DIALOGUE

HI everyone,

I'm thinking about proposing a new online master's degree at CIIS, where I'm department chair of East-West Psychology. As an initial step I'm putting the word out about what this could look like and whether there's enough interest to implement it. If this is something you'd consider enrolling in and would like more info about, please email me at cchalquist@ciis.edu. (For those not up for two years of MA studies, we'll be running the Certificate in Applied Mythology again early next year here at the Alliance; details forthcoming.)

Description of proposed MA:

The Master of Arts in Applied Mythology, Folklore, and Storytelling will offer 36 units of study in a variety of topics that illuminate the complex interdependencies of story, myth, legend, meaning, dream, fantasy, and psychology. Students will learn about myths and legends from around the world and apply that knowledge to inner growth and cultural analysis.

Every decision we make, ever step we take, every perception, plan, aspiration, struggle, and project begins in the fertile soil of culturally deposited, personally grown fantasy. We are as healthy, or unhealthy, successful or lost, asleep or awakened as the stories embedded in our lives, landscapes, institutions, and worldviews. Our deepest insights about ourselves, each other, and our place in the world take storied shape whether packed with facts or buoyed up by tradition.

“We are in trouble,” wrote Thomas Berry about worldwide political and ecological crisis, “because we don’t have a good story.” It’s not a matter of insufficient data or technique. New stories about how and why we are here draw on ancient myths, legends, and ideas to enhance our sense of belonging in the cosmos. That in turn allows us to imagine better possibilities for living here today.

Students will also see and hear and learn from examples of exemplary storytelling while actively exploring how to tell richly evocative tales that highlight unconscious assumptions, important realities, and underlying truths while challenging the listener to imagine new possibilities for loving, working, and being.