Colin Wright gave us this gem:
This person just got a PhD in human sexuality for a thesis about “How Queer Witches Heal Without Western Psychology” and why “magic” should be a “public health priority.”
From the abstract:
“What can queer pagan liminal healing practices teach therapists and other practitioners? Investigating the dichotomies of clinical versus spiritual and history versus present, as well as the inherent liminality between queer memory and queer futurity, aid us in understanding the many subaltern patterns of queer witch healing that are created in the absence of support from mental health fields of practice.”
Liminal AND subaltern – that is deeply impressive.
The dissertation was submitted to the – wait for it – California Institute of Integral Studies. Does that sound prestigiousy or what?
CIIS Academics
CIIS cultivates therapists, thought leaders, creatives, and activists through integral education — an embodied and whole-person approach to learning, teaching, and knowing.
Oh I see, that kind of “academics”. Thought leaders and creatives and activists are all…how shall I put this…self-described. Anyone can call herself a thought leader or creative or activist, without any board of qualification asking to see her credentials. In short there are no criteria, no barriers, no requirements. Therapists are a bit more…liminal?…being as how some kinds of therapists do have to have credentials, but I think people are still free to declare themselves therapists without having to know anything.
CIIS blends intellectual rigor with embodied practice, offering flexible formats and deeply relational learning environments. Whether online or in person, in community or in solitude, our students engage in transformative education that bridges theory and lived experience.
That sounds nice, but it also sounds like hokum. Furthermore, it tells us absolutely nothing. It’s just “we are good” but in more words.
It has a Department of Women’s Spirituality.
Our Women’s Spirituality programs at CIIS are rooted in deep exploration as a means to create extraordinary change.
The Department of Women’s Spirituality envisions a new kind of scholarship, one that puts our interconnectedness at the center of all that we know and do. We offer a transdisciplinary, multicultural, and socially engaged approach to the study of gender and spirituality.
It could talk that kind of toe-curling guff and still be a genuine college of some sort…but…that kind of guff is bound to repel any genuine academics, so I have to wonder what the faculty is like.
There’s one very odd thing about the photo on this page though. It shows a bunch of people on chairs in a big room that doesn’t resemble your basic classroom or seminar room. The odd part is: they are all women. It’s downright spooky.
Actually, on second look, more than one very odd thing. There are no desks. No laptops. No books. They’re just sitting in a big circle, having a good laugh. Inside the circle there’s a weird Magical table of some sort with totems on it. I guess it’s an interconnectedness seminar.
Leave a Reply