Home > The Sophia Center > Master's Degree Semester Format

Semester Program & Course Descriptions

The Sophia Center's basic academic course of study offers a Master's degree in nine months. It is designed for those who can become full-time students for a traditional late August through May academic year. A rich diversity of courses designed to focus and amplify your spirit.

At the heart of the Sophia Center's course of study is the fourfold wisdom that Thomas Berry offers as a guide to the future: the wisdom of indigenous peoples, the wisdom of women, the wisdom of the classical traditions and the wisdom of science. Our nine-month program for a master's degree or Sophia certificate offers a rich choice of courses that focus and amplify this wisdom.

Students may also attend this program on a part-time basis, completing their course of study on a schedule that fits their personal needs. Residential arrangements are available on campus. This program may also be taken on a part-time basis over more than two semesters.

Fall 2012 The Great Work

Spirituality of Earth, Art and Spirit

A new cosmology (the emerging narratives of universe, evolution, and geo-justice) that is reshaping human experience on earth and drawing us forward toward an engaged cosmology through the celebration of compassion, creativity and depth.

Jim Conlon, PhD is the director of the Holy names university/Sophia Center. he has degrees in chemistry, theology, social science and culture and spirituality.

Brian Swimme, PhD is a cosmologist and a professor on the graduate faculty as the California Institute of Intergal Studies.

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Evolving on Purpose

Examines the general nature of evolution, the function of humans in the evolutionary process, —a broad philosophical perspective and detailed analysis. We will envision the evolutionary future, and outline ways in which we can participate more fully in making that future real.

Eric Weiss, MFT, PhD is a professor of Philosophy and Cosmology at HNU/Sophia Center and at the California Institute of Integral Studies; he is also a psychotherapist in private practice.

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Mystics and the New Story

The persistence and universality of mysticism raises crucial questions: Are we all, by our very nature, mystics-in-the-making? Visionaries under heavy cover? Out of the great "flaring-forths" of spiritual awareness – in ancient India, for examples, and the Middle East, and medieval Europe… come riveting stories of men and women whose lives seem to challenge everything we thought we knew about evolution… and ourselves… suggesting that mysticism is, indeed, a powerful evolutionary force in human consciousness.

Carol Lee Flinders, PhD specializes in medieval studies and is author of Enduring Grace, Enduring Live and At the Root of This Longing.

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Painting as Spontaneous Expression

We will use painting as a tool for self-discovery and spiritual exploration. The "Point Zero Method" is a radical way of dissolving creative blocks.

Patrick Houck is a landscape architecture and is the owner of a garden design and installation business and teaches process painting workshops with Michelle Cassou.

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Tai Chi

A Chinese exercise system that emphasizes deep breathing, centering energy and slow, balanced posture to enhance coordination and awareness.

Michelle Dwyer, AA has been teaching Chinese healing and art and martial arts for over 30 years

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Indigenous Wisdom Through Stories

Using African Diasporic wisdoms (creation, love, honor, trust, forgiveness, celebration, among others) as an anchor, we will find commonalities among indigenous cultures across continents and investigate how our ancestral stories were formed through folklore, music, song, dance, legends and mythologies. Holding core wisdoms found in our ancestral stories as templates, we will explore ancient rhythms, songs, and movement that might be relevant in serving us as we find our way home into new embodied understanding of our humanity now and in developing new wisdoms for our future.

Afia Walking Tree, M.Ed is a percussionist, instructor, lead facilatator, ritualist, world-class percussionist, cultural ambassador, spiritual activist, empowerment facilitator, and leadership development advocate and trainer.

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Archetypal Mythology in Dream-Work

In this course we will discuss major archetypal motifs from our own and other cultural mythologies. Exploring through dream-work is a creative and alchemical experience which can be powerfully transformative and healing.

Barry Friedman, PhD, MFT is a psychotherapist and historian of religion practicing in the East Bay.

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Honoring the Sacred Landscape: Eco-Psychology and Deep Listening to the Rivers of Night and Day

Through the rivers of meditation, poetics, dreams and deep listening to the landscape(s), both real and imaginal, participants will journey between the worlds to bring forth the mystery of the internal and external sacred through actions of the creative process. Students will engage with great inner heart, envisioning the consciousness of the landscape, the song of the cosmos, from pattern awareness to pattern re-creation, to dream incubation – engaging the possibilities of re-imaging our personal and collective experience of and with the natural world.

Catherine Firpo, PhD holds a Doctorate in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology. "As an artist, writer, and educator I work with the synthesis of visual imagery and archetypal elements woven into patterns of individual and collective psyche. My emphasis includes the magnificence and mystery of the creative process within each individual that I believe allows new perspectives and global intelligence to come forward with collective awareness and compassion into our world."

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Music and Evolution of Consciousness

We will be examining the mysterious act of human music making through the lens of Jean Gebser's perspectives on the evolution of consciousness. Through the process of opening one's ears and hearts to music that might otherwise feel unapproachable or even vexing (as in 20th century music in the "classical" tradition), and feeling into its beauty as a manifestation of deep layers of human consciousness, we cannot help but walk away with a renewed sense of human creativity. Music may not, however, be simply a reflection of shifts in consciousness; we will also discuss the possibility of its being a signpost of what is to come: that, given the appropriate attention, music may offer us glimpses into the dissolution of the old and the irruption of the new. Through a fun, creative process of investigating sound through listening exercises, drawing, poetry, and, of course, the intellect and discussion students will walk away with a new relationship to music that will only deepen over time.

Paul McNees, is an artist, writer, musician, educator, and philosophy student who moves fluidly between the worlds of education, music/art, and metaphysics. As a doctoral student at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Paul is currently piecing together a dissertation exploring the deep mysteries of human music making.

Spring 2013 Spirituality of Earth, Art & Spirit

Geo-Wisdom, Cosmology and the Human Spirit

Designed to evoke an inclusive and integral human presence that is open the divine and awake to the ultimate mystery of life. Through empirical observation and through a dynamic integration of creation spirituality and the New Universe Story, participants will prepare to engage in the Great Work of creating a mutually enhancing world for every species.

Jim Conlon, PhD, is the director of the Holy Names University/Sophia Center. He has degrees in chemistry, theology, social science and culture and spirituality.

Brian Swimme, PhD is a cosmologist and a professor on the graduate faculty as the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Sophia Reinders PhD, MFT, REAT, is an associate adjunct faculty member at CISS. She is a body-oriented Jungian psychotherapist, a Registered Expressive Artis Therapist (REAT) and a certified lyengard yoga teacher.

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Indigenous Wisdom Through Embodied African Music, Dance, and Village Culture

Investigate, through embodied practices, how our indigenous wisdoms were formed within African Diasporic ancestral folklore, music, dance, village culture, and mythologies and the relevance for human evolution today. In this course each participant will locate her/himself and find commonalities among indigenous culture across continents that speak to legacies practiced and revered … and the legends/oracles, myths/magic and mysteries that are guides and maps for our continued evolution. We will play drums, learn songs, stories and dances that help us to engage with these known wisdoms.

Afia Walking Tree,Med, is a percussionist, instructor, lead facilitator, ritualist, world-class percussionist, cultural ambassador, spiritual activist, empowerment facilitator, and leadership development advocate and trainer.

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Tai Chi

A Chinese therapeutic exercise system and moving meditation that emphasizes slow, balanced postures and calmness of mind. Physically the practice of Tai Chi brings constant improvement in balance, coordination, flexibility and strength. Mentally and spiritually it helps improve awareness, confidence, focus, joy living and progress toward tranquility of heart and mind.

Michelle Dwyer, AA. has been teaching Chinese healing arts and martial arts for over 30 years locally, nationally and internationally.

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Visions of the Future

In this class we will work together to develop a vision of the new integral ecozoic/theozoic civilization that is emerging at this time on our planet. This new civilization will require its own philosophy, its own aesthetics, its own ethics, and its own new approach to the technological and political enterprises. Using ideas drawn from Sri Aurobindo, Teilhard de Chardin, Alfred North Whitehead and Jean Gebser, we will explore what this new civilization might look like, and what we can do now to bring that civilization into full expression on Earth.

Eric Weis, MFT, PhD is a professor of Philosophy and Cosmology at HNU/Sophia Center and at the California Institute of Integral Studies; he is also a psychotherapist in private practice.

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Mystics in the Modern World

Religious cultures were the natural habitat of mystics like the Compassionate Buddha and Teresa of Avila. What does the life of a mystic look like when it unfolds, instead, in a world that is wildly heterodox, materialistic, obsessed with science and technology? And what happens to that world when it does?

Carol Lee Flinders, PhD specializes in medieval studies and is author of Enduring Grace, Enduring Live and At the Root of This Longing.

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Painting as Spontaneous Expression

We will use painting as a tool for self-discovery and spiritual exploration. The "Point Zero Method" is a radical way of dissolving creative blocks.

Patrick Houck is a landscape architecture and is the owner of a garden design and installation business and teaches process painting workshops with Michelle Cassou.

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The Ecstasy of Sound: Music as a Spiritual Practice

Vibration is at the core of all that exists in the universe. Many cultures have long believed that the world itself was created through sound, and some believe that illness is a musical problem, a result of a lack of harmony in the system. In this class we will explore music as a spiritual practice and a path to opening our hearts and uncovering our true nature. We will engage in a wide range of musical experiences from traditional and contemporary traditions, designed to open our hearts and create equanimity, joy, ecstasy, and healing. Our time together will include sessions of toning, chanting, harmony and rhythm, improvisational sounding, meditation and silence, in a safe, humorous and sacred environment. No musical experience is necessary.

Jennifer Berezan, MA is an internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter/recording artist and teacher. She is a unique blend of poet, musician and music healer.