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Program Format
The Transformative Studies program is offered in an online format. Students work in the online environment of the CIIS virtual classroom. During the 2 years of course work, the students meet twice a year in the Bay Area for 5-7-day residential intensives. The intensives are an essential aspect of the learning experience, and are mandatory.
Curriculum
The curriculum is integral and transdisciplinary.
Courses focus on: 1) basic academic skill-building
such as academic writing, critical and creative
thinking, and literature review, 2) development
of experience as a member of a community of inquirers,
or learning community, and creation of a context
that facilitates transformative collaboration
and learning, 3) awareness of one’s own
role as knower and participant in the process
of inquiry in a variety of ways of knowing—somatic,
emotional, intellectual, spiritual—and the
ability to develop one’s own voice as a
scholar; and 4) development of a solid knowledge
base in transformative and integral studies, at
the transdisciplinary meta-level, and in the knowledge
base of the student’s chosen area of inquiry.
The doctoral program in Transformative Studies
consists of a minimum of 36 semester units (two
years of full-time coursework), plus dissertation.
It includes 18 units of Foundations Courses, 6
Units of Research Courses, and 12 units of Electives
that can be selected from four Interest Areas.
Coursework concludes with two Comprehensive Exams,
in the form of 2 essays, one addressing the knowledge
base of the student’s area of inquiry, and
the other the chosen research methodology for
the dissertation.
These Interest Areas broadly reflect some major faculty research areas:
- Integral Theory and Practice
- Leadership
- Creativity and Complexity
- Diversity and Social Justice
Although elective courses are organized in these
categories, the program is open to students with
a wide variety of interests and courses may be
chosen among all categories.
| Required Courses |
24 |
| Theoretical Foundations |
12 |
| Introduction
to Transformative Studies |
3 |
| Creative
Inquiry: Scholarship for the 21st Century |
3 |
| Transdisciplinarity:
Complex Thought and the Pattern that Connects |
3 |
| Self,
Society, and Transformation |
3 |
| Research Foundations |
6 |
| Introduction
to Research |
3 |
| Qualitative
Research Methods |
3 |
| Learning Community (Four
semester sequence) |
0 |
Comprehensive Exams
a)
Publishable Essay: Dissertation Literature
Review
b) Essay:
Dissertation Research Methodology |
6 |
Electives (12 units) may include:
Art, Science, and the Sacred
Cinema and Social Change
Experiencing Jungian Psychology: a Basic Course Working with your Dreams
Social Change in the 21st Century
A Recent History of Psychedelic Drugs, Their Effects on Individuals and Society
Buddhist Activism and Social Change
Life Balance and Stress Management
J. Krishnamurti and Transformation
The Legacy of David Bohm
Goodness, Evil, Politics and Change
Integral Sustainability; Personal and Social Transformation in a World on the Brink
Leadership and Conflict
Women and Leadership
Leadership, Creativity and Innovation
Organizational Culture
Leadership and the Hero's/Heroine's Journey
Cross-cultural Approaches to Leadership
Traditions of Ecstatic Shamanism
Experiments with Transforming the Every Day
Organic Inquiry
Transformative Learning
Heuristic Inquiry and J. Krishnamurti
Self and Other Creativity and Personal Transformation
Integral Thinkers: Gebser, Aurobindo, Chaudhuri, Wilber
Understanding New Religions and Spiritual Movements
Contemporary Spiritual Leaders
Authority and Leadership in Spiritual Communities
From Certainty to Uncertainty: Dancing with the New Sciences
New Science/New Paradigms
Bateson, Morin, and the Challenge of Complexity
Global Diversity and Creativity: Self and Society in Planetary Context
How We Know What We Know: Explorations in Epistemology
Total Units: 36
After completing coursework, each student pays
a flat fee and enrolls in Dissertation Proposal
Completion or Dissertation Seminar. The student
must pay the flat fee each semester until the
dissertation is defended and filed.
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