Brown University may have set a new record…for the tendency of today’s schools to mollycoddle students.

On the other hand, for those select students who want to teach at a yoga school, perhaps the new degree may actually lead to gainful employment?

The latest option for a major at Brown University is going to require the utmost concentration and focus, but the school hopes students will come away with better self awareness and critical thinking.

According to USA Today, the Ivy League school is set to offer contemplative studies after the major was approved three weeks ago. Contemplative studies students will explore related philosophies, sciences, cultures and more.

“The Contemplative Studies Initiative is a group of Brown faculty with diverse academic specializations who are united around a common interest in studying the underlying philosophy, psychology, and phenomenology of contemplative experience, across time, cultures and traditions,” the school wrote on its website.

Harold Roth, a professor of religious studies, is leading Brown’s Contemplative Studies Initiative and he said students will examine the state of mind a person achieves through meditation. He told USA Today this state of mind is so focused that it is what a concert pianist experiences during a performance or what a baseball player does when preparing to hit a pitch.

“We hope to provide a program in which contemplative states can be understood and in which students can be taught to develop these states themselves,” Roth said.

The contemplative studies concentration will take students through courses in cognitive science, religion, philosophy and more. Students within the major can also choose between a scientific or humanities route.

To get students acquainted with the major, “Introduction to Contemplative Studies” will feature a weekly lecture as well as a meditation lab. In the lecture, students learn about theory and philosophy behind meditation, but in the lab, they will practice it….