Programs
Sacred Seasons and Holy Days
Throughout the year, CSDS Spiritual Advisors and student groups offer weekly opportunities for prayer, worship, study, and meditation, alongside communal observances of holidays and festivals. For more information, see our sacred seasons and holidays calendar. CSDS supports students seeking off-campus places of worship and/or support with religious accomodations (holidays, dietary considerations, etc.).
Mindfulness, Yoga, Wellness, and Contemplative Practices
CSDS offers free daily guided meditation in the Sacred Space (200 Ell Hall) on the Boston campus from 12-12:30pm Monday-Friday during Fall and Spring semesters, and at various times during summer terms. Free yoga is offered Monday-Friday at 4pm; yoga mats are provided. No experience necessary. All sessions are led by Mindfulness Fellows (“Mellows”) and Yoga Affiliates from the Northeastern faculty and student community.
Meditation and yoga are also offered on campuses across the Northeastern global network, and through asynchronous sessions on CSDS’ YouTube channel.
CSDS collaborates with faculty colleagues across the University through the Northeastern University Mindfulness Initiative (NUMI) and also partners with Student Affairs’ Wellness Wednesdays and National Mental Health Week offerings.
Spirituality and the Arts
Creative expression is a powerful way to explore personal spirituality and religious identity, or simply enjoy community and build friendships in a fun, supportive space. CSDS offers biweekly Arts and Crafts Nights and biweekly Creative Freewriting and Journaling sessions. No experience necessary; materials are provided.
Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality & the Arts
Founded in 2020, Pensive is an internationally acclaimed online journal featuring poetry, prose, and visual arts from emerging and established contributors. To join our editorial board and develop leadership skills, email [email protected]. To read past issues, visit www.pensivejournal.com. To submit work for publication, send 3-5 pieces via Submittable.
Dinner Dialogues
Dinner Dialogues build community, communication, and cooperation among people of diverse spiritual, cultural, and global identities. Through facilitated dialogue led by trained staff and student Dialogue Associates, participants explore differences and shared values in a safe, celebratory setting.
Dialogues include a shared meal and occur on a bi-weekly basis in Boston and at various times across the network. For more information see our upcoming events page. CSDS also offers Dialogue Facilitator trainings to students, faculty, and staff; email [email protected].
Circle of Life
Circle of Life uses Talking Circle practices to create a space where students can deeply explore questions of meaning and life. Every week we reconvene our Circle, engaging a new topic and learning more about ourselves and each other. 2021’s Circles included topics such as faith, communication, transitions, friendship, and self-evolution.
Interfaith Social Action
CSDS’ Interfaith Social Action Programs enable students of all faiths and secular traditions of conscience to engage in efforts to build a better world. CSDS works with its member student organizations, grassroots community partners, and local faith communities to design meaningful, substantive initiatives that advance community empowerment, justice, peace, and ecological sustainability. These programs highlight love, compassion, and interconnectedness as shared spiritual values across many religions.
Our ISA team meets weekly to plan and coordinate upcoming projects. Email [email protected] to get involved.
In recent years, ISA projects have included: service projects honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Day and Earth Day; fundraising and humanitarian relief work with NUDay Syria; packing books with the Prison Book Program; homeless outreach around Boston; meals and seasonal celebrations for seniors at Morville House such as the annual Thanksgiving Spaghetti Dinner; environmental stewardship with the Emerald Necklace Conservancy; Alternative Spring Break trips and more.
Retreats
CSDS sponsors two annual off-campus retreats annually: the Renew Global Spirituality and Leadership Retreat and the Revive Mindfulness and Wellness Retreat. Retreats provide a safe community setting for experiential learning, personal spiritual growth, and leadership development.
Faithtastic February & UN World Interfaith Harmony Week
Faithtastic February is an annual celebration of the rich spiritual diversity of Northeastern’s community. Faithtastic February begins with a celebration of UN World Interfaith Harmony Week during the first week of February.
- raising awareness and inclusion of the over 50 global religious/spiritual/humanist traditions at Northeastern
- promoting collaborative cultures of Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service
- advancing mutual understanding, interfaith literacy, global mindset and civic engagement to build a more just, peaceful, sustainable world
- offering mindfulness, contemplative, and creative practices that nurture personal wellness as well as academic and professional success.
- scholar-practitioners in residence such as Interfaith Leadership Fellows Lehmah Gbowee, Eboo Patel, Valerie Kaur, Rabbi Or Rose, Dr. Celene Ibrihim-Lizzio, and Dr. Jennifer Peace; and Northeastern’s ffirst Global Citizenship Ambassador Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
- Interfaith NU dialogue nights and a special 4-part discussion series on “Meaning Making: Spirituality and Mental Health”
- practical workshops on integrating spiritual practice into your personal and professional life (in collaboration with Bouvé College of Health Sciences)
- daily guided mindfulness meditation and yoga (live and available always on YouTube)
- student group activities, and sacred seasons/holy day observances such as Ash Wednesday and Purim
- Spirituality and the Arts nights, and a Black Lives Matter poetry reading with contributors to Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality and the Arts (www.pensivejournal.com)
Global Citizenship Project and Pilgrimages
CSDS offers dynamic experiential learning trips to sites of interfaith significance and social justice struggle. Past trips have included Civil Rights Movement sites of the American South (Selma, Montgomery, Birmingham, Memphis, and Ferguson/St. Louis, Missouri), the Arizona-Mexico Borderlands, and interreligious, immigrant history, and peace and justice nonprofits in San Francisco Bay area. Other immersion experiences include trips to congregations representing World Religions in Greater Boston, and alternative spring break “staycations.” Workshops, trainings, dialogues, and reflections round out the offerings of the Global Citizenship Project.