In Spring 2026, Dr. Bin Song continued to assign contemplative exercises in the course “Introduction to Comparative Religion: Eastern” (PHL 112). Here are a few excellent examples:

Benjamin McCumber and Ziggy Angelos will graduate soon, so this is one of their last classes at the college. I worked with Ben in quite a few courses; he completed Religious Studies as his minor and will continue to study and practice clinical psychology in graduate school, which makes me very proud. Ziggy was a wonderful new student in my class, yet her level of understanding quickly revealed that being “new” in time does not mean being “new” in soul. She will continue to study art therapy in graduate school. I wish them both the very best!

Hanaa is an exchange international student from Morocco. Before meeting Hanaa, I knew almost nothing about Morocco apart from the little I had encountered through the famous song about Casablanca in the movie. She spoke multiple languages, including my beloved French, and brought great enthusiasm to learning. I hope more international students will sit in my classroom, as they are often wonderful sources of inspiration for deeper conversations. Daoist/Taoist meditative practice is among the most challenging traditions for laypeople to adapt to daily life, yet I believe Hanaa’s project engaged it very well. She also showed respect for the tradition by explaining the Daoist ideas behind the practice in thoughtful detail.

Peter is a philosophy major, and he took two very different classes with me back-to-back this semester: the highly abstruse History of Modern Philosophy course, which included notoriously difficult thinkers such as Descartes, Berkeley, Spinoza, Leibniz, and Kant; and this course on Eastern Religions. Although brief and seemingly casual, the practice demonstrated in Peter’s video cites Gao Panlong (1562–1626), one of my favorite Ruist meditators, and captures the essence of the Ruist practice of quiet-sitting: a serene immersion in whatever and whenever one happens to be, within a civilization continuous with nature.

Hooray for these students—a very nice treat for a teacher heading into the coming summer!