Mar20
A Free Online Overview with Jennifer Gruczelak and Michelle Domingo
Department of Transformative Inquiry
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.
Close Video
Transforming Academia through Transdisciplinarity
What does it mean to do creative work beyond a single discipline? Professor Alfonso Montuori explains how academia has marginalized creativity and why we’re bringing it back.
CIIS’ Transformative Inquiry programs have been intentionally online since their inception: our doctoral program was among the first of its kind, and we have over 30 years of experience facilitating rich, engaging online learning. We believe asynchronous conversation fosters thoughtful interaction and deep learning, and provides opportunities for students with additional responsibilities to discover the education that works with their schedules.
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 designed for students with a passion for leadership who want to make a difference in the world. Through self-exploration and dynamic courses with a community of like-minded individuals, they develop the skills to realize their vision.
Department of Transformative Inquiry
Our unique online Ph.D. goes beyond traditional academic boundaries to unite leading-edge transdisciplinary research, self-inquiry, and global perspective. Students develop creative scholarship that meets the complexity and potentials of this fast-changing age.
Round Table for Creative Futures
Transformative Studies faculty combat the despair and increasingly dystopian expectations of the future, and share how creativity can be used to inspire hope and action.
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 Radiant Rest podcast, Professor Jeanine Canty discusses her book Returning the Self to Nature: Undoing Our Collective Narcissism and Healing Our Planet. During the conversation she shares knowledge from the field of ecopsychology about the potential to repair our relationships to ourselves and to our world.
The Power of Somatic Dreams
Professor Daniel Deslauriers' essay “Heart-Knowing, Somatic Dreaming, and Trans-subjectivity: A Scholarly Personal Narrative,” published in ReVision: A Journal of Consciousness and Transformation, explores the power of somatic dreams and intersubjectivity. Such dreams, he notes, often engage deep philosophical questions and can help bring meaning and insight to critical questions in life.
On Creativity and Partnership
In conversation with the Center for Partnership Systems, Professor Alfonso Montuori explains his work in the department's Creative Futures Focus, and the necessity of imagination to better collective futures. He also explores the links between creativity, relationship-building, and improvisation and asks listeners to consider if they sufficiently value relational creativity.
Our Upcoming Events
Oct11
Attend the Fall Open House on October 11, 2025 to get to know your admissions counselors and learn more about CIIS' bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. programs.
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