Faculty and Staff Directory
Providing an excellent multifaceted education for people committed to transforming themselves, others, and the world
Elizabeth Allison
Associate Professor and Concentration Chair
Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness; Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion
Philosophy and Religion Department
School of Consciousness and Transformation
PhD, University of California, Berkeley; MEM, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
MAR, Yale Divinity School; BA, Williams College
Elizabeth Allison, PhD, is an associate professor of ecology and religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, where she founded and chairs the graduate program in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion.
Her research and teaching explore connections between religion, ethics, and environmental practice, with particular attention to biodiversity, waste, ecological place, and climate change. The Earth Charter and the World Bank's Development Dialogue have cited her research on the religious response to climate change. Her articles appear in WIREs Climate Change, Mountain Research and Development, the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture, and in edited volumes on Bhutan, religion, and geography. She is working on a book entitled The Political Ecology of Happiness: Religion, Environment, and Development in Modernizing Bhutan.
A former Fulbright scholar, she holds degrees in environmental management from the University of California - Berkeley and Yale University, and in religion from Yale and Williams College.
Her research on epistemic injustice outlining the science/religion divide is highlighted in this interview (with Charles Tart, Glenn Hartelius, and Jorge Ferrer) titled Postcolonial Knowledge.
Elizabeth Allison's selected essays:
"At the Boundary of Modernity: Religion, Technocracy, and Waste Management in Bhutan" in Megan Adamson Sijapati and Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz, eds. Religion and Modernity in the Himalaya. New York: Routledge, 2015. Click here for details on this book.
"Religion Inscribed in the Landscape: Sacred Sites, Local Deities and Natural Resource Use in the Himalayas" in Stanley D. Brun, ed. The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics. New York: Springer Publishing, 2015. Click here for details on this book.
Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Faculty
Elizabeth AllisonAssociate Professor and Concentration Chair, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness; Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion
PhD, University of California, Berkeley; MEM, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies,
MAR, Yale Divinity School; BA, Williams College,
Sean KellyProfessor, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
PhD, MA, University of Ottawa,
BA, Carleton University,
Robert McDermottPresident Emeritus, Professor, Department and Chair, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
PhD, Boston University,
MA, Emory University,
Sam MickeyAdjunct Lecturer, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
Jacob ShermanProgram Chair and Associate Professor, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
PhD, University of Cambridge; MA, California Institute of Integral Studies,
BA, Pepperdine University,
Richard TarnasProfessor, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
PhD, Saybrook Institute ,
BA, Harvard College,
Brian Thomas SwimmeProfessor, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
PhD, University of Oregon,
Aaron Weiss
Program Coordinator, Asian, Philosophies, and Cultures & Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion Faculty
Elizabeth AllisonAssociate Professor and Concentration Chair, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness; Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion
PhD, University of California, Berkeley; MEM, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies,
MAR, Yale Divinity School; BA, Williams College,
Robert McDermottPresident Emeritus, Professor, Department and Chair, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
PhD, Boston University,
MA, Emory University,
Jacob ShermanProgram Chair and Associate Professor, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
PhD, University of Cambridge; MA, California Institute of Integral Studies,
BA, Pepperdine University,
Brian Thomas SwimmeProfessor, Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness
PhD, University of Oregon,
