December 3, 2001

Huston Smith Lecture Series on Religion

Why Religion Matters

Thursdays, January 24 through April 11
7:30 - 9:00 PM
Unitarian Universalist Church
1187 Franklin Street, San Francisco

Speakers: Huston Smith, Cecil Williams, Marianne Williamson, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Robert Thurman, Andrew Harvey, Seyyed Nasr, and Alice Walker. For tickets, call 415.575.6175 or visit www.ciis.edu/lifelong. $25 ($15 students) per lecture; $165 ($100 students) full series.

Lifelong Learning Offers January Workshops for Credit or Fun

 

Friday-Sunday, January 11-13 The Rosen Method: Body Wisdom, Spirituality and Health Marion Rosen and Gloria Hessellund	Friday-Sunday, January 18-20 The Archetypal Eye: An Introduction to Astrological Transit Analysis CIIS Professor Rick Tarnas
Saturday-Sunday, January 12-13 Buddhist Approaches to Stress Reduction Dr. Ira Rechtshaffer	Friday-Saturday, January 18-19 Acting with Compassion Dr. Michael N. Nagler
Saturday-Sunday, January 12-13 Psychospiritual Approaches in Death, Grief, and Illness Drs. David Lukoff and Christel Lukoff	Friday-Sunday, January 18-20 Bringing Admiration and Awe into Psychotherapy and Spiritual Practice Dr. Stuart Sovatsky '89
Thursday-Saturday, January 17-19 Essentials of Mediation Nancy Foster, J.D., and Jessica Notini, J.D.	Friday-Sunday, January 18-20 Creative Expression as Soul-Making CIIS Professor Sophia Reinders

See complete workshop descriptions at www.ciis.edu. To enroll for academic credit, visit or call Registrar's Office, 415.575.6126. Those who wish to audit these courses should register through Lifelong Learning and pay the general fee. You may register online; call 415.575.6175; pick up a brochure in the Lifelong Learning Office on the fourth floor and mail or turn in your registration form; or fax the completed registration form (Attn: Lifelong Learning) to 415.575.1264.

The Greening of CIIS

In August, students Ewa Skoczylas (Integral Counseling Psychology) and Amy Biesemeyer (Somatics) presented a lecture on the work of Austrian architect Freidensreich Hundertwasser at a Naropa University conference entitled An Ecopsychology Gathering for Young Professionals and Graduate Students. On November 12, they proposed to CIIS students the possibility of using the Institute as a model for an ecopsychology venture. This project, based on vision, would provide a detailed plan for creating an environment and way of interacting at CIIS that will be environmentally sustainable. Plans include placing living plants in classrooms, adjusting lights to full spectrum bulbs, fixing broken windows for improved ventilation, and having programs adopt classrooms and decorate them accordingly.

To contact Ewa, call 415.386.3934; to reach Amy, call 415.459.5095.

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Student Satisfaction Survey
by Richard Buggs, Dean of Students

The Dean of Students Office conducted a survey of students during spring/summer 2001. One hundred and seventy students participated. In the area of administrative services, students ranked service in both the Registrar's Office and Financial Aid Office as "getting better." In the area of academics, students indicated that the quality of education as well as the quality of faculty was between "good and excellent." Students rated the time spent on advising as "fair" and the quality of academic advising as "fair."

The results of the survey will assist the administration in focusing on aspects of student life at CIIS that need improvement. The area of academic advising is receiving particular attention, with several committees seeking input from faculty, students, and staff in an effort to improve this important area of student life.

Please stop by Room 401 if you would like to receive a copy of the report. Thank you to all students who participated in this project.

Honors and Appointments

Angana Chatterji, professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology, has been appointed to the board of International Rivers Network, an organization that works with international and local communities toward the responsible and sustainable use of rivers. (See www.irn.org.) She has also been appointed to the advisory board of the Network of Indian Environmental Professionals.

Connie Jones, professor of Transformative Learning and Change, has been elected to the board of the Institute for the Study of American Religion. This Institute cooperates with INFORM (United Kingdom) and CESNUR (Italy) to sponsor annual conferences on new religions throughout the world.

Ken Rowe, a doctoral student in Social and Cultural Anthropology, has been appointed to the board of the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists (SOLGA), a section of the American Anthropological Association. Ken will be participating in governance, mentorship, and coordination of volunteers.

Calling All Artists:
Entries Wanted

In honor of a new book by Women's Spirituality Professor Lucia Birnbaum--Dark Mother: African Origins and Godmothers--an art exhibition is being planned for March 1-31, 2002. The show is being curated by Adriana Marchione, director of the CIIS Aesthetics Committee and administrative coordinator for the School of Consciousness and Transformation, and artist and alumna Tricia Grame.

Artists may send entries based on the their own interpretation and manifestation of the Dark Mother. No size or medium restrictions apply. The deadline is January 15. To apply, send slides to: CIIS, 1453 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, Attn: Adriana Marchione. $20.00 fee, 3 slides per artist. Please include self-addressed stamped envelope, resume, check payable to CIIS-Women's Spirituality, and clearly marked slides.

For further information, contact Adriana at 415.575.6257 or email: adrianam@ciis.edu.

Inner Eye
Editor: Candice Chase
Editorial Board: Nancy Ross, Jaclyn Higgs, Susanna Spiro

The Inner Eye is published by the Communications & Marketing Department.
Deadline for next issue: December 20, 2001
Next Issue: January 22, 2002

Articles may be submitted to candicec@ciis.edu via email or disks may be put in the Inner Eye mailbox. Articles are subject to editing for clarity, length, and appropriateness.

Bachelor of Arts Completion

...A Degree of Difference

by Anne Teich, Program Director

Students Nancie Zawaydeh and Huw Richardson in Strange Snow

The Institute welcomes Cohort E, sixteen students who will spend their next three semesters completing their B.A. in a collaborative learning setting. In its first semester, the cohort explores the themes of Integral Learning and Postmodern Perspectives, Self, and Society. In a group demonstration of these themes, the students performed Steven Metcalfe's play, Strange Snow, in Namaste Hall on October 27. In this three character play, which is set in the post-Vietnam era, two veterans reveal separate portraits of war's psychological aftermath. Together, they must face the pain and come to a more honest understanding of their time together.

Student director Pamela Peters commented, "CIIS has provided a unique experience for all of us. Theater transcends boundaries, encourages conversation, challenges us, and turns our fears to hopes."

The audience applauded the exceptional talents of the group. What next, Cohort E? Will we see you again next semester?

The cohort is led this semester by faculty members Cindy Shearer and Kris Brandenburger, whose "go-for-it" teaching styles were significant factors in this successful endeavor.

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Spotlight on Faculty: Connie Jones Connie Jones, director and faculty for the Transformative Learning and Change as well as the Human and Organizational Transformation Programs, was recently elected to the board of the Institute for the Study of American Religion, headquartered in Santa Barbara. Connie's special area of expertise and study focuses on new religious movements around the world. Connie has also been invited to join an interdisciplinary team from the United States that will collaborate with the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences on a major project, "The Future of Religion in China." The team will travel to Beijing, Hangzhou, and Hong Kong to coordinate a program of dialogue and study on the future of religion in China. They will meet with Chinese sociologists of religion and religious practitioners to plan a research project that will utilize the existing databases of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to delineate religious experience within Chinese culture. For a number of years Connie has served as an expert witness in court cases involving new religions. She is currently an expert witness in a case involving a member of the Aumist community in southern France, a group she knows from direct experience. She says, "I have appeared on the stand two times for testimony and we are awaiting the court's decision." Inner Eye invites faculty members to submit a short article describing their current activities.

Mind-Body-Spirit: Never Too Late!

At it again this year, clinical psychology professor Harrison Voigt has been on the road participating in two week-long master's basketball tournaments. Though his team, the Detroit Masters, did not do especially well in Florida's spring championships, Harrison was named to the all-star team in his division. At the World Senior Games competition in Utah, Harrison's 26-points-per-game average led his team to a third-place bronze medal; he also brought home the bronze for a third-place finish in the three-point shooting contest. He says, "My mind, body, and spirit run together and run free on the basketball court. This form of practice challenges me every day in every way. I am blessed to be able to participate at this level."

Harrison on the court SF Chronicle photo