Emory University, where the events will take place, is heavily involved in promoting the connection between Atlanta and Tibetan Buddhism traditions.

The XIV Dalai Lama is a Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory. He’ll oversee their international conference on Tibetan Buddhism, which features a number of events that are open to the public. Actor Richard Gere and author Alice Walker are also scheduled to take part in the programs, which focus on research into spiritualism, meditation and creativity.

The visit will start on Sunday with a press conference, which will be followed by a teaching for the Buddhist community and an interfaith summit on happiness. On Monday, there will be a conference on compassion meditation, and Tuesday features a dialogue on spirituality and the arts with the Dalai Lama, Gere, and Walker.