A Culture of Learning

By Jenny Barnett, October 13, 2023

Sand mandala construction creates learning opportunities for students and local community.

Diana Dimitrova, director of International Student and Scholar Services (center), President La Jerne Terry Cornish, and Eric Steinschneider, assistant professor of philosophy and religion, connected with several monks from the Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies who created the sand mandala.

(Photo by: Undarmaa Tse)

From roundtable discussions to film screenings to hands-on meditative activities, in early October the Ithaca College and broader local communities were invited to participate in a program of events and learning opportunities centered around the building of a sand mandala.

For the second year in a row, IC welcomed monks from Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies — our neighbor on South Hill — to construct a multicolored sand mandala. Pronounced “MAHN’-duh-luh,” it is an abstract representation of a celestial being found in Tibetan Buddhism and other religious traditions.

The week kicked off with a “Sharing Sacred Objects” event held in Klingenstein Lounge.

The construction of the sand mandala took place over several days. (Photo by Giovanni Santacroce)

“We thought we would get the conversation started by creating a space where students, faculty, and staff could bring in an object that is sacred, resonant, or of special significance,” said Eric Steinschneider, assistant professor of philosophy and religion in his introduction to the event.

Kaitlyn Coffey ’24 brought in a blue and white ceramic bowl that had been a favorite of hers since her childhood. Coffey always looked forward to using it when she got home during school breaks because “It felt good to eat out of a real bowl!”

Recently, when she was going through some midterm stress, Coffey’s mother mailed it to her in a care package. “When I eat out of it now, it is a reminder of home,” she said.

Connections with friends and family were a common theme among the treasures students shared. Ahmad Taylor ’27 brought his video game controller because it represented a way for him to connect with friends back home, while Brady Sullivan ’27 highlighted the bonds she’d formed on campus when she shared her IC field hockey bracelet.

Lyra Fontanilla ’27 knew immediately what she would bring to the event when she looked at her ring-clad fingers. Fontanilla hails from a well-travelled family, and each piece of jewelry came from a different place—from Italy to Ireland to Greece. She also sported her favorite necklace, a keepsake from a Tibetan monastery in Hawaii.

“One of the big things we are learning about right now is how identity-driven our society is, and how it impacts our thought process and how we view other people—and how we use symbols.”

Lyra Fontanilla ’27

“I wear it for luck,” she said. “It shows how significant culture is to me and my family, and how I appreciate how I get to learn about different places with the people I love."

While some of the objects had secular origins, others had religious significance. David Salomon, associate professor in the Department of Art, Art History, and Architecture, who curated the session, brought a portable challis. Lais Kawabata ’27 showed the group a photo on her phone of the Butsudan—or Japanese Buddhist altar—in her home in Brazil, which celebrated her Japanese grandparents and their beliefs.

Conversations sparked by the objects reflected on issues of identity and belonging—as well as division. “I’m in a religion and rhetoric class,” said Fontanilla. “One of the big things we are learning about right now is how identity-driven our society is, and how it impacts our thought process and how we view other people—and how we use symbols.”

“It's a wonderful opportunity for all of us to get to know our neighbors, and to experience something that is beautiful, and invites us to open our eyes and our minds to a culture and a tradition that is ancient and powerful.”

Diana Dimitrova, director of International Student and Scholar Services

The following evening, after the mandala build had begun with a brief ceremony led by Ithaca College President La Jerne Terry Cornish and representatives from the monastery, students in Associate Professor Kati Lustyik’s “Digital Mindfulness: The Art of Living in Digital Society” class were among those who attended a screening in the Park School of My Reincarnation, a documentary that spans 20 years in the life of the son of a Tibetan Buddhist master who grew up in Italy.

Lustyik, who teaches in the department of media arts, sciences, and studies, saw the mandala construction as a jumping off point to introduce her students to aspects of Tibetan Buddhism.

“The course focuses on what it means to be mindful in a digital society,” she said. “And mindfulness is a concept very closely related to Buddhism.”

But Lustyik also felt the film offered broader learning opportunities to fold into her existing curriculum. Central to its narrative is the relationship between father and son.

“It is a universal theme,” she said. “What is the relationship between the two? Is the son going to follow in the father’s footsteps?”

You can watch the archived livestream of the construction of the sand mandala on the Ithaca College YouTube page.

The tension is as applicable whether the father is a religious leader, a CEO, or any kind of community leader, Lustyik believes. “It’s a story IC students can relate to as they are finding their own paths in life, negotiating their relationship with their parents, families.”

Additionally, it serves as an interesting example of its genre. Documentarian Jennifer Fox—herself a student of the father—follows the main characters across two decades, filming largely in Italy and Tibet. With no voiceover or preset storyline, the narrative takes its own course as their lives unfold.

The week's events also featured an open house where community members could explore mandala making (Photo courtesy of Eric Steinschneider)

“It is also a slow, very meditative piece that tests the patience of those of us used to watching fast-paced media content,” said Lustyik.

The week’s events also provided opportunities for faculty to expose students to beliefs other than Buddhism. At a religious roundtable event held in Klingenstein Lounge, participants were invited to have a conversation about religion, what it is, and why it matters.

Steinschneider—with others from the Department of Philosophy and Religion and Office of Religious and Spiritual Life—hosted the small-group discussions structured around pre-printed questions, which ranged from “What is religion? to “Is religion relevant in today’s world?”

The idea behind the event was to create a space where people could share their experiences and opinions, and that certainly came to the forefront during discussions.

At one table, four students—together with Shia Papkin, Hillel Jewish Student Life Coordinator, and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Yasim Ahmed—shared their thoughts on religion, its contemporary significance, and how it features in their own lives.

Gisele Martino ’27 attended the event because she wanted an interesting way to connect with others and religion is a highly debated topic in her family. She talked of the issues around navigating religiously divided households.

“We learned in class that there are different forms of Buddhism—which I don’t think most people realize—so we wanted to illustrate that.”

Nandini Agarwal ’25

Religion plays a major part in Cali Johnson’s life as well. Johnson, also a freshman, recently returned home to Pittsburgh to witness her mother being made a church elder. “My church is like my family,” she said.

Stephanie Tokasz ’24, who is taking Lustyik’s digital mindfulness class, particularly enjoyed the discussions around personal sacred moments. “I found it very interactive,” she said.

“The event went exceptionally well,” Steinschneider said. “Everyone had their own angle and contribution to make.”

Other activities were curated by Nandini Agarwal ’25, Zoe Kwasnicki ’27, and Prakriti Panwar ’26, who had all been working on the plans for the events after taking Steinschneider’s “Seeking the Buddha” class last spring.

Students Nandini Agarwal ’25, Zoe Kwasnicki ’27, and Prakriti Panwar ’26 created posters sharing information about the different types of Buddhism.

(Photo courtesy of Eric Steinschneider)

“We were given the opportunity to volunteer and we wanted to be part of it,” said Agrawal. The trio invited Jane-Marie Law, associate professor of religion at Cornell University, to deliver a public lecture on “Communal Transcendence: Mandala Creation and Shared Imagination.”

On Sunday, October 8 — the final day of the build before Monday’s dissolution ceremony — monks worked on the finishing touches to the mandala in the upper atrium of the Dorothy D. and Roy H. Park Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise while in the lower atrium students, families, and staff explored mandala making and had an opportunity to learn more about Buddhist traditions and religious symbols at an open house, curated by Agarwal, Kwasnicki, and Panwar.

A communal sewing project gave local community members the opportunity to decorate a mandala-inspired, round tablecloth. (Photo courtesy of Eric Steinschneider)

At the event, the students took the opportunity to share what they’d learned during their coursework, as four tri-fold displays explored “The scientific Buddha”; Vajrayana (tantric); Mahayana; and Theravada Buddhism.

“We learned in class that there are different forms of Buddhism—which I don’t think most people realize—so we wanted to illustrate that. We pulled a couple of all-nighters putting them together!” Agrawal said.

The walkway to the atrium was decorated with yards of paper chain in the five colors of Tibetan prayer flags representing nature—blue (sky), white (air), red (fire), green (water), and yellow (earth)--and various mandala patterns were available as coloring projects on one station for younger attendees.

Central to the afternoon’s offerings, however, was a communal sewing project: to decorate a mandala-inspired, round tablecloth created by local artist-educator Kathrin Achenbach.

The mandala was constructed grain by grain over the course of a week

(Photo by Giovanni Santacroce)

Inbaayini Anbarasan ’24 —a student in Steinschneider’s “Religion Matters” class—had invited her roommate, Ananya Gambhiraopet ’24, to join her for some of the mandala week events. The pair were seated next to Steinschneider, who confessed this was the first time he had picked up a needle and thread.

In addition to using the mandala construction as an opportunity for further student learning, Diana Dimitrova, director of International Student and Scholar Services, who helped coordinate the week’s agenda, felt it was important to host events on the weekend, so the off-campus community could participate. Trumansburg resident Jasmine Shay, on her first visit to IC, had attended along with her five-year-old son, Nature, because she was intrigued by Buddhism and wanted to learn more about it. David Brown—working on stitching a flower design—had travelled from Newark Valley.

“It's a wonderful opportunity for all of us to get to know our neighbors, and to experience something that is beautiful, and invites us to open our eyes and our minds to a culture and a tradition that is ancient and powerful,” said Dimitrova.