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East West Psychology

Curiosity and passion. The arts and the humanities. 

Designed by Scholars and Creatives

The departments of East-West Psychology and the Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing MFA share a vision of interdisciplinary education and creative scholarship. To express that vision, they are offering new joint programming to help you further develop as an artist and a scholar. Beginning Fall 2023, we will have three degree options that explore the relationship between inquiry and art-making, practice and research. Each will place your original work at the core of your degree. Plus, with an accelerated timeline and instructors who offer real-world professional guidance, you can meet your educational and artistic goals affordably.

Made for Practicing Artists

Any artist who can demonstrate their current practice and readiness to develop a substantial project in writing, text/image, visual, media, or performing art is eligible to apply. Each program is designed to help artists adapt to the changing career landscape and succeed in professional and academic settings.

Starting Fall 2023, we’ll offer

1. M.A. and Accelerated MFA - Your artistic and academic paths will converge as you complete an M.A. in East-West Psychology and then take only one year to complete an MFA.

2. Ph.D. and Accelerated MFA - Your art and scholarship will be mutually enriching as you work toward exceptional academic achievement. Complete your Ph.D. coursework and then a one-year MFA, and earn a doctorate enriched by creative insight.

Course of Study: East-West Psychology M.A. and Accelerated MFA

Note: Students in the Accelerated M.A./MFA will complete 36 units in the M.A. in East-West Psychology. They will use 6 electives to take two MFA courses while enrolled in East-West Psychology. Those courses are MFA 7104 Creative Inquiry (3 units) and MFA 7282 Arts in Context (3 units).

Required East-West Psychology Curriculum (Online Program) – 36 units

All classes 3 units unless otherwise specified.

I. Core Requirements—7-8 Units 
  • EWP 6000 Community Retreat (1 unit)
  • EWP 6001 Intro to East-West Psychology (2 units)
  • EWP 6330 Knowledge Work and the Modern Academy (1 unit)
Select one of these two:
  • EWP 6329 Conscious Diversity (2 units)
    OR
  • EWP 6034 Modernity, Colonialism, and Transcultural Hermeneutics (3 units) 
Final Semester of M.A. coursework only:
  • EWP 6015 M.A. Integrative Seminar (1 unit) 
II. Directed Requirements, one from the following four categories - 12 Units 
Classes listed are examples of what is available. 
East 
  • EWP 6043 Introduction to Yoga Psychology
  • EWP 6113 Buddhist Psychospirituality Through Asian Art
  • EWP 6320 The Dao of Life Cultivation in Chinese Traditions 
  • EWP 6327 Transformative Themes in the Upanishads
  • EWP 6466 Introduction to Chinese Philosophy and Psychology 
West 
  • EWP 6021 Hermeticism: An Earth-Honoring Path of Wisdom, Imagination, and Action 
  • EWP 6127 Introduction to Dreamwork
  • EWP 6245 Archetypal Psychology
  • EWP 7311 Jungian Psychology and East-West Spirituality 
Earth 
  • EWP 6025 The Dharma of Earth
  • EWP 6121 Terrapsychology: Coming Home to a Re-Enchanted World
  • EWP 6122 Enchantivism: Transforming Culture with Stories of Inspiration and Hope 
World 
  • EWP 6123 Applied Folklore: Retelling Yesterday’s Stories for Today 
  • EWP 6128 Integral Yoga Psychology
  • EWP 6261 Psychology of Death and Dying: An Integral Approach 
  • EWP 6681 Wisdom Texts: East and West 
  • EWP 7794 Spiritual Counseling Skills 1: The Art of Listening
  • EWP 7795 Spiritual Counseling Skills 2: The Counseling Relationship 
III. Optional Areas of Specialization (at least 9 units) 
  1. Asian Psychologies 
  • EWP 6028 Magic and Mysticism: The Eastern Magical Traditions
  • EWP 6043 Introduction to Yoga Psychology
  • EWP 6051 Eastern Theories of Self, Mind, and Nature
  • EWP 6113 Buddhist Psychospirituality Through Asian Art 
  • EWP 6124 Chan/Zen Buddhism
  • EWP 6320 Dao of Life Cultivation
  • EWP 6326 Chinese Body-Mind Healing Systems: An Interdisciplinary Approach 
  • EWP 6466 Introduction to Chinese Philosophy and Psychology 
  1. Depth Psychology 
  • EWP 6021 Hermeticism: An Earth-Honoring Path of Wisdom, Imagination, and Action
  • EWP 6027 The Living Symbol: Fairy Tales and the Individuation Process in the Work of Marie-Louise von Franz
  • EWP 6045 Jung and Nature
  • EWP 6245 Archetypal Psychology
  • EWP 7311 Jungian Psychology and East-West Spirituality 
  1. Ecopsychology 
  • EWP 6025 The Dharma of Earth
  • EWP 6045 Jung and Nature
  • EWP 6121 Terrapsychology: Coming Home to a Re-enchanted Planet 
  1. Indigenous Traditions 
  • EWP 6037 Ancestral Migrations: Honoring our Family Journeys 
  • EWP 6125 Integration of Expanded States of Consciousness 
  • EWP 6467 Ayahuasca, Science, and Spirituality
    EWP 6496 Indigenous and Shamanic Traditions 
  • EWP 6682 Respect, Kinship, and Love: An Indigenous and Cross-Cultural Wisdom Perspective 
  1. Integral and Transpersonal Psychology 
  • EWP 6128 Integral Yoga Psychology or 
  • EWP 6752 Transpersonal Psychology
  1. East-West Spiritual Counseling 
  • EWP 7311 Jungian Psychology and East-West Spirituality
  • EWP 7794 Spiritual Counseling Skills 1: The Art of Listening
  • EWP 7795 Spiritual Counseling Skills 2: The Counseling Relationship
  1. Culture and Psychology 
  • EWP 6019 Original Thinking: Land, Language and Consciousness from East-West and Indigenous Perspectives
  • EWP 6026 Magic and Mysticism: The Western Magical Traditions
  • EWP 6123 Applied Folklore: Retelling Yesterday’s Stories for Today
  • EWP 6140 Western Mysticism and Esotericism: History and Practice
  • EWP 6157 Krishna, Buddha, Christ, Sophia
  • EWP 6165 Leadership, Evolution, and Transformative Change
  • EWP 6681 Wisdom Texts: East and West 
  1. Psychospiritual Practice 
  • EWP 6047 Restore/ying Ourselves, Restore/ying Our World 
IV. General Electives  (at least 7-8 units)
Required (6 units in MFA)
  • MFA 7104 Creative Inquiry for Interdisciplinary Artists (3 units) 
  • MFA 7282 Arts in Context (3 units) 
Contact Debashish Banerji, East-West Psychology Program Chair, at dbanerji@ciis.edu for more information about East-West Psychology courses.

Required MFA Curriculum - 21 units

Art Inquiry and Context (6 units)
  • MFA 7104 Creative Inquiry (3 units)
  • MFA 7282 Arts in Context (3 units)
(These courses can be completed while in enrolled in a M.A. program.)
Art Practice (5 units)
Choose a 3-unit course:
  • MFA 7095A Interdisciplinary Arts Workshop (3 units) OR 
  • MFA 6390 Narrative Arts (3 units)
  • Art Mentorship (2 units): MFA 7219A (1 unit) and MFA 7219B (1 units) 
MFA Project (Capstone, 7 units)
  • MFA 7713 MFA Project Proposal (1 unit)
  • MFA 7712A-B MFA Project (6 units)
Professional Development (3 units)
  • MFA 7128 Artist in the World (3 units) OR
  • MFA 7038 Interdisciplinary Pedagogy (3 units)
Contact Cindy Shearer, MFA Program Chair, at cshearer@ciis.edu for more information about MFA courses.

Course of Study: East-West Psychology Ph.D. and Accelerated MFA

Required East-West Psychology Curriculum (Online Program) – 36 units

All classes 3 units unless otherwise specified.

I. Core Requirements- 6 Units 
  • EWP 6000 Community Retreat (1 unit)
  • EWP 6001 Intro to East-West Psychology (2 units)
  • EWP 6329 Conscious Diversity (2 units)
  • EWP 6330 Knowledge Work and the Modern Academy (1 unit)
II. Required Research Courses - 6 Units 
  • EWP 7305  Research Methods 1: (Research Foundations) (3 units)
  • EWP 7036 Research Methods 2: (Research Lab) (3 units)

III. Advanced Ph.D. Seminars - 6 Units

Students will take two of the following:

  • EWP 6024  Civilization in Transition - From Shadow to Soul
  • EWP 6126 Jung and the Sacred
  • EWP 9005  Gnosticism, Alchemy, Terraspirituality
  • EWP 9010 Integral Scholarship
  • EWP 9104 Principles of Healing
  • EWP 9106 Contemplative Traditions and Practices
  • EWP 6245 Archetypal Psychology
  • EWP 9406 Jung's Red Book
  • EWP 9566 Comparataive Mysticism

IV. Area of Specialization Electives - 18 Units

  • MFA 7104 Creative Inquiry (3 units)
  • MFA 7282 Arts in Context (3 units)

Asian Psychologies

  • EWP 6327 Transformative Themes in the Upanishads
  • EWP 6321 How to Cultivate Qi (Life Energy)

Ecopsychology, Culture, and Psychology

  • EWP 6165 Leadership, Evolution, and Transformative Change
  • EWP 6112 Wilderness Rites of Passage

Integral and Transpersonal Psychology

  • EWP 6043 Introduction to Yoga Psychology
  • EWP 6752 Transpersonal Psychology

East-West Spiritual Counseling

  • EWP 6127 Introduction to Dreamwork
  • EWP 7795 Spiritual Counseling Skills

V. Dissertation Seminar - variable units

The East-West Psychology Comprehensive exams are taken through EWP 8100 and either CT 6468 or CT 6461.

  • EWP 8100 Research Colloquium (1 unit)
  • EWP 9800 Thesis/Dissertation Proposal Completion (0.1 unit)
  • EWP 9900 Thesis/Dissertation Seminar (0.1 unit)

One of the following:

  • CT 6468
  • CT 6461
Contact Debashish Banerji, East-West Psychology Program Chair, at dbanerji@ciis.edu for more information about East-West Psychology courses.

Required MFA Curriculum - 21 units

Art Inquiry and Context (6 units)
  • MFA 7104 Creative Inquiry (3 units)
  • MFA 7282 Arts in Context (3 units)
(These courses can be completed while in enrolled in a M.A. program.)
Art Practice (5 units)
Choose a 3-unit course:
  • MFA 7095A Interdisciplinary Arts Workshop (3 units) OR 
  • MFA 6390 Narrative Arts (3 units)
  • Art Mentorship (2 units): MFA 7219A (1 unit) and MFA 7219B (1 unit) 
MFA Project (Capstone, 7 units)
  • MFA 7713 MFA Project Proposal (1 unit)
  • MFA 7712A-B MFA Project (6 units)
Professional Development (3 units)
  • MFA 7128 Artist in the World (3 units) OR
  • MFA 7038 Interdisciplinary Pedagogy (3 units)
Contact Cindy Shearer, MFA Program Chair, at cshearer@ciis.edu for more information about MFA courses.

Curriculum Highlights

Accelerated MFA and East-West Psychology M.A. and Ph.D.

MFA 7104 Creative Inquiry for Interdisciplinary Artists (3.00 Units)
This course is grounded in the belief that curiosity about one’s work and curiosity about the world are valuable and related to each other—and they provide you the chance to engage inquiry as a discrete act (a way to ask specific questions) and a way to probe larger contexts. Through readings, class visits with guest artists, interdisciplinary exercises, and/or arts activities, we’ll ask: What environments allow a question to thrive and become the working matrix for your art? Which questions arise for you in the context of what art or arts practices? In what ways do your questions, art, and world correspond with each other, and how can you be responsive to, articulate about, and assess that correspondence? 

MFA 7095 Interdisciplinary Arts Workshop (3.00 Units)  
In this workshop, students explore how the arts intersect, interrelate, and rely on each other by using their own artwork as the primary course text. Topics covered include creative process and habits, formal applications used in various art forms, techniques each artist has drawn on, artistic process, and influences. Students create original work, complete art-making exercises, review materials from various art forms and disciplines, and begin to develop a vocabulary and a method for responding to each other’s work.

For more coursework information, view our Academic Catalog, or contact Cindy Shearer, MFA Program Chair, and Debashish Banerji, East-West Psychology Program Chair.

3. Ph.D. with Creative Dissertation Pathway - Earn your doctorate by producing original work based on your art practice. Spend equal time in your East-West Psychology and MFA coursework and then complete a dissertation of original work based on your art practice.

Course of Study: Creative Dissertation Pathway

Ph.D. in East-West Psychology with Creative Dissertation Pathway

Number of Units: 36 plus dissertation (.01 unit per semester)
Area of Specialization: Art and Psychology or Interdisciplinary Arts (18 units)

Required East-West Psychology Courses (18 units) [Advanced seminar options listed below]**
  • EWP 6000 East-West Psychology Community Retreat (1 unit)
  • EWP 6001 Introduction to East-West Psychology (2 units)
  • Advanced Seminar 1 (3 units)
  • EWP 6329 Conscious Diversity (2 units)
  • EWP 6330 Knowledge Work and the Modern Academy (1 unit)
  • Advanced Seminar 2 (3 units)
  • EWP 8100 Research Colloquium (1 unit)
  • CT 6468 Academic Foundations: Composition and Communication (2 units)
  • Advanced Seminar 3 (3 units)

Required Interdisciplinary Arts courses (18 units)
  • MFA 7104 Creative Inquiry for Interdisciplinary Artists (3 units)
  • MFA 7282 Arts in Context (3 units)
  • MFA 7095 Interdisciplinary Arts Workshop (3 units) -OR-
  • MFA 6093 Narrative Arts (3 units)
  • MFA 7219 Arts Mentorship (1 unit, taken 3 times)
  • MFA 7200 Art Practice as Research (3 units)
  • MFA 7128 Artist in the World (3 units) -OR-
  • MFA 7225 Art as International Home (3 units) OR- 
  • MFA 7028 Interdisciplinary Pedagogy (3 units)

Dissertation and Comprehensive Exams 
  • EWP 9800 Dissertation Chair from Interdisciplinary Arts or faculty approved by Interdisciplinary Arts and East-West Psychology (0.1 unit per semester for 1-3 semesters).
  • EWP 9900 Dissertation Chair from Interdisciplinary Arts or faculty approved by Interdisciplinary Arts and East-West Psychology (0.1 unit per semester for 1-4 years).
  • Complete Comprehensive Exams, as required by East-West Psychology.
  • Dissertation Format: Introduction (context setting). Writing or Art (original work), Practice Reflection or Process/Exegetical essay, and Conclusion.

**Students in the Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies concentration are also eligible for the Pathway

**East-West Psychology Ph.D. Advanced Seminar Options - select two of the following:
  • EWP 6024 Advanced Ph.D. Seminar: Civilization in Transition - From Shadow to Soul 
  • EWP 6126 Jung and the Sacred 
  • EWP 9005 Gnosticism, Alchemy, Terraspirituality 
  • EWP 9010 Integral Scholarship 
  • EWP 9104 Principles of Healing
  • EWP 9106 Contemplative Traditions and Practices 
  • EWP 9107 Archetypal Mythology
  • EWP 9406 Jung’s Red Book
  • EWP 9566 Comparative Mysticism

Curriculum Highlights

Creative Dissertation Pathway

MFA 7200 Art Practice as Research (3.00 units)
The word research has origins in the Middle French verb recercher, meaning to "seek out, search closely.” In this class, we’ll seek out imaginative, intellectual, sensory/sensual, and methodological habits and processes that artists engage, searching them closely for the ways they allow us to acquire and integrate new knowledge and contribute generously to the world through art practice. Applying learning from Creative Inquiry for Interdisciplinary Arts and Arts in Context, students will engage as participants and observers of their artmaking. As preparation for their art practice dissertations, they’ll (1) work on an art project, (2) keep an exegetical or research journal of their art-making process, and (3) prepare an integrative reflection.

MFA 6390 Narrative Arts (3.00 units) 
In this course, students construct a foundation for their ongoing work in narrative arts by engaging storytelling and its components through the development of sequential versions of original stories. Drawing on perspectives across mediums and disciplines, we’ll explore narrative (storytelling) as an often interdisciplinary, multi-modal, immersive, and transmedia form. Students will consider the structures of narrative and the type of narrative experience they want to create. They’ll also explore the relationship between narrative and place,and time and space, in how they depict stories. They’ll engage diverse cultural, social, international, and historical perspectives, creating a narrative arts project, based on a narrative aesthetic they develop and articulate during the class. 

For more coursework information, view our Academic Catalog, or contact Cindy Shearer, MFA Program Chair, and Debashish Banerji, East-West Psychology Program Chair.

Applicants to the dual programs must apply to both the East-West Psychology program and the MFA. Those interested in the Creative Dissertation Pathway should apply to only the East-West Psychology program.

Applicants to any of these programs must submit a portfolio of writing or artwork as part of the admissions process. Their work will be reviewed by East-West Psychology and MFA program chairs and faculty.

View Application Requirements for MFA Program
View Application Requirements for East-West Psychology Programs

Questions? Contact us.

We are here to help! If you have any questions about applying to a program or registering for an Info Session, please reach out to the Admissions Office. 

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