Course Descriptions
Philosophy (PHI)
PHI 501 – The Wisdom of Classical Philosophy
This course is a survey of classical philosophy and the evolution of the concepts of consciousness in classical philosophy. The Pre-Socratic thinkers provide us with a glimpse into what Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus and Proclus developed into a system of thought of lasting beauty and profundity. (3 credits)
PHI 503 – The Birth of Consciousness in Early Greek Thought
During a period of history that the modern philosopher Eric Voegelin named The Great Leap of Being, a few thinkers on the fringes of the Greek world began to explore the nature of the cosmos and with it the nature of human being. These natural philosophers included Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides and Anaxagoras. These thinkers were the most important of those who began to write and think about the cosmos using a new language, rejecting the mytho-poetic language of Homer and Hesiod. An important addition to course material will be a consideration of the Eleusinian and Delphic Mysteries and their relation to a new vision of consciousness. (3 credits)
PHI 514 – Determinism, Reductionism and Final Causes in Physics
The conceptual foundation of physics went through several paradigm shifts since the time when Galileo and Newton introduced the empirical scientific method of modern science. For the first period, lasting three centuries, the largely accepted worldview was a strictly deterministic and perfectly predictable universe, with all its events evolving in an absolute space and time. With the advent of Einstein’s theory of relativity, our intuitive notions of space and time were shown to be no longer appropriate to describe physical reality. Planck’s pioneering work on black body radiation initiated the theory of quantum mechanics, leading to a crisis of determinism, casting doubts on the reductionist understanding of the universe. These conceptual developments will be addressed in this course with an eye, also, on how the philosophical speculations of science on the final causes in nature developed with these scientific revolutions. (3 credits)
PHI 522 – Emerson & American Idealism
This course will explore the work and thought of American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson through the development of what came to be known as Transcendentalism. We will study how this philosophy developed from the Perennial Philosophy through European Idealism to become a unique expression of a vital philosophical vision. What today we call New England Transcendentalism was born in the town of Concord, Massachusetts in the 1830s, when its founder and leader, Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote and anonymously published a brief (90 page) book entitled Nature. Intellectuals, including Harvard professors and Unitarian ministers, saw in the book an articulation of new ideas building on principles from the Perennial Philosophy, Neoplatonism, and German Idealism. This course will explore the central ideas of Emerson’s vision in the light of its connection to European Idealism, panpsychism, and Neoplatonism. (3 credits)
PHI 531 – The Hermetic Tradition
The Corpus Hermeticum consists of fifteen tractates or texts and fragments collected into a coherent teaching during the first through third centuries CE. These rare and insightful dialogues combine spiritual, philosophic and religious themes from ancient Egyptian, early Christian and traditional Hebrew materials into a synchronous whole, with the added importance of expanding in great depth upon those traditions to answer difficult questions and offer new interpretations of familiar accounts. The Corpus came to us through Cosimo du Medici and his friend and scholar Marcilio Ficino, who in fifteenth century Florence translated the materials from the Greek into Latin. The legendary figure Hermes Trismetistus, or Thoth in Egyptian tradition, is the teacher of these great principles of the wisdom traditions. (3 credits)
PHI 532 – Conceptions & Experiences of the Afterlife
What happens when you die? Scholars and theologians throughout history have sought to answer this question. This course explores the “afterlife” as described by the major religious traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism), the Greek philosophers and religionists, the Eleusinian and Orphic Mystery schools, and the teachings of spiritualism and Theosophy. Questions about heaven, hell, and purgatory will be explored; as will some of the phenomena associated with the afterlife, such as reincarnation, resurrection, the survival of the disembodied soul, and intermediate post-mortem states as described by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and the folklore surrounding vampires and zombies. The possible communication with the dead as detailed in spiritualism will be contrasted with the more scientific method of “cross-correspondence.” (3 credits)
Psychology (PSY)
PSY 502 – Consciousness and Creative Communication
This course examines the experiential basis of the psychology of interpersonal relationships. Study will explore types of inner communications in which we engage, the power of attention, levels of interactivity, imagery dialogue, inner communications, mood, our “inner critic” and how it can be countered creatively with the help of an “inner advisor.” (3 credits)
PSY 503 – Self-Regulation: The Foundation of Human Potential
This course covers the principles and processes of self-regulation that underlie human potential for health and wellness. Psychophysiologic self-regulation and the psychophysiology of stress and relaxation are described. Students will be introduced to a variety of self-regulation procedures such as Autogenic Training, visualization and short relaxation techniques. Mental and emotional characteristics of the healthy person are described and strategies for enhancing personal well-being are outlined. The course concludes with a consideration of cultural forces that promote wellness, and a broad view of personal and social well-being. (3 credits)
PSY 504 – Relational Gestalt
Fritz Perls and Paul Goodman, the founders of Gestalt theory and practice, were focused on the idea that therapy has moved us away from our bodies, our senses and our feelings. The mind has become too dominant and has removed us from our human experience. Dr. Perls once said, “Lose your mind and come to your senses.” The form of therapy that developed out of this concept focused on the individual’s sensory experience of the “here and now,” and the phenomenological method was evolved to allow each person to find the language to communicate his/her moment-to-moment experience. The course will explore the other pillars of Gestalt theory and practice; Perls and Goodman’s concepts of awareness, figure/ground, the between, I-Thou; Lewin’s Field Theory; Beisser’s Paradoxical Theory of Change, and how Gestalt has moved from the individualist approach of Perls to the relational theory and practice formulated by Gary Yontef and Lynne Jacobs, which is an expanded field theory. The mind has been returned to us as an experiential dimension. In discussing therapy practice, we will focus on the evolution of the idea of transference to one of Enduring Relational Themes and working with trauma and shame. We will work together to understand the complexity of our experience and how to work with that complexity in the practice of therapy. (3 credits)
PSY 506 – Essentials of Mind-Body Medicine
This course begins with experiential data on mind-body healing in some detail, then expounds the essence of alternative healing practices such as acupuncture, ayurveda, homeopathy, and other spirit-mind centered therapies, and body centered therapies such as yoga. Can consciousness heal the body of disease as claimed in all spiritual traditions and as vindicated by the data? This question is discussed with the help of recent ideas of quantum healing and science within consciousness. Finally, it explores the subject of wellness and creativity of the body. (3 credits)
PSY 511 – Alchemy and Psychotherapy
Alchemy was a natural science that represented an attempt to understand the material phenomena in nature. However, as C.G. Jung tells us, everything unknown and empty is filled with psychological projection; and what the alchemists saw, or thought they saw in matter, was chiefly the data of their own unconscious processes. Consequently, an understanding of alchemical processes and stages is a fertile source for understanding and facilitating the experimental modes of the psychological transformation that Jung called individualization, that lies at the heart and soul of depth psychotherapy. This course will consider alchemical symbolism and images as they concretize these experiences of transformation in psychotherapy, including an examination of the mystery of the conjunction as it unfolds in psychotherapy. (3 credits)
PSY 512: Mythic Stories in Depth Psychology
Mythic patterns in stories reflect a broad range of human concerns. The key is reading their psychological symbolism. The realms of magic, dream and fantasy, the familiar wisdom tales, connect us with dimensions beyond ordinary experience—and offer an illuminating vision to enlarge our sense of place and purpose. (3 credits)
PSY 513 - Dreams and the Quest for Meaning
Students will explore the vast and eternally mysterious realm of human dream experience, focusing on the profound influence of dreaming on the world’s religious and spiritual traditions—for dreaming can truly be said to represent a primal wellspring of religious experience, insight and wisdom. Each of the first seven lectures concentrates on one particular tradition, describing the surprisingly sophisticated dream beliefs and practices of “pre-modern” peoples. The course highlights the revolutionary discoveries of the two great twentieth-century dream psychologists, Sigmund Freud and C.G. Jung. And finally, recent findings regarding the neuropsychological functioning of the brain/mind system during sleep and dreaming; and the future of dream research, the prospects for a better understanding of the power of dreams to inspire creativity, heal illness, anticipate future possibilities, and promote spiritual development. (3 credits)
PSY 515 - Tarot and Transformation
Our pursuit of knowledge stems from an archetypal need. This need, as reflected through the energies of mystery and magic that characterize our primordial traditions, gave form to our western way of thinking. This course introduces Tarot as a tool for personal transformation that incorporates a very complex and sophisticated system of knowledge hidden within image-concepts and pictorial insinuations. We will place Tarot within an historical perspective, and we will explore some of the major currents that have helped define Tarot as we know it today, including shamanism, astrology, Gnosticism, magic, alchemy, Neoplatonism, Cabala and depth psychology. All these trends are part of the so-called Hermetic tradition. Arcanum means mystery and images are the language of the soul, and of our psyche. As we explore the major and minor arcana in Tarot, we will enter a cosmology that is intimately interwoven with the way that we perceive and interpret the world. Tarot accrues meanings and layers of interpretation through time. It facilitates a deeper understanding of ourselves and of the numinous qualities of our existence. These lectures attempt to help the students discover deep mysteries hidden within each one of us, as we enter the mystical and mystifying world of images and symbols encrypted in the cards. (3 credits)
PSY 521 - Spiritual Psychology
This course examines the spiritual implications of major Western psychologies including those of Freud, Jung, Roberts, and Maslow. It also compares Western psychologies with the Eastern spiritual psychologies found in Yoga, Zen Buddhism, and Sufism. (3 credits)
PSY 523 - Buddhist Psychology and Methods of Healing
This course addresses the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist theories of the nature and functions of the mind and of the ways in which the mind and body interact and influence each other. It also addresses the ways in which these theories have influenced the Buddhist medical theories and practices and the manner in which the Buddhist contemplative and yoga practices have been influenced by Buddhist medical knowledge. This course will review the history and therapeutic role of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist psychology in particular and the history and soteriological role of Buddhist medicine in general. (3 credits)
PSY 532 - Near-Death Experiences and Paranormal Phenomena
Course lectures bring to light critical weaknesses in three traditional perspectives on the paranormal: parapsychology, “skeptical” scientism, and fundamentalist demonology. The course will close with a prospectus for exciting future research that portends to shed light on the mystery of life after death. (3 credits)
Religion (REL)
REL 501 - World Religions
This course offers a review of all the great spiritual traditions of the world. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, and so forth, are introduced with emphasis on both Judeo-Christian and Eastern thought on consciousness. (3 credits)
REL 502 - A New Myth of God: The Religious Function of the Psyche
This course explores the Judeo-Christian myth at the core of the Western psyche for millennia. The image of God at the center of this myth is no longer alive for many people. Dr. Corbett articulates a New Myth, emerging from the heart of Jungian religious writing, involving our conscious relationship with personal
REL 511 - Understanding the Bible
This course explores an alternative approach to the Bible’s essential teachings in its spiritual, literary and poetic significance. It aims to understand how the Biblical words came to those who first heard them as well as how we understand them today. Before anyone asks “What does the Bible say?” one should first ask, “What did it say?” Until one puts on the sandals of a first century person and hears the biblical word as it was first announced, one may not fully grasp its meaning. (3 credits)
REL 512 - The Wisdom of Islam
This course examines Islam as one of the world’s universal wisdom traditions. Students will look at Islam from the inside. The course will help students understand the deep appeal of the world’s most controversial and also fastest growing religion. Topics covered will include the life of the Prophet, the Qur’an, the five pillars of Islam, Islamic history, major Muslim thinkers, the poet Rumi, other Sufi mystics, and developments in Islam today. (3 credits)
REL 513 - Wisdom of the Kabbalah
This course focuses on the central teachings of Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition that emerged in twelfth-century Provence and profoundly influenced European spirituality. We will explore the themes of Ein Sof (God as “Infinity”), Ayin (the divine “no-thing-ness”), Shekhinah (the feminine “presence” of God), and Raising the Sparks (discovering God in everyday life). (3 credits)
REL 520: Gods and Monsters: Understanding our Hopes and Fears
When we think about the most powerful beings in our symbolic worlds, we come immediately to gods and monsters. While each is charged differently (positively and negatively), a closer look reveals that they actually exist on the same continuum. Gods represent our best hopes, while monsters symbolize our greatest fears. In this ten-week study, we examine the psychological and cultural meanings of this symbolizing process. We will draw from the academic disciplines of anthropology, literature, mythology, philosophy, politics, psychology, and sociology as we examine gods and monsters in literature, film, and television. (3 credits)
REL 523 - Buddhism in the Modern World
In this modern age in which science and religion seem to be in such deep conflict, Buddhism appears as an integrated system that incorporates religious belief, philosophical analysis, and scientific inquiry. The foundation of the theory and practice of Buddhism focuses on the realities of suffering, its source, liberation and the path to liberation. This course will discuss the central themes of early Buddhism and its later developments in India and Tibet; these ancient teachings will be integrated with contemporary fields of knowledge, including psychology, physics and medicine. (3 credits)
REL 525 - Mythologies: Theories and Meanings of Myth
This course explores the theories and meanings of mythology in the contemporary world. Using theoretical lenses developed by mythologists such a Joseph Campbell and Roland Barthes, students will explore both world mythologies and contemporary myths to understand the depth and breadth of mythology and its functions. The course culminates with a UNESCO workshop on Myth in the World with students presenting their research on the mythology of a particular group and area. (3 credits)
MCS/MTP 701 – Thesis
The Masters Thesis in Consciousness Studies or Transformational Psychology is a reflection of students’ ability to analyze a research topic drawn from their UPR curriculum. In the thesis creativity and critical thinking combine with disciplinary and interdisciplinary acumen generate new knowledge in the world. As such, students should follow the best practices of academic writing and research by using effective argumentation, scholarly sources, and objective evidence. Students are expected to work closely with their thesis advisors in formulating their particular topic and the methodology. The thesis should be no less than 60 double-space pages or 12,500 words and no more than 120 double space pages or 25,000 words. Any exception must be approved by the President and the Dean.
Philosophy (PHI)
PHI 501 – The Wisdom of Classical Philosophy
This course is a survey of classical philosophy and the evolution of the concepts of consciousness in classical philosophy. The Pre-Socratic thinkers provide us with a glimpse into what Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus and Proclus developed into a system of thought of lasting beauty and profundity. (3 credits)
PHI 503 – The Birth of Consciousness in Early Greek Thought
During a period of history that the modern philosopher Eric Voegelin named The Great Leap of Being, a few thinkers on the fringes of the Greek world began to explore the nature of the cosmos and with it the nature of human being. These natural philosophers included Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides and Anaxagoras. These thinkers were the most important of those who began to write and think about the cosmos using a new language, rejecting the mytho-poetic language of Homer and Hesiod. An important addition to course material will be a consideration of the Eleusinian and Delphic Mysteries and their relation to a new vision of consciousness. (3 credits)
PHI 514 – Determinism, Reductionism and Final Causes in Physics
The conceptual foundation of physics went through several paradigm shifts since the time when Galileo and Newton introduced the empirical scientific method of modern science. For the first period, lasting three centuries, the largely accepted worldview was a strictly deterministic and perfectly predictable universe, with all its events evolving in an absolute space and time. With the advent of Einstein’s theory of relativity, our intuitive notions of space and time were shown to be no longer appropriate to describe physical reality. Planck’s pioneering work on black body radiation initiated the theory of quantum mechanics, leading to a crisis of determinism, casting doubts on the reductionist understanding of the universe. These conceptual developments will be addressed in this course with an eye, also, on how the philosophical speculations of science on the final causes in nature developed with these scientific revolutions. (3 credits)
PHI 522 – Emerson & American Idealism
This course will explore the work and thought of American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson through the development of what came to be known as Transcendentalism. We will study how this philosophy developed from the Perennial Philosophy through European Idealism to become a unique expression of a vital philosophical vision. What today we call New England Transcendentalism was born in the town of Concord, Massachusetts in the 1830s, when its founder and leader, Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote and anonymously published a brief (90 page) book entitled Nature. Intellectuals, including Harvard professors and Unitarian ministers, saw in the book an articulation of new ideas building on principles from the Perennial Philosophy, Neoplatonism, and German Idealism. This course will explore the central ideas of Emerson’s vision in the light of its connection to European Idealism, panpsychism, and Neoplatonism. (3 credits)
PHI 531 – The Hermetic Tradition
The Corpus Hermeticum consists of fifteen tractates or texts and fragments collected into a coherent teaching during the first through third centuries CE. These rare and insightful dialogues combine spiritual, philosophic and religious themes from ancient Egyptian, early Christian and traditional Hebrew materials into a synchronous whole, with the added importance of expanding in great depth upon those traditions to answer difficult questions and offer new interpretations of familiar accounts. The Corpus came to us through Cosimo du Medici and his friend and scholar Marcilio Ficino, who in fifteenth century Florence translated the materials from the Greek into Latin. The legendary figure Hermes Trismetistus, or Thoth in Egyptian tradition, is the teacher of these great principles of the wisdom traditions. (3 credits)
PHI 532 – Conceptions & Experiences of the Afterlife
What happens when you die? Scholars and theologians throughout history have sought to answer this question. This course explores the “afterlife” as described by the major religious traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism), the Greek philosophers and religionists, the Eleusinian and Orphic Mystery schools, and the teachings of spiritualism and Theosophy. Questions about heaven, hell, and purgatory will be explored; as will some of the phenomena associated with the afterlife, such as reincarnation, resurrection, the survival of the disembodied soul, and intermediate post-mortem states as described by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and the folklore surrounding vampires and zombies. The possible communication with the dead as detailed in spiritualism will be contrasted with the more scientific method of “cross-correspondence.” (3 credits)
Psychology (PSY)
PSY 502 – Consciousness and Creative Communication
This course examines the experiential basis of the psychology of interpersonal relationships. Study will explore types of inner communications in which we engage, the power of attention, levels of interactivity, imagery dialogue, inner communications, mood, our “inner critic” and how it can be countered creatively with the help of an “inner advisor.” (3 credits)
PSY 503 – Self-Regulation: The Foundation of Human Potential
This course covers the principles and processes of self-regulation that underlie human potential for health and wellness. Psychophysiologic self-regulation and the psychophysiology of stress and relaxation are described. Students will be introduced to a variety of self-regulation procedures such as Autogenic Training, visualization and short relaxation techniques. Mental and emotional characteristics of the healthy person are described and strategies for enhancing personal well-being are outlined. The course concludes with a consideration of cultural forces that promote wellness, and a broad view of personal and social well-being. (3 credits)
PSY 504 – Relational Gestalt
Fritz Perls and Paul Goodman, the founders of Gestalt theory and practice, were focused on the idea that therapy has moved us away from our bodies, our senses and our feelings. The mind has become too dominant and has removed us from our human experience. Dr. Perls once said, “Lose your mind and come to your senses.” The form of therapy that developed out of this concept focused on the individual’s sensory experience of the “here and now,” and the phenomenological method was evolved to allow each person to find the language to communicate his/her moment-to-moment experience. The course will explore the other pillars of Gestalt theory and practice; Perls and Goodman’s concepts of awareness, figure/ground, the between, I-Thou; Lewin’s Field Theory; Beisser’s Paradoxical Theory of Change, and how Gestalt has moved from the individualist approach of Perls to the relational theory and practice formulated by Gary Yontef and Lynne Jacobs, which is an expanded field theory. The mind has been returned to us as an experiential dimension. In discussing therapy practice, we will focus on the evolution of the idea of transference to one of Enduring Relational Themes and working with trauma and shame. We will work together to understand the complexity of our experience and how to work with that complexity in the practice of therapy. (3 credits)
PSY 506 – Essentials of Mind-Body Medicine
This course begins with experiential data on mind-body healing in some detail, then expounds the essence of alternative healing practices such as acupuncture, ayurveda, homeopathy, and other spirit-mind centered therapies, and body centered therapies such as yoga. Can consciousness heal the body of disease as claimed in all spiritual traditions and as vindicated by the data? This question is discussed with the help of recent ideas of quantum healing and science within consciousness. Finally, it explores the subject of wellness and creativity of the body. (3 credits)
PSY 511 – Alchemy and Psychotherapy
Alchemy was a natural science that represented an attempt to understand the material phenomena in nature. However, as C.G. Jung tells us, everything unknown and empty is filled with psychological projection; and what the alchemists saw, or thought they saw in matter, was chiefly the data of their own unconscious processes. Consequently, an understanding of alchemical processes and stages is a fertile source for understanding and facilitating the experimental modes of the psychological transformation that Jung called individualization, that lies at the heart and soul of depth psychotherapy. This course will consider alchemical symbolism and images as they concretize these experiences of transformation in psychotherapy, including an examination of the mystery of the conjunction as it unfolds in psychotherapy. (3 credits)
PSY 512: Mythic Stories in Depth Psychology
Mythic patterns in stories reflect a broad range of human concerns. The key is reading their psychological symbolism. The realms of magic, dream and fantasy, the familiar wisdom tales, connect us with dimensions beyond ordinary experience—and offer an illuminating vision to enlarge our sense of place and purpose. (3 credits)
PSY 513 - Dreams and the Quest for Meaning
Students will explore the vast and eternally mysterious realm of human dream experience, focusing on the profound influence of dreaming on the world’s religious and spiritual traditions—for dreaming can truly be said to represent a primal wellspring of religious experience, insight and wisdom. Each of the first seven lectures concentrates on one particular tradition, describing the surprisingly sophisticated dream beliefs and practices of “pre-modern” peoples. The course highlights the revolutionary discoveries of the two great twentieth-century dream psychologists, Sigmund Freud and C.G. Jung. And finally, recent findings regarding the neuropsychological functioning of the brain/mind system during sleep and dreaming; and the future of dream research, the prospects for a better understanding of the power of dreams to inspire creativity, heal illness, anticipate future possibilities, and promote spiritual development. (3 credits)
PSY 515 - Tarot and Transformation
Our pursuit of knowledge stems from an archetypal need. This need, as reflected through the energies of mystery and magic that characterize our primordial traditions, gave form to our western way of thinking. This course introduces Tarot as a tool for personal transformation that incorporates a very complex and sophisticated system of knowledge hidden within image-concepts and pictorial insinuations. We will place Tarot within an historical perspective, and we will explore some of the major currents that have helped define Tarot as we know it today, including shamanism, astrology, Gnosticism, magic, alchemy, Neoplatonism, Cabala and depth psychology. All these trends are part of the so-called Hermetic tradition. Arcanum means mystery and images are the language of the soul, and of our psyche. As we explore the major and minor arcana in Tarot, we will enter a cosmology that is intimately interwoven with the way that we perceive and interpret the world. Tarot accrues meanings and layers of interpretation through time. It facilitates a deeper understanding of ourselves and of the numinous qualities of our existence. These lectures attempt to help the students discover deep mysteries hidden within each one of us, as we enter the mystical and mystifying world of images and symbols encrypted in the cards. (3 credits)
PSY 521 - Spiritual Psychology
This course examines the spiritual implications of major Western psychologies including those of Freud, Jung, Roberts, and Maslow. It also compares Western psychologies with the Eastern spiritual psychologies found in Yoga, Zen Buddhism, and Sufism. (3 credits)
PSY 523 - Buddhist Psychology and Methods of Healing
This course addresses the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist theories of the nature and functions of the mind and of the ways in which the mind and body interact and influence each other. It also addresses the ways in which these theories have influenced the Buddhist medical theories and practices and the manner in which the Buddhist contemplative and yoga practices have been influenced by Buddhist medical knowledge. This course will review the history and therapeutic role of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist psychology in particular and the history and soteriological role of Buddhist medicine in general. (3 credits)
PSY 532 - Near-Death Experiences and Paranormal Phenomena
Course lectures bring to light critical weaknesses in three traditional perspectives on the paranormal: parapsychology, “skeptical” scientism, and fundamentalist demonology. The course will close with a prospectus for exciting future research that portends to shed light on the mystery of life after death. (3 credits)
Religion (REL)
REL 501 - World Religions
This course offers a review of all the great spiritual traditions of the world. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, and so forth, are introduced with emphasis on both Judeo-Christian and Eastern thought on consciousness. (3 credits)
REL 502 - A New Myth of God: The Religious Function of the Psyche
This course explores the Judeo-Christian myth at the core of the Western psyche for millennia. The image of God at the center of this myth is no longer alive for many people. Dr. Corbett articulates a New Myth, emerging from the heart of Jungian religious writing, involving our conscious relationship with personal
REL 511 - Understanding the Bible
This course explores an alternative approach to the Bible’s essential teachings in its spiritual, literary and poetic significance. It aims to understand how the Biblical words came to those who first heard them as well as how we understand them today. Before anyone asks “What does the Bible say?” one should first ask, “What did it say?” Until one puts on the sandals of a first century person and hears the biblical word as it was first announced, one may not fully grasp its meaning. (3 credits)
REL 512 - The Wisdom of Islam
This course examines Islam as one of the world’s universal wisdom traditions. Students will look at Islam from the inside. The course will help students understand the deep appeal of the world’s most controversial and also fastest growing religion. Topics covered will include the life of the Prophet, the Qur’an, the five pillars of Islam, Islamic history, major Muslim thinkers, the poet Rumi, other Sufi mystics, and developments in Islam today. (3 credits)
REL 513 - Wisdom of the Kabbalah
This course focuses on the central teachings of Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition that emerged in twelfth-century Provence and profoundly influenced European spirituality. We will explore the themes of Ein Sof (God as “Infinity”), Ayin (the divine “no-thing-ness”), Shekhinah (the feminine “presence” of God), and Raising the Sparks (discovering God in everyday life). (3 credits)
REL 520: Gods and Monsters: Understanding our Hopes and Fears
When we think about the most powerful beings in our symbolic worlds, we come immediately to gods and monsters. While each is charged differently (positively and negatively), a closer look reveals that they actually exist on the same continuum. Gods represent our best hopes, while monsters symbolize our greatest fears. In this ten-week study, we examine the psychological and cultural meanings of this symbolizing process. We will draw from the academic disciplines of anthropology, literature, mythology, philosophy, politics, psychology, and sociology as we examine gods and monsters in literature, film, and television. (3 credits)
REL 523 - Buddhism in the Modern World
In this modern age in which science and religion seem to be in such deep conflict, Buddhism appears as an integrated system that incorporates religious belief, philosophical analysis, and scientific inquiry. The foundation of the theory and practice of Buddhism focuses on the realities of suffering, its source, liberation and the path to liberation. This course will discuss the central themes of early Buddhism and its later developments in India and Tibet; these ancient teachings will be integrated with contemporary fields of knowledge, including psychology, physics and medicine. (3 credits)
REL 525 - Mythologies: Theories and Meanings of Myth
This course explores the theories and meanings of mythology in the contemporary world. Using theoretical lenses developed by mythologists such a Joseph Campbell and Roland Barthes, students will explore both world mythologies and contemporary myths to understand the depth and breadth of mythology and its functions. The course culminates with a UNESCO workshop on Myth in the World with students presenting their research on the mythology of a particular group and area. (3 credits)
MCS/MTP 701 – Thesis
The Masters Thesis in Consciousness Studies or Transformational Psychology is a reflection of students’ ability to analyze a research topic drawn from their UPR curriculum. In the thesis creativity and critical thinking combine with disciplinary and interdisciplinary acumen generate new knowledge in the world. As such, students should follow the best practices of academic writing and research by using effective argumentation, scholarly sources, and objective evidence. Students are expected to work closely with their thesis advisors in formulating their particular topic and the methodology. The thesis should be no less than 60 double-space pages or 12,500 words and no more than 120 double space pages or 25,000 words. Any exception must be approved by the President and the Dean.