Faculty and Staff Directory
Providing an excellent multifaceted education for people committed to transforming themselves, others, and the world
Deirdre Visser
Adjunct Lecturer; Curator of Arts at CIIS
Masters of Fine Arts Program
Writing, Consciousness, and Creative Inquiry
School of Consciousness and Transformation
MFA, University of California, Irvine
BA, Mills College
Deirdre is Curator of The Arts at CIIS. As curator and educator she strives to promote pluralism in the arts, to support artists in the creation of new work, and to foster dynamic and critical dialogues within and across communities that propose integrative approaches to the urgent questions we collectively face. Her exhibitions, publications and public programming with The Arts at CIIS have connected history to the present, both ethically and strategically, to look for common themes and engage historical context in a deeper understanding of the present. She has mounted exhibitions and convened public dialogues about such topics as the representation of African American men; the history of the Chicano Movement and the ways it informs the work of young Chicana artists across California today; the legacy of the Black Panther Party; and the intersections between contemporary photographic practice and representational pluralism.
MFA Faculty
Randall BabtkisAdjunct Senior Lecturer,
Anne BluethenthalAssociate Professor, Masters of Fine Arts Program
MFA, New College of California,
BA, Oberlin College,
Shelley Carr
Program Coordinator, Anthropology and Social Change
Program Coordinator, Master of Fine Arts Program
Carolyn CookeProfessor and Department Chair , Masters of Fine Arts Program
MFA, Columbia University,
Christian L. FrockAdjunct Instructor, Masters of Fine Arts Program
MA, University of London,
BA, San Jose University,
Stephanie Anne JohnsonAdjunct Lecturer , Masters of Fine Arts Program
PhD, Union Institute and University,
MFA, University of California at Berkeley,
Brynn SaitoDirector of Center for Writing and Scholarship,
Adjunct Lecturer, Masters of Fine Arts
Cindy ShearerProfessor, Masters of Fine Arts Program
PhD, State University of New York, Albany,
MA, Antioch University,
Pireeni SundaralingamAdjunct Senior Lecturer, Masters of Fine Arts Program
PhD, BA, University of Oxford,
MS, University of London,
Deirdre VisserAdjunct Lecturer; Curator of Arts at CIIS, Masters of Fine Arts Program
MFA, University of California, Irvine,
BA, Mills College,
Zara ZimbardoAdjunct Lecturer, School of Consciousness and Transformation
MA, California Institute of Integral Studies,
