Doctor of Arts Program – Private
Ecological Psychology: Doctor of Arts Program
There are remarkable processual movements among ecological processes, elemental composition, patterns of lifeforms and landscapes, and that of the universe as a whole, setting humanity within the wider deeper scheme of things.
DA Program Overview
Doctor of Arts in Ecological Psychology & Environmental Humanities
3-year, 90-quarter credit program
Academic term: Quarter system. There are 3 courses per 10-week quarter.
The Doctor of Arts in ecological psychology is a terminal degree.
The Study of Ecological Psychology
Ecological psychology recognizes that we live with a complex and responsive planet that acts upon us (all life forms) as much as we act upon the planet. Melting ice shelves and glaciers are a pressing example.
Problems communities face today, from climate disasters, ecological and social justice conflicts, lack of access to education, physical and mental health, and economic fairness, to the destruction caused by ecocide, culturecide, and genocide are not new.
These interrelated problems stem from human narratives and their practices – from our psychology.
Therefore, Viridis Graduate Institute has designed unique graduate programs that develop ecological literacy and psychological capacities necessary for reconfiguring detrimental narratives and practices underpinning our communal and planetary problems.
Essentially, ecological psychology and environmental humanities redefine what it means to be human in a world of intra-related realms and processes of which we are a part and carry shared responsibilities.
Transformative Education
Students change narratives. The Doctor of Arts in ecological psychology is an advanced study of transforming detrimental narratives that underpin every human behavior and practice affecting social and ecological despoliation.
The complexities of the world and a climate crisis require different narratives and practices affecting changes in policy, ecological and social justice actions, and practices for planetary livability.
Doctoral degree graduates advance processes and principles of ecological psychology that are the most effective tools for making the necessary changes at the community, organizational, institutional, and global levels.
The Practice of Ecological Psychology
Graduates practice as non-licensed ecopsychology professionals, ecological psychologists (much like environmental or conservation psychologists), cultural ecologists, ecological sociologists, and social or cultural ecologists.
Additionally, graduates will possess the skills and capabilities most sought by organizations, corporations, academics, and communities to be successful in their chosen professions.
Program Fit
There is a fittingness of wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Biome. Our aim at Viridis is for this program to be a good fit for you and to inspire ways for you to be effective in your chosen profession.
The D.A. program is excellent for educators, healthcare professionals, sustainability executives, environmental managers, energy industries, conservation and land restoration, community/urban design, civic governance and policy-making, community activists, artists, nonprofit executives, theologians, and economists.
The program also serves anyone who wishes to gain applicable knowledge and ways to apply ecopsychology in their lives.
Clinical and Therapeutic Application
Students already licensed in the health care professions are able to immediately apply ecological psychology in their clinical and therapeutic practices.
Viridis Graduate Institute is listed on The American Psychological Association’s (APA) Division 34 website, which includes Ecopsychology, Environmental, Conservation, and Population Psychology.
Unique Curriculum
The unique curriculum focuses on reconfiguring detrimental narratives. Students study energy exchange, diversity, decay & renewal, change, and relationality as ecological and psychological processes to accomplish this.
Course examples, which are found in detail in our catalog, include core ecological psychology courses, narrative foundations of ecopsychology, humans & landscapes, contemporary narratives, ecotoxicology, climate crisis, art, image & perception change, ecological ethics, native science and indigenous epistemologies, business ecologies, and applications.
Completion of the Doctor of Arts program requires passing two comprehensive exams, successful completion of a doctoral project, and oral defense.
Terminal Degree
The Doctor of Arts (D.A.) is a terminal degree and an alternative to a traditional research-based Ph.D. The Doctor of Arts terminal degree in higher education is acknowledged and respected academically and professionally across industries.
The purpose of the Doctor of Arts degree is to offer advanced ecological literacy and psychological capabilities for immediate application in a chosen profession or a new enterprise.
All doctoral students may earn a masters-in-passing degree upon successfully completing the first comprehensive examination and 48 graduate quarter credits from Viridis Graduate Institute.
What is Ecological Psychology (ecopsychology)?
Pathways for Ecopsychological Application
We Look Forward to Your Involvement!