; world religions scholar Huston Smith; Rupert Sheldrake, scientist and naturalist; Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to become a member of the U.S. Congress; and Karan Singh, a member of Indian parliament and former ambassador from India to the USA.
Jim Shrosbree receives prestigious art fellowship
Professor Jim Shrosbree enjoyed a 2017 residency fellowship at MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH – the oldest artist residency in the U.S. Artists from various disciplines – writers, visual artists, dancers, filmmakers, poets, and playwrights – are awarded a fellowship to attend, creating a rich cross-disciplinary exchange.
This is the third residency of this kind that Mr. Shrosbree has been awarded. His previous two residencies were at Yaddo Artists Colony in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Robert Schneider speaks on Ayurveda around the world
Dr. Robert Schneider, dean of MIU’s College of Integrative Medicine, was invited to give an opening keynote address at Harvard alongside India’s Minister of Ayurveda and Yoga at a 2016 conference on integrating Yoga and Ayurveda into mainstream medicine.
He also led the first-ever session on the use of meditation to treat and prevent hypertension at the annual meeting of the European Society for Hypertension in Milan, Italy. In addition, he delivered the keynote address at the annual meeting of the World Association of Vedic Studies in New Delhi and taught two seminars to the public.
Andy Bargerstock recognized as a top LEAN professor
Following the publication of “Leaning Away from Standard Costing” in the June 2016 issue of Strategic Finance journal, Dr. Andrew Bargerstock was invited to speak at the Lean Accounting Summit in San Antonio on August 26, 2017.
At the summit, Dr. Bargerstock was awarded his second Excellence in Lean Accounting Professor of the Year award. He previously won the same recognition in 2009 and is widely recognized for his expertise in the area.
Faculty research shows how Transcendental Meditation helps prisoners
Studies led by Professor Sanford Nidich found that Transcendental Meditation helps prisoners deal with stress.
The 2016 study found that, after four months of practicing Transcendental Meditation, male inmates at two Oregon prisons showed a 47% reduction in trauma symptoms compared to non-meditating controls. The results, published in The Permanente Journal online, showed an even greater reduction of 56% in those with the highest level of trauma symptoms.
The 2017 study found that Transcendental Meditation significantly reduced trauma symptoms in female prison inmates. After four months of practicing Transcendental Meditation, inmates in the meditation group had significant reductions in total trauma symptoms.
Faculty present on sustainable agriculture at Harvard Divinity School
MIU Sustainable Living faculty presented a profound view of agriculture at Harvard Divinity School’s 2016 “Spirit of Sustainable Agriculture” conference. Travis Cox spoke about integral agriculture, John Fagan presented on Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture, and Appachanda Thimmaiah discussed Biodynamic agriculture.
In addition, Dr. Thimmaiah gave a plenary address in which he discussed how the future of spirituality is intertwined with creating a sustainable, clean agricultural system.
Keith Wallace and Fred Travis publish book on Ayurvedic parenting
Physiology & Health faculty Drs. Keith Wallace and Fred Travis published the best-selling Dharma Parenting: Understand your Child’s Brilliant Brain for Greater Happiness, Success, and Fulfillment, a how-to book on parenting that combines ancient Ayurvedic principles with a modern understanding of child brain development to give practical tools for nurturing a child’s development and health.
The Sanskrit word dharma refers to living in a way that upholds the path of evolution, maintains balance, and supports prosperity and spiritual freedom. This book examines parents and children from the perspective of the three Ayurvedic mind/body types — vata, pitta, and kapha — and offers various tools that can be customized depending on the child’s type.
Transcendental Meditation reduces stress in caregivers, says study
A study of 23 caregivers, led by Professor Sanford Nidich and published in the International Archives of Nursing and Health Care, found that two months of practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique helped to reduce the stress associated with caregiving. Subjects experienced improvements in perceived stress, spiritual well-being, and mood.
Scott Herriott breaks new ground in sustainable business education
Business professor Scott Herriott has published two textbooks on sustainable business. Feasibility Analysis for Sustainable Technologies, his first book on the subject, walks readers through a feasibility analysis of a renewable energy or energy efficiency project. Dr. Herriott worked on the book for years, polishing and expanding his lecture notes every time he taught the course.
Dr. Herriott’s 2016 book, Metrics for Sustainability, describes the methods companies use to document their sustainability and analyzes the certification and rating systems that are now used to evaluate the sustainability of firms. More than half of the Fortune 500 companies now issue an annual report on their sustainability, and this book fills the need for a deeper educational resource on the subject.
Fred Travis maps transcendence in the brain
A study by Dr. Fred Travis, published in Human Brain Mapping, found evidence that the mind shifts between being lost in thought and experiencing transcendence during the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique.
The study identified known “microstates” in brain functioning–specific EEG patterns in the brain, each one lasting 50-100 thousandths of a second. During transcending, the microstate named “Category C” was lower compared to during undirected mentation. Since this microstate is associated with internally generated thoughts and evaluative processing, it indicates that transcending involves a quieter state of mind.