WCSU will present a "Seminar on the Creative/Re-creative Process for New Solutions" at 5 p.m. in Room 127 of White Hall on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The panel discussion will explore a wide range of themes related to chamber music; the artistic process; creative innovation and inspiration; telepathy, empathy and compassion in the arts; and other topics. Participants will include Connecticut State University System Professor of Writing, Linguistics and the Creative Process Dr. John Briggs; Ohio State University Associate Professor of Music Theory Dr. David Clampitt; University of Massachusetts Professor Emeritus Dr. Peter Elbow, and members of the Prometheus chamber music quintet. The seminar will be open to the public; admission fees are $20, $15 for seniors, and free for students with valid I.D. For more information, call (203) 837-8350.

There will be screenings of Martin Scorsese's "Kundun" at noon and 7 p.m. in the Student Center Theater on the WCSU Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The screenings will be free and the public is invited. It is part of the Dalai Lama film series at WCSU.

There will be screenings of "Seven Years in Tibet" at noon and 7 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Westside Campus Center on the WCSU Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. The screenings will be free and the public is invited. It is part of the Dalai Lama film series at WCSU.

The Institute for Holistic Health Studies at WCSU in collaboration with Dr. Tashi Rabten, president of the Tibetan Medical Association, will present "Tibetan Medicine: The Spiritual Connection" at 7:30 p.m. in Warner Hall on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The workshop will be free and the public is invited. For more information, call (845) 612-3231.

The WCSU Chamber Singers and Concert Choir will perform at 8 p.m. in Ives Concert Hall in White Hall on the WCSU Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The program will include a Missa Mista, a mixed mass with movements from Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Vivaldi. Adjunct Instructor of Music Kathleen Theisen will direct. The concert will be free and the public is invited. Donations to support the department of music will be accepted. For more information, call (203) 837-8350 or visit www.wcsu.edu/music/concerts.asp .

The WCSU Chapter of Psi Chi: The International Honor Society in Psychology will host Buddhist Priest Ven Ocean of Wusdom Sakya, who will speak about "Neuroscience and Meditation" at 4:30 p.m. in Warner Hall on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The talk will be free and the public is invited. For more information, email talibon001@connect.wcsu.edu.

Artist William Rock, author of "Art and the Transcendent Self," and Ani Drubgyudma, a Western Buddhist Yogini nun, will discuss "Spirituality in Creativity" via Skype at noon in Room 508 of the Ruth Haas Library on the WCSU Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The talk will be free and the public is invited to attend. For more information, call (203) 837-9245.

WCSU will host a poster session featuring images that relate to compassion and creativity from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Student Center on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The session will mark the beginning of the Conference on Creativity and Compassion that will commence on April 20. The session will be free and the public is invited. For more information, call (203) 837-3255.

Five panels of distinguished scholars, writers, faculty and students will discuss the links between creativity and compassion over two days beginning at 9 a.m. Friday in the Student Center Theater on the WCSU Midtown campus, 181 White Street in Danbury. The conversations of the panels will center on aspects of "Creativity and Compassion: Embracing the Challenges of the 21st Century," the theme incorporated into a broad series of events taking place at WCSU in anticipation of the visit to the campus by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in October. His Holiness will speak on the related topic of "The Art of Compassion." The two-day conference has been organized by faculty and students at WCSU in cooperation with the Do Ngak Kunphen Ling (DNKL) Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace in Redding. The conference will be free and the public is invited. For more information, visit www.wcsu.edu/creativitycompassion/.

In anticipation of the October 2012 visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the WCSU Honors Program will present "Debate: The Language of the World" from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Student Center Theater on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Featured will be debates between Tibetan monks and Western's Roger Sherman Debate Society on topics ranging from what it means to be human to whether time is emphatically real. The format will showcase the different forms of debate used within each culture, and will include an explanation as to the origin of each style and the purpose of the varying forms of debate. The event will be free and the public is invited. For more information, send an email to poole013@connect.wcsu.edu.

The WCSU New Music Ensemble will perform at 8 p.m. in Ives Concert Hall in White Hall on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Associate Professor of Music Dr. Fernando Jimenez will conduct. The concert will be free and the public is invited. Donations to support the department of music will be accepted. For more information, call (203) 837-8350 or visit www.wcsu.edu/music/concerts.asp.

WCSU and Do Ngak Kunphen Ling - Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace will host a talk and display of "Books about Buddhism" in the Ruth A. Haas Library on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The discussion will be at 6 p.m. in the library's fifth floor conference room and will feature DNKL's Jampa Gyaltsen, Geshe Lobsang Dhargey and Deirdre Coury. The display of books relating to Buddhism will be in the glass cases on the library's first floor from Tuesday, April 24, through Thursday, May 3. The display and talk will be free and the public is invited. For more information, call (203) 837-9122.

WCSU, in cooperation with DNKL (Do Ngak Kunphen Ling) Buddhist Center, will present "Reflection: Indra's Net," an exhibit of sculpture, sound and music, to mark the beginning of a series of arts and music events that will culminate with talks by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the university on October 18 and 19. "Reflection" is the result of a collaboration between London artist Susan Haire and New York composer Stephen Dydo. The exhibit will be presented from Thursday, Sept. 6, through Friday, Oct. 19, in Warner Hall on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Viewing hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. The exhibit will be free and the public is invited. For more information, visit www.wcsu.edu/newsevents/reflectionart.asp.

WCSU, in cooperation with DNKL (Do Ngak Kunphen Ling) Buddhist Center, will present "Reflection: Indra's Net," an exhibit of sculpture, sound and music, to mark the beginning of a series of arts and music events that will culminate with talks by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the university on October 18 and 19. "Reflection" is the result of a collaboration between London artist Susan Haire and New York composer Stephen Dydo. An opening reception for the exhibit will be from 3 to 5 p.m. in Warner Hall on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The exhibit will be presented from Thursday, Sept. 6, through Friday, Oct. 19, in Warner Hall. Viewing hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. The reception and exhibit will be free and the public is invited.

LITERATURE SURVEY: 

The DNKL Tibetan Buddhist Center in Redding will present a discussion about "Buddhist Traditions in America: Preservation and/or Innovation" at 6 p.m. in Room 508 of the Ruth Haas Library on the WCSU Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Monks from DNKL will reflect on the Asian Buddhist traditions and their 160 years of transmission, evolution and challenge in America. The discussion will be free and the public is invited.

COMPASSION IN MOTION EVENT: 

The WCSU Honors Program and PAC will host "Compassion in Motion" from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the lawn in front of Fairfield Hall on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The event will feature dance performances and interactive dancing led by instructors and dancers from A Common Ground of Danbury. Free food from various cultures will be provided by Sodexo and the Henry Abbott Technical School culinary department, and an art display of projects completed by middle and high school students from Connecticut will be available for viewing. The event also will feature the signing of the Compassionate Cities scroll that will be revealed to the Dalai Lama during his visit to campus on Oct. 18 and 19. The Compassion in Motion event will be free and the public is invited. For more information, send an email to lin016@connect.wcsu.edu or go to www.facebook.com/events/413234182074705/.

FILM SCREENING: 

In conjunction with the visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to WCSU, the Danbury Library will screen "Seven Years in Tibet" at 6:30 p.m. in the Farioly Program Room on the lower level of the library, 170 Main St. in Danbury. The screening will be free and the public is invited. For more information, call (203) 796-8061.

A panel discussion, "What is Empathy? Who Feels It? Empathy in Humans and Other Animals" will be at noon in Room 102 of Warner Hall on the WCSU Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Associate Professor of Psychology Dr. Daniel Barrett will lead a panel that will include Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Patricia O'Neill and Geshe Lobsang Dhargey, a senior Buddhist monk at DNKL, in a discussion about the nature of empathy and altruism in humans and other animals. The focus will be on theories and research that provide evidence for the existence (or absence) of empathy. O'Neill will discuss evidence for the existence of empathy and altruism in nonhuman animals. Barrett will describe the leading theory regarding the conditions under which humans may feel empathic concern and, consequently, engage in true, selfless, helping behavior. Dhargey will speak about the Buddhist conception of empathy and how it can be cultivated in humans. The event will be free and the public is invited.

WCSU and the Wooster School have partnered to create "One Book, One Community," a series of events aimed at encouraging the entire community to read the same book, "Breakfast with Buddha" by Roland Merullo. Merullo will speak about his novel at 7:30 p.m. in Ives Concert Hall in White Hall on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The event will be free and the public is invited. For more information, call (203) 837-8754.

The WCSU Faculty Exhibition, "Creativity and Compassion," will be on display from noon to 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays from Thursday, Oct. 11, through Thursday, Nov. 29, in the Higgins Gallery in Higgins Hall on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. There will be an artist reception at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11. The exhibition and reception will be free and open to the public.

CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT:

The premiere of an original six-song cycle composed by WCSU Professor of Music Eric Lewis will highlight a chamber music concert at 8 p.m. in Ives Concert Hall in White Hall on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Soprano Jennifer Caraluzzi, graduate of WCSU and the New England Conservatory, will perform as lead vocalist with a WCSU chamber music ensemble of string, wind, piano and percussion instrumentalists. Lewis’s “Wren Song” cycle features his original score and lyrics drawn from the poetry of the late Judy Willington; the composition was commissioned by The Willington Trust and is presented as part of the celebration of the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to WCSU. The concert will be free and the public is invited. Donations to support the department of music will be accepted. For more information, call (203) 837-8350 or visit www.wcsu.edu/music/concerts.asp.

CREATION OF A COMPASSION SAND MANDALA: 

The Sacred Art Tour Group Monks of Drepung Gomang Monastery will create a compassion sand Mandala in celebration of the upcoming visit to Western by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. At 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, an opening ceremony will be held at the Westside Campus Center on the university's Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. Construction of the Mandala will continue until 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17, and the Mandala will be available for viewing on Thursday, Oct. 18, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. A deconstruction ceremony will be at 12:45 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19. Mandalas are an ancient form of art created over several days during a sacred ritual. During opening ceremonies, monks will consecrate the space, chanting mantra prayers to call forth all goodness and compassion. Using millions of grains of colorfal sand, the monks will create a three-dimensional representation of the world in its divine form. The event will be free and the public is invited.

BACH RECITAL: 

WCSU music faculty members will present selections from several works by Johann Sebastian Bach representing the theme of compassion in a recital at noon in Ives Concert Hall in White Hall on the university's Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The concert, titled "Spirituality of Johann Sebastian Bach," will feature vocals by Dr. Margaret Astrup and instrumental performances by Dr. Kerry Walker on flute, Eric Lewis on violin, and Eric Trudel on piano. Selections will include arias from the Passions of St. Matthew and St. John, as well as a movement from the Partita for Flute and the largo from the Musical Offering. Admission will be free and the public is invited. For more information, call (203) 837-8350.

WCSU and Do Ngak Kunphen Ling-Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace will host His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for a public talk about "The Art of Compassion" at 1:30 p.m. in the Feldman Arena of the O'Neill Center on the university's Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. For ticketing and other information, visit www.wcsudalailama.org/year.html

WCSU and Do Ngak Kunphen Ling-Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace will host His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for a public talk about "Advice for Daily Life" at 10 a.m. in the Feldman Arena of the O'Neill Center on the university's Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. For ticketing and other information, visit www.wcsudalailama.org/year.html.