Today is Pacifica's Thesis Presentation Day for the M.A. Counseling Psychology Program. Surrounded by faculty, fellow cohort members, family, and friends, students will present their thesis, sharing their scholastic findings and passion about issues they care deeply about. We congratulate our class of 2015 on their tremendous achievements. Below is a summary of the thesis process followed by the titles of these exquisite presentations.

There are all these tweets, but no one stops to listen to the birds song. -Mark Kelly, Pacifica's Lead Reference Services Librarian

I feel guilty sometimes working in the social media space of marketing. I wonder if I am I just flooding the internet with more babble, creating 'noise'. Am I a modern day Hermes only producing "instant forms of secular messages rather than spiritual or mythic messages"? And the truth is sometimes I myself want to unplug from my own social media accounts because it's overwhelming.

Sigh.

The immediate response technologies that we have today are amazing though. 

We asked our Pacifica faculty for a list of films that have a Jungian theme in them and here are the top 10 movies that they came up with. I have to add that Lionel Corbett said "all movies have a Jungian theme." Tou·ché Dr. Corbett, tou·ché. 

"...we are here becoming depth psychologists and doctors of stories and working with the soul of the world..."

A guest post by Rae Johnson, Ph.D.

Like many of us over the past several months, I’ve listened, read, and talked a lot about the issues arising from the recent tragic deaths of black men at the hands of police – about systemic racism, institutionalized violence, and intersecting forms of oppression.  Although the words exchanged in these important conversations have been necessary to my developing understanding of the issues, it is the images that have haunted me. I've found myself poring over photographs of hundreds of people lying down in Harvard Square as part of a "die in" mass protest, replaying the surveillance video footage of Tamir Rice’s sister running to his aid, and returning again and again to the photograph of Devonte Hart hugging Portland Oregon police officer Bret Barnum. The potency of these simple bodily gestures strikes a chord inside me that the words alone don't quite reach. 

But I say to you, my friends, as I move to my conclusion, there are certain things in our nation and in the world which I am proud to be maladjusted and which I hope all men of good‐will will be maladjusted until the good societies realize. I say very honestly that I never intend to become adjusted to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry. I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism, to self‐defeating effects of physical violence…"

On Sunday, January 18, 2015, Pacifica Graduate Institute hosted a lecture and panel discussion honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Ladera Lane Campus. The event was co-sponsored by Pacifica’s Alumni Association and the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara. Below is the taped live event.

Are we following our inner calling and giving our best self to society?

Dr. Bernardo Nante, founder and president of the Fundación Vocación Humana (Human Vocation Foundation) was a recent guest lecturer at Pacifica. This fifteen-minute lecture from Dr. Nante explores the meaning of vocation and how a person can begin to 'hear' their inner calling. Utilizing forgotten resources Dr. Nante attempts to recover the wisdom of our elders of the past helping us to follow our dharma and reach the full potential of our being.

Click the read more button to view the video. 

A guest post by Dr. Aaron Kipnis, Ph.D.

For many people, a graduate degree marks one of their greatest achievements. As the first in my family to gain one, some described my journey from high school dropout to PhD as, “going for the gold.” How did high attainment come to be associated with gold? Why don’t we tell Olympic athletes to: “go for the stainless steel?” It’s shiny too—but gold prevails.

PGIAA Proudly Announces the 2015 Recipients of the Wendy Davee Award for Service and the Chancellor's Award for Excellence

Award Ceremony to be held Friday, January 16^th
at 2015 Annual Meeting -“Coming Home”

 
We are honored to announce the recipients of two annual awards presented by the Alumni Association in partnership with Pacifica’s Office of the Chancellor.  Our recipients will be honored during the Association’s upcoming Annual Meeting, “Coming Home”.  Plan now to join us for The Chancellor’s Opening Reception as we celebrate our alums.