Research Interests

Archetypal cosmology; Jungian, transpersonal, and archetypal psychology; philosophy of imagination; participatory spirituality; evolution of world views; ecology and environmental studies; research methods through an archetypal lens, especially focused on literature, music, film, art, biography, and cultural history. Figures: Stanislav Grof, C.G. Jung and Toni Wolff, James Hillman, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Oxford Inklings.

Biography

Rebecca Tarnas, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her doctoral dissertation was titled The Back of Beyond: The Red Books of C.G. Jung and J.R.R. Tolkien, and her research interests include depth psychology, archetypal studies, literature, philosophy, and the ecological imagination. Becca is an editor of Archai: The Journal of Archetypal Cosmology and author of the book Journey to the Imaginal Realm: A Reader’s Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. She is currently researching and writing a biography of Stanislav Grof, a co-founder of transpersonal psychology.

Education

PhD Philosophy and Religion, CIIS

MA Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, CIIS

BA Environmental Studies and Theatre Arts, Mount Holyoke College

Courses

Psyche & Cosmos I: Transpersonal Psychology and Archetypal Cosmology

Psyche & Cosmos II: Transits in Depth Practicum

The Red Books of C. G. Jung and J. R. R. Tolkien

Archetypes, Art, and Culture

Archetypal Women

The Way of the Psychonaut: The Research of Stanislav Grof

Archetypal Biography through Film and Literature

Advanced Seminar: C. G. Jung

The Mythopoeic Imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien

Myth, Legend, and Fairy-Story: A Celebration of Fantasy Literature

Publications

View publications here.