Pacifica Graduate Institute is thrilled to announce the launch of two fully online degree programs, the first in our nearly 50-year history. An online version of the existing MA/Ph.D. in Jungian and Archetypal Studies is currently accepting students for Spring 2025. A new MA/Ph.D. program in Psychology, Religion, and Consciousness is accepting applications for Fall 2025. Adding to Pacifica’s eight graduate degree programs currently offered in low-residency or hybrid models, the new fully online offerings demonstrate our commitment to making depth psychological education accessible to all by providing opportunities to learners who seek additional flexibility while still engaging with meaningful scholarship and practice, esteemed faculty, and collaborative cohorts.
“As higher education enters a transformative era, Pacifica Graduate Institute is seizing this moment with vision, conviction and commitment to expanding the reach of depth psychological education and research that prepares our students for meaningful careers and empowers them as catalysts for change in an evolving world,” said Dr. Leonie H. Mattison, President and CEO of Pacifica Graduate Institute. “Pacifica is proud to lead this new era of soul-centered learning, where purpose, imagination, and community shape a more conscious, compassionate future.”
New Fully Online Track for Jungian and Archetypal Studies
The fully online track for Jungian and Archetypal Studies (DJO) is identical in curriculum to its hybrid low-residency counterpart. Students can progress through the transformative and scholarly content of the Jungian and Archetypal Studies program entirely online. Structured as 10 learning modules per quarter, each course will be delivered through recorded lectures, assigned readings, and discussion boards where students will engage with course content, their instructors, and cohort.
The Jungian and Archetypal Studies Specialization is for students interested in exploring the structure and nature of the psyche. Central to the program are what Jung called archetypes: universal principles and organizing patterns that pre-condition and animate human experience from the depths of the collective unconscious – a dimension of the psyche common to each of us. The archetypal depths of the psyche structure human nature and culture – including art, science, religion, economics, and politics – and bring us into relationship with the deeper laws of the cosmos itself that are inscribed in the soul. From this perspective, psychological suffering can be seen as a violation of our archetypal nature. More importantly, the Jungian and Archetypal Studies program educates students in how to read life and history for their archetypal signals so that they can live in alignment with their deepest nature and in harmony with the world.
“The vision embodied in our new fully online DJO track of the Jungian and Archetypal Studies program is that everyday life is the necessary context for depth psychological education,” said Dylan Francisco, PhD, co-chair of the Jungian and Archetypal Studies program. “We don’t aspire to train so-called ivory tower intellectuals who are disconnected from the intersecting exigencies and responsibilities of ecology, family, community, technology, economics, politics, and spirituality – because it is in the context of life as a whole that we discover the roots of psychological suffering and experience what psychological well-being requires. We aspire to teach individuals the art of life – as C. G. Jung called it – so that becoming a whole person, related to all of life’s demands, joys, and mysteries, capable of contributing meaningfully to the actual world we live in is the measure of what it means to be depth psychologically educated. In this way, our DJO program reflects our view that life is integral to learning about the soul and the soul is integral to living whole and well, so rather than furthering the split between higher education and daily life, we aim to heal this split by bringing depth psychology education to the world.”
Introducing the Psychology, Religion, and Consciousness Program
The new fully online program in Psychology, Religion, and Consciousness (PRC) critically considers the psychology of religious experience and spiritual practices across a wide range of traditions and considers the nature of human consciousness as it arises both individually and collectively. The PRC program expands its scholarly perspectives beyond comparative mythology and Jungian and archetypal psychology. The areas are related, but the PRC program emphasizes a comparative approach to religious studies and religious experience while also utilizing a broader approach to psychology. David Odorisio, Ph.D., currently the Chair of Pacifica’s Mythological Studies program, will be leading the launch of the new online M.A./Ph.D.
“Twenty years ago, when I was looking for Ph.D. programs, there was little in the field of psychology and religion. There are few accredited programs currently with doctoral degrees in psychology and religion. There are more programs emerging in consciousness studies, so that field is growing, but as far as a unique hybrid amalgamation, this is a one-of-a-kind program,” said Odorisio. A unique aspect of Pacifica’s PRC program is the encouragement of scholar-practitioner models versus other religious studies or psychology programs. “We encourage scholar-practitioner models. We want to integrate scholarship with actual lived experience for those practicing a spiritual path or whatever a student’s particular religious tradition (or lack thereof) might be. We really want to emphasize that students from all backgrounds are welcome here.”
Dr. Colin Marlaire, Pacifica’s Provost, sees this as an important moment for Pacifica, one rooted in its past and present, mission and values. The WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), Pacifica’s institutional accreditor, has also approved these new efforts as reflections of the Institute’s ongoing evolution. “As Pacifica Graduate Institute embarks on this significant milestone, we are reaffirming our commitment to intentional, student-centered growth. These new online programs represent the thoughtful evolution of our offerings, built upon the foundation of the high-quality education our campus and hybrid programs have and will continue to provide. Through this expansion, we seek to make the unique learning experiences rooted in Depth Psychology accessible to more students, ensuring that the quality, depth, and rigor that are the hallmark of a Pacifica education continue to thrive in this new modality. Our mission remains to offer transformative learning that serves both individual growth and community enrichment, now with the flexibility that meets the evolving needs of students.”
Students interested in either program can visit the Admissions department of Pacifica Graduate Institute. Both online programs are currently accepting applications for 2025, as are Pacifica’s long-standing graduate programs offered in either low residency on-campus or hybrid formats. Pacifica is awaiting confirmation from the U.S. Department of Education that the online programs will have established eligibility for federal financial aid (Title IV) funds as of the planned commencement terms and will inform admitted students once we have received the Department’s response.
Joyce Familara is a Los Angeles native who now makes Santa Barbara her home. She graduated from UCSB and later St. Mary’s College of California for her MFA in Creative Writing-Non Fiction. Joyce worked as a Content Marketing Manager for various small businesses throughout SB county. She later became Director of Marketing for Opera Santa Barbara from 2019-2021. She stepped down in the summer of 2021 to start a family. With over 10 years in digital marketing experience and content development, she is excited to be with Pacifica Graduate Institute to focus on strategic and effective online communications.
