Fielding Graduate University (previously Fielding Graduate Institute and The Fielding Institute) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning " Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West ...

. It offers postgraduate and doctoral studies mainly in

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

, and

organizational studies Organization studies (also called organization science or organizational studies) is the academic field interested in a ''collective activity, and how it relates to organization, organizing, and management''. It is "the examination of how individua ...

, primarily through

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

programs. Fielding Graduate University was founded in 1974 by Frederic M. Hudson, Hallock Hoffman, and Renata Tesch. They designed Fielding as a graduate program for mid-career professionals who were not being served by traditional universities.

Academics

The university offers graduate programs for adult professionals seeking master's and doctoral degrees. It offers degree and certificate programs through the School of Psychology and School of Leadership Studies. The programs include online learning, individual faculty-student mentoring and assessment, and in-person events of various types in many locations throughout the year. The professions targeted include

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...

media psychology Media psychology is the branch and specialty field in psychology that focuses on the interaction of human behavior with media and technology. Media psychology is not limited to mass media or media content; it includes all forms of mediated commu ...

educational leadership Educational leadership is the process of enlisting and guiding the talents and energies of teachers, students, and parents toward achieving common educational aims. This term is often used synonymously with school leadership in the United States ...

, organizational leadership, and human development, within the corporate, nonprofit, and public sectors. Fielding was the first university to offer a Ph.D program in media psychology. Fielding's learning model implements a student learning plan, contract-based learning, competency-based assessment, student-to-student peer feedback, project and portfolio reviews, and final thesis or dissertation. The school's website says that its "distributed learning model" combines "in-person" and "remote" participation. , its School of Leadership offers "accelerated" Ph.D. degrees that can be earned in as little as three years, and its School of Psychology offers a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology that can be earned in five or six years. The average (mean) time to complete a PhD program at Fielding is 7.5 years. The university is accredited by the

WASC WASC may refer to: * Supreme Court of Western Australia * WASC (AM), a radio station (1530 AM) licensed to Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States * West Africa Submarine Cable * West African School Certificate The West African Senior School ...

Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). Its APA accreditation was restored in 2019 after being listed on probation.

Partnerships

Fielding offers a doctorate in Creative Leadership through the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), is developing a doctoral program in urban leadership and entrepreneurship with the University of District of Columbia and

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

’s Payson Center for Global Development, and established the Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership with UVI,

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Carol ...

, and the Association of American Colleges & Universities. The latter earned a $9 million

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

grant in 2018. In 2015 the university was granted special consultative status to the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

(ECOSOC).

Notable alumni

Evelyn Torton Beck Evelyn Torton Beck (born January 18, 1933) has been described as "a scholar, a teacher, a feminist, and an outspoken Jew and lesbian". Until her retirement in 2002 she specialized in women's studies, Jewish women's studies and lesbian studies at th ...

- feminist theorist and professor at

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

* Tara Brach - psychologist and meditation expert * Marshall Colt - television actor, psychologist * K. Drorit "Dee" Gaines - neuropsychologist and radio host *

Devon Jersild Devon Jersild (born August 25, 1958) is a clinical psychologist, author and screenwriter. Biography Devon Jersild was born August 25, 1958. She graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College, and was awarded a master's degree by the Bread Loa ...

- psychologist and author * Salud Carbajal - United States Representative from California's 24th congressional district *

Janja Lalich Janja Lalich (b. 1945) is an American sociologist and writer. Lalich is best known as a foremost expert on cults and coercion, charismatic authority, power relations, ideology and social control. She is a professor emerita of sociology at the C ...

- sociologist studying cults *

Gina Loudon Gina Loudon, known as Dr. Gina, is a conservative media personality. She was a member of the 2020 Donald Trump campaign's media advisory board and the co-chair of Women for Trump 2020. She is a member at Mar-a-Lago and the current face of Citiz ...

- Republican activist *

Lyle Nelson Lyle Barber Nelson (born February 9, 1949 in McCall, Idaho) is a retired American biathlete. He represented USA at four Olympics. At his last Olympics in 1988, he was the flag bearer. In 1976 he finished 35th in the Individual 20K biathlon. H ...

- Four Time Olympian in the Biathlon, 13 time United States or North American Champion * Marilyn Price-Mitchell - psychologist and columnist * Judith Sewell Wright - American author, speaker, lifestyles expert and life coach * Steven Hassan - Founder of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, author, speaker, de-programming expert

Notable faculty

Tiffany Field Tiffany Martini Field is professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Psychology, and Psychiatry at the University of Miami School of Medicine and Director of the Touch Research Institute. She specializes in infant development, especially with reg ...

- psychologist *

Ruthellen Josselson Ruthellen Josselson is professor of clinical psychology at The Fielding Graduate University and a psychotherapist in practice. Work She was formerly a professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Towson University, a visiting professor at Ha ...

- clinical psychologist * Malcolm Knowles - adult education scholar *

Jeremy J. Shapiro Jeremy J. Shapiro (born 1940), is an American academic, a professor emeritus at Fielding Graduate University who works in the area of critical theory, critical social theory with emphasis on the social and cultural effects of information technolo ...

- psychologist and social theorist * Four Arrows - Education, Leadership, and Psychology scholar

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 34, 26, 3.68, N, 119, 42, 50.19, W, type:edu_region:US-CA, display=title Fielding Graduate University Universities and colleges in Santa Barbara County, California Buildings and structures in Santa Barbara, California Educational institutions established in 1974 1974 establishments in California Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges