Summer Semester runs May 11 to Aug 23, 2025. Insights course dates are noted below.
Graduate Courses
Log in to your Populi account to register. Note that a non-refundable deposit of $200 must be paid by Dec 22. (Deposit will be refunded if class is cancelled.) Tuition rates
Goddess Traditions T6805
A study of Goddess images and traditions in a variety of cultures from prehistory to the modern age, including history, values, beliefs, practices, and ethical systems associated with ancient Goddess imagery for a contemporary society.
Instructor: Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.
Zoom class meetings: Wednesdays, 5:30 PM ET
Required Texts: in process
The Stuff of Religion: Cultural Materialities and Establishing the Sacred T5998
This special topics course analyzes religion through its material cultures and considers the ways that practitioners engage with this “stuff” of religion to establish individual and communal identity and to experience the sacred. By learning and utilizing the theoretical approaches of material religion and new materialism, we will learn how the human body functions as a site of religious experience through engaging with the world via the senses. Following, we will analyze select examples of populous religions as well as various syncretic and Neopagan traditions via these theoretical lenses. We will observe how engagement with various ritual technologies and aspects of religious material culture such as music, sculptures, relics, spaces, paintings, and the landscape function to facilitate religious experiences and refine religious identity.
Instructor: Padraic Fitzgerald, Ph.D.
Zoom class meetingsg: Fridays, 5:00 PM ET
Required texts:
Animism: Respecting the Living World 2nd ed. by Graham Harvey
A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects by S. Brent Plate
Key Terms in Material Religion by S. Brent Plate
Counseling Skills and Interventions P6201
Students learn counseling skills including development of basic rapport, active listening and effective use of questions. Psychotherapeutic interventions for specific populations and to address a variety of psychological issues are explored. Students begin to practice counseling skills with each other and with non-clinical populations. Prerequisite: P5106, Personality and Counseling Theories, or permission of instructor.
Instructor: Shane Nelson, Mdiv, MA, BCC, LPC, NCC
Zoom class meetings: Mondays, 5:00 PM ET
Required Texts:
Intentional Interviewing and Counseling: Facilitating Client Development in a Multicultural Society, 8th edition Ivey, Ivey, & Zalaquett. (2014).
Insights (4-week courses)
If this is your first time taking a class, go here for a one-time signup. The one time fee is $20. Tuition for all Insights courses are $85 for the four-week course unless otherwise noted.
If you have done the signup before, log in to your Populi account and click “Registration is now open” on the Dashboard. Payment is due no later than two weeks before start date.
Weather Witchery: connecting to our inner weather witch
Weather is something that connects us all, regardless of where we live. Typical weather magic centers around trying to manipulate the weather in some way, but let’s dig deeper. If we can connect the science of the weather to our magical practices, there is an abundant source of energy we can draw upon. As we work with weather magic, we become more attuned to the cycles of the earth and the seasons. As we learn the folklore of the weather, we are connected to that long line of those who watched the signs and the skies to foretell what was to come. We come to embody the storm, the wind, the clouds within our magical selves. In this workshop, we will learn some of the basic science around familiar weather patterns then see how that connects to the folklore surrounding them. Then we will brainstorm new ways to incorporate the energy of weather phenomena into our magical practice. Weather is all around us, why not use it as a magical ally?
Instructor: Debra Burris
Zoom class meetings: Tuesdays in May, 6:00 PM ET
Decolonizing Paganisms
Like all Western spiritual traditions, Western Paganisms have developed in the context of Western colonialism. This class will do a deep dive into the history of colonization, the reality of settler colonialism in North America and elsewhere, and the history of Indigenous resistance. We will interrogate what decolonization means in concrete and non-metaphorical ways, explore the impulse of European and settler people to ‘indigenize’ in both far right and inclusive Paganisms, and ask what beginning to repair relationship to land and First Nations might look like for modern Pagans. We will address the complex history of witches in Western imagination, examine the role of the Enlightenment and European romantic nationalisms, talk about questions of cultural appropriation, and consider how Western Pagans can practice spiritual and cultural humility as we learn from each other.
Instructor: Cedar Monroe, MDiv
Zoom class meetings: Saturdays in June, 1:00-3:00 PM ET
Faith on Trial: Paganism & Religious Freedom in U.S. Law
This course will explore how U.S. Supreme Court decisions have shaped the religious landscape for Pagans and other minority faiths. Using landmark cases such as Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940), Employment Division v. Smith (1990), and Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado (2018), students will examine how religious freedom has been interpreted, expanded, and constrained over time. Special attention will be given to cases affecting Pagan practice, including legal battles over prison chaplaincy, religious land use, and the recognition of non-Abrahamic faiths in legal settings.
Through readings, case studies, and discussion, students will gain an understanding of the legal precedents that shape contemporary religious freedom, how these rulings impact modern Pagan practice, and what strategies Pagan communities have used to navigate legal systems. The course will also explore the broader implications of religious freedom jurisprudence, from Christian nationalism to the rise of religious exemptions as a legal strategy.
Instructor: Angela, Farmer, Ph.D.
Zoom class meetings: Saturdays in July, 10:00 AM ET
