Inspired by the grassroots women's spirituality and feminist movements around the world, the Women's Spirituality program at CIIS offers courses that celebrate the worldwide presence of women's spiritual culture. Women's Spirituality here is understood as broad and inclusive, encompassing women's experience of the sacred, physicality and sexuality, perceptions of self, society and of Earth community, and women's biological, psychological, mental and spiritual development. A primary professional goal is to empower women to participate ever more fully in the global culture of the 21st century. Thus, the program encourages embodied scholarship which encompasses feeling, imagination, expressive and cognitive skills, spiritual insight, and social and cultural activism.
Creativity is nurtured through the visual, literary, performing, and ritual arts.
An appreciation of diversity is fostered through a multicultural approach that includes the experiences of women throughout history and across geographical boundaries. The program takes seriously the pioneering work of Dr. Marija Gimbutas, who provided archaeological and mythological evidence of neolithic Old Europe's cultural origins in comparatively peaceful, egalitarian, and artistic spiritual communities centered primarily on the symbolism of the Goddess. Gimbutas' work, carried forward by Joan Marler and others, serves as foundation for coursework in the field of archaeomythology. An integral part of an embodied scholarship, these courses invite students to honor the innate wisdom of the body and to experience our feelings as important teachers. The program's approach also is grounded in the philosophy and practice of ecofeminism, which honors the interrelatedness of all life forms and celebrates the embeddedness of all people in the Earth's cycles of life.