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At CIIS the departments of East-West Psychology and the Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing MFA share a vision of interdisciplinary education and creative scholarship. Join the departments for the June 11th CIIS info fair to learn more!

To express that vision, CIIS EWP & MFA are offering joint programming to help you further develop as an artist and a scholar. Plus, with an accelerated timeline and instructors who offer real-world professional guidance, you can meet your educational and artistic goals affordably.

M.A. and Accelerated MFA
Ph.D. and Accelerated MFA
Ph.D. with Creative Dissertation Pathway

Many congratulations to Dr. Gabrielle Lou, the very first PhD graduate on the new Creative Dissertation Pathway, a joint program between @ciismfa and @east_west_psychology

Title:
Cyclical Attunement: Co-Creating with More-Than-Human Consciousness Through Embodied Artistic Practice

By Gabrielle Luo, PhD Candidate in East-West Psychology/Creative Dissertation Pathway

ABSTRACT
This art practice as research explores how cyclical embodiment, particularly through the lens of the menstrual cycle serves as a mode of perception and a framework for artistic inquiry. Situated within an interdisciplinary context that joins ecopsychology, ecofeminism, phenomenology, and Indigenous and Eastern philosophies, this practice brings forth how these cyclical rhythms shape relational engagement with the more-than-human world. Through a multi-modal artistic methodology—including plein air painting, sculptural weaving with gathered natural materials, poetry, and reflective journaling— this practice documents two complete menstrual cycles of sustained co-creative practice with Pacific Northwest landscapes. The findings reveal that each phase of the menstrual cycle gives rise to distinct means of engagement, ranging from embodied receptivity and attunement to outward exploration, material amalgamation, and integrative reflection. Within these recurring cycles of creativity, transmutation emerged as an essential process, describing a fundamental change in experience for all involved in the relational encounters. Transformation, in turn, is witnessed as the cumulative pattern that unfolded across cycles of transmutation. These findings suggest that artistic practice can serve as a site for relational exchange between body—both conscious and subconscious— and landscape. Ultimately, this study proposes cyclical embodiment as a form of ecological knowing, presenting creativity as a participatory and relational process.

Keywords: artistic research, creativity, menstrual cycle, more-than-human

Dissertation Chair: Cindy Shearer, DA
Second Member: Debashish Banerji, PhD
External Member: Joy Sawyer, MA

Jacqueline Allen Trimble is an award-winning poet, writer and educator. She is also Poet Laureate of Alabama. We are proud to say she is a CIIS MFA Mentor and Adjunct Faculty Member.

A unique feature of our MFA is the mentorship program. Over the course of the degree graduate students are paired with four art professionals who act as mentors supporting our MFAs as they hone their craft or develop new skills. This one-on-one support expands students’ creative range and prepares them for the next steps as an art professional.

Join us for our May 5th info sessions! 11am-12pm EWP and 5pm-6pm MFA. CIIS has a wide range of unique graduate programs including the new EWP MA in Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies &joint degrees between East West Psychology and the Masters in Fine Arts! RSVP to learn more!

✨New EWP Degree✨

EWP MA in Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies provides a firm grounding in these traditions over the course of a two-year program. The contemplative traditions of South and East Asia can play a significant role in restoring meaning and wholeness for the modern world, as well as diasporic Asians seeking deep connections with their roots.The concentration also offers a certificate in Yoga Studies for interested students.

✨EWP & MA Joint Degrees✨

M.A. and Accelerated MFA Your artistic and academic paths will converge as you complete an M.A. in East-West Psychology and then take only one year to complete an MFA.

Ph.D. and Accelerated MFA Your art and scholarship will be mutually enriching as you work toward exceptional academic achievement. Complete your Ph.D. coursework and then a one-year MFA, and earn a doctorate enriched by creative insight.

Ph.D. with Creative Dissertation Pathway Earn your doctorate by producing original work based on your art practice. Spend equal time in your East-West Psychology and MFA coursework and then complete a dissertation of original work based on your art practice.

Join us for our May 5th info sessions! 11am-12pm EWP and 5pm-6pm MFA. CIIS has a wide range of unique graduate programs including the new EWP MA in Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies &joint degrees between East West Psychology and the Masters in Fine Arts! RSVP to learn more!

✨New EWP Degree✨

EWP MA in Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies provides a firm grounding in these traditions over the course of a two-year program. The contemplative traditions of South and East Asia can play a significant role in restoring meaning and wholeness for the modern world, as well as diasporic Asians seeking deep connections with their roots.The concentration also offers a certificate in Yoga Studies for interested students.

✨EWP & MA Joint Degrees✨

M.A. and Accelerated MFA Your artistic and academic paths will converge as you complete an M.A. in East-West Psychology and then take only one year to complete an MFA.

Ph.D. and Accelerated MFA Your art and scholarship will be mutually enriching as you work toward exceptional academic achievement. Complete your Ph.D. coursework and then a one-year MFA, and earn a doctorate enriched by creative insight.

Ph.D. with Creative Dissertation Pathway Earn your doctorate by producing original work based on your art practice. Spend equal time in your East-West Psychology and MFA coursework and then complete a dissertation of original work based on your art practice.

Join us for our May 5th info sessions! 11am-12pm EWP and 5pm-6pm MFA. CIIS has a wide range of unique graduate programs including the new EWP MA in Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies &joint degrees between East West Psychology and the Masters in Fine Arts! RSVP to learn more!

✨New EWP Degree✨

EWP MA in Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies provides a firm grounding in these traditions over the course of a two-year program. The contemplative traditions of South and East Asia can play a significant role in restoring meaning and wholeness for the modern world, as well as diasporic Asians seeking deep connections with their roots.The concentration also offers a certificate in Yoga Studies for interested students.

✨EWP & MA Joint Degrees✨

M.A. and Accelerated MFA Your artistic and academic paths will converge as you complete an M.A. in East-West Psychology and then take only one year to complete an MFA.

Ph.D. and Accelerated MFA Your art and scholarship will be mutually enriching as you work toward exceptional academic achievement. Complete your Ph.D. coursework and then a one-year MFA, and earn a doctorate enriched by creative insight.

Ph.D. with Creative Dissertation Pathway Earn your doctorate by producing original work based on your art practice. Spend equal time in your East-West Psychology and MFA coursework and then complete a dissertation of original work based on your art practice.

So many graduate degree options to explore during our May 5th online info sessions. Get curious about your future with CIIS — sessions per program details below, RSVP links in our bio!

✨May 5th 11am-12pm
✨East-West Psychology Online Info Session
✨Including pathway details for the Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies MA
✨A Faculty-Led Info Session with Adrian Villasenor-Galarza

✨May 5th 5pm-6pm
✨Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing Online Info Session
✨A Faculty-Led Info Session with Cindy Shearer

Curious about our @ciismfa or joint programs with @east_west_psychology ? Use the link in bio to sign up for the May 5, 5:00pm Pacific Time Info Session!

📹The new book from MFA founding department chair Cindy Shearer, Stay With Writing: Practices for Sustaining the Writer’s Work and Life is out now on @bloomsburybooksus

The Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing MFA program gives students a chance to focus on their own practice in a collaborative, co-creative setting. Our unique degree focuses on the vital role of inquiry in art-making, the value for artists to engage across forms and disciplines, and the advancement of our students as artists in the world.

Joint degrees also available:

M.A. and Accelerated MFA
Your artistic and academic paths will converge as you complete an M.A. in East-West Psychology and then take only one year to complete an MFA.

Ph.D. with Creative Dissertation Pathway
Earn your doctorate by producing original work based on your art practice. Spend equal time in your East-West Psychology and MFA coursework and then complete a dissertation of original work based on your art practice

A special course from Prof. Andrej Grubačić not taught in over 5 years, this Fall! Crosslisted between @ciismfa and @anthciis

10am to 1pm pacific time, Sept 4, Oct 2, Nov 6, and Dec 4!

ANTH-6126 Situationism: Everyday Revolutions in the Society of Spectacle (1-1 Credits)
Dada, Surrealism, Situationism. These movements were not simply theoretical interventions, and certainly not examples of bourgeois art. They were, and to an extent they continue to be, subversive political revolutions that resist cultural museification and ideological mummification. In our class on situationism, we will read the seminal works by and about the situationists, interrupted with the occasional brick-breaking dialectical film feature.

Video description: Alex Burger talks with The Market Theater about the 2024-2025 production of The Cry of Winnie Mandela an adaptation of the beloved novel by Njabulo Ndebele.

Alex Burger is a playwright and activist who brings his global experience into the CIIS MFA classroom, teaching art as transformation, crisis as creative fuel, and offering one on one mentorship to students.

(full video can be seen on The Market Theater's facebook)

Interested in finishing your bachelor’s degree, or fast tracking from a BA to Master's program? @ciis_sus is the place for you! Link in @ciis_sus bio to sign up for the next Info Session April 16, 6pm Pacific Time, to learn more!

All of the unique degree completion programs offered at CIIS are student-centered and value the personal development of each individual. Our innovative cohort model allows students to remain with the same group throughout the program, building relationships and co-creating knowledge. The online format means adult learners can remain flexible while engaging in a rigorous, transformative program.
Whether the journey leads to a graduate program, a career promotion, deepened work in the community, arts or social justice work or a passion project, our programs support your dreams and visions.

Also, consider pursuing an accelerated graduate degree with possibilities including the following programs and many more!
@anthciis
@east_west_psychology
@ciismfa

Our Bachelor’s to Graduate Accelerated Pathways allow students to complete graduate courses as undergraduates. Students are able to double-count the units for both degrees and pay undergraduate tuition. Students can save an estimated $20k in graduate tuition with an accelerated pathway.
Sign up for the Info Session to learn more!”

MFA7104 is a keystone course for our graduate students, grounded in the belief that curiosity about one’s work and world are valuable and related to each other—and it provides you the chance to engage inquiry as a discrete act (a way to ask specific questions) and a way to probe larger contexts.

Sample course readings:
Abraham, Tree. Cyclettes, The Unnamed Press, 2022
MariNaomi, I Thought You Love Me, Fieldmouse Press, 2023
Parson, Annie-B. The Choreography of Everyday Life, Verso, 2022

Through readings, visits with guest artists, interdisciplinary exercises, or arts activities, we’ll ask: What environments allow a question to thrive and become the working matrix for your art? Which questions arise for you in the context of what art or arts practices?

*please note syllabus readings are updated/refreshed regularly according to new publications and development in the field*

MFA7104 is a keystone course for our graduate students, grounded in the belief that curiosity about one’s work and world are valuable and related to each other—and it provides you the chance to engage inquiry as a discrete act (a way to ask specific questions) and a way to probe larger contexts.

Sample course readings:
Abraham, Tree. Cyclettes, The Unnamed Press, 2022
MariNaomi, I Thought You Love Me, Fieldmouse Press, 2023
Parson, Annie-B. The Choreography of Everyday Life, Verso, 2022

Through readings, visits with guest artists, interdisciplinary exercises, or arts activities, we’ll ask: What environments allow a question to thrive and become the working matrix for your art? Which questions arise for you in the context of what art or arts practices?

*please note syllabus readings are updated/refreshed regularly according to new publications and development in the field*

MFA7104 is a keystone course for our graduate students, grounded in the belief that curiosity about one’s work and world are valuable and related to each other—and it provides you the chance to engage inquiry as a discrete act (a way to ask specific questions) and a way to probe larger contexts.

Sample course readings:
Abraham, Tree. Cyclettes, The Unnamed Press, 2022
MariNaomi, I Thought You Love Me, Fieldmouse Press, 2023
Parson, Annie-B. The Choreography of Everyday Life, Verso, 2022

Through readings, visits with guest artists, interdisciplinary exercises, or arts activities, we’ll ask: What environments allow a question to thrive and become the working matrix for your art? Which questions arise for you in the context of what art or arts practices?

*please note syllabus readings are updated/refreshed regularly according to new publications and development in the field*

MFA7104 is a keystone course for our graduate students, grounded in the belief that curiosity about one’s work and world are valuable and related to each other—and it provides you the chance to engage inquiry as a discrete act (a way to ask specific questions) and a way to probe larger contexts.

Sample course readings:
Abraham, Tree. Cyclettes, The Unnamed Press, 2022
MariNaomi, I Thought You Love Me, Fieldmouse Press, 2023
Parson, Annie-B. The Choreography of Everyday Life, Verso, 2022

Through readings, visits with guest artists, interdisciplinary exercises, or arts activities, we’ll ask: What environments allow a question to thrive and become the working matrix for your art? Which questions arise for you in the context of what art or arts practices?

*please note syllabus readings are updated/refreshed regularly according to new publications and development in the field*

MFA7104 is a keystone course for our graduate students, grounded in the belief that curiosity about one’s work and world are valuable and related to each other—and it provides you the chance to engage inquiry as a discrete act (a way to ask specific questions) and a way to probe larger contexts.

Sample course readings:
Abraham, Tree. Cyclettes, The Unnamed Press, 2022
MariNaomi, I Thought You Love Me, Fieldmouse Press, 2023
Parson, Annie-B. The Choreography of Everyday Life, Verso, 2022

Through readings, visits with guest artists, interdisciplinary exercises, or arts activities, we’ll ask: What environments allow a question to thrive and become the working matrix for your art? Which questions arise for you in the context of what art or arts practices?

*please note syllabus readings are updated/refreshed regularly according to new publications and development in the field*

MFA7104 is a keystone course for our graduate students, grounded in the belief that curiosity about one’s work and world are valuable and related to each other—and it provides you the chance to engage inquiry as a discrete act (a way to ask specific questions) and a way to probe larger contexts.

Sample course readings:
Abraham, Tree. Cyclettes, The Unnamed Press, 2022
MariNaomi, I Thought You Love Me, Fieldmouse Press, 2023
Parson, Annie-B. The Choreography of Everyday Life, Verso, 2022

Through readings, visits with guest artists, interdisciplinary exercises, or arts activities, we’ll ask: What environments allow a question to thrive and become the working matrix for your art? Which questions arise for you in the context of what art or arts practices?

*please note syllabus readings are updated/refreshed regularly according to new publications and development in the field*

Interested in finishing your bachelor’s degree with @ciis_sf ? Use @ciis_sus link in bio to sign up for the next Info Session April 16, 6pm Pacific Time, to learn more!

All of the unique degree completion programs offered at CIIS are student-centered and value the personal development of each individual. Our innovative cohort model allows students to remain with the same group throughout the program, building relationships and co-creating knowledge. The online format means adult learners can remain flexible while engaging in a rigorous, transformative program.
Whether the journey leads to a graduate program, a career promotion, deepened work in the community, arts or social justice work or a passion project, our programs support your dreams and visions.

Also, consider pursuing an accelerated graduate degree with possibilities including the following programs and many more!
@anthciis
@east_west_psychology
@ciismfa

Our Bachelor’s to Graduate Accelerated Pathways allow students to complete graduate courses as undergraduates. Students are able to double-count the units for both degrees and pay undergraduate tuition. Students can save an estimated $20k in graduate tuition with an accelerated pathway.
Sign up for the Info Session to learn more!”

In the words of MFA alum Jenna Bean Veatch, finding kindred spirits in the arts is rare. Connection is waiting for you at CIIS! Join us for our April 7th online (1-2pm PDT) info session to learn more about this unique interdisciplinary program! RSVP in bio.