M.A.in Engaged Humanities with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology
Process & Praxis Courses
Interactive Coursework
Engaged Humanities is characterized by interactive coursework such as Leadership Skills for Social Justice and Spiritual Practices & Healing Arts. Engagement with the Humanities kindles endless passion for the world around us. By channeling the energy of wisdom traditions into an array of creative and practical skills, students learn to embody leadership in service of environmental stewardship, sustainability, biodiversity, and philanthropy. Decision-making and conflict resolution approaches serve personal, professional, community, and global concerns.
Psychology of Cyberspace
HM 532, 2 units
This course will be designed to help students understand the psychological dynamics of virtual experience through their own use of online learning. Students will critically examine psychological theory and research on cyberspace in relation to self, unconscious, psyche and community. Topics to be discussed will include the development of norms in virtual communities, the nature of cybersocial relationships, the dynamics of on-line communication, power and status differentials in computer- mediated communication, the notions of online time and space, and cyberspace as the collective unconscious.
Cultivating Inner Awareness
HM 530........ 2 Units
The re-emerging movement for envisioning the unity of all life calls for a reminder that our internal well-being extends to the rest of the world. John Muir, Rumi, Gandhi, and others provide inspiration in this process course for grasping the inseparability of all life. By considering inner development and meaning, students engage in active compassion for self and other. Myth, symbols, meditation, and other forms of self-reflection provide clues for navigating the inner paths, so as to passionately and meaningfully connect with the outer.
Music and Metaphysics
HM 536, 2 units
Why do we continue to ascribe supernatural powers to music? Why does our culture persistently link music to both religion and sexuality? How did people in different historical periods make sense of these connections? Music has been used to tell stories throughout European history, from symphonic prefigurations of Christ's love and suffering, to operas that celebrate the superhuman powers of the castrated opera singer; to rock musicals, with their frenzied fans. Using the tools of depth psychology, we will explore retellings of archetypal narratives in musical terms.
Practices of Dialogue, Reconciliation, and Collaboration
HM 553........ 2 Units
Rooted in struggles against prejudice and inequality, dialogical and conflict transformation processes inform contemporary approaches to personal and group reconciliation. This course reviews a variety of group methods that support movement beyond traditional hierarchical power and competition, such as Dialogue, Circle and Council, Appreciative Inquiry, Conflict Transformation, and facilitation functions. Students create settings where participants listen deeply and speak from the heart, draw upon diverse sources of knowing, and deepen their understanding of culture as unique expressions of the human spirit. Attention is given to hearing what has been left unsaid, resting silently in the shadows of one’s perception.
Models for Depth Ecology and Sustainability
HM 612........ 2 Units
Current global ecology asks us to support a sustainable lifestyle reflecting ongoing relationships with humans, wildlife, and the biosphere. Students explore philosophical and psychological aspects of depth ecology, potential shifts in economical models, as well as pragmatic practices for living in a sustainable manner. The management of finite resources is at a critical juncture, closely related to our current economic structures. Students learn to assess community capacity and evaluate resource availability for future generations.
Memoir and Mind
HM 632, 2 units
What is the self? How does a sense of selfhood emerge? What is the relationship between self and consciousness? Why do we read self-narratives? What are the risks and rewards of self-narration? What tools do authors use to turn their lives (or imaginary lives) into narrative? Is the impulse to self-narration universal, or must one be ‘extraordinary’ to feel it? This course will ask students to consider the boundaries of their own selfhood, paying special special attention to the tensions inherent in self-narration: self-invention vs. self-disclosure, design vs. "truth," memory vs. imagination, and so on.
Models of National Transformation
HM 540........ 2 Units
Through films and reading, students examine two remarkable twentieth century models of national transformation: Mohandas Gandhi’s movement to win independence for India, as well as South Africa’s dismantling of apartheid and subsequent implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission under the leadership of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Students experiment with applying the principles of each movement to a chosen event in their own communities, and reflect upon their own experiences.
Spiritual Practices & Healing Arts
HM 613........ 2 Units
This praxis course surveys conventional, complementary, and alternative medical and healing systems, such as: Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Chiropractic, somatic and touch therapies and Native American and folk healing methods. Complex relationships among the spiritual, physical, emotional, political, environmental and cultural aspects of health and wellness are illuminated. Global, multi-cultural, and trans-historic views are contrasted with dominant, Western medical ideology to generate a more fluent understanding of how “alternative” methodologies can begin to inform mainstream science.
