Master of Arts in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion
San Francisco, USA
DURATION
2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
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EARLIEST START DATE
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TUITION FEES
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STUDY FORMAT
Distance learning
Scholarships
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Introduction
CIIS’ online master’s degree in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion emphasizes an embodied, engaged approach in which contemplative practice and career exploration complement rigorous study. Our master's students are motivated by their deep concern for the state of Earth and their determination to find creative solutions for the future. In an engaged learning community with faculty and peers, students examine ecological issues from a variety of religious studies, social science, and policy perspectives.
Our graduates pursue professional careers in academia, the nonprofit sector, the arts, and other paths involving human-animal relations, religious rites and practices, ecopsychology, ecofeminism, environmental humanities, wilderness studies, and related themes. Our innovative and diverse faculty work to shape the global dialogue linking spirituality, religion, and cosmology with ecology and sustainability through research in environmental ethics, socio-ecology, evolutionary cosmology, theology, and religious studies.
Admissions
Curriculum
Over the course of the program, students become familiar with one or more religious traditions that resonate with them, as well as one or more specific ecological issues. After developing the ability to navigate the epistemological challenges in studying religion and ecology and the various approaches to the philosophy of religion, they will embark on creating a capstone experience that integrates their many insights.
Curriculum Highlights
PAR 6079 Ecology in a Time of Planetary Crisis (3 units) Ecology is the study of oikos, Greek for "household" or "home." What does it mean, existentially, to find that our home, Earth, is under threat as a result of human actions? This course provides a broad overview of the human imbrication in planetary systems. Beginning with an exploration of the patterns and processes identified by ecological science, such as emergence, chaos, competition, cooperation, and self-organization, we broaden into an examination of critical planetary issues, including climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, fresh water depletion, agriculture, fisheries collapse, and globalization. Framings of ecological issues are placed in dialogue with religious and spiritual views, allowing students to discuss the complex interconnected ways that worldviews, biophysical science, institutions, ethics and justice have shaped the current state of Earth.
PAR 6078 Theory and Method in the Integrative Study of Religion and Ecology (3 units) Scholarship that crosses disciplinary boundaries requires a unique set of tools and strategies. This course is devoted to exploring theoretical and methodological lenses that allow rigorous, imaginative, and sympathetic engagement with interlocutors from the diverse fields represented in the Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion concentration. Following a historical and critical introduction to the fields of religion and ecology, we investigate a range of methodological approaches and conclude with the application of these approaches to specific ecological case studies.
PAR 6057 Indigenous Lifeways and Ecology (3 units) Indigenous communities and traditions offer perspectives embedded in land-based practices and the spirits of place. In the context of settler colonialism and genocide, indigenous biocultural and ecological restoration intersects with food sovereignty, stewardship of ancestral lands and sacred sites, and environmental justice. The class will explore traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), as well as indigenous myths, symbols, and rituals that orient the human within Earth and the cosmos.
English Language Requirements
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