Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion

Many of us feel disconnected from our family stories and traditions, which can create a sense of loss of home and belonging. Pacha philosopher and ecopsychologist Lorena Saavedra Smith believes reconciling with our ancestors’ traditions and weaving ourselves back into our history is a therapeutic endeavor that deserves to be embarked upon with respect and authenticity.  

In this episode, Lorena is joined by Susana Bustos, faculty at CIIS’ Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research for a conversation on her book, Awaken Your Roots, which explores belonging through the medicine of nature, cultural connection, and ancestral wisdom. Lorena shares how to access tools to interweave your dreams with your deep roots. With a focus on ancestral wisdom and our relationship with nature, she offers a pathway to move through anxiety to rediscover your inner wisdom.  

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 19th, 2026. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

How CIIS honors the Earth through curriculum, retreats, events, and practices that root learning in the living world.

CIIS marked its 58th anniversary with community-wide celebration, collective art-making, and the President's Service Distinction Awards.

What if the questions that draw us to learning could also reshape who we become? Across disciplines and life paths, curiosity emerges as sacred work, an opening into connection, healing, and transformation.

Harvard-trained anthropologist and author Manvir Singh has traveled from Indonesia to the Colombian Amazon, living with shamans and observing music, the use of state altering substances and Indigenous curing ceremonies. 

In this episode, he is joined by psychology professor, transpersonal psychotherapist, and independent researcher Susana Bustos for a conversation exploring the spiritual practice of shamanism, one of the most mysterious religious traditions.

This episode was recorded during an live online event at California Institute of Integral Studies on June 6th, 2025. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

We are living in a world where the depths of division, violence, and destruction can no longer be ignored. Escalated forms of harm require an equally escalated response. Yet social movements often use tactics that tend to escalate an “us vs. them,” “right vs. wrong” worldview not conducive to healing. Activist, trainer, and practitioner of nonviolence and restorative justice Kazu Haga argues this binary worldview is at the heart of what is destroying both our relationships and our planet. If healing is our goal, we need social movements that center relationships.

In this episode, Kazu is joined by Assistant Professor at California Institute of Integral Studies in the Somatic Psychology program Deanna Jimenez for an inspiring conversation exploring insights from his decades of work in restorative justice and from his latest book Fierce Vulnerability. Kazu invites you to mobilize the power to stop harm by cultivating love to heal it.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on May 8th, 2025. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Dr. Elizabeth Allison on training leaders for ecological change.

Talking about death is often deemed morbid or taboo, but to fully embrace life, scientists, psychologists, and spiritual leaders all agree—contemplating death is the key to living a life with meaning. In this episode, Joanna Ebenstein, author and founder of Morbid Anatomy—an organization exploring the spaces between art and medicine, death and culture—is joined in conversation with CIIS faculty and Chicane philosopher Saraliza Anzaldúa exploring how to befriend death.

Sharing insights from her latest book, Memento Mori: The Art of Contemplating Death to Live a Better Life, Joanna discusses what it means to be mortal and shares how to both come to terms with what death means and live alongside it without fear. In doing so, you can see your own life in a new light and discover what makes life worth living.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 17th, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In this episode, 86th generation Zen master and Indigenous Hawaiian leader Rōshi Norma Wong is joined by CIIS Associate Professor Sonya Shah for an illuminating conversation exploring spiritual activism and how to envision co-creating new worlds from one in crisis.

They discuss Norma’s latest book, When No Thing Works, in which she inquiries into the ways we can live well and maintain our wholeness in an era of collective acceleration and explores ways we can step out of urgency to tend to our crises with wisdom, intention, and care.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on January 22nd, 2025. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In her work, author, organizer, and designer Aida Mariam Davis explores the historical and ongoing impacts of settler colonialism, making explicit the ways that extraction, oppression, and enslavement serve the goals of empire—not least by severing ancestral connections and disrupting profound and ancient relationships to self, nature, and community. Her recent book, Kindred Creation, is a call and response to dream and design better worlds rooted in African lifeways: a path to Black freedom, a love letter to Black futures, and a blueprint to intergenerational Black joy and dignity—all (and always) on Black terms.

In this episode, Aida is joined by CIIS Director of the Center for Black & Indigenous Praxis Preston Vargas for a powerful conversation exploring African epistemologies and recalling the dignity and distinction of the African way of life. Aida shares her philosophical framework: remember, refuse, and reclaim as a vital guide for birthing new worlds and reclaiming land, language, lifestyle, and labor.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 19th, 2025. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

The 7th Annual Religion and Ecology Summit will celebrate the sacred waters of the world.

Koans are the record of provocative, and often paradoxical, exchanges between Zen masters and their students developed in medieval China. In her practice and writing, renowned Zen teacher Joan Sutherland reimagines the koan tradition with allegiance to its root spirit and to its profound potential for vivifying, subverting, and sanctifying our lives.

In this episode, Joan is joined by clinical psychologist Megan Rundel in a conversation exploring how practice with Zen koans makes us permeable to the joys and the anguish of this life—and to the primordial mystery we glimpse behind the veil of the everyday.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on July 27th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In her latest book, Casting Indra’s Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community, activist, counselor, and Buddhist teacher Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde shares ways of creating kinship and community through the metaphor of Indra’s Net—a universal net in which all beings reflect each other like jewels.

In this episode, Ayo is joined by somatic and transpersonal psychotherapist Deanna Jimenez for a heartfelt conversation that is both a call and a primer for community-oriented models of well-being in our age of polarization and turmoil.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 3rd, 2023. We had some technical issues during this event that have resulted in audio quality that is lower than our usual standard, but we felt it was important to share this conversation regardless. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

For a great many people, the human impact on the Earth was not apparent until recently, but this is not the case for all people or cultures. For the Indigenous people of the world, radical alteration of the planet, and of life itself, is a story that is many generations long. They have had to adapt, to persevere, and to be courageous and resourceful in the face of genocide and destruction, and their experiences have given them a unique understanding of civilization-based devastation.

In this episode author and journalist Dahr Jamail is joined by ecologist and activist-scholar Melissa K. Nelson for a unique conversation exploring ideas from Indigenous voices at the center of conversations about the current climate crisis. These stories and perspectives of those who have long been attuned to climate change, provide indispensable wisdom to those looking for new and different responses to the challenges we all face.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 23rd, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

A massively diverse group of organisms, fungi support and sustain nearly all living systems. Fungi throw our concepts of individuality, and even intelligence, into question. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disasters. By examining fungi on their own terms, we are changing our understanding of how life works.

In this episode, Merlin Sheldrake, biologist and author of the bestselling book Entangled Life, is joined by CIIS Professor of Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion Elizabeth Allison for an illuminating conversation about the ways these extraordinary organisms, and our relationships with them, change our understanding of the planet on which we live, and the ways that we think, feel, and behave.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on May 5th, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

How do we grieve our losses? How can we care for our spirits? Immigrant daughter, novice chaplain, bereaved friend, and author Chenxing Han explores these searing questions in her latest book One Long Listening. One of American Buddhism’s most vital new voices, Chenxing illuminates and reexamines Buddhism with new perspectives and invites us to dive into unknowingness.

In this episode, Chenxing is joined by Associate Professor and CIIS core faculty of Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies Jun Wang for a transformative conversation as they explore Chenxing’s journey through the wilds of grief and laughter, pain and impermanence. Drawing upon her Buddhist practice, experiences with a dying friend, bedside chaplaincy visits, and memories of a migratory childhood, Chenxing reconnects us to both the heartache and inexplicable brightness of being human.

This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on June 8th, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Sharon Blackie is an award-winning writer and internationally recognized teacher whose work sits at the intersection of psychology, mythology, and ecology.

Her best-selling book, If Women Rose Rooted is an inspiring exploration of femininity and relationship with landscape, and her latest, Hagitude, unearths the stories of elder women in European myth and folklore to highlight the different ways women can flourish throughout all stages of life. Her renowned writings invite us to explore how developing a relationship with myth and the land we live on can both enchant our lives and lead to a greater sense of meaning and belonging in the world.

In this episode, Sharon is joined by CIIS Integral Counseling Psychology Associate Professor Rachael Vaughan for a transformative conversation on the importance of myth and land in our lives.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on June 28th, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In his latest book, Grounded, James Canton recounts his journey into the places where our ancestors experienced profound emotion—otherwise known as numinous experiences—to help us better understand who we are.

In this episode, scholar and CIIS faculty in Philosophy and Religion Laura Pustarfi joins James for an inspiring conversation exploring how the sacred can be accessed by looking to the past, to our ancestors and where and how they fostered spiritual communion with the natural world.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on September 22nd, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Dr. Lyla June is a renowned Indigenous musician, songwriter, poet, hip-hop artist, human ecologist, and community organizer. Her music and message center around intergenerational and inter-ethnic healing and are poetic articulations of Indigenous philosophies.

Through her vibrant art across mediums and extensive community organizing efforts, Lyla offers pathways forward for Indigenous liberation and creates solidarity for Indigenous communities and their allies.

This episode was recorded live in San Francisco on November 3rd, 2023. Lyla was joined on stage by Preston Vargas, CIIS Director of the Center for Black and Indigenous Praxis, for a powerful evening of song and conversation exploring her life, art, and community organizing. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

The I Ching, also known as The Book of Changes, is a 3000-year-old Chinese divination text. Many use the I Ching as a tool for life guidance, spiritual practice, and ancestral connection. It is a revelation of metaphysical philosophy, epistemology, and ethics, as well as a book of occult secrets.

In this episode, celebrated occultist and scholar Benebell Wen is joined by certified professional tarot reader, creator, and author T. Susan Chang for an illuminating conversation on Benebell’s historic new translation and annotations of the I Ching which brings the power and mysticism of The Book of Changes to our contemporary world.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 15th, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Thomas Hübl is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator who works within the complexity of systems and cultural change. In his most recent book, Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma, Thomas examines how our world’s profoundly complex challenges demand a new level of human collaboration.

In this episode, Thomas is joined by CIIS faculty Drew Dellinger for an empowering conversation on healing our world through understanding our interconnectedness and healing our individual, ancestral, and cultural trauma.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 29th, 2024.  A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Layla K. Feghali is a cultural worker and folk herbalist who lives between her ancestral village in Lebanon, and California, where she was raised. Her work is dedicated to restoring relationships to earth-based ancestral wisdom as an avenue towards eco-cultural stewardship, healing, and liberation.

In this episode, Layla is joined by initiated Priestess, Energy Worker, Medicine Woman, and Flower Practitioner Maryam Hasnaa for a profound conversation that invites us to remember our roots, to deepen our relationship with the lands where we live in diaspora, and is a beckoning call towards belonging, healing, and freedom through tending the land in your own bones.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on April 4th, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Alexis Nikole Nelson aka Black Forager uses her platform to engage with millions—yelling, singing, and celebrating the hidden bounty of edible plants waiting to be found in our backyards, on our nature hikes, growing from our sidewalks and in our parks across the world.

In this episode, Alexis is joined by CIIS associate professor, activist, and licensed creative arts therapist Britton Williams for an engaging and joyful conversation about Alexis’ life and work, food justice and foraging for edible plants to enrich palates and the planet.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on April 12, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

The American Dream as it has been defined for more than a century is about the well-paying job, the nuclear family, and upward mobility. But what both clouds and defines that dream is the distance between us, our neighbors, and that we, our communities, are defined by the dichotomy of winners and losers. What has been lost in many people’s day to day and in the larger American Dream is the key element that helped many of us to succeed in the first place—community.

In this episode, author and activist Mia Birdsong is joined by Rachel Bryant for a conversation on reclaiming family, friendship, and communities. Sharing insights from her book, How We Show Up, Mia highlights how we can return to our inherent connectedness to find strength, safety, and support in vulnerability and generosity, in asking for help, and in being accountable.

This episode contains some explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on April 22, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Recent Ecology, Spirituality and Religion grad on queering the outdoors

A discussion with Professor Charlotte María Sáenz about community education, collective responsibility, philosophy and imagining brighter futures for students.

A personal reflection from Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion graduate, Charlie Forbes, in honor of the program's 10-year anniversary

We know our planet is in trouble and we’re seeing direct effects on human heath as a result. It’s estimated that we have fewer than 60 harvests left in our world’s soil and that our oceans will be 70 percent more acidic in just 30 years. These aren’t doomsday prophecies—this is our realistic future if we don’t act now.

Author and policy expert Erin McMorrow believes that we can heal our planet by restoring our natural connection with the Earth and the divine feminine. Through her work and her writing, Dr. McMorrow teaches us how to transform ourselves, our socioeconomic systems, and the environment that sustains us by aligning with the natural cycles of the Earth.

In this episode, Dr. McMorrow is joined in a conversation with renegade economist Della Z Duncan. They discuss Dr. McMorrow’s book, Grounded, in which she explores both the ecological and spiritual basis of our existing climate crises as well as wisdom and tools to initiate a transformation to save our soils and our souls.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 24, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Despite the undeniable fact that Indigenous communities are among the most affected by climate devastation, Indigenous science is very rarely found in mainstream environmental policy or discourse. Environmental scientist, advocate, and author Jessica Hernandez introduces and contextualizes Indigenous environmental knowledge and proposes a vision of land stewardship that heals rather than displaces and generates rather than destroys.

In this episode, Dr. Hernandez is joined by Indigenous scholar and activist Melissa Nelson in a conversation exploring her latest book, Fresh Banana Leaves, and how to stop the eco-colonialism ravaging Indigenous lands to restore our relationship with the Earth to one of harmony and respect.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 10th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Considered one of the leaders of a current generation of Buddhist teachers, Lama Rod Owens is a Buddhist minister, author, activist, and an authorized Lama—or Buddhist teacher—in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. Through his writings, teachings, and travels Lama Rod invites everyone into his life intersections as a Black, queer male who was born and raised in the South, and heavily influenced by the church and its community.

In this episode, Lama Rod is joined by Executive Director of the Counter Narrative Project, Charles Stephens, for a conversation about how unmetabolized anger—and the grief, hurt, and transhistorical trauma beneath it—needs to be explored, respected, and fully embodied to heal from heartbreak and begin to walk the path of liberation.

This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on January 14, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

To create a world free from oppression, we have to come face to face with the beliefs, stories, and actions that maintain these systems within ourselves. In Indigenous cultures throughout the world, it's understood that true transformation starts in the body, with a change of heart. But how can we create a new story of transformation and liberation in the world if we haven't learned to heal our own stories?

In this episode, author and shamanic healer Langston Kahn is joined by energy worker and spiritual practitioner Maryam Hasnaa for a deep conversation exploring how we can address the root of past trauma and heartbreak to reclaim our personal and collective power.

This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on January 26, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Racism permeates every aspect of society. Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism in which people of color are disproportionately burdened with health hazards through policies and practices that force them to live in proximity to sources of toxic waste such as sewage works, mines, landfills, power stations, major roads, and emitters of airborne particulate matter.

In this episode, co-founder of Movement Generation: Justice and Ecology Project, Gopal Dayaneni is joined by community organizer and environmental justice advocate Carla Maria Pérez for a powerful conversation exploring the connections between environmental racism and climate change and what we can do as individuals and communities to address and heal from the harms of both.

This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on April, 28, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence and hailed as a scientist who conveys complex, technical ideas in ways that are dazzling and profound. In this episode, Suzanne is joined by scholar Laura Pustarfi for a conversation about her life, her work, and her recent book Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on June 24th, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

What makes cults so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Author and journalist Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has.

In this episode, CIIS professor, writer, and speaker Zara Zimbardo talks with author and journalist Amanda Montell about her latest book, Cultish, in which she argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. Zara and Amanda discuss influence, the social science of cults, and how to recognize the language of fanaticism all around us.

Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth.

If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline – Free, confidential support 24/7 for people in distress, prevention, and crisis resources for you or your loved ones.

San Francisco Suicide Prevention – A local nonprofit offering crisis intervention, grief support, and education programs.

CIIS Counseling & Acupuncture Clinics – Affordable integrative mental health services provided by supervised graduate students at CIIS.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on July 14th, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In her latest book, Losing Eden, acclaimed journalist Lucy Jones interweaves her deeply personal story of recovery from addiction and depression aided by the support of the natural world with an exploration of the intersection of science, wellness, and the environment. In this episode, scholar Laura Pustarfi joins Lucy for a conversation about the importance of maintaining our bond with nature and why we need communion with the wild to feel well.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 14th, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Apela Colorado is a traditional cultural practitioner and Indigenous scientist dedicated to creating a bridge between Western thought and Indigenous worldviews. In her latest book, Woman Between the Worlds, Dr. Colorado invites us to explore how Indigenous wisdom resonates in modern life while lovingly teaching us to honor its power, beauty, and potential.

In this episode, CIIS faculty Susana Bustos joins Dr. Colorado for a conversation about her lifelong journey connecting with the essence of Indigenous spirituality and culture, and reawakening to the wisdom of her Native American and French Gaul ancestors.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on November 4th, 2021. Access the transcript below.

In this conversation with CIIS Counseling Psychology program Professor Rachael Vaughan, award-winning neuroscientist Matthew Walker reveals his groundbreaking exploration of sleep, explaining how we can harness its transformative power to change our lives for the better.

This episode was originally recorded live with an in-person audience on October 9th, 2017. A transcript is available below.

One of the most distinguished voices in American literature, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet N. Scott Momaday has devoted much of his life to celebrating and preserving Native American culture, especially its oral tradition.

A member of the Kiowa tribe who was born and grew up on Indian reservations throughout the Southwest, Dr. Momaday has a deep attachment to the land he knows well and loves deeply. In his latest book, Earth Keeper: Reflections on an American Land, Dr. Momaday reflects on his native ground and its influence on his people and the person that he is.

In this episode, Indigenous scholar and activist Melissa Nelson talks with Dr. Momaday about his life, his work, and the importance of remembering that the Earth is a sacred place of wonder and beauty; a source of strength and healing that must be protected before it’s too late. Dr. Momaday reminds us that we must all be keepers of the Earth.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on November 12, 2020. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

As the climate changes, many therapists have been helping patients with a relatively new diagnosis that has a variety of names: eco-anxiety, climate anxiety, climate despair, eco-despair, and eco-grief.

No matter what you call it, many of us are feeling the same things and asking ourselves, and each other the same question. With ecosystems failing all over the planet, is there any reason for hope?

In this episode, author Craig Chalquist is joined by ecotherapist Linda Buzzell for an inspiring conversation about tackling our climate anxiety by cultivating eco-resilience.

This episode contains mentions of suicide, abuse, and trauma. It was recorded during a live online event on April 14, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Seeing the suffering of the planet and that of humans as inseparably linked—the ecological crisis as psychological crisis, and vice versa—opens the door to a mutuality of healing between people and nature. At the heart of both chronic and acute forms of narcissism is a socially constructed false self—an isolated, damaged ego in a delusional cycle of selfishness.

In her work, CIIS Professor Jeanine Canty uses the lens of ecopsychology to show that the pervasive and extreme forms of narcissism we find in many modern societies are the result of alienation from the natural world. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In her forthcoming book, Returning the Self to Nature, Jeanine shares how we can move beyond a world that revolves around selfish and disconnected identity models, and step into healthy relationships with ourselves, our communities, and our planet.

In this episode, Jeanine is joined by CIIS Lead for the Climate Psychology Certificate Leslie Davenport for an inspiring conversation on visualizing and embodying the wild naturalness of being human, and how to gain skills to begin experiencing a courageous, pluralistic, and ecological self.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on June 8th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Author, cultural ecologist, and geo philosopher David Abram has been an inspirational leading voice at the intersection of ecology and philosophy for over 25 years. A close student of the traditional ecological knowledge of a diverse array of Indigenous peoples, his work articulates the interconnection of humans both with the varied sensitivities of the plants and animals upon whom we depend, as well as with the agency of the places that surround and sustain our communities.

In this episode, David is joined by CIIS philosophy faculty Matt Segall for an inspiring conversation on the wild intelligence of our bodies, the ecological depths of our imagination, and the ways in which sensory perception and wonder inform the relation between the human animal and the animate Earth.

This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at First Unitarian Universalist Church & Center in San Francisco on May 19th, 2022. Access the transcript below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

According to renowned political economist Raj Patel and physician and activist Rupa Marya, our bodies, our societies, and our planet are inflamed. In their recent book, Inflamed, Raj and Rupa reveal the links between health and structural injustices—and offer a new deep medicine that can heal our bodies and our world.

In this episode, Raj and Rupa are joined in a rich, unique conversation with CIIS professor Charlotte María Sáenz as they illuminate the hidden relationships between our biological systems and the profound injustices of our political and economic systems.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 8th, 2022. Access the transcript below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Psilocybin mushrooms have been used for hundreds, likely thousands of years. Currently, more than 65 universities in North America and Europe have been approved for clinical studies ranging from treating depression and Alzheimer’s to addiction. Psilocybin has clearly risen to the forefront of medical research.

In this episode, renowned mycologist and medical researcher Paul Stamets provides an illuminating talk covering the psilocybin movement through history into the current modern moment as well as an overview of the most clinically significant studies, the newest research on psilocybin analogues, micro-dosing, and the implications for creating a paradigm shift in the ecology of consciousness.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on December 3rd, 2021. Access the transcript below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to more fully reveal injustices, inequities, and imbalances that contribute to climate change, ecological degradation, and economic instability that threaten our individual and collective well-being. This potent time invites us to consider questions like: How can we cultivate individual, collective, and ecological resilience in this unstable new reality? What lessons does the pandemic offer for addressing climate change and human health?

This episode features Natalie Metz, licensed Naturopathic Doctor, herbalist, faculty member and mentor in the Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research, and Elizabeth Allison, Professor of Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion, in a conversation exploring connections between human health and the health of the planet. They discuss the current global narratives in medicine and climate change, and how each narrative relates to human and planetary health. Natalie and Elizabeth explore the microcosm and macrocosm of embodied health and the emergence of a new consciousness that embraces collective well-being.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on June 18, 2020. You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

“Quit being a drop. Make yourself an ocean.” Rumi’s inspiring and deceptively simple poems have been called ecstatic, mystical, and devotional. For writer and activist Melody Moezzi, they became her lifeline.

Melody’s latest book, The Rumi Prescription, follows her path of discovery as she translates Rumi’s works for herself, gaining wisdom and insight in the face of a creative and spiritual roadblock.

In this episode, Professor and Co-Chair of CIIS’ Expressive Arts Therapy program Shoshana Simons talks with Melody about her life and how the wisdom she found exploring Rumi can help us make sense of our modern lives.

This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on May 20, 2020. You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Our Ph.D. candidates and alumni are among those generating responses to the heightened existential challenges we face

After observing modern shamanic trainings with a growing concern, clinical psychologist and scholar Anotonio Ramirez began exploring more traditional forms of shamanism by interviewing elder shamans in Latin America.

In this talk, recorded at CIIS on May 21, 2019, Antonio shares his ideas about the dangers of shamanism as it is practiced today in urban areas, how these practices are affecting native shamanism, and suggests ways to avoid falling prey of unethical practitioners.

In this episode, authors Sean Kelly, Sam Mickey, and Adam Robbert are joined by public radio journalist and Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness graduate Kat Snow in a conversation about ecology as a connective science and its impact on our society.

This episode was recorded during an event on June 14, 2017 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Modern technology has, and continues to transform the ways we grow, prepare, distribute, eat, and think about our food.

In this episode, food journalist Larissa Zimberoff and social sciences professor Julie Guthman share insights into food culture and examine the trends and technologies that are transforming the world of food. Is the future of food looking bleak or better than ever?

This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during an event on June 14, 2017 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this episode, Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion Professor Elizabeth Allison provides an exploration into spiritual ecology. Discover how deepening our relationship with the natural world helps us thrive.

This episode was recorded during an event on March 12, 2020 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Shaman Durek, a sixth-generation shaman, is the inheritor of a rich legacy of ancient wisdom. He applies this deep-rooted knowledge in a thoroughly modern context—advising everyone from celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Nina Dobrev, and royals around the world, to international corporate executives.

In this episode, Kelly Ryan, the founder of Anchor Meditation, has a conversation with Shaman Durek about his life and works. They discuss the shamanic keys outlined in his book Spirit Hacking, and share lessons about how these keys can help you to tap into your own personal power—banishing fear and darkness from your life in favor of light, positivity, and strength.

This episode was recorded during an event on December 19, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this episode, naturalist Maya Elson talks with Lawrence Millman about his life and work as an author and mycologist exploring the fascinating world of fungi.

This episode was recorded during an event on December 12, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Join renowned ethnopharmacologist and author Dennis McKenna for this engaging talk combining ethnobotany, psychopharmacology, history, and the philosophical reflections of a luminary in this field.

This episode was recorded during an event on November 21, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Gender reconciliation activist and CIIS Women's Spirituality Professor Alka Arora offers an expansive and deeply ecological vision—inviting us to move beyond critique to focus more on the world we want to co-create.

This episode was recorded during an event on September 26, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this talk, Professor Jacob Sherman discusses the role that philosophy might play in diagnosing and responding to the our global climate crisis.

At CIIS, Jacob Sherman serves as Professor and Chair of the Philosophy and Religion Department, Chair of the program in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, and also teaches in the Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion program.

This episode was recorded during an event on September 5, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Join author Rob Reid in conversation with author and editor Annaka Harris as they examine the idea of consciousness—taking us through evolving definitions, philosophies, and scientific findings that probe our limited understanding of this age-old mystery.

This episode was recorded during an event on August 1, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California. 

In this episode, improviser and writer Marlee Grace talks with Julia Plevin, the creator of Forest Bathing Club about Marlee’s book: How To Not Always Be Working.

This episode was recorded during an event on October 25, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this episode, author and Buddhist scholar Reggie Ray discusses Tibetan Buddhism's approach to understanding and resolving trauma, sharing that trauma can be an opportunity for spiritual growth.

This episode was recorded during an event on February 26, 2016 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Author, teacher, and ecophilosopher Joanna Macy is known the world over for her workshops for social and environmental activists. She's joined in conversation by ecophilosophy teacher Renée G. Soule to discuss her life and work.

This episode was recorded during an event on April 8, 2016 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

One of the early organizers of Burning Man, Stuart Mangrum, discusses the psychogeography of the festival. His talk examines qualities of place and experience that make Black Rock City such fertile grounds for so many year after year.

This episode was recorded during an event on August 6, 2016 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Mycologist Paul Stamets examines how mushrooms can help the health of people and the planet.

This episode was recorded during an event on August 11, 2016 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Author and activist Sil Lai Abrams reads from her new memoir, Black Lotus, and is joined in conversation by CIIS’ Laura Reddick.

This episode was recorded during an event on August 18, 2016 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Journalist Vince Beiser is joined in conversation by CIIS Professor Jacob Sherman to explore the compelling true story of a hugely important and diminishing natural resource: sand.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 17, 2018.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Indigenous scholar and activist Melissa Nelson and Zen teacher Wendy Johnson discuss ecological knowledge and how to listen to the land.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 2, 2017.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Spiritual teacher and author Adyashanti discusses his belief that there are two spiritual instincts that reside deep within everyone.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 15, 2017.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Science journalist Amina Khan is joined in conversation by curator Arianne Gelardin to discuss what nature can teach us about sustainable technology and innovation.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on May 24, 2017.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Award-winning author and scholar David George Haskell is joined by CIIS professor Elizabeth Allison for a conversation about nature's most magnificent net workers.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on September 14, 2017.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In this conversation with Steven Tierney, Professor of Community Mental Health at CIIS, Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Wright shares his journey exploring psychology, philosophy, and meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 19, 2017.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Sergio Rodriguez-Castillo examines why it makes sense to invite spirituality into the workplace, and how to do it.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 14, 2018.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Physicist and author Alan Lightman is joined in conversation by Philosophy, Cosmology, Consciousness Professor Matthew D. Segall to explore our quest for truth and meaning, and the role of religion and science in that quest.

This episode was recorded during an event on April 19, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Ethnobotanist Kathleen Harrison is joined in conversation by Natalie Metz to explore entheogens and the rich and complex relationship between plants, mushrooms, and human beings.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on May 23, 2018.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Mycologist and author Paul Stamets explores the magical world of mushrooms, deepening our understanding of the planet and its people.

Elizabeth Allison takes on recent natural disasters and the practice of a feminist ethic.

The Religion & Ecology Summit featured leaders in the ecological, religious, and justice fields to bridge the divide between religion and the environment

Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion Ph.D. students Laura Reddick and Kimberly Carfore were invited to write for Huffington Post.

Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion alumni Kia Jones works with No Coal in Oakland campaign to prevent coal exports in the Port of Oakland

The histories and convergence of the Religion & Ecology Summit

Students, alums, and faculty represent at Utah conference