CIIS Public Programs

In this episode Kirah Tabourn, educator, creator, and astrologer of THE STROLOGY, talks with Bay Area astrologer and medium Jessica Lanyadoo about her life and work, her book Astrology for Real Relationships, and how her book—and astrology more broadly—can be applied to a diverse set of relationships and our current times. This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on August 27, 2020.

Drawing on her decades of clinical experience with couples, and incorporating spiritual practices, social justice perspectives, current news stories, and neuro-scientific findings, Dr. Molly Howes has developed an unsparing, accessible and ultimately optimistic model for apologies. In this episode, Artificial Intelligence scientist and a Buddhist teacher Nikki Mirghafori talks with Dr. Howes about her work, her latest book, and how we can all learn to craft an effective apology. This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 20, 2020.

Sherri Mitchell (Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset) is a Native American attorney, teacher, and award-winning activist who grew up on the Penobscot Indian Reservation (Indian Island), Maine, and is the author of Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change. In this episode, she is joined in a conversation with healer and movement builder Brenda Salgado. Together they explore Native American mythology and cosmology as a means of healing our collective wounds. This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 1, 2020.

Whether you consider yourself an artist or not, viewing art is a creative act that can be a catalyst for inquiries into our world. In this episode, writer, artist, and curator Cindy Shearer explains how viewing artworks from the vantage point of its makers allows us to experience art-making from the inside out—drawing from what undergirds art in all forms as information and inspiration. This episode was recorded live in person in the Desai | Matta Gallery at CIIS on November 15, 2018.

Fifty years after meaningful efforts toward civil rights, the US remains overwhelmingly unjust. Our current solutions to make the world more equitable and just—from desegregation to diversity and representation—are not enough. In this episode, somatic psychologist Sherri Taylor talks with author Calvin Baker about his book A More Perfect Reunion, in which he presents a profound, masterful reading of US history from the colonial era forward, along with a trenchant critique of the obstacles in our current political and cultural moment. It is also a timely call to action. Calvin and Sherri's conversation reminds us that we live in a revolutionary democracy and that we are at a crucial moment to finish the revolution. This episode was recorded during a live online event on July 23, 2020.

As the first Latinx person to direct national domestic policy issues, Cecilia Muñoz knows the difficulties of getting ahead without trailblazers to follow. In her latest book, More than Ready, she offers lessons inspired by both the challenges she faced and the victories she achieved in the White House. Cecilia’s own life and work taught her tactical tools, tools that women of color can look to, and be inspired by, to reach unprecedented levels of power and success—without compromising who they are. In this episode, Sonia Mañjon, Executive Director of LeaderSpring Center, talks with Cecilia about working through fear, overcoming injustices, facing down detractors, and more. This episode was recorded during a live online event on July 9, 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to more fully reveal injustices, inequities, and imbalances that contribute to climate change, ecological degradation, and economic instability that threaten our individual and collective well-being. This potent time invites us to consider questions like: How can we cultivate individual, collective, and ecological resilience in this unstable new reality? What lessons does the pandemic offer for addressing climate change and human health? This episode features Natalie Metz, CIIS faculty in Professional Psychology and Health, and Elizabeth Allison, CIIS faculty in Religion and Ecology, in a conversation exploring connections between human health and the health of the planet. They discuss the current global narratives in medicine and climate change, and how each narrative relates to human and planetary health. Natalie and Elizabeth explore the microcosm and macrocosm of embodied health and the emergence of a new consciousness that embraces collective well-being. This episode was recorded during a live online event on June 18, 2020.

When facing anxiety, we usually try to make it go away. But what if this emotion was actually trying to help? According to empathy pioneer and author Karla McLaren, when we ignore or repress our anxiety, it can overwhelm us, but when we learn to welcome anxiety, we can access its remarkable gifts. In this episode, Karla is joined by licensed psychologist Elizabeth Markle for an in-depth conversation on anxiety as an essential source of foresight, intuition, and energy. Drawing from her latest book, Embracing Anxiety, Karla shares practices for befriending your anxiety at any level and illuminates how this vital emotion—when engaged wisely—can help you focus, plan, take action, and fulfill your goals. This episode was recorded during a live online event on June 24, 2020.

As social distancing becomes a new way of life, connecting with friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors can be difficult and stressful. Suddenly we find ourselves in a new social landscape at a time when we need our communities most. Many are experiencing feelings of isolation and depression. All over the world, from balcony sing-alongs to Zoom graduation parties, people are finding new ways to connect to each other. What does this new normal mean for our mental health? How can we cultivate, maintain, and grow our relationships in these difficult times? In this episode recorded during a live online conversation on June 11, 2020, CIIS faculty and therapist Christine Brooks and author of Millenneagram Hannah Paasch explore human connection in COVID-19 and beyond. They talk about connection at this time, drawing upon knowledge of the enneagram and other tools for understanding yourself and those around you.

As he approached his 30th birthday, Sopan Deb found comfort in his day job as a writer for the New York Times and as a practicing comedian. But his stage material highlighting his South Asian culture only served to mask the insecurities borne from his family history. Theirs was an ostensibly nuclear family without any of the familial bonds. In Sopan’s latest book, Missed Translations, he raises the essential questions: Is it ever too late to pick up the pieces and offer forgiveness? How do we build bridges where there was nothing before—and what happens to us, to our past and our future, if we don’t? In this episode, Alka Arora, Associate Professor of Women’s Spirituality at CIIS, talks with Sopan about the silence and ignorance that separate us, and the blood and stories that connect us. This episode was recorded during a live online conversation on June 3, 2020.