Dr. L. (Lela) Mosemghvdlishvili (they/she) is a contemplative educator whose work brings 'many ways of knowing' into academic education, integrating teaching with wisdom traditions and embodied practices. In practice, this means developing curriculum and learning activities that navigate the tension between ethically using technology (including GenAI), and remaining deeply meaningful, human, and embodied. 

Lela’s approach to curriculum development & design is informed by their 17 years of teaching experience (with undergraduate students), research background in Critical Studies of Technology, and two decades of inquiry with wisdom traditions and embodied practices. Lela holds a PhD from Erasmus University Rotterdam, where their doctoral research, Politics of Mobile Code, was situated within Critical Studies of Technology.

At the University of Amsterdam, Lela works at PPLE College as a lecturer, course designer, and educational innovator. They have led university-wide initiatives on the responsible use of AI in teaching and learning, including the UvA Responsible AI grant and the TLC Special Interest Group on Educational Use of AI.

A central strand of Lela’s work is contemplative pedagogy, bringing attention, embodiment, and first-person inquiry into academic education. As Lela puts it, this work is about “humanizing academic education and recovering contemplation.” Their long-standing engagement with contemplative and wisdom traditions, meditation, and regular silent retreats informs this work and remains a vital source of insight and understanding. Lela is also an authorized meditation teacher.

You can watch below Lela's TedxUvA talk about her path in university teaching.

A significant part of Lela's academic engagement is related to education research and innovation in teaching methods and pedagogies. They are committed to integrating experiential learning, embodiment, and contemplative practices to enrich teaching methods at the university and contribute to a more wholesome, fulfilling and meaningful learning experience for students.

Areas of speciality: 

• Balancing AI-supported learning with Laptop-free classrooms
• Experiential and embodied learning
• Contemplative Pedagogy
• Designing interdisciplinary learning modules
• Designing assessment forms and learning activities for higher-order thinking and metacognitive skills
• Introducing compassion, awareness and mindfulness practices in university classes

Grants for Educational Design 

(2019) IIS grant for Project-based learning - to develop learning activities for cultivating students' metacognitive skills, namely reflection and self-awareness.

(2021) TLC Education Innovation grant for the project Designing knowledge sharing practices to promote interdisciplinary collaboration among student

(2021-2023) Education Research Fellow Two-year research fellowship in education research developing and validating Design Principles of Contemplative Pedagogy for university education.

(2022)  Fair, Resilient & Inclusive Societies (FRIS) grant for the project Cultivating resilience among students to engage with (emotionally) challenging learning material.

(2025-2026)  SoTL Grant for the project: Balancing laptop-free and AI-enabled learning: integrating  GenAI while deepening human capacities

Additional resources 

TLC course in Contemplative Pedagogy for experienced UvA lecturers, designed and taught by L.Mosemghvdlishvili

Mosemghvdlishvili, L. (2024). Dancing Barefoot in the University: From Burnout to Radical Presence. In Contemplative Practices and Acts of Resistance in Higher Education (pp. 166-174). Routledge.

Mosemghvdlishvili, L., & Jansz, J. (2018). Free your' most open' Android: a comparative discourse analysis on Android. Critical Discourse Studies, 17(1). doi: 10.1080/17405904.2018.1554536

Mosemghvdlishvili, L. (2015). Mobile Internet: Politics of Mobile Code and Networks.  In A. Bechmann & S. Lomborg (Eds.), The Ubiquitous Internet: User and Industry Perspectives (Routledge Studies in New Media and Cyberculture) (pp. 171-184). New York: Routledge

Hofmann, S., & Mosemghvdlishvili, L. (2014). Perceiving spaces through digital augmentation: An exploratory study of navigational augmented reality apps. Mobile Media and Communication, 2(3). doi: 10.1177/2050157914530700

Mosemghvdlishvili, L., & Jansz, J. (2013). Negotiability of technology and its limitations: The politics of App development. Information Communication and Society, 16(10). doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2012.735252

Mosemghvdlishvili, L., & Jansz, J. (2012). Framing and praising Allah on YouTube: Exploring user-created videos about Islam and the motivations for producing them. New Media & Society. doi: 10.1177/1461444812457326

Doctoral thesis

L. Mosemghvdlishvili (2021, February 25). The Politics of Mobile Code: Exploring Possibilities and Limitations of the Programmability of Smartphones. Supervisors: Prof. Dr. J.(Jeroen) Jansz & Prof. Dr. P.(Payal) Arora.

Dr. L. (Lela) Mosemghvdlishvili regularly offers workshops to faculty, scheduled and on-demand, regarding novel ways of approaching pedagogy in the university. 

Open for enrollment TLC course Designing Contemplative Pedagogy in Higher Education a professionalization course for (experienced) teachers (open for UvA, AUC, and ACTA faculty) 

On-demand workshops 

No-laptop classrooms: recovering attention 

Teaching and grading written reflections 

Balanced approach to GenAI supported and laptop free learning

To request on-demand workshops for your department, please get in touch with Lela via email. 

Designing contemplative learning activities for higher education, online, Network of Contemplative Pedagogy, March 9, 2023

From empathy to compassion, invited experiential lecture at honors course: Reimagining Equality as Academic Citizens, University of Amsterdam, November 24, 2022

Communal Reading: a powerful pedagogical tool for connection, Education Day, University of Amsterdam, October 6, 2022

Authenticity in Learning: how to teach reflection, Amsterdam Law Practice, February 24, 2022

Mindfulness in Academic Education Teaching and Learning Center of Amsterdam Law School (TLC-FdR), February 9, 2022

A Quest Towards Contemplative Pedagogy, talk at TEDxUvA, Theater Bellevue, November 15, 2021

Contemplative Practices for Meaningful Education, Education Day, University of Amsterdam, October 8, 2021