Andrew Chung, an EASE Lab fellow, expresses concerns about the uncertainty surrounding the future of the BPMH program, despite its popularity and alignment with current research trends globally. Andrew highlights a lack of transparency from administrators regarding challenges with supporting the program, especially given the 2019 Provostial Task Force on Mental Health recommendations to address mental health issues on campus by creating a culture of care. He proposes expanding the BPMH minor into a major in contemplative science or flourishing studies, drawing on the university’s existing and diverse expertise and the success of similar programs at other institutions. He argues that such a program would benefit students across various fields by fostering self-care, compassion, and skillful practice.
Andrew Chung is a fourth-year undergraduate student with an interest in understanding how we can live a flourishing life. Andrew first researched wellbeing in the Intelligent Adaptive Interventions Lab where he co-authored a qualitative research paper comparing the impact of large language model chatbots (LLM) and rule based chatbot on student wellbeing. Recently, Andrew completed an independent research project with Mark Miller titled “When Caring Hurts: Untangling Compassion Fatigue through the Predictive Processing Framework,” where he explored how existing theories of compassion fatigue are limited and brought forth a new proposal using a computational neuroscientific framework. Along with his academic interests, Andrew is part of the Residence Don Team at Victoria College where he oversees 38 students and host a wide range of academic and social events to support the wellbeing of his residence community. In his free time, Andrew loves providing dinners to his friends and practicing Shorinji Jiu Jitsu at Hart House. #bpmh #contemplativescience #uoft #viccollegelife
