Newly Accredited Doctor of Arts (Eco Psychology)

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Garp, Jul 26, 2019.

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  1. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    I did not even know Eco Psychology was a thing but apparently it is. The school was just accredited by DEAC.
    https://www.viridisinstitute.org/state-approval

    There is at least one other school (Naropa) offering it and a quick look at Google links shows it to be a legitimate area for study.
     
  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    It's something I know a little about by reading some stuff by Ken Wilber. In any case, here's a definition

    Ecopsychology studies the relationship between human beings and the natural world through ecological and psychological principles.[1] The field seeks to develop and understand ways of expanding the emotional connection between individuals and the natural world, thereby assisting individuals with developing sustainable lifestyles and remedying alienation from nature. Theodore Roszak is credited with coining the term in his 1992 book, The Voice of the Earth, although a group of psychologists and environmentalists in Berkeley, including Mary Gomes and Allen Kanner, were independently using the term to describe their own work at the same time. Roszak, Gomes and Kanner later expanded the idea in the 1995 anthology Ecopsychology. Two other books were especially formative for the field, Paul Shepard's 1982 volume, "Nature and Madness," which explored the effect that our ever-diminishing engagement with wild nature had upon human psychological development, and philosopher David Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World, published in 1996. The latter was the first widely read book to bring phenomenology to bear on ecological and ecopsychological issues, examining in detail the earthly dimensions of sensory experience, and disclosing the historical effect of formal writing systems upon the human experience of nature's agency, voice, and interiority.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecopsychology
     
  3. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    As Kevin Costner said in American Flyers, "Sounds like bull shinto to me."
     
  4. Garp

    Garp Well-Known Member

    I will see your bull shinto and raise you a Reiki Master.

    It seems odd but then Dr. Jordan Peterson says things like Women's Studies are masquerading as academic disciplines.
     
  5. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    This is yet another example of a mickey-mouse school that has been accredited by DEAC. As is typical, there is no indication of their teaching faculty or the source of its credentials, nor of specific degree requirements, courses, etc.

    What is useful about their web site is information on how many students they have had, past and present – see https://www.viridisinstitute.org/viwp/wp-content/uploads/VGI-Consumer-Info2019.pdf. It appears that they currently have a total of 7 students in their M.A. program, and a current enrollment of 10 students in their doctoral program. In light of their fairly low tuition, I’m curious as to how DEAC can justify accrediting this school, and it’s a great example of why I have considered DEAC itself to be mickey mouse over the years.
     
  6. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Same with Men's studies and I'm not sure he's wrong. The question I ask is what is a person even qualified to do with a degree in those kinds of majors? I saw one school post a long list of things a person can do with that sort of degree, but it was totally dishonest since all of those things they listed either have specific degrees meant for entry into those fields, or it's obvious that the degree would not qualify a person in any way like in Nursing which is one of the fields listed.

    Anyway, this Ecopsychology business is, umm, out there, but programs like this aren't at all limited to the DEAC so I imagine there are enough people interested in these kinds of programs.
     
  7. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    Faculty and Credentials - https://www.viridisinstitute.org/accomplished-faculty

    Course catalogue with courses and specific degree requirements - https://www.viridisinstitute.org/viwp/wp-content/uploads/Viridis_Catalog-2019.pdf

    Are you actually looking at the websites anymore or do you just copy and paste the same rant every time someone mentions DEAC?
     
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  8. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    It's a fair question but I'm concerned that it's also a kind of condemnation. To my knowledge such a degree does not automatically lead to a career. But a couple of the things we know is that 1) sometimes people put their degrees to novel use and 2) sometimes people are simply sufficiently interested that they want to pursue the course of study. Not everyone wants an MBA (although there are so many programs operating now that it seems that someday soon everybody will have an MBA). The fact that there is not a short straight line between the program and a job does not say anything bad about the program assuming the student enters the program with eyes open.

    As to the question of whether the field itself is worthy of existence is really just a matter of value judgement. There is a difference between saying, "This is not something I value so I will not support it." and saying "This is not something I value and so I will not support it, I will speak badly about it and I will speak badly about anyone who disagrees with me."

    Also, the APA seems to support it.

    https://www.apa.org/members/content/doherty-psychology-environmental-science
     
  9. heirophant

    heirophant Well-Known Member

    I have little confidence in or even respect for "Ecopsychology". It's pretty much a bullshit subject in my opinion. But it isn't alone, subjects like this are proliferating all over academia these days. (And some might argue that bullshit subjects have been there all along, theology for example.)

    'Ecopsychology' seems to me to want to position itself as a 'science', with all of the accompanying social prestige. Yet in reality it has little or nothing to do with 'ecology' in the biological scientific sense, or with 'psychology' per-se. It's more of a peculiar cross between nature mysticism and political activism. (More of a humanities subject than a scientific one.) The individual in the APA link above is obviously a climate activist.

    So that probably addresses questions about the occupational value of a doctorate in 'Ecopsychology'. It seems to me to be a way for existing environmental activists to acquire doctorates so as to make themselves seem more authoritative to the general public.

    But this isn't the fault of the accreditors, so linking a critique of 'Ecopsychology' to a critique of DEAC is a mistake in my opinion. Accreditors aren't supposed to make judgements on the academic value of the subjects universities teach, which would arguably be a violation of universities' academic freedom. (TRACS ignores that one.) Accreditors are just supposed to look at whether program syllabi are credible in their disciplinary context, number of credit-hours required, what kind of final project is required, whether faculty are formally qualified to teach their subjects, along with all the institutional/bureaucratic/financial stuff. (And most accreditors seem to direct almost all of their attention at the latter.)
     
  10. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    For the most part, no degree is an automatic pass because there is still an element of ambition/hunt and chance involved. But, it speaks to my point, the reality that there is no actual field waiting on the other side for these kinds of majors and that such a degree may actually keep you out of other careers, too.

    With majors like these, they'll pretty much have to.

    I never come into this thought because I know that even if I were against its existence (which I'm not) there would be nothing I could do about it. But, over the years, my stance has always been that degrees in STEM or business are the way to go, and I've never been a fan of general studies, liberal arts, or any kind of interdisciplinary "design your own" degrees as they come across as the ultimate "I don't know what I want to do with my life" majors where you don't actually major in anything.
     
  11. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Agreed, and especially since there have been a number of regionally accredited ecopsychology programs for years.
     
  12. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Good question. I give their website a very cursory review, generally enough to give me an impression of whether a school is legit, or a degree mill, or legitimately accredited but a bullshit institution nonetheless. At that point, it's merely my opinion, and I do not purport that it is any more than that.

    Also at that point, I have neither the time nor interest in delving into any institution intensively, since I have a life outside this forum. But enough venues, up to and including courts of law, have placed their confidence in my opinions that I don't give a shit past that point. For me to look more extensively at any given school, I have to be paid for it. (And occasionally, I am. But since I consider myself retired, I do not make that a goal, and never make an effort to be professionally engaged in these things.)

    Nonetheless, I commend you for finding the so-called faculty list since it does not appear in the list of covered topics at the top of their web site (at least not that I noticed). Nonetheless, I'd hardly call a list of three administrators a faculty list. I think this is a bullshit school because I think it's a bullshit school. It's that simple.

    FWIW, I have only run into the term depth psychology once before. It was the major of a fellow student at then-Vermont College of Norwich University. Functionally, her major was astrology, but she had the foresight to call it depth psychology so her degree would have a broader appeal. There was also one Union learner on whose doctoral committee I served, and his doctoral major was developmental psychology, again a hyped up term to differentiate his program from the usual licensure-oriented clinical psychology. So frankly, Scarlet, I'm leery of any psychology-oriented major (including "eco") that uses alternative titles to cover a non-licensure program.

    As for DEAC, I have always been against their expansion into accrediting doctoral programs in the human services because I have, for 30-some years, been against totally external doctoral programs in the human services. Doctors are trained to be leaders in their fields, and one thing that has to include is a sense of accountability. Moreover, I have consistently stood against all totally fully distance graduate programs. Yes, there are exceptions, just as there are exceptions to every rule (the late, lamented MA-HUX at CSUDH comes to mind). But I do not feel the need to elaborate on them just for the sake of argument. In other words, I've paid my dues in this field, so if y'all want to debate how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, knock yourselves out.

    In the meantime, when it comes to new schools, and even new programs, most people clap their hands with joy and immediately assume schools are legit. I do the opposite - I start out by assuming their is a strong whiff of bullshit and, for me to support or endorse a school or program, have to be convinced that it is worthy. That is the nature of society these days, and it's a great safety valve in terms of consumer protection.

    Ultimately, a Doctor of Arts in Ecopsychology? Give me a friggin' break . . . :D
     
  13. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  14. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Can't say that I'm surprised, since we at then-Vermont College of Norwich University had our share of nouvelle age nuts. When I did my first colloquium on campus, they had Mandala centering exercises on the common at six every morning. I never attended those, as my favorite activity at that hour is sleeping. But I could imagine every sitting naked in a circle chanting, "Nelson! Nelson..."

    But California is the land of fruits, nuts, and flakes. I lived there for a short time in the late 1980s, and notwithstanding that I qualified for all three labels, I quickly escaped back to the east coast and have not seen the Pacific since then.

    Nonetheless, Pacifica makes an impressive presentation. The only undesirable words I saw in their regards are "for profit." And yes, that's enough for me to write them off. Because I'm kinda like that.
     
  15. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Developmental psych. is a legit and well-known branch of psychology - the study of psychological change over the human lifetime. I took one course in developmental psych. in college and 30+ years later I still remember Piaget and some of the other experts.

    Just sayin', Steve. It's NOT a term someone made up to baffle people. If you study psych - it's part of the curriculum. Period.
     
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  16. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    I've seen on a number of forums a debate about whether or not Developmental Psychology, Human Growth and Development, and Lifespan Development, are all one in the same. It seemed settled until someone showed a course description of a Human Growth and Development course that differed enough from the others to cast some doubt. I got from it that, while they could all generally be the same, there may be some exceptions depending on the school. I took Human Growth and Development I and II for undergrad and then took Developmental Psychology at the Master's level and felt like I was taking Human Growth and Development all over again. Had the same feeling having taken Organizational Behavior at the undergrad level, and then taking Organizational Theory at the Master's level.
     
  17. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Of course, if I wanted to be a bit of a troublemaker I could wonder if that says more about the school than it does the field of study.
     
  18. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    It could in some circumstances, though personally, having been through courses at different programs that shared subject similarities, I found that some subjects have a ceiling to where even at graduate levels the difference in information depth may not be that great, or you've simply mastered the subject at a certain level where even new information is more easily applied than it otherwise would've been.
     
  19. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I guess that's why they invented doctoral programs, to expand the knowledge base of the field.
     
  20. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    I think I addressed this in a previous thread, but I've decided all new degree announcements should include a subordinating conjunction. ;) It's much more fun this way. It's amazing that we continue to think the college's creation of a program in any way indicates the usefulness of a program.

    Viridis Graduate Institute launches a Doctor of Arts with Emphasis in Ecopsychology and Environmental Humanities, because...
     

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