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Dear CIHS Community Members,
I hope everyone is enjoying summer. We are excited to include two articles in the August newsletter. First, Dr. Hope Umansky will be reviewing our successful CIHS Annual Conference, Uniting Science & Spirit: The Quest for a Sustainable Integrated Worldview that was held July 19, 20, & 21. Second, CIHS' PhD student in Integral Health, Terry Brabham, wrote about his experience developing ideas for research and study from his CIHS classes, and then having the opportunity to be a poster presenter at the Integral Theory Conference (ITC). Mr. Brabham pursued a line of research directly from his classwork, submitted it as a proposal, and we are very happy that he was invited to be a poster presenter.
Additionally, Dr. Thomas Brophy, Integral Sciences Consultant, also had a poster presentation at this conference. We are proud to say that we had both a CIHS professor and student with an independent poster presentation at the ITC conference. We asked Mr. Brabham to detail his process with you. I think you will enjoy it.
Please enjoy your summer!
Sincerely,
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Message from the Dean:
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"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." - Richard Buckminster Fuller Hello CIHS Community, Where else can one celebrate freedom of thought in quite the same way as at CIHS? This quote by R. Buckminster Fuller, thought leader, encapsulates what CIHS' subtle energy conference sets forth to accomplish each year. Each presenter, student, and attendee is invited to participate in building a new model of consciousness-based practice of optimal health, subtle energy studies, research, and healing. It is a new model of expansiveness and oneness that will help usher in this new age. CIHS' ability to embrace innovative research and practice, whether in our annual conference or classes, is unparalleled. We are thrilled at how the CIHS community came together for the July 2013 subtle energy conference. We had a record number of people on campus (over 100!) and the speakers were remarkable. This is particularly significant because it was a group of like-minded people together building community, generating research ideas, and forming professional, student, and social alliances. If you have not yet experienced what it is like to be in a community of individuals all dedicated to the same purpose where you can speak your truth about the essence of who we are as human beings, please come and visit us at CIHS. It truly is a feeling of coming home. I want to thank all of the presenters for bringing their knowledge and dedication to the field and sharing it with the CIHS community: Dr. Bill Tiller, Dr. Gary Schwartz, Dr. Beverly Rubik, Dr. Claude Swanson, Dr. Thomas Brophy, Dr. Shin Lin, Dr. Robert Alcorn, MD., Kamyar Hedayat, MD, Dr. Shamini Jain, Tiffany Barsotti, M. Th., and Dr. Paul Mills. All of the presenters and the entire CIHS community are engaged in building a new model for humanity based on a consciousness-based practice and science. It is exciting for all of us to be a part of it! Please see the photo of Dr. Bill Tiller, Venerable Sumden, who attended the CIHS conference on Saturday, a senior student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Dr. Hope Umansky, CIHS Dean. Dr. Nisha Manek was kind enough to invite Venerable Sumden to campus. We enjoyed having him in our community.   For CIHS students, the larger CIHS community offers a particularly unique opportunity to interface with pioneers, practitioners, researchers, authors, and clinicians in the field. CIHS students are exposed to dynamic cutting-edge research on the forefront of subtle energy studies and integral science. If you are interested in exploring how pursuing one of CIHS' innovate graduate degrees (BA completion, MA, and PhD) can facilitate your development academically, professionally, and spiritually, please make an appointment with me. We welcome you to join CIHS, a heart-centered progressive education; because it is time that all like-minded people in our community experience what it is like to be in a program that embraces the complex spiritual humanness of who we are in an academically rigorous setting. Fall quarter begins at CIHS September 30. The Fall course schedule will announced the last week of August. Registration for existing students is September 16-20. New students are able to register without penalty until the time the quarter begins. If you are interested in applying to CIHS' graduate school (or BA completion program), please email me, or visit our website. There is still time to apply before the start of Fall quarter. I look forward to hearing from you (Hope_Umansky@cihs.edu). Happy August! Hope Umansky, PhD Hope_Umansky@cihs.edu |
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Integral Theory Conference
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By Terry Brabham
(CIHS Student - Ph.D. in Integral Health Program)
I had the privilege this July of having been selected to do a poster presentation at the biennial Integral Theory Conference (ITC). Even before applying for admission to CIHS, I had started formulating a number of ideas to integrate into some type of program as my way of eventually making a difference in the world.
Along the way at  CIHS, I accrued an ever growing mountain of relevant material. I very much appreciate Dr. Cavnaugh's encouragement to start writing, Dr. Jelusich's positive and validating feedback, and Dr. Brophy's helpful feedback through a few revisions of my abstract submitted with my application to the ITC, as well as pointing out the then upcoming ITC conference in his Biofield course.
The title of my presentation was, "Neuroscience and Spiritual Development in Human Evolution: Methods in Early Childhood". The presentation abstract states, "The intent of this study is to propose an integrated set of themes and practices to be applied in the education and spiritually "oriented" development of prepubescent children with the intent of shifting the consciousness of humankind and society in a significant positive way consistent with Integral Theory. Though the topic of spiritual development in early childhood is controversial, it is argued that, drawing upon the latest research in developmental cognitive neuroscience combined with some elements of classical spiritual practices and applied in early childhood, we can significantly enhance neurological structures and cognitive capacity, thus laying a foundation for accelerated adult spiritual attainment and cognitive capacity."
"It is argued that the critical period of application is between conception and the age of puberty, when neural pruning takes place. This is the period in which humans experience the greatest neural plasticity. Classical spiritual practices can take many years in adulthood before mystical experiences or transrational capacities emerge. It is asserted that we can "prime the pump" for adult spiritual attainment more efficiently during the prepubescent period. It is proposed that this program will ultimately accelerate the formation of a new more spiritually advanced culture and associated social institutions."
"Some proposed areas of developmental cognitive neuroscience to be employed are related to the frequently cited contemporary theme, "How to build a better learner." Supporting material is drawn from a range of research encompassing fetal brain development, language development, attention or mental focus, executive function and self control, enhancement of cognitive processing speed, and neural pruning. Long term meditation, for example, has effects on developing the prefrontal cortex. However, other practices are more readily applicable and beneficial to younger children at a stage before they understand what meditation is, or to sit still."
My poster presentation was well received. A number of people requested my contact information, expressing a desire to follow up on my work, with some wanting to see the material more widely disseminated. All in all, I was both surprised and pleased with the results. The question remains, "What next?"
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