Applying ethics and religious philosophy to contemporary contexts
A broad-brush account of my research agenda is that I seek to apply my training in religious studies and ethics to contemporary contexts. For example, many of my current research interests involve applying insights from Buddhist traditions, particularly Buddhist understandings of the mind and its relation to suffering, to contemporary ‘secular’ contexts, such as higher education pedagogy, environmental education and healthcare. I have found it impossible to do this without engaging in discussions about what we mean by “religious” or “secular,” and some of the ethical questions that arise from the way we use these categories.
In June of 2018 I was featured in the University of Washington’s The Whole U wellness campaign: Faculty Friday: Jane Compson.
Service
It is important to me to be an academic who is engaged in service to the community. I have developed and teach a program called the CARE program to help people develop well-being and resilience.
I am a trained facilitator of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and am currently undertaking teacher training in Compassion Cultivation through the Compassion Institute at Stanford University and hope to use these skills in future to offer compassion training in my community. I’m also a member of the MultiCare Medical Ethics Committee
Teaching
My teaching reflects my interests in applied ethics and “engaged” religion. I currently teach classes in:
- Comparative Religion
- Buddhist Thought
- Environmental Ethics
- Philosophy, Religion and the Environment
- Biomedical Ethics and Introduction to Ethics
Education
M.A. in Philosophy (Bioethics), Colorado State University, CO. 2004
Thesis title: “ Whose Pain, Which Morality? A Defense Of The Moral Considerability Of Animals Using A Coherence Model Of Ethical Justification.” Committee Members: Professor Holmes Rolston III, Professor Bernard Roll in, Dr Lynn Kesel.
PhD in Comparative Religion, University of Bristol, UK. 1998
Dissertation title: “A critical analysis of John Hick’s pluralistic hypothesis in the light of the Buddha’s attitude towards other teachings as demonstrated in the Pa li Nikayas”
Supervisors: Dr Rupert Gethin, Dr. Gavin D’Costa.
M. A. Religion in the Contemporary World, University of Bristol, UK. 1994
With Commendation. Thesis title: “A comparison of the concept of self in the early Buddhist discourses and in the w ork of Richard Rorty”. Supervisors: Dr Rupert Gethin, Dr. Gavin D’Costa.
B.A. (Hons) in English Literature, (First Class), University of Exeter, UK. 1992.
Contact info
My contact info and full CV is available in my UW Tacoma directory profile.