This list describes courses offered at Maitripa College between 2016 and Fall 2023. 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 2023 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

TIB118 Introduction to Translating Texts

(1 credit)  This beginning/intermediate course is for the student who has familiarity with the alphabet but little or no prior formal study of classical Tibetan grammar. Students will begin to learn translation skills by [...]

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

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 [...]

CS500 Field Education Placement

(3 credits)  The Field Education Placement is a structured internship co-created by the host organization and Maitripa College. Credit is variable. Go to full course catalog index [...]

CST131r Contemplative Care and Counseling Skills

(1 credit)  This course will focus on developing practical contemplative care and counseling skills, applicable in therapeutic, organizational, and interpersonal contexts. Using techniques such as role-plays, self-assessment exercises, and other forms of experiential learning [...]

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 [...]

Philosophy

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 [...]

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. [...]

PHL403 Introduction to Tantra

(2 credits)  This course will give an introduction and overview to Buddhist tantra as it came through India to Tibet. We will explore its history and lineage, as well as gain an understanding of [...]

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, 8 weeks) 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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

THL438 Women in Buddhism

(1 credit) The Buddhist community has always consisted of monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen, in that order. The question of women's place and standing within Buddhism has, throughout, remained a problematic, contentious, and sometimes [...]