Robert Roeser, the Bennett Pierce Professor of Caring and Compassion and professor of human development and family studies at Penn State, has been chosen to participate in the Dharamsala Dialogue in a talk that also includes the 14th and current Dalai Lama.

The Dialogue is a five-day discussion sponsored by the Mind & Life Institute and will take place at the Main Tibetan Temple in Dharamsala, India. Roeser will be a part of a smaller panel discussion titled “Ethics and Compassion in Education Research.”

Roeser studies compassion and mindfulness in society, specializing in how schools and other educational institutions help improve in mental development. He also has studied aiding human development in India.

Matthieu Ricard, a French Buddhist monk and writer based in Nepal, and Sona Dimidjian, a psychology and neurology professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder, are also participating in the discussion alongside Roeser and the Dalai Lama.

The Mind & Life Institute is an American organization founded in 1991 that was founded originally to facilitate talks between the Dalai Lama and various academics and intellectuals. The Institute continues to facilitate talks along with funding think tanks and research projects while providing a home for various researchers and thinkers.

The entire Dialogue will be streamed on the Mind & Life Institute’s website March 12-15. Roeser and the Dalai Lama’s discussion will take place Thursday, March 15 at 9-11:30 a.m.