Elizabeth Allison will receive her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management, with an emphasis on Society and Environment, from University of California, Berkeley in 2009. She holds Master's degrees in Environmental Management and in Religion from Yale, and a B.A. in Religion from Williams College, where she completed a concentration in Environmental Studies. She is a Fellow in Transformational Ecology with the Garrison Institute. She has taught environmental studies in academic settings at UC Berkeley, Yale, and Williams, and through experiential modes in youth development programs in Vermont and California. Her current research explores the role of religious and spiritual discourse and practice in environmental action through case studies of natural resource management in the Himalayas, where she has lived and conducted field research for more than two years. Additional research interests include environmental ethics, political ecology, religion and ecology, the politics of knowledge, biodiversity conservation and climate change. Her writing has appeared in Mountain Research and Development, The Progressive Christian, and in The Spider and the Piglet, an anthology of studies of Bhutan. She was a Fulbright fellow in Nepal in 2003-2004, conducting research on natural sacred places in the Khumbu region near Mount Everest. Previously, she directed a national program called Experience Corps, which mobilizes retired people to share their skills and wisdom with needy schoolchildren, coordinated a California-wide AmeriCorps program focused on environmental education and restoration, and led teams of young people restoring parks and trails in California and Vermont.
Dr. Allison will be joining the PCC Faculty beginning August, 2009.

Sean Kelly received his Ph.D. (1988) in Religious Studies from the University of Ottawa and has taught in the Departments of Religious Studies at the University of Windsor, the University of Ottawa, and Carleton University. He has published articles on Jung, Hegel, transpersonal theory, and the new science and is the author of Individuation and the Absolute: Hegel, Jung, and the Path toward Wholeness (1993). Sean is also co-editor, with Donald Rothberg, of Ken Wilber in Dialogue: Conversations with Leading Transpersonal Thinkers (1998) and co-translator, with Roger Lapointe, of French thinker Edgar Morin's book, Homeland Earth: A Manifesto for the New Millennium (Hampton Press, 1998). His current areas of interest include the evolution of consciousness, integral theories, eco-philosophy, Romanticism and Idealism, new paradigm studies, Jungian psychology, transpersonal theory, and subtle activism. Along with his academic work, Sean has trained intensively in the Chinese internal arts (taiji, bagua, and xingyi) and has been teaching taiji since 1990.

Book Excerpt: Individuation & the Absolute: Hegel, Jung, and the Path Toward Wholeness

Selected Essay: The Final Frontier

Phone: 415.575.6271   Email: skelly at ciis.edu

Robert McDermott, Program Director, received his Ph.D. (1969) in philosophy from Boston University and is president emeritus of the California Institute of Integral Studies. He has taught at Manhattanville College (1964-71) and is professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Philosophy at Baruch College, CUNY (1971-90). His publications include Radhakrishnan (1970), The Essential Aurobindo (1974), The Essential Steiner (1984), and the introduction to William James, Essays in Psychical Research (1986). His essays have appeared in International Philosophical Quarterly, Cross Currents, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and Philosophy East and West. He is currently writing four books, all to be published by Steinerbooks: The Bhagavad Gita and the West (2006); Buddha and Christ (2007); The New Essential Steiner (2007), Steiner and Anthroposophy (2008). He was secretary of the American Academy of Religion (1968-71) and secretary treasurer of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy (1972-76). With Arthur Zajonc he is co-founder of The Owen Barfield Graduate School of Sunbridge College, is the founding chair of the board of Sophia Project (two homes in Oakland, CA, for mothers and children at risk of homelessness), and has been chair of the board and president of many other institutions.

Selected Essays: The Spiritual Mission of America and additional writings by Robert McDermott.

Audio File: The Bhagavad Gita East and West

Phone: 415.575.6137   Email: rmcdermott at ciis.edu

Brian Swimme received his Ph.D. (1978) from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Oregon for work in gravitational dynamics. In his books and courses he explores a meaningful interpretation of the human within an evolutionary universe. He was a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington from 1978-1981 and at Holy Names University in Oakland, California from 1983-1990. His publications include The Universe Is a Green Dragon (1984), The Universe Story (1992), a collaboration with cultural historian Thomas Berry, and The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos (1996). Brian produced a twelve-part video series, Canticle to the Cosmos (1990), participated in the BBC television series, Soul of the Universe, the PBS series, The Sacred Balance, and most recently, produced the DVD series The Powers of the Universe (2005). Currently he is completing work on a two hour PBS documentary film project.

Book Excerpt: The Universe Is A Green Dragon

Interview: Science as Wisdom: The New Story as a Way Forward

Audio Files: Toward a New Cosmology and The Cosmological Significance of the Imagination

Video: Birth to Earth, Life to Human, The Current Moment

Website: www.brianswimme.org

Phone: 415.575.6272   Email: bswimme at ciis.edu

Richard Tarnas is the founding director of the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program. A graduate of Harvard University (A.B., 1972) and Saybrook Institute (Ph.D., 1976), he was formerly director of programs and education at Esalen Institute. He is the author of The Passion of the Western Mind (1991) and Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View (2006). Richard's research interests include the history of Western thought and culture, the evolution of consciousness, the interface of philosophy and psychology, epistemology and cosmology, new paradigm studies, depth psychology (psychoanalytic, Jungian, archetypal, transpersonal), psychedelic research, and archetypal astrology.

Book Excerpt: The Passion of the Western Mind

Interview: Understanding Our Moment in History: An Interview with Richard Tarnas

Video: Keynote Address at the Baltimore National Council for Geocosmic Research Conference

Website: www.cosmosandpsyche.com

Phone: 415.575.6273   Email: rtarnas at ciis.edu

Charlene Spretnak received an M.A. (1981) in English from the University of California, Berkeley. She is author of The Resurgence of the Real: Body, Nature, and Place in a Hypermodern World (Addison-Wesley, 1997; Routledge, 1999), which was selected by the Los Angeles Times as one of the Best Books of 1997. She teaches a foundational course in PCC based on that book, which explores the emergent ecosocial analysis and vision in several sectors of society. Her forthcoming book continues her development of Green thought, Getting Real: Common-Sense Solutions to the Crises of Our Modern Age. Her most recent book is Missing Mary: The Queen of Heaven and Her Re-Emergence in the Modern Church (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004). She is also the author of States of Grace: The Recovery of Meaning in the Postmodern Age (Harper Collins, 1991); The Spiritual Dimension of Green Politics (Bear & Co., 1986); Green Politics: The Global Promise, with Fritjof Capra (Dutton, 1984); and Lost Goddesses of Early Greece (Beacon Press,1981 [1978]); and editor of The Politics of Women's Spirituality (Anchor-Doubleday, 1982; [updated preface in 1993]). Her pioneering work has contributed to the framing of the women's spirituality, ecofeminist, and Green politics movements. She is also a senior fellow with the Green Institute in Washington, D.C. She currently teaches courses on the ecosocial orientation in politics and culture, which include the study of cultural history, ecology/cosmology, social criticism, literature of embeddedness, spirituality, and art. She is working on a book about the spiritual dimensions of modern art.

Book Excerpts: The Resurgence of the Real and Missing Mary

Website: www.CharleneSpretnak.com

Phone: 415.575.6426   Email: cspretnak at ciis.edu

Chris Bache has been a professor of religious studies at Youngstown State University since 1978. For two years (2000-2002) he was the Director of Transformative Learning at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. He has published: Lifecycles (Paragon House, 1990) and Dark Night, Early Dawn (SUNY Press, 2000). The Living Classroom will be released by SUNY in 2008. An award winning teacher, Chris’ work explores reincarnation theory and the philosophical implications of visionary states of consciousness. He has worked with sacred medicines for over 25 years and is a practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism.

Kerry Brady, M.A., has worked in the fields of psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing trauma work, nature based retreats and vision quests for over 15 years. Through a unique blend of practices she mentors others in letting go of the safe shores of the known into a direct experience of their own creative emergence. Her primary intention is to support the movement from a static, thus separate, sense of self into the recognition that our deepest identity is an inextricable part of the larger unfolding and ever evolving web of life. Her work focuses on an immediate and intimate engagement with all that seeks to awaken us and to a more inherent self guidance as we give way to the unique movement of what seeks to express through each of us. Kerry works with individuals as well as groups and has served as faculty at Animas Valley Institute and as guest speaker at the Foundation for Global Community. Serving as adjunct faculty at CIIS, she and Brian Swimme co-teach Nature and Eros – an exploration into what it is to live in participatory engagement within a living universe and in more authentic alignment with the cultural and ecological shift of our time.

Website: www.unfoldings.com

Blair Carter (M.A., 2003, Ph.D. candidate) is a doctoral student and adjunct instructor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). He is a certified Permaculture teacher and designer, environmental educator, wilderness guide, and experienced deep ecology workshop leader. For over ten years, Blair has taught environmental education and leadership skills to students of all ages from many cultures worldwide. In addition to CIIS, Blair holds teaching positions with John F. Kennedy University. He is also the co-creator and part owner of Terrapeutic Regenerative Earthworks, a business that utilizes organic methods to build the health and immune systems of Northern California's forests. The core of his work lives at the interface between consciousness and ecology. His doctoral research, entitled "The Alchemy of Permaculture," weaves psychological transformation with regenerative landscape design, thus nurturing the grounds for an ecopsychological praxis and terrestrial re-enchantment in the Western worldview. As an educator, Blair aims to re-awaken the dynamic web of nature in the hearts and minds of humanity, to encourage a bioregional sense of place, and to inspire stewardship in the service of ecological and psychological sustainability.

PCC Course Offering: Alchemy of Permaculture

Stanislav Grof, Distinguished Adjunct Faculty, received his M.D. (1956) from Charles University, Prague, and completed his Ph.D. in Medicine (1965) from the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences. He is one of the founders and chief theoreticians of transpersonal psychology, and founding president of the International Transpersonal Association. For the past 35 years he has conducted research on therapeutic and heuristic aspects of non-ordinary states of consciousness; experiential psychotherapy using psychedelics and non-drug techniques; alternative approaches to psychoses; the problem of spiritual emergencies and treatment of transpersonal crises; and the implications of new developments in quantum physics, information and systems theory, biology, brain research and consciousness studies for psychiatric theory and the emerging scientific paradigm. He is the author of Realms of the Human Unconscious (Viking Press, 1976), Beyond the Brain (State University of New York Press, 1985), The Holotropic Mind (Harper Collins, 1992), and The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness (SUNY Press, 1998).

Selected Essay: Planetary Survival and Consciousness Evolution: Psychological Roots of Human Violence and Greed

Interview: Towards A New World View

Website: www.holotropic.com

Joanna Macy, Eco-philosopher, received her Ph.D. (1978) from the State University of New York. She is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. Weaving these threads together, she has created both a ground-breaking theoretical framework for a new paradigm of personal and social change, and a powerful workshop methodology for its application. Her wide-ranging work addresses psychological and spiritual issues of the nuclear age, the cultivation of ecological awareness, and the fruitful resonance between Buddhist thought and contemporary science. This work is described in her books Despair and Empowerment in the Nuclear Age (New Society Publishers, 1983), Dharma and Development (Kumarian Press, 1985), Thinking Like a Mountain (co-edited with John Seed, Pat Fleming, and Arne Naess; New Society Publishers, 1988), Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory (SUNY Press, 1991), World as Lover, World as Self (Parallax Press, 1991), Rilke's Book of Hours (with Anita Barrows, Riverhead, 1996), and Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World (with Molly Young Brown, New Society Publishers, 1998).

Selected Essay: World as Lover, World as Self

Interview: An Interview with Joanna Macy

Audio File: Entering the Heart of the World

Jennifer Leigh Selig, Ph.D., formerly chaired the Depth Psychology program at Pacifica Graduate Institute before stepping down to tend to her own research and writing. She received her teaching credentials from the University of California at Davis, completed an M.A. in English with an emphasis in Multicultural Literature, and went to Pacifica Graduate Institute where she earned her Ph.D. in Depth Psychology. After teaching at Mount St. Mary's in Los Angeles in the Education Department, she found her way back to Pacifica, where she served as Research Coordinator, Department Chair, and currently, as adjunct faculty in three degree programs. She's never met a topic in which she has no interest, making her scholarship multifarious and the dissertation students she continues to mentor a motley crew. In the winter of 2009, her co-edited volume Ensouling Education: Essays on Reviving the Soul of Learning will be published. While she has several other book and screenplay projects in various stages, she is focused now on writing a book about research which takes seriously the role of the dynamic unconscious, based on psychoanalytic, Jungian, archetypal, and imaginal perspectives, and drawing from her work with over 400 graduate students.

PCC Course Offerings: Dissertation Writing I: Beginning, and Dissertation Writing II: Completing

Eric Weiss, received his PhD in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at CIIS. His dissertation was entitled The Doctrine Of The Subtle Worlds: Sri Aurobindo's Cosmology, Modern Science, And The Metaphysics Of Alfred North Whitehead. He is now teaching advanced courses on Alfred North Whitehead and Sri Aurobindo at CIIS and courses on the Evolution of Consciousness at Sophia Center at Holy Names College in Oakland, CA, and is a distinguished scholar at the Esalen Center for Theory and Research, where he is engaged in the study of reincarnation and the personality's survival of bodily death. Dr. Weiss is also a psychotherapist in private practice.

PCC Course Offerings: A Cosmological Perspective on the Modern World, and The Interpretation of Science