Feb22
Attend the Spring Open House on February 22, 2025 to get to know your admissions counselors and learn more about CIIS' bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. programs.
Department of Transformative Inquiry
Self-reflection, self-inquiry, and personal growth combined with rigorous academic inquiry and action in the world
In an era of increasing complexity with ever-multiplying challenges and opportunities, there is a critical need for wisdom and vision in a wide array of settings, from education and the environment to businesses and local communities. Our programs frame education as a creative, transdisciplinary process and integrate a focus on personal growth, action in the world, and explorations of the possible.
CIIS’ Transformative Inquiry programs have been intentionally online since their inception. We believe asynchronous conversation fosters thoughtful interaction and deep learning, and provide opportunities for students with additional responsibilities to discover the education that works with their schedules.
Round Table for Creative Futures
CIIS Professor Alfonso Montuori and CIIS alumna Professor Gabrielle Donnelly were curious how to combat the despair and increasingly dystopian expectations of the future, and how creativity specifically could be used to inspire hope and action.
Our online Ph.D. in Transformative Studies focuses on the development of creative, transdisciplinary, leading-edge research in a context where academic research, self-inquiry, and global context are intimately related.
Our online master’s degree in Transformative Leadership is designed for students who have a passion for leadership in their personal lives and who want to make a difference in the world. They will work in a community of like-minded individuals to develop the skills and personal qualities needed to make their vision a reality.
Our Programs
Through rigorous academic study and deep personal inquiry, our programs provide the framework to envision, and engage in transformative change.
Department of Transformative Inquiry
This two-year, online master’s is a non-traditional degree program for creative, passionate, innovative leaders.
Department of Transformative Inquiry
We are committed to exploring leading-edge issues in innovative ways that combine scholarship, creativity, and self-inquiry.
Faculty Research and Scholarship
Our faculty have a broad range of research interests including: systems thinking as a catalyst for personal and social change, consciousness, education reform, creativity and improvisation, personal growth, leadership development, future studies, coaching, and spiritual intelligence.
Returning The Self To Nature
In this episode of the Public Programs Podcast professor Jeanine Canty discusses her book, Returning the Self to Nature, and uses the lens of ecopsychology to show that the pervasive and extreme forms of narcissism we find in many modern societies are the result of alienation from the natural world. This conversation is about how we can move beyond a world that revolves around selfish and disconnected identity models, and step into healthy relationships with ourselves, our communities, and our planet.
Transformative Leadership and the Unapologetic Leader
In her article for the Journal for Values Based Leadership Director Jocelyn Chapman explores the unexpected and necessary traits to be an innovative, successful leader.
Possibilities in Postnormal Times
In the inaugural issue of the new journal, Possibilities Studies and Society, professor Alfonso Montuori explores several current studies that point to a view of human beings as having greater capacities, potentials, and possibilities than is conventionally discussed.
Our Upcoming Events
Mar04
A Faculty-Led Info Session with Jennifer Wells
Mar20
A Free Online Overview with Jennifer Gruczelak and Michelle Domingo
Our Department in Action
Alumni News
At each CIIS Open House event, a community panel of faculty and alumni discusses what drew them to CIIS and their experiences at the University.
Faculty News
A new review of the Handbook for Creative Futures, edited by CIIS lecturer Dr. Gabrielle Donnelly and Professor Alfonso Montuori, celebrates its value as a guide to finding hope in hard times.
Alumni News
Our Graduating Student Reflection Speech at the 56th Convocation Ceremony of California Institute for Integral Studies