My current work centers on integrating contemplative practices into the teaching and learning of physics—practices that invite attention, reflection, and care into the classroom. Drawing on insights from cognitive science, psychology, neuroscience, and lived experience, these practices are designed to support students not only in mastering physics concepts, but in finding meaning, resilience, and belonging in their learning.
The practices are wide-ranging. Some involve writing—metacognitive reflections, personal narratives, or quiet moments of noticing—while others invite sensory awareness, meditative observation, or connection with the Earth. Students may walk with a physics question in mind, listen to the sound of a tuning fork as it fades into silence, write about color, or contemplate the beauty of a scientific diagram from the past.
At their core, these practices aim to soften the sharp edges of a traditionally rigid curriculum, making space for curiosity, wonder, emotional insight, and the simple act of paying attention. They also speak to a larger question: what might it mean to study physics not just as a body of knowledge, but as a way of being in the world?
This work is unfolding into a book, Contemplative Physics, which brings together pedagogy, practice, and poetry to reimagine science education as both intellectually rigorous and deeply human.
Selected Writings
A few recent pieces exploring the intersection of contemplative practice, physics education, and student experience:
Listening to Silence: A Practice for Physics Classrooms
The Courage to Be Wrong: Creating Space for Growth and Inclusion in Physics Education
Where’s the Line? A Classroom Activity on Ethical and Constructive Use of Generative AI in Physics
Reflections of Cultural Wealth: Exploring Identity in Physics through Photo Elicitation
On the Inner Work of Physics Problem Solving: A Dialogue with a Cognitive Science Student
Contemplating Electromagnetic Phenomena in Lived Experience Through Somatic Meditation
Classical Physics and Human Embodiment: The Role of Contemplative Practice in Integrating Formal Theory and Personal Experience in the Undergraduate Physics Curriculum