Wisdom University Seminar: Doctoral Writing and Research Methods

Open to the public; may be taken for credit or non-credit

Writing your doctoral dissertation is one of the most important achievements of a lifetime. It distills your intellectual acuity and the passion of your heart in a statement that uniquely expresses who you are and what you believe. In a fundamental way, it defines you.

This course is required for all doctoral students at Wisdom University. It will be an opportunity to present your ideas and plans, receive feedback from faculty and peers, and examine the important distinctions between a Ph.D and a D.Min as well as between various research methods. It will be an opportunity to understand the Dissertation Manual and the required APA writing style more completely. You will also have the opportunity to spend time with the University President and the Dean of Doctoral Studies who will oversee your dissertation process.

Read the syllabus 

Please visit the Wisdom University website to register for the program. To pay for room and board at the Garrison Institute, please return to this page and select 'Register for Room and Board.'

About the Instructors

Jim Garrison received his BA, magna cum laude, in World History from the University of Santa Clara in 1973; his MTS from Harvard Divinity School in Christology and the History of World Religions in 1975; and his Ph.D. from Cambridge University in Philosophical Theology in 1982. His doctoral dissertation was on the theme “Hiroshima, Apocalyptic and the Antinomial Nature of God.”

Garrison has developed this theme in all his published writings beginning with his first book in 1980, called The Plutonium Culture (SCM). This was followed by The Darkness of God: Theology After Hiroshima (SCM/1982); The Russian Threat: Myths and Realities (Gateway Books/ 1983); The New Diplomats (Resurgence Press/1984); Civilization and the Transformation of Power (Paraview Press/2000); and America As Empire (Barrett Koehler/2004).

Garrison became president of Wisdom University in 2005. Before coming to the university, Garrison served as president of the State of the World Forum, which he founded in 1995 in partnership with President Mikhail Gorbachev and Senator Alan Cranston. He founded the Radiation and Health Information Service in 1978; co-founded the Christic Institute in 1980; was Executive Director of the Esalen Institute Soviet-American Exchange Program from 1985—1990; and founded the International Foreign Policy Institute in partnership with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze and Secretary George Shultz in 1991. Garrison founded the Gorbachev Foundation/USA in 1992 with Mr. Gorbachev as founding chairman.

Ginger Clarkson is a Board Certified Music Therapist, a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery, and a teacher of Vipassana meditation. In addition to her private practice, she trains students internationally in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM). She is the author of A Silent Cure: Transforming Preverbal Trauma Through Meditation (Velvet Spring Press, 2007) and I Dreamed I Was Normal: A Music Therapist's Journey into the Realms of Autism (MMB Music, 1998), as well as of songbooks, musical plays, and articles about music therapy and meditation. She can be reached through her website: www.GingerClarkson.com