On Spirituality and Integral Education

September 28, 2022
6:00 pm
In-Person and Livestream
California Institute of Integral Studies
1453 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Add to Calendar 09/28/2022 6:00 pm 09/28/2022 America/Los_Angeles On Spirituality and Integral Education Join CIIS Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures, Debashish Banerji, and CIIS President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, Robert McDermott, for an illuminating discussion on the multitude of meanings of integral, as seen and applied to the spiritual mission in the history and future of CIIS. In-Person and Livestream
California Institute of Integral Studies
1453 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103 false MM/DD/YYYY

Important Information

This event was recorded and is available to watch on our YouTube channel and portions of the audio will be released on our podcast.

For over 50 years California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) has been a leader in transformative integral education. Integral studies, in the founding of CIIS, encapsulated a contemporary academic approach to a spiritual mission. Institutions and communities that affirm a spiritual mission often have difficulty expressing the meaning of spiritual as distinct from—though related to—religion or social justice.

Join CIIS Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures, Debashish Banerji, and CIIS President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, Robert McDermott, for an illuminating discussion on the multitude of meanings of integral, as seen and applied to the spiritual mission in the history and future of CIIS.

Debashish and Robert explore the spiritual roots of the term integral as well as its cultural and ethical implications. Drawing upon their decades of experience, they examine the difference between spirituality pursued in academia and in spiritual organizations such as ashramas and monasteries, and share insights on the relationship between spirituality, religion, and social justice.

Debashish Banerji headshot portrait made into a circle. Debashish is smiling, wearing a white t-shirt, and sitting on a chair.
Debashish Banerji is the Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures and Doshi Professor of Asian Art at CIIS. He is also Chair of East-West Psychology and Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies. He has authored and edited several books on the culture and philosophy of India and on critical posthumanism. He has curated a number of exhibitions of Asian Art and is a co-founder of the Indian Posthumanism Network.

Robert McDermott headshot portrait made into a circle. Robert is an older, white man, with a shaved head, and is smiling.
Robert McDermott is editor of The Essential Aurobindo and The New Essential Steiner, and author of Steiner and Kindred Spirits (2015). With Debashish Banerji he is editor of Philo-Sophia: Wisdom Goddess Traditions (2021). He was the recipient of Fulbright and National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships. For 14 years he was chair of the board of the Sophia Project for Mothers and Children at Risk of Homelessness.