CIIS Public Programs

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CIIS Public Programs CIIS Public Programs produces events and continuing education opportunities

CIIS Public Programs is a department of California Institute of Integral Studies, a nonprofit university dedicated to personal and social transformation.

Meet the poets who will be joining us this Wednesday, September 30 for “On the Transformative Power of Poetry Therapy.” ...
09/26/2026

Meet the poets who will be joining us this Wednesday, September 30 for “On the Transformative Power of Poetry Therapy.” With live performances by Bay Area poets and CIIS alumni, this evening explores poetry as witnessing, relationship, and transformation.

Camila Elizabet Aguirre Aguilar is a bisexual Xicana poet and educator who teaches creative writing in nonprofit organizations throughout the California Bay Area. A finalist for the 2025 Steve Kowit Poetry Prize and slam poet of over twenty years, Camila’s work explores power, incarceration and institutionalization, trauma, resistance, and resilience. A recent graduate of St. Mary’s College of California’s MFA program, Camila is working towards publishing her debut poetry manuscript. camila

Get tickets to join us online or in-person at the link in our bio!

Meet the poets who will be joining us this Wednesday, September 30 for “On the Transformative Power of Poetry Therapy.” With live performances by Bay Area poets and CIIS alumni, this evening explores poetry as witnessing, relationship, and transformation.

Jaelynn Ortiz (she/her) is a le***an Boricubana poet and expressive arts therapist based in Los Angeles. She often says that poetry was her first love. With a creative writing minor at NYU, a masters in expressive arts, and poetry training in the works, she offers therapy for adults, couples and children at Scribble in Highland Park. There, she also facilitates Scribble’s first-ever poetry therapy group for BIPOC women and gender-expansive folks. Her clinical, creative, and community work is grounded in the belief that poetry can be a practice of witnessing, meaning-making, resistance, and healing. Poetry by La BoriCubana Lesbiana

Get tickets to join us online or in-person at the link in our bio!

Meet the poets who will be joining us this Wednesday, September 30 for “On the Transformative Power of Poetry Therapy.” With live performances by Bay Area poets and CIIS alumni, this evening explores poetry as witnessing, relationship, and transformation.

Fortino Vazquez Edmonds aka Tino VH Jr. is a gay Mexican American spoken word teaching artist from Oakland, CA, who uses Popular Education and Freedo

What if we viewed all living things - plants, people, and animals - as kin? Join Rarámuri (Tarahumara) scholar Dr. Enriq...
09/25/2026

What if we viewed all living things - plants, people, and animals - as kin? Join Rarámuri (Tarahumara) scholar Dr. Enrique Salmón in a conversation exploring Kincentricity—an Indigenous worldview where all living beings relate as extended ecological family. In a conversation drawing on insights from his latest book, “Kincentricity,” Dr. Salmón and CIIS faculty Charlotte María Sáenz invite us to discover the lore, nutritional science, and stewardship behind traditional Indigenous foodways and the practice of “eating the landscape.”

Event name: Exploring Indigenous Worldviews through Traditional Foodways
Date & Time: Oct 08, 2026, 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
Location: Online
Tickets: $11 - $32 (Members: Free)

How can poetry transform pain into possibility? Join CIIS Expressive Arts faculty Jenna Robinson and Dean Danielle Drake...
09/23/2026

How can poetry transform pain into possibility? Join CIIS Expressive Arts faculty Jenna Robinson and Dean Danielle Drake as they explore this question and celebrate the launch of the new Poetry Therapy Certification Track at CIIS. Featuring live performances by Bay Area poets and CIIS alumni, this evening explores poetry as witnessing, relationship, and transformation. Co-sponsored by the National Association for Poetry Therapy.

Event name: On the Transformative Power of Poetry Therapy
Date & Time: Sep 30, 2026, 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
Location: Online and In-Person
Tickets: $11 - $32 (Members: Free)

“We don’t need to learn to have a sacred relationship with life. We have to remember how to have a sacred relationship w...
09/09/2026

“We don’t need to learn to have a sacred relationship with life. We have to remember how to have a sacred relationship with life, because it’s inside of us. We are born with it. It’s it’s part of our DNA. It’s deep in our bones.”

Remembering Earth through Embodied Spiritual Ecology with Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee and Laura Pustarfi. July 30, 2026. 🌿🌎✨

09/04/2026

“Dreamwork can really enhance our sense of empathy for different parts of ourselves that feel other. [...] And it’s my hope that that empathy would expand and ripple outwards towards others in the world that we initially see as different from us.”

Our event on July 22 with Willow Trimbach, Eva Tuschman Leonard, and Rene Dumetz was filled with warmth and empathy as they invited us to explore our dreams as a path to awakening. There were so many gems of wisdom in this conversation, and we loved revisiting it. This event is now available to watch on our YouTube channel (link in bio).

09/01/2026

Recipes are more than instructions—they are living cultural records. Rarámuri ethnobotanist Dr. Enrique Salmón shares the philosophy of Kincentricity, where all living beings share the same breath as kin. Discover “eating the landscape,” a time-tested, sustainable approach Indigenous peoples have practiced for thousands of years, guiding our inherent responsibility as stewards of life. Get tickets and see more upcoming events at the link in our bio.

Event name: Exploring Indigenous Worldviews through Traditional Foodways
Date & Time: Oct 08, 2026, 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
Location: Online
Tickets: $11 - $32 (Members: Free)

What if “medicine” meant nourishment, connection, and belonging? Join Integrative family physician Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark...
08/27/2026

What if “medicine” meant nourishment, connection, and belonging? Join Integrative family physician Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark in conversation with CIIS faculty Dr. Saleena Gupte. They’ll explore how ancestral medicines—culturally rooted foods, breath practices, movement, and community—are increasingly validated by modern science. Drawing from Dr. Maker-Clark’s book “Medicine for All People,” this conversation invites us to discover pathways to move from a culture of stress and sickness toward healing, justice, and radical social change.

Integrating Ancestral Wisdom and Science for True Health
Date & Time: Sep 09, 2026, 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
Location: Online
Tickets: $11 - $32 (Members: Free)

08/17/2026

Poetry therapist and National Poetry Slam finalist Jenna Robinson joins Dean Danielle Drake, former Oakland Poetry Slam Champion, for an evening exploring how poetry therapy transforms isolation into connection. This evening of poetry and conversation will feature live spoken word performances from Bay Area poets. Join us for an evening of poetry and celebration as CIIS celebrates the launch of the Poetry Therapy Certification Track within the Expressive Arts Therapy program.

Event name: On the Transformative Power of Poetry Therapy
Date & Time: Sep 30, 2026, 6:00pm - 7:30pm PDT
Location: Online and In-Person
Tickets: $11 - $32 (Members: Free)

08/14/2026

Spiritual teacher and author Tracee Stanley is coming to San Francisco on September 25! Livestream tickets are also available for those of you who live a bit farther away.

In this conversation, Tracee will share insights from her latest book, “Living Ritual,” created specifically for people whose responsibilities mean they can’t devote hours to spiritual practice. Learn how to create a bridge between the mundane and the sacred, allowing our daily actions to be filled with presence and intention. Register now at ciis.edu/publicprograms.

Event name: An Evening with Tracee Stanley
Date and Time: September 25, 2026, 7:00 pm PDT
Location: Online and In-Person at First Unitarian Universalist Church & Center in San Francisco
Tickets: $27 - $48 (Members: Free)
Books are available to add to your order when buying tickets!

08/13/2026

“Grief and love go together. We grieve for what we love. And in that sense I think grief can be something very, very helpful.”

Our conversation with David Robert Loy and CIIS faculty Rene Dumetz on exploring the nondual path in dangerous times was filled with deep wisdom and healing. If you missed it, you can now catch a replay on our YouTube channel at bit.ly/CIISP2YouTube. It was an honor to host David and be a part of this conversation!

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1453 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
94103

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Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm

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