His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory University, will return to Atlanta Oct. 8-10, 2013, for a series of public and campus events, including programs on responsible citizenship, ethics and education.

"The Dalai Lama has made invaluable contributions to our understanding of what it means to be an ethical citizen of the world," says James Wagner, president of Emory. "We are looking forward to the return of Emory's Presidential Distinguished Professor and the opportunities for our faculty and students to engage with him on these vital issues."

Public events

Tickets to two events, a public talk and a panel session, scheduled Tuesday, Oct. 8 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center, will be available to the public. Admission to both events is included with each ticket purchased. Events include:

A lecture by the Dalai Lama on "The Pillars of Responsible Citizenship in the 21st Century Global Village," from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

The talk will focus on the fundamental human values that are the building blocks of an engaged and compassionate world. The Dalai Lama will outline his comprehensive vision of secular ethics, its underlying principles, and the urgent need to embrace such a system in today’s increasingly connected and globalized society. A question-and-answer session following the lecture will be moderated by Paul Root Wolpe, director of Emory's Center for Ethics.

A panel discussion on "Secular Ethics and Education," featuring the Dalai Lama alongside top scientists and educators, from 1-3 p.m.

Panelists will examine the applicability of secular ethics in modern education through the lens of evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and educational policy and curricula. Discussion will include the implications of secular ethics for the U.S. education system, strategies of implementation, and potential benefits.

Tickets for the public events go on sale beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, April 26 at GwinnettCenter.com, The Arena at Gwinnett Center Box Office or by calling 1-888-9-AXS-TIX. Complete event and ticket information is available at dalailama.emory.edu.

For information on sponsorship opportunities, visit dalailama.emory.edu/support.

Events for the Emory campus community

In addition to the public events at the Gwinnett Center, the Dalai Lama will spend two days on the Emory campus teaching students and engaging with the faculty. Campus community tickets to the on-campus events will be free and available through a lottery on Sept. 1, 2013, at dalailama.emory.edu. A traditional Buddhist teaching will be arranged on campus through Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc. for their members and guests.

The Dalai Lama at Emory

The Dalai Lama last visited the campus in 2010 for a series of events on science research and meditation, creativity and spirituality, interfaith dialogue, and a teaching on compassion. He was named Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory in 2007, the first university appointment accepted by the 1989 Nobel Laureate.

His appointment was an outgrowth of the Emory-Tibet Partnership, which was founded in 1998 to bring together the best of Western and Tibetan Buddhist intellectual traditions. As Presidential Distinguished Professor, the Dalai Lama continues to provide teaching sessions with students and faculty during Emory's study-abroad program in Dharamsala, India.