This short course is offered to students when required or suggested by their department, or by the student’s personal choice during any period semester of enrollment or application. It may also be used as a student facilitator training internship once the student has completed the course. Students discover how our excessive separation from nature stresses our sensuous inner nature and initiates our personal and global troubles. Students learn to reverse this destructive process by mastering thoughtful sensory nature reconnecting activities that dissolve stress by satisfying our deepest natural loves, wants, and spirit. This hands-on course teaches lasting leadership, education, counseling, and mental health skills that feelingly tap the “higher power” wisdom of Earth’s creation process. The email and telephone contacts of the course empower students to let nature help them nurture warm interpersonal relationships, wellness, and responsibility on personal and global levels. Students relate the course methods and materials to their fields of interest in order to integrate these areas with the global ecosystem. They become familiar with the Natural Systems Thinking Process and improve their Globally Balanced Thinking Score.

Prerequisite: ECO 600/500.

Students learn to promote, teach and research personal, social and environmental responsibility by mastering and adapting unique “nature-connecting” teaching methods for personal and professional use. They discover how to teach first-hand, tangible, reconnection with nature contacts that provide information and satisfy deep natural wants. Students discover how, when unsatisfied, these wants disrupt inner peace and fuel personal, cultural and ecological disorders. Under the direction of the instructor, students establish and identify a two or more person class of students with whom they work online and/or onsite. They maintain a journal of their teaching and research efforts and prepare a 5 page reflective paper.

Prerequisite: ECO 601/501.

Students learn to promote, teach and research personal, social and environmental responsibility by adapting unique “nature-connecting” teaching methods for personal and professional use. They master the use of hands-on reconnection with nature contacts as education and counseling procedures. Students help promote, organize, and guide presentations for a selected group. They mentor an individual, or teach/facilitate a two or three person class. In concert with a support group that includes the facilitator, they maintain and post a journal of their teaching, findings and research efforts and prepare a 5 page reflective paper.

Prerequisite: ECO 601/501.

Students learn to promote, teach and research personal, social and environmental responsibility by adapting unique “nature-connecting” teaching methods for personal and professional use. They master the use of hands-on reconnection with nature contacts as education and counseling procedures. Students help promote, organize, and guide presentations for a selected group. They mentor an individual, or teach/facilitate a two or three person class. In concert with a support group that includes the facilitator, they maintain and post a journal of their teaching, findings and research efforts and prepare a 5 page reflective paper.

Participants discover how to help prevent contemporary society’s nature-separated thinking from deteriorating personal growth and responsible relationships. Increase your effectiveness, marketability and global citizenship by learning about the process of educating and counseling with nature. Learn how to introduce a readily available natural systems thinking process into various aspects of society.

Students co-facilitate ECO 601/501: Introduction to Educating and Counseling with Nature, under the guidance and supervision of the instructor. Student Co-facilitators serve as interns, using their experience and expertise in the content of ECO 601/501.

Students co-facilitate ECO 602/502: Educating and Counseling with Nature A & B, under the guidance and supervision of the instructor. Student Co-facilitators use their experience and expertise to help students deepen their mastery of educating and counseling with nature and expand their sensory restoration practice to the advanced level.

Prerequisite: ECO 601/501.

Wherever possible, the Project NatureConnect program integrates the fundamentals of Natural Attraction Ecology in its philosophy, systems, and procedures. Examples of this are self-organizing classes, sliding scale tuition, and student involvement in every level of program administration in mutual beneficial interdependent relationships. In this course, students experience, explore, and identify the differences between organizational processes in play in traditional industrial society organizations (processes which separate the “human” from the “natural”), and the way we follow nature’s flow in the Project NatureConnect program.

Students learn experientially through participation in mutually supportive relationships in group classes, in the online community discussions, in self-organizing work groups arising out of the attractions of students, faculty and staff, in the use of consensus building, asking permission, and respecting attractions as valid guides to personal choices.

Students volunteer to play support roles and offer services that tap their skills, talents and inclinations.  Read more about volunteer support roles. A student may offer any service they believe would help the organization by contacting the Executive Director (Dr. Cohen). Students help build web pages, manage the online community, edit text, write advanced curriculum, offer ideas for research and development, orient and guide less experienced students, and help to refine and increase the extent to which the program functions as a natural community.

Students also learn how to make connections with others, nurture appreciation and excitement for reconnecting with nature, and invite others to learn the process, through engagement in public education and networking. Read more about public education.

Students participate in a minimum of 90 hours of activity (45 hours per credit).

Validation of public education, social networking and cooperative community participation . This course provides credit for demonstrating the student has met the requirements of the cooperative self-organization, growth and economics of the Project NatureConnect Institute of Global Education program at the Akamai Applied Ecopsychology Institute. These requirements are described in the Student Webstring Cooperative Contract and are part of the ECO 751 course. The course includes taking a certificate or degree level comprehensive exam and submitting a short petition that documents the student’s fulfillment of the requirements of academic program challenge exams and Student Cooperative Contract.

This course explores present or past special projects that make, or would have made, the way nature works become an ally to increase well-being if organic psychology had been included as part of them. The application of Ecopsychology, as practiced in the discipline of natural attraction ecology and organic psychology, helps humanity address the crises that result from our estrangement from nature as nature’s flow manifests itself as our living planet, Earth. Students prepare an academic paper or project report as a minimum written assessment in this course.

While they are teaching and researching sensory ecology, students will seek, read and critique methods and materials from their own library research. Students carefully explore the literature and prepare an annotated bibliography. As the principal course assignment, participants will prepare a scholarly paper of at least 15 typewritten double-spaced pages discussing problems and solutions to important issues and practice of Applied Ecopsychology/Integrated Ecology.

Download Course Syllabus:

ECO 503/603- Exploratory Readings In Applied Ecopsychology (103.9 KB)

Prerequisites: ECO 600/500 and ECO 601/501.

Students will investigate a library of recent references related to their particular career field or interests that reflect upon the issues relevant to sensory ecology. Students will read and discuss the literature with Dr. Cohen and other professionals. Students will gather a bibliography of literature in their professional field or interest that supports work in Integrated Ecology and prepare an annotated bibliography. Students will prepare a reflective paper of at least 15 typewritten double-spaced pages discussing how the literature has informed their understanding of the opportunities for integration of Applied Ecopsychology/Integrated Ecology concepts within their career field.

Prerequisites: ECO 601/501 and ECO 602/502.

Students gain further insights into the 53 senses, their natural origins and existence and their cultural applications, by exploring each sense individually. Under the direction of the instructor, students establish and identify a class of four or more students with whom they work online and/or onsite. Students will keep a reflective journal of their experiences or a database of their online activity postings. Course participants will commit to doing nature-guided, independent study of at least two senses per week in order to finish the class within a six month time frame. At the completion of the course, students will prepare a scholarly summary paper (at least 15 typewritten pages) reflecting their experiences.

Students survey the field of Public Relations and Marketing to determine the most significant means to promote, implement and produce support for their involvement in the natural systems thinking process. They identify what that makes each technique and strategy worthwhile, select those that make the most sense to them, defend them, and apply them in areas that add to the field of nature connected psychology and their personal interests. The student writes a three page progress report that documents their work and learning in this area and that would assist others who read it. Prerequisites: Students must complete ECO 601/501 or its equivalent.

This is a fun, experiential course designed to introduce the student to how adding an art component to nature-connecting activities can enhance the ability of Nature to teach. Both art and nature are non-verbal ways through which our subconscious mind can express itself. In this class, the student will learn techniques to use to facilitate that expression through making therapeutic, nature-inspired art. At the end of the course, students will be given the opportunity to design their own unique activities. You do not need to be an “artist” or have any so-called “creative talent” to take this class. It is not an art course, but rather uses the creative process of art-making as a tool for healing and self-discovery. It lets the student explore the innovative merging of traditional Art Therapy with Applied Ecopsychology. The course consists of 14 individual hands-on lessons/activities and typically runs about 8 – 12 weeks depending on group pace. It is taught by Dr. Theresa Sweeney, founder of Eco-Art Therapy, experienced author, and workshop leader. She is the Dean of Applied Ecopsychology at Akamai University. Email her at keleka@frontiernet.net for more information.

Download Course Syllabus:

ECO 530/630- An Introduction To Eco-Art Therapy (81.4 KB)

Students experience in advanced theory and practice how Western Civilization separates the “human” from the “natural” and estranges us from nature’s integrity, love, and spirit, in and around us. Students master, design and implement conscientious techniques which reverse this dilemma and catalyze responsible relationships for “reconnecting with nature in people and places” through negotiating a field experience placement within their career field which supports a practical observation of Integrated Ecology. This field experience will represent a minimum of 90 hours in one or more monitored placements. In them, students apply the syllabus of ECO 501 and ECO 602 as a perceptual filter, maintain a weekly log reflecting upon their experiences and prepare a scholarly paper (at least 15 typewritten double-spaced pages) discussing how the field placement experience has built their understanding of overcoming barriers to successful integration of Integrated Ecology concepts within their career field.

This course explores books, journal articles, and other learning materials that make, or would have made, the way nature works become an ally to increase well-being if organic psychology had been included as part of them. The application of ecopsychology, as practiced in the discipline of natural attraction ecology and organic psychology, helps humanity address the crises that result from our estrangement from nature as nature’s flow manifests itself as our living planet, Earth. Students prepare an academic paper or project report as a minimum written assessment in this course.

Students will investigate the available literature on participatory research techniques. This may include readings in the literature pertaining to implementing system-transforming innovations (Bushe and Shani), participatory action research in the workplace (Whyte), reflection in action (Schon), reframing organizational culture (Frost, et. al.) and self-reliant initiative (Fals-Borda), as well as other qualitative and action science methodologies. Students will identify an appropriate mini-study, apply techniques from their readings, complete the study and prepare a technical paper of at least ten double-spaced typewritten pages referencing the literature and describing the value of participatory research techniques to the fields of Integrated Ecology.

Prerequisite: ECO 541.

Students experience in theory and practice how Western Civilization separates the “human” from the “natural” and estranges us from nature’s integrity, love, and spirit, in and around us. Students complete field research and prepare case studies describing and validating the growth and development of at least eight individuals who are using nature-reconnecting techniques and prepare a scholarly paper (at least 15 double-spaced typewritten pages) discussing all aspects of the research project and the findings.

This is the traditional comprehensive examination of doctoral students conducted by the graduate committee immediately following completion of the academic coursework and prior to undertaking the dissertation. The examination usually includes both written and oral components and is confined to the programs of studies completed by the student.

Participants prepare a formal dissertation research proposal according to publish University policies and guidelines.

This course governs the conduct of the dissertation project for the doctoral level student. The dissertation is a major undertaking that is a demonstration of mastery of a field of study and an original contribution to the field usually 150 or more pages in length. The dissertation project may take any of several forms, depending upon the field of study and the expectations of faculty. This may be quantitative or qualitative research, participatory action research. Doctoral students may re-enroll for this course for noncredit, as needed.

This examination is an oral defense of the doctoral dissertation conducted by the graduate committee immediately following their reading of the dissertation manuscript. The process follows guidelines published by the University.