Collection on Mindfulness, Movement, and Cultural Revitalization: Indigenous Contemplative Theories and Practices

Co-edited with Dr. Laura Dunn

Call For Papers

We are inviting chapters, personal narratives, interviews, and creative works for an edited volume on Mindfulness, Movement, and Cultural Revitalization: Indigenous Contemplative Theories and Practices, which will be published by Springer International in May 2025. Co-edited by Dr. Laura Dunn (Santa Clara University) and Dr. Tria Blu Wakpa (University of California, Los Angeles), this collection will feature diverse voices and perspectives that illuminate and celebrate the abundance, endurance, and revitalization of Indigenous practices globally. The volume will broaden the field of contemplative studies to encompass the integral ontologies, practices, and knowledge systems of Indigenous peoples, which colonization has often targeted and sought to obscure. By centering Indigenous peoples, practices, and their cultural revitalization projects in the discourse on contemplative studies, we aim to illuminate modes of Indigenous mindfulness and movement and their histories, politics, and contributions. This urgent project emerges at a time when there is a growing interest in Indigenous contemplative practices, which contain wisdom for countering the detrimental effects of colonization by healing human and nonhuman relations, the ecosystem, and intergenerational trauma.

Within Indigenous practices, “contemplation” encompasses a broad swath of socially and spiritually transformative modes, including those that are mindful, movement and stillness based, and collective and individual. Indigenous contemplative life needs to be understood as living traditions that adapt and respond to social and historical contexts. Some Indigenous practices, such as the Aboriginal meditation of dadirri, emphasize quietude and introspection, while others convey fluidity and expressiveness, like Native Hawaiian hula. The vast diversity of Indigenous contemplative modes necessitates the contextualized, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches we hope to collect within the pages of this volume.

We welcome submissions including, though not limited to, the following categories: Meditation, Ceremony, Regalia Making, Storytelling, Drumming, Singing, Dancing, Art, Athletics, Fasting, Hunting and Gathering, Gardening, Other expressions of Indigenous wisdom and contemplative practices

We invite contributions from scholars, authors, artists, and Indigenous leaders and practitioners. In particular, we seek submissions that reflect the vast array of global Indigenous communities, such as those from Africa, the Americas, Western, Eastern, South, and Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Pacific.

Deadlines and submission guidelines:

●      Aug 31, 2024 for chapter or project abstracts

○      Title and 350-word abstract, including author name(s), affiliation, and contact information

○      Final decision on abstracts will be made no later than 30 days after submission

●      November 15, 2024 for chapter or project drafts

○      We anticipate 3-4 months for editing and review

●      March 31, 2025 for final acceptance of chapter or project

Submission Instructions: Please email your abstracts to ldunn@ses.gtu.edu and triabluwakpa@g.ucla.edu.