Master of Arts in Consciousness, Psychology, and Transformation

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

A paradigm is a model of reality, or aspects of reality, held by a community, and affirmed and enacted through communal behavior. Society today is shaped by past paradigms of consciousness as well as those which are newly emerging. This course explores the nature of paradigms, how they emerge, how they are sustained and how they are changed. We give particular attention to the evolution of various paradigms of consciousness and reality – from indigenous to modern, postmodern, holistic, and integral – and examine the potential of each to contribute to personal, social, and global transformation.

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

This course focuses on emotional intelligence—the capacity to recognize, understand, regulate, and creatively channel the wisdom and energy of emotional experience, as well as to empathize and relate to others’ emotions. Students learn what emotions are and how they arise physiologically, experientially, and behaviorally. A phenomenological approach enables students to connect with and describe emotions in order to enter more directly into the multi- layered, visceral experience of their emotional lives. The practice of mindfulness allows students to observe, track, and comprehend their experience with openness, curiosity, and acuity. Mindfulness also enables students to identify and work with habitual cognitive schemas and emotional reactions.

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5012

This course applies emotional intelligence, along with intuition, social knowledge, and cultural competence, to interpersonal contexts. Students practice techniques of effective listening and understand how emotional triggers can block interpersonal connection. The course also focuses on effective communication, the capacity to attune to another’s experience while remaining connected to one’s own. Students explore how emotional triggers through relationship and provide an opportunity for the expansion of self-awareness and integration. Topics include the principles of nonviolent communication, conflict resolution, and the process of coming into conscious relationship.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

This experiential course gives students the opportunity to explore their authentic body experiences from a variety of somatic modalities, and in so doing to contact their own lived body wisdom. Students develop greater body consciousness through exercises addressing parts of the body, body systems, and their body in relationship to self, other and the natural world. A variety of movement practices promote creativity and self- expression, supporting the development of emotional intelligence and interpersonal communication. Students integrate a repertoire of body-centered skills to apply to personal challenges, spiritual growth and life enrichment.

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

This course imparts a meta- perspective on human development and on the evolution of human consciousness. Developmental models assist us in perceiving the growth potentials across the human lifespan, culminating in conscious leadership. The course introduces various models of human development, such as Erikson’s psychosocial development, Kohlberg and Gilligan’s moral development, Fowler’s faith development and Kegan’s adult development. The course also explores basic elements of Ken Wilber’s integral theory, including the four quadrants, the difference between states and stages, and premodern, modern, and postmodern altitudes. Topics include models of consciousness, the relationship of Self/self, and the potential of integral psychology to deepen our understanding of and engagement with personal psycho-spiritual development as well as social/global change.

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5013

This course explores the multiple meanings of diversity, leadership, and community and directs students in a self- inquiry process about — who am I, who am I becoming, who are we, and who do we want to be as leaders in an emerging paradigm of global citizenship, interrelationship, interconnection, and compassion? Students explore diversity, community development, leadership skills, new breakthrough ideas, and technologies for expressing their highest and deepest values as agents of transformative change in the personal lives, families, and communities.

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

Transpersonal psychology explores the higher and deeper dimensions of human experience and relationship, including religious visions, sacred encounters, mystical moments, synchronicities, past-life memories, near-death experiences, cosmic consciousness, ecstasy, psychic phenomena, and prophetic dreams. This course explores major transpersonal concepts, theories, practices, and research findings. Topics include transpersonal models of human consciousness and development, the relationship of Self to self, non-ordinary states of consciousness, the perennial philosophy, meditation, lucid dreaming, entheogens, shamanic journeys, parapsychology, neurophenomenology, transpersonal therapies, spiritual emergency, and spiritual bypassing. Through readings, contemplative exercises, written assignments, and in-class discussions, students deepen insight into their own and others’ psychological and spiritual experience and development.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

This course introduces the basic principles of Living Systems Theory using theoretical and experiential components. Students apply these principles and practices to a selected area of interest (ecology, psychological development, community/cultural development, education, business or spiritual leadership, etc.). We also explore feedback processes, the interdependence of all life, creative emergence, individual development, family systems and the impact of systems thinking on organizational transformation and social change.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

The complex challenges of our time demand that we give the best of ourselves to the world, yet many of these challenges leave us with little time for self-care or self-cultivation. An integral life practice, which draws on both ancient and modern insights and techniques as well as the principles of cross-training to maximize the effectiveness of our efforts, offers a streamlined approach to transformative practice and thriving. Through this course, students engage in individual and collective self-assessment exercises, and learn to design and implement an integrative program of practices to promote physical health, emotional balance, mental clarity, and spiritual awakening.

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

Terrapsychology is a growing field of studies, ideas, and practices for reimagining and restorying how deeply and intimately our psychological life is involved with our surroundings, whether human or other than human. More informally, we tend to see how the world gets into the heart and how the heart reflects the world. Drawing on depth psychology and ecopsychology, terrapsychology explores how terrain, place, elements, and natural processes show up in human psychology, endeavor, and story, including myth and folklore. In this course students will be introduced to terrapsychology and its practices and ask: What emerges when we listen, imagine, and feel into rich intersections of psyche, story, symbol, body, mood, and place? When we put the presence of the world at the center of psychology?

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

This course, taken at the conclusion of the program, offers students the opportunity to integrate cumulative learning from the Consciousness and Transformative Studies curriculum, both personally and conceptually. The intent of the course is to assist students with reviewing and integrating core consciousness principles and practices and to gain stronger conceptual and practical mastery of the entire curriculum. Students review the foundational ideas from the core curriculum, gathered through student presentations. Additionally, students apply these concepts and principles in a personal essay exploring their own transformation of consciousness throughout the program.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5010

The human brain, with its ultimate purpose for ensuring survival, organizing information, and meaning making, is also deceptive and limiting by its own nature. In order not to overload consciousness with billions of bits of seemingly irrelevant data, the brain constructs and projects a reality that we assume and believe is ultimate reality. Our default mode network operates to ensure we are focused on bits of information that serve the self, for the sake of survival and personal thriving. Yet when the brain is introduced to meditation, mindfulness practices, or psychedelics, we find consistent reported states of unity consciousness, ego dissolution, ah-ha moments, flow, increased empathy towards others, the planet, and one’s self, and greater creative problem-solving ability. Ample neuroscientific, therapeutic, and phenomenological evidence indicates that meditation, mindfulness practices, and psychedelics expand human consciousness, positively change world-views, and offer profound experiences of well- being. This course covers how meditation, mindfulness practices, and psychedelics operate on neurological and personal spheres. It also addresses how the integration of neuroscience, psychology, psychedelic sciences, and meditation practices is the cutting edge of human potential and healing.

.67 Semester Credit Hours

This course offers a creative, transformative and healing writing practice that integrates personal narrative, voice and connection. The writing method fosters empathy, discernment, trust and confidence, and offers clear guidelines for cultivating a safe writing environment through the use of positive, non-judgmental feedback, deep listening and witnessing. Research has shown that writing about one’s deepest thoughts and feelings can improve health and well- being. The unique events of life are sacred stories that need to be shared and witnessed, and they can become a person’s greatest source of creativity. This class allows students to discover, tell and write their personal life stories.

.67 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5017

Spiral Dynamics is a model of conscious, cultural evolution that differentiates eight distinct stages of personal and cultural development and carries great explanatory power when applied to the complexities of our emerging global world. These eight stages of development are values-based, delineating core values around which the eight world-views are organized: safety; power; order; success; equality of people; process-orientation; synthesis- orientation. Understanding the underlying values and world-views held by individuals and different cultural groups, and how change emerges through the spiral of conscious cultural development, is a powerful leadership tool for facilitating personal and social change. Students apply the 8-stage model to real-world situations on a contemporary issue of strong personal interest.

.67 Semester Credit Hours

For most of its modern history, psychological research has primarily been focused on studying maladaptive emotions and behaviors while paying little attention to happiness and optimal human functioning. For the past two decades, the relatively new field of positive psychology has been redressing this imbalance by researching the fulfilled individual, the thriving community, and other features of a flourishing life. This course explores the latest research in the psychology of happiness and well-being. Students learn powerful insights and practices that enhance a person’s quality of living by cultivating empathy, compassion, love, hope, forgiveness, gratitude, creativity, kindness, generosity, and resilience. Through lectures, discussions, videos, and hands-on exercises, students gain knowledge of how to help themselves and others live satisfying and meaningful lives that contribute to the greater good.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

This course explores the importance, meaning, and purpose of metaphors and symbols in both mapping and catalyzing psychological and spiritual growth. Students examine symbols and metaphors of transformation experienced by mystics and spiritual practitioners across time, cultures, and religious traditions. These concepts and images—such as enlightenment, liberation, rebirth, unfoldment, journey, and metamorphosis–have enabled individuals and communities to express the inexpressible and invoke the invisible. Students also apply these principles to personal, community, and planetary transformation. The course includes experiential exercises and applications to daily life. CNS 5270 Issues in Science and Consciousness 1-3 In-depth research and analysis of specific topics in science and consciousness. Topics may include genetics, chaos, synchronicity, complexity, and biology of consciousness.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5030

This course examines the three broad stages of the human-nature relationship: the indigenous participatory worldview, the human-nature split of modern Western culture, and the reemerging participatory worldview. It addresses the overarching principle of balance in both indigenous and contemporary systems thinking. It experiments with consciousness-deepening dream, ritual and ceremonial practices that include aspects of the natural world. Taken from a variety of cultural traditions, such practices transform the objectification of nature into an appreciation of its presence, beauty, and powers of healing.

.67 Semester Credit Hours

For millennia, spiritual and psychological thinkers have sought to discern, understand, and follow their inner guidance and help others do so. Whether understood in spiritual or psychological terms, this guidance is invaluable to personal healing and living an independent, creative, and fulfilling life connected to others and contributing to the larger world. This 1-unit course explores transpersonal, psychological, and somatic perspectives and practices for activating, testing, and living this inner guidance and helping others do the same. Most approaches agree on the crucial need to identify, heal, release, or transform psychosocial factors that obstruct the perception and actualization of inner guidance.

.67 Semester Credit Hours

For millennia, spiritual and psychological thinkers have sought to discern, understand, and follow their inner guidance and help others do so. Whether understood in spiritual or psychological terms, this guidance is invaluable to personal healing and living an independent, creative, and fulfilling life connected to others and contributing to the larger world. This 1-unit course explores transpersonal, psychological, and somatic perspectives and practices for activating, testing, and living this inner guidance and helping others do the same. Most approaches agree on the crucial need to identify, heal, release, or transform psychosocial factors that obstruct the perception and actualization of inner guidance.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

This course explores the importance, meaning, and purpose of metaphors and symbols in both mapping and catalyzing psychological and spiritual growth. Students examine symbols and metaphors of transformation experienced by mystics and spiritual practitioners across time, cultures, and religious traditions. These concepts and images—such as enlightenment, liberation, rebirth, unfoldment, journey, and metamorphosis–have enabled individuals and communities to express the inexpressible and invoke the invisible. Students also apply these principles to personal, community, and planetary transformation. The course includes experiential exercises and applications to daily life. CNS 5270 Issues in Science and Consciousness 1-3 In-depth research and analysis of specific topics in science and consciousness. Topics may include genetics, chaos, synchronicity, complexity, and biology of consciousness.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

This course explores the importance, meaning, and purpose of metaphors and symbols in both mapping and catalyzing psychological and spiritual growth. Students examine symbols and metaphors of transformation experienced by mystics and spiritual practitioners across time, cultures, and religious traditions. These concepts and images—such as enlightenment, liberation, rebirth, unfoldment, journey, and metamorphosis–have enabled individuals and communities to express the inexpressible and invoke the invisible. Students also apply these principles to personal, community, and planetary transformation. The course includes experiential exercises and applications to daily life. CNS 5270 Issues in Science and Consciousness 1-3 In-depth research and analysis of specific topics in science and consciousness. Topics may include genetics, chaos, synchronicity, complexity, and biology of consciousness.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5030

This course examines the three broad stages of the human-nature relationship: the indigenous participatory worldview, the human-nature split of modern Western culture, and the reemerging participatory worldview. It addresses the overarching principle of balance in both indigenous and contemporary systems thinking. It experiments with consciousness-deepening dream, ritual and ceremonial practices that include aspects of the natural world. Taken from a variety of cultural traditions, such practices transform the objectification of nature into an appreciation of its presence, beauty, and powers of healing.

2 Semester Credit Hours

Terrapsychology is a growing field of studies, ideas, and practices for reimagining and restorying how deeply and intimately our psychological life is involved with our surroundings, whether human or other than human. More informally, we tend to see how the world gets into the heart and how the heart reflects the world. Drawing on depth psychology and ecopsychology, terrapsychology explores how terrain, place, elements, and natural processes show up in human psychology, endeavor, and story, including myth and folklore. In this course students will be introduced to terrapsychology and its practices and ask: What emerges when we listen, imagine, and feel into rich intersections of psyche, story, symbol, body, mood, and place? When we put the presence of the world at the center of psychology?

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

This course explores the links between creativity and transformation at both the individual and collective levels. Through lecture, discussion, and experiential exercises, we investigate the nature of creativity, intuition, and transformation; the characteristics of the creative personality; the stages of the creative process; and the transformative benefits of creative expression for self and society. Students learn diverse methods for understanding and overcoming creative obstacles, for optimizing creative consciousness and expression, and for harnessing creative power for transformative purposes. Students engage in creative expression as a transformative practice and explore the inner states and outer behaviors that arise from this experiential work.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

What paths lie ahead for religion and spirituality in the 21st Century? How might the insights of modernity and post- modernity impact, inform, and complement humanity’s ancient wisdom traditions? How are we to enact, together, new evolutionary, integral, participatory spiritual visions and contemplative practices – independently, or within or across our respective traditions – that can respond adequately to the personal, social, and planetary challenges of our times? This experientially focused course will explore these questions through an integral, inter- spiritual, and cross-cultural selection of readings, meditations, personal and group inquiries, fieldwork assignments, and rituals.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5010

The human brain, with its ultimate purpose for ensuring survival, organizing information, and meaning making, is also deceptive and limiting by its own nature. In order not to overload consciousness with billions of bits of seemingly irrelevant data, the brain constructs and projects a reality that we assume and believe is ultimate reality. Our default mode network operates to ensure we are focused on bits of information that serve the self, for the sake of survival and personal thriving. Yet when the brain is introduced to meditation, mindfulness practices, or psychedelics, we find consistent reported states of unity consciousness, ego dissolution, ah-ha moments, flow, increased empathy towards others, the planet, and one’s self, and greater creative problem-solving ability. Ample neuroscientific, therapeutic, and phenomenological evidence indicates that meditation, mindfulness practices, and psychedelics expand human consciousness, positively change world-views, and offer profound experiences of well- being. This course covers how meditation, mindfulness practices, and psychedelics operate on neurological and personal spheres. It also addresses how the integration of neuroscience, psychology, psychedelic sciences, and meditation practices is the cutting edge of human potential and healing.

.67 Semester Credit Hours

For millennia, spiritual and psychological thinkers have sought to discern, understand, and follow their inner guidance and help others do so. Whether understood in spiritual or psychological terms, this guidance is invaluable to personal healing and living an independent, creative, and fulfilling life connected to others and contributing to the larger world. This 1-unit course explores transpersonal, psychological, and somatic perspectives and practices for activating, testing, and living this inner guidance and helping others do the same. Most approaches agree on the crucial need to identify, heal, release, or transform psychosocial factors that obstruct the perception and actualization of inner guidance.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

This course explores the importance, meaning, and purpose of metaphors and symbols in both mapping and catalyzing psychological and spiritual growth. Students examine symbols and metaphors of transformation experienced by mystics and spiritual practitioners across time, cultures, and religious traditions. These concepts and images—such as enlightenment, liberation, rebirth, unfoldment, journey, and metamorphosis–have enabled individuals and communities to express the inexpressible and invoke the invisible. Students also apply these principles to personal, community, and planetary transformation. The course includes experiential exercises and applications to daily life. CNS 5270 Issues in Science and Consciousness 1-3 In-depth research and analysis of specific topics in science and consciousness. Topics may include genetics, chaos, synchronicity, complexity, and biology of consciousness.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5030

Dreams have awakened human beings to religious experience and spiritual perception since the dawn of humanity. This course examines perennial spiritual themes that appear in our dreams, such as: the presence of the numinous or the sacred; experiences of the religious emotions; the dynamics of fragmentation and oneness, healing and balance in the psyche; the developmental and transformative role of dreams; dreams of fate, purpose and destiny; dreams of life and death; earth and nature dreams; cosmic dreams; and dreams and the subtle body. Students are expected to engage with dreams as a spiritual practice and the subjective states that arise through dreaming throughout the course.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5030

This course examines the three broad stages of the human-nature relationship: the indigenous participatory worldview, the human-nature split of modern Western culture, and the reemerging participatory worldview. It addresses the overarching principle of balance in both indigenous and contemporary systems thinking. It experiments with consciousness-deepening dream, ritual and ceremonial practices that include aspects of the natural world. Taken from a variety of cultural traditions, such practices transform the objectification of nature into an appreciation of its presence, beauty, and powers of healing.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5010 and CNS 5013;
Corequisite: CNS 5048

This course explores sacred activism, its history, principles, and practices. Students will learn from inspiring figures like Mandela, King, and Gandhi, and explore the stories of those who have fought for justice, equality, and peace, including Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg. What are the stories of those who have put their principles, and sometimes their lives, on the line to confront injustice, speak truth to power, and bring peace and reconciliation to broken communities?  The course emphasizes hands-on learning, with students undertaking a community exercise or action focused on a cause or social issue of their choosing. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of engaged spirituality and transformative social activism. 

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

The complex challenges of our time demand that we give the best of ourselves to the world, yet many of these challenges leave us with little time for self-care or self-cultivation. An integral life practice, which draws on both ancient and modern insights and techniques as well as the principles of cross-training to maximize the effectiveness of our efforts, offers a streamlined approach to transformative practice and thriving. Through this course, students engage in individual and collective self-assessment exercises, and learn to design and implement an integrative program of practices to promote physical health, emotional balance, mental clarity, and spiritual awakening.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Recommended Preparation: CNS 5275;
Prerequisite: CNS 5017

This course explores principles and practices of Transformational Leadership, and application of these principles to personal and professional development. Course topics include: development of capacities such as a high level of self-awareness, deep listening personal accountability, integrity and emotional intelligence; challenging the status quo; encouraging creativity; fostering diversity, inclusion and supportive relationships; articulating a clear vision; managing conflict and motivating others to achieve their unique leadership potential; application of systems thinking/theory; creating vision and courage to implement change; embodiment of Wisdom and Compassion in Action, and strategies for actualizing and manifesting personal and professional intentions and goals. Course includes readings, experiential exercises, and application of leadership to personal and professional projects.

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

Adaptive Leadership is a model that encourages individuals and organizations to anticipate and embrace change. One of the fundamental challenges of this notion is the fact that many individuals and organizations are usually wired to resist change. During this course, students will learn about change resistance, change management theory, and organizational change management. Through discussions, readings, presentations and other assignments, students will cultivate their own self-awareness and reactions to change as well as gain understanding of how change impacts individuals and organizations.

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

During this course, students will learn what it means to position oneself as a thought leader. One of the challenges of thought leadership is the inherent risk it involves to step away from the status quo. By tapping into their own creativity and inspiration, students will learn ways to curate their own thoughtful analyses and identify ways to bring forward their own unique and powerful voices. Through discussions, readings, presentations and other assignments, students will explore the intersection of their own thought leadership and creative expression.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5013

This professional development course enables students to gain comfort and facility guiding both structured exercises and also sharing what arises for each member in a less structured context. Students learn to create, grow, and sustain a group so that its unfolding process is built on safety. This involves skillfully managing the natural ongoing process of self-disclosure, being mindful of how groups develop over time, learning basic skills of Non-Violent Communication, and giving and receiving feedback in emotionally healthy ways. Students learn about group facilitation from three distinct modalities: by participating in the small group of the class as facilitated by the instructor, by the theory related to formation and development of healthy groups, and by facilitating their own small group, with guidance and oversight provided by the instructor. Attention is given to creating group cultures that are holistic: body, mind, emotion, soul, and spirit.

.67 Semester Credit Hours

In this professional development course students focus on building an effective online business structure, selecting an audience and creating content designed to promote oneself and business via social media. Through class lectures and discussions, videos, readings, written assignments and experiential exercises, students gain an understanding of how best to get their messages and material out and promote themselves online. This class is dedicated to providing a participatory experience for students to create a strong, cohesive online presence designed to drive business and support further business development and creative outlets such as book publishing and media appearances. The practical knowledge and skills gained further students’ professional development and credibility as experts in their own topic areas, as well as support their creativity in projects aimed at consciousness growth and systems change.

2.0 Semester Credit Hours

Students learn presentation and facilitation skills that are based on concepts, principles, and practices of consciousness studies and holistic education, such as presence, mindfulness, meditation, creativity, empathy, authenticity, active listening and participatory learning. These skills are not only relevant to delivering professional presentations but also for teaching and training activities. Students plan, develop, market and present a workshop on a topic of their choice. The result is a workshop curriculum in an area of expertise that can be offered professionally in other settings.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Prerequisite: CNS 5010

This course enables students to share their vision, knowledge, and wisdom by getting published, and is intended for students who with the desire and potential to publish their work. The course assists students to refine and polish their writing and prepare a manuscript for publication. An internal prerequisite for this course is an already well-written paper of high quality, for which an A grade was received in a previous course. Students learn how to: structure the paper, identify their audience or readers, identify the value of their paper, fine-tune the text, write a pitch letter, and determine where to send multiple submissions. At the end of this course, students identify a suitable journal and submit their work for publication. Not all writers become authors without guidance; this course creates the container to step into authorship.

1.33 Semester Credit Hours

Understanding anomalous psychological phenomena as human potential offers a generative shift in perspective. This seminar explores and reevaluates the supernormal with the help of Carl Gustav Jung, Henry Corbin, Jeffrey Kripal, David Lukoff, Stanislav Grof, Roger Walsh, Dean Radin, Philip K. Dick, Stanley Krippner, Michael Murphy, and others. Topics include: alternative definitions and explanatory paradigms from quantum
theories to comparative religious studies; consensual reality and the imaginal; synchronicity; spiritual emergence and emergency; initiation and shamanic illness; UFOs, poltergeists, dream telepathy, precognition, and other paranormal experiences; trauma; imposters and tricksters; critical evaluation of supernormal experiences and their potential impacts on the future of evolution.