CIIS Academic News
By CIIS Staff
CIIS President Joseph Subbiondo Speaks at Parliament of World's Religions in Australia
Joseph Subbiondo spoke at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Melbourne, Australia, in December 2009. Subbiondo's presentation focused on the inspiration that Sri Aurobindo provided for CIIS founder Dr. Haridas Chaudhuri, and on Chaudhuri's realization that peace depends on a better understanding between East and West. "Dr. Chaudhuri knew that CIIS, like all colleges and universities, needed to promote interreligious dialogue and interfaith understanding in order for us all to stand together despite our deeply held differences," said Subbiondo.
Douglas Vakoch Named to International Academy of Astronautics (IAA)
Douglas Vakoch, a faculty member in Clinical Psychology, was recently named a corresponding member of the International Academy of Astronautics. Vakoch is one of only seventeen members worldwide in the field of social science who were picked for membership in this round.
He was elected to the IAA in recognition of his research and leadership in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Vakoch chairs the IAA's Study Group on Interstellar Message Composition, charged with the question: "Should we be transmitting messages to civilizations that may exist around distant stars, and if we do, what should we say, and how should we say it?"
Professor of Women's Spirituality Gives Loeb Lecture at Harvard
Adjunct Professor Marguerite Rigoglioso (WSE '01, HUM '08) of Women's Spirituality
was chosen to give the prestigious James C. Loeb Classical Lecture at Harvard University. She spoke at that campus on October 16, 2009, on her
groundbreaking book, The Cult of Divine Birth in Ancient Greece.
Angana Chatterji Helps Document Human Rights Violations in Kashmir
Professor Angana Chatterji (HUM '00) of the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology has coauthored a report titled "Buried Evidence" on human rights violations in Indian-held Kashmir. Issued by the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights in Kashmir, the report calls for an international investigation into the unmarked mass graves of nearly three thousand people in Kashmir. Chatterji presented the report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland on March 17 and 18, 2010.
Riane Eisler Honored with Peace Leadership Award
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation presented Adjunct Professor Riane Eisler with the 2009 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award at their annual awards dinner on November 7, 2009, in Santa Barbara. Eisler's research demonstrates how structures of partnership rather than domination build peace both in the home and in the global political arena. She teaches in Transformative Leadership and Women's Spirituality.
CIIS Integrative Health Coaching Model Garners National Attention
Professor Meg Jordan (WSE '96), chair of Integrative Health Studies (IHL), participated in a meeting in Seattle on November 20, 2009, as part of a series of sessions led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set national health objectives. Jordan spoke on changing unhealthy lifestyles through cultural support, environmental advocacy, and coaching. The IHL program features one of the few coaching initiatives in the nation that tackle health disparities among the poor. Together with Associate Professor Yosuke Chikamoto, Jordan will be serving on a national board to establish the first standards to deliver effective coaching for lifestyle change and integrative health practices.
Judy Grahn Wins Lambda Literary Award
Adjunct Professor Judy Grahn (WSD '00) of the Writing, Consciousness, and Creative Inquiry program has won the Lambda Literary Award for her collection love belongs to those who do the feeling: New and Selected Poems (1966-2006), published by Red Hen Press. She won the award in the category of Lesbian Poetry. The Lambda Literary Awards recognize excellence in the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender writing. Grahn accepted the honor at a ceremony in New York City on May 28, 2009. In one of her new poems in the book, she writes: "There are dances, notions and inspirations/we can't know except for butterflies...what is the covenant/we must have with butterflies."
Gary Raucher (PDT '99), faculty member in Drama Therapy, is currently serving as the vice president of the National Association for Drama Therapy.
