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     Mindfulness Meditation and Health was developed by Dan Holland when he was a Contemplative Practice Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies in 2001.  This is an experiential course in which students practice sitting meditation, walking meditation, and a method of mindful movement similar to Feldenkrais called Hanna Somatic Education (Hanna, 1990). The course is open to all students and is particularly welcoming of students with disabilities or chronic illness. Since 2001, this course has been presented in a number of peer reviewed journals and in other academic venues ( Holland, 2002; Holland, 2004, Holland , 2005).  Dan Holland was also invited to teach a version of this course as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Austria in the Spring of 2004, an event which received unexpected national attention when the story was covered by the Associated Press (AP, January 13, 2004). Mindfulness Meditation and Health is offered as a Senior Seminar (PSYC 4390) each Fall semester. Enrollment is through consent of Dan Holland.   

Meditation Techniques     
     Another course, cross-listed in the Department of Psychology and Department of Philosophy and Liberal Studies, is entitled Meditation Techniques and is team taught by a senior faculty member in Psychology, Tommy Poling, Ph.D., and an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Frank Kenney, Ph.D.  Meditation Techniques is a survey course of various contemplative practices drawn from many traditions and cultures. As part of the curriculum at UALR for 25 years, Meditation Techniques represents one of the first courses on meditation at a Southern public university and, as a result, the course constitutes a local legend. The course features a large number of guest speakers drawn from throughout the Central Arkansas region who discuss their approaches to contemplative practice and provide time for Question and Answer sessions. Meditation Techniques resulted in a related book that currently serves as one of the texts for the course (Kenney & Poling, 2001). Meditation Techniques (PSYC 3340 or RELS 3340) is offered each Spring semester.

Service Learning Course
     Enrollment in the service learning course is restricted to those students who have taken both Meditation and Health and Meditation Techniques.  This course is a service learning “capstone” course associated with the community outreach component of the Mindfulness-Based Campus-Community Health Program.  In this course, students accompany faculty and/or psychology graduate students on community outreach presentations on mindfulness and health promotion.  These presentations may take place in places such as the public schools, natural childbirth meetings, churches, community meeting centers, and other community settings.  Students in this capstone course will also be expected to develop creative or educational materials that serve the community outreach mission of the Mindfulness-Based Campus-Community Health Program, such as a pamphlet on mindfulness and health for high school students, a mindfulness exercise that can be integrated into presentations to organizations in the community, etc. Credit for service learning in the Mindfulness-Based Campus-Community Health Program is earned through independent study or internship hours with Dan Holland.

Additional Learning Opportunities
     Additional learning opportunities associated with the Mindfulness-Based Campus-Community Health Program include undergraduate and graduate students’ involvement as research assistants in the research component of the program or attendance at presentations by guest speakers brought to campus through the Department of Psychology’s Speakers Series.    

Assessment
     An important part of any contemporary curriculum development initiative is assessment.  Assessment of higher educational curricula poses a particular challenge for experiential contemplative courses, however.  The Mindfulness-Based Campus-Community Health Program has as one of its missions the development of meaningful and valid methods of curriculum assessment for contemplative education.  Therefore, participation in any of the courses listed above will not only involve students being asked to evaluate the courses themselves, but to help faculty develop effective and meaningful methods for evaluating such courses.