This list describes courses offered at Maitripa College between 2019 and 2024. Maitripa College faculty and staff are committed to periodic review and revision of degree curricula in light of new findings and methods in the fields of study, feedback from alumni and professionals, and faculty expertise. These courses are not guaranteed to be offered in the future, and new courses may be developed in 2025 and beyond. 

Action Research Project

ARP502 Action Research Project I

(2 credits) The Action Research Project is a form of integrative and collaborative research, reflection, and writing. Students become researchers by choosing a principle question and working with faculty mentors to design a research [...]

ARP504 Action Research Project II

(2 credits) Building upon ARP502, students who have implemented their approved Action Research Project proposal and successfully gathered significant data enroll in ARP504 to complete their Action Research Project. In this term, students will [...]

Classical Tibetan Language

TIB104 Classical Tibetan Summer Intensive Part 1

(2 credits) In Part 1, we will learn the foundations of classical Tibetan, beginning with the alphabet, and learning the basics of pronunciation, writing, word formation, and reading of simple phrases and sentences. No [...]

TIB106 Classical Tibetan Summer Intensive Part 2

(2 credits) In Part 2, we will begin learning the grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of classical Tibetan. We will learn how to look up words in Tibetan dictionaries, recognize and use the different types [...]

TIB301r Seminar in Tibetan Translation

(2 credits)  Students read and translate Tibetan texts and their commentaries in their original language. In this course we will learn reading and reciting Tibetan texts, developing pronunciation, and translating with an emphasis on [...]

Compassionate Service

CS008 Independent Study in Community Service

(1-2 credits) The Independent Study in Community Service is created and supervised by Maitripa College Faculty. They are of two types: instructional and oversight. Oversight by Maitripa College faculty. Student proposes to participate in an [...]

CS301 Foundations of Buddhist Service

(2 credits)  This course is an introduction to the service core at Maitripa College for all students, focusing on understanding and developing a Personal Theology both within and outside of the Buddhist tradition, understanding [...]

Contemplative Education

History

Meditation

MDT308 Techniques of Meditation: Mahamudra

(2 credits)  This course will continue with instruction in meditation based on the practices established in MDT 303 (fall semester), with a focus on deepening Shiné (calm abiding) and practicing mahamudra instructions for realizing [...]

MDT330 Meditations on Emptiness

(1 credit) This course is intended for those students who have already completed a year of lamrim study and practice (PHL301, MDT301, PHL302, MDT302) and wish to complement their continuing study of lamrim, Madhyamaka, and [...]

MDT334: Meditations on Emptiness II

(2 credits)  The heart of Buddhist practice is meditation on emptiness, a rigorous contemplative approach towards gaining deep insight into the nature of reality with the goal of attaining liberation for the benefit of [...]

MDT412 Techniques of Meditation: The Wind Element

(2 credits) According to the Tibetan Medical tantras, the Wind element (rlung-spyi) is the breath, life force, and energy of the body and mind. It is pervasive and circulates inside and outside of the [...]

Philosophy

PHL301 Introduction to Buddhist Thought

(2 credits)  This course will make use of philosophical treatises, literature, and historical analysis to present the foundations of Buddhist philosophy as taught by the early Indian pandits and commented upon by Tibetan scholars. [...]

PHL307 Madhyamaka Buddhist Philosophy: India to Tibet

(2 credits)  This course will lay the groundwork for the study of the Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy of the Tibetans through exploring its origins and development in the Indian philosophical tradition and proceed into an [...]

PHL412 Tibetan Medicine: The Wind Element

(2 credits) Tibetan Medicine (bod kyi gso ba rig pa, or Sowa Rigpa) is one of the oldest known traditional medicine systems in the world. It is a unique tradition based on medical knowledge [...]

PHL501 Masters Thesis/Comprehensive Exams

(1 credit)  This course is required of MA students who have successfully completed all coursework toward their degree with the exception of their final degree requirement. Students must register for PHL501 to maintain residency [...]

Theology

THL324 Self-Compassion for Buddhists

(1 credit) Many Buddhists dedicate themselves to practicing kindness and compassion for others, and inadvertently leave themselves out. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said, “If your compassion does not include yourself, it [...]

THL339 Mindful Compassionate Dialogue

(1 credit)  People who experience connection to core values while engaged in meditation, prayer, and other spiritual practices may also find that when they step back into daily life ‘off the cushion,’ they can [...]

THL340 Introduction to Contemplative Education

(1 credit) This course will explore the integration of contemplative practices, philosophies, and orientations into educational practices in modern American education. The course content will focus on the development of the field of contemplative [...]

THL350 Introduction to Buddhist Chaplaincy

(1 credit) This course will introduce Buddhist contributions to chaplaincy and/or spiritual care skills and professions, exploring how Buddhist wisdom, compassion, and practices support the spiritual caregiver to meet the suffering of others effectively [...]

THL360 Arts of Ministry: Special Topics

(2 credits) The arts of ministry are broad and training in them fosters intellectual, spiritual, and pastoral agility, or the expressions and embodiments of spiritual formation and maturation. In theological training, the artis of [...]

THL364 Buddhist Scriptures: On Compassion

(2 credits) Whether you are new to Buddhism or have been studying or practicing for years, this course invites you to make an acquaintance with a selection of Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, and other [...]

THL412 Buddhist Rituals and Ceremonies for Healing

(2 credits) The practice of ethics is central to the Buddhist worldview and entirely relevant not only to oneself but also to every living being, framed within the Buddhist understanding of reality known as [...]

THL423 Spiritual Care in Practice

(2 credits) This class will develop the students’ interpersonal competencies of spiritual care or pastoral care and counseling, focusing on the foundational skills most often used by those in service roles such as chaplains, therapists, [...]

THL428 Family Systems and Group Process

(1 credit)  The course will offer understanding of Family Systems and Internal Family Systems theories, and engage participants in applying theory to their own experiences, including the interpersonal dynamics of the group setting. Attention [...]

THL500 Master of Divinity Final Comprehensive Paper

(4 credits) The Final Comprehensive Paper embodies the integration of the student's practical and theoretical knowledge and understanding gained in the Master of Divinity program. The paper is comprised of questions in several sections [...]