What is Integral Education?
Venture beyond the boundaries of traditional academia through coursework and research that combines Eastern, Western, and Indigenous spiritual and intellectual traditions for broader understanding.
Integral refers to understanding the whole of any system. Integral education responds to the growing desire for learning that integrates all aspects of the person: cognitive, emotional, physical, social, cultural, and spiritual. It is about opening the mind, engaging the body, and freeing the spirit to see and be seen. It also more fully facilitates internal transformation, allowing one to reach their potential and put it to use in the world.
Integral studies, as envisioned by CIIS’s founders, unites the highest values of East-West traditions for global impact. Gone are the confines of conventional academic disciplines, which silo students and thought. Instead, ours is an environment open to, and encouraging of, the synthesis of ideas and experience. The freedom to explore is how we forge a more just and resilient world.
"I don't think students who enter their programs necessarily come with an understanding of what 'integral' is, I think they come knowing that there is some gap in an educational system. When people get here, they start to create some language around what they have felt before but haven't been able to name. And I think that's what 'integral' is."
-Sonya Shah, Associate Professor, School of Undergraduate Studies
CIIS' Presidents on Integral Education
The notion of "integral" has been a foundational principle that continues to shape CIIS' unique educational environment. Learn what integral education has meant to each of the University's eight presidents.
“What we really ask people to buy into is that inquiry matters and engaging in a deep reflective inquiry will change them for the better and will help them become more of what they want to be.”
-Cindy Shearer, Department Chair for Interdisciplinary Arts and Integral Transpersonal Psychology
Watch the Conversation
Watch the Conversation
On The Present And Future of Integral Education at CIIS And Beyond
The notion of "integral" has been a foundational principle that continues to shape CIIS' unique educational environment. Learn what integral education has meant to each of the University's eight presidents.
Three Schools Grounded in Integral Education
An integral education is at the heart of all our 30+ academic programs and professional certificates, each with a curriculum that transcends traditional academic disciplines and integrates and embodied epistemology into the curriculum.
School of Consciousness and Transformation
We believe scholarship should include attention to profound issues of ultimate concern. Explore cutting-edge programs in philosophy, consciousness, spirituality, religion, and more.
School of Professional Psychology and Health
Master new and alternative approaches to psychological wellness through scholarship, research, and practice. Programs include applied psychology, clinical psychology, integrative health studies, arts and drama therapy, counseling, and more.
School of Undergraduate Studies
Our bachelor’s completion programs weave real-world experiences into academic coursework, preparing you to contribute meaningfully in your communities, field of study, or future graduate study.