Transform Yourself. Transform the World.
At Naropa University you will be earning more than just a bachelor’s degree. You will enter a transformative process. Through the alchemical process of contemplative education you will meet: Yourself. Your community. A creative space for exploration. Resilience, presence and compassion will be your friends along the way. Naropa provides the crucible-like container to facilitate transformative change.
Located in Boulder, Colorado, Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, liberal arts university offering many unique undergraduate degree programs. Our undergraduate majors are in the arts, education, environmental studies, peace studies, psychology and religious studies disciplines.
Transfer students follow the same application process and are afforded all of the same benefits as first-time students. Please submit all college transcripts, as well as high school transcripts when applying for admission.
Meet BA Art Therapy Student Luci Gaddie
Luci Gaddie is an undergraduate student majoring in Art Therapy at Naropa University. She is involved with various student groups on campus, including serving as student representative on the Naropa Board of Trustees and as a Student Union of Naropa officer for visual arts programs and students who are BIPOC. In their role on the board of trustees, Gaddie acts as an advocate for the student voice and hopes to help build sustainable, artistic, BIPOC spaces.
Originally from Houston Texas, Gaddie moved to Boulder to attend Naropa. She speaks about how her experience has been transformative personally and professionally.

Find Your Program
Art Therapy
What if you could combine your love of making art with studying the workings of the mind?

Art Therapy Online
Merge your artistic process with the study of traditional and Eastern psychology for a deeply mindful approach to art therapy.

Creative Writing & Literature
Invent your own genre. Analyze Shakespeare, avant-garde cinema, and modern poetry. Write your first novel.

Environmental Studies
What if you could serve a role helping humanity regain a harmonious relationship to the earth?

Interdisciplinary Studies
What if you could combine your love of making art with studying the workings of the mind?

Psychology
At Naropa University, we seek to inspire your full human “beingness” so you can do likewise with others.

Psychology Online
At Naropa University, we seek to inspire your full human “beingness” so you can do likewise with others.

Religious Studies
Most religious studies programs focus on the intellectual exploration of text, ritual, and culture. At Naropa, we go deeper.

Undergraduate Minors
A minor is an optional, 12-credit academic specialization within a focused curricular area.
Art Therapy Minor
Required Courses
- ATH230 Introduction to Art Therapy (3)
- ATH330 Art Therapy Theory and Applications (3)
- ATH430 Art Therapy Studio Methods (3)
- PSYB314 Psychology of Mindfulness Meditation (3)
Total Credits: 12
Contemplative Education Minor
Required Courses
- EDU-245 Multicultural Education & Contemplative Critical Pedagogy (3)
- EDU-300 Nature and Education (3)
- EDU-330 Holistic & Contemplative Teaching Methods (3)
- EDU-445 Multicultural Children’s Literature (3)
Total Credits: 12
Contemplative Martial Arts Minor
Total Credits: 12
Psychology Minor
Total Credits: 12
Creative Writing and Literature Minor
Required Course
- WRI210 Experimental and Activist Literatures (3)
Choose 9 credits
- WRI312 Poetry & Poetics (3)
- WRI318 Writing Workshop: Long Poem (3)
- WRI328 Literature Seminar: 19th Century American Lit (3)
- WRI329 Writing Workshop: Contemplative Poetics (3)
- WRI331 Writing Workshop: Creative Nonfiction (3)
- WRI339 Writing Workshop: Flash Fiction (3)
- WRI344 Literature Seminar: Shakespeare (3)
- WRI349 Literature Seminar: Modernism and Postmodernism (3)
- WRI355 Literature Seminar: World Traditions and Letters (3)
- WRI362 Writing Workshop: Fiction (3)
- WRI369 Writing Workshop: Narrative Forms (3)
- WRI380 Writing Workshop: Eco-Poetics (3)
Total Credits: 12
Ecology & System Science Minor
Required Courses
- ENV100 Physical Geography: Beholding the Body of the Earth (3)
- ENV223 Field Ecology (3)
- ENV238 Survival Skills (3)
- ENV321 Geology (3)
Total Credits: 12
Environmental Justice Minor
Required Courses
- ENV207 History of the Environmental Movement (3)
- ENV257 Food Justice (3)
- ENV355 Environmental Justice (3)
- ENV363 Indigenous Environmental Issues (3)
Total Credits: 12
Environmental Sustainability Minor
Required Courses
- ENV207 History of the Environmental Movement (3)
- ENV215 Sustainability (3)
- ENV236 Green Building (3)
- ENV253 Environmental Economics (3)
Total Credits: 12
Food Justice Minor
Required Courses
- ENV257 Food Justice (3)
- ENV260 Introduction to Permaculture (3)
- ENV342 Permaculture Design (3)
- ENV355 Environmental Justice (3)
Total Credits: 12
Gender & Women's Studies Minor
Required Courses
- INTD210 Introduction to Gender & Women’s Studies (3)
- INTD310 Feminist & Queer Theory Methods of Inquiry (3)
Choose 6 credits
- PSYB355 Dynamics of Intimate Relationships (3)
- REL212 Queer Theory, Feminism, and Religion (3)
- REL334 Hindu Tantra (3)
- WRI441 Literature Seminar: Women Writers (3)
- Special Topics upon approval of INTD program chair
Total Credits: 12
Intercultural Studies Minor
Required Course
- PAX360 Global Studies Seminar (3)
Choose 9 credits
- Any approved Study Abroad courses
- Any approved Bhutan Study Abroad courses
Total Credits: 12
Music Minor
Required Courses
Basic Skills (dependent upon qualifications):
Choose 3 credits
- MUS200 Musicianship I: Musical Beginnings (3)
- MUS210 Musicianship II: The Practice of Notation (3)
- MUS360 Musicianship III: The Art of the Chart (3)
- MUS370 Musicianship IV: Arranging & Orchestrating (3)
Music in Context: Choose 3 credits
- MUS245 The Evolution of Western Music (3)
- MUS250 Music Cultures of the World (3)
- MUS260 Listening to Jazz (3)
Creative Process: Choose 3 credits
- MUS230 Improvisation (3)
- MUS400 Composition (3)
Ensembles and Performance: Choose 3 credits
- MUS208 Naropa Chorus (3)
- MUS215 Rhythm Hemispheres: World Percussion Traditions (3)
- MUS270 Naropa Ensemble (3)
- MUS420 Naropa Composers and Improvisers Orchestra (3)
- TRA114 Indian Devotional and Raga Singing (3)
Total Credits: 12
Music minors are invited to join MUS248.Peace Studies Minor
Required Course
- PAX250 Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies (3)
Choose 9 credits
- PAX327 Law, Human Rights, and Social Change (3)
- PAX335 Socially Engaged Spirituality (3)
- PAX340 Conflict Transformation: Theory & Practice (3)
- PAX345 Skills for Peacebuilding: Leadership, Restorative Justice, and Dialog (3)
- PAX360 Global Studies Seminar (3)
- PAX370 Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship (3)
Performance Minor
Required Courses
History and Context of Performance: Choose 3 credits
- PAR240 Rethinking the History of Performance: From Antiquity to 1700s (3)
- PAR241 Art Movements of the 20th Century: The Movers, Shakers, and Rule-Breakers (3)
Performance Exploration: Choose 9 credits
It is recommended that 3 credits be in a production project course, either PAR301 or PAR302.Total Credits: 12
To strengthen and amplify your degree, it is strongly recommended that an additional 6 credits in studio work, special topics, or ensemble projects of your choice be taken as electives.Permaculture Minor
Required Courses
- ENV100 Physical Geography: Beholding the Body of the Earth (3)
- ENV223 Field Ecology (3)
- ENV260 Introduction to Permaculture (3)
- ENV342 Permaculture Design (3)
Total Credits: 12
Religious Studies Minor
Required Courses
Choose 3 credits
- REL150 Buddhist Journey of Transformation: An Introduction (3)
- REL210 Religion & Mystical Experience (3)
- REL247 Embodying Sacred Wisdom: Modern Saints (3)
Choose 9 credits
- REL150 Buddhist Journey of Transformation: An Introduction (3)
- REL158W Breeze of Simplicity: Meditation Weekend (1)
- REL160 Meditation Practicum I: Freeing the Mind (3)
- REL210 Religion & Mystical Experience (3)
- REL212 Queer Theory, Feminism, and Religion (3)
- REL229 Contemplative Judaism (3)
- REL240 Foundations of Buddhism (3)
- REL247 Embodying Sacred Wisdom: Modern Saints (3)
- REL250 Spirituality and Creative Expression (3)
- REL255W Opening the Heart: Meditation Weekend (1)
- REL314 Contemplative Islam: An Introduction to Its History, Thought, and Practice (3)
- REL321 Kabbalah and Consciousness (3)
- REL323 Religious Experience in Africa: Flash of the Spirit (3)
- REL325 Contemplative Christianity (3)
- REL334 Hindu Tantra (3)
- REL338 Sufism: An Introduction to its History, Thought, and Practice (3)
- REL345 Zen Buddhism (3)
- REL346 Wisdom and Compassion: A Buddhist Path (3)
- REL351 Theories of Alternate Spiritualities and New Religious Movements (3)
- REL355 Introductory Sanskrit: Language of the Gods (3)
- Shambhala Training Levels I–V (1)
- REL390W Shambhala Training Level I: The Art of Being Human (1)
- REL391W Shambhala Training Level II: Birth of the Warrior (1)
- REL392W Shambhala Training Level III: Warrior in the World (1)
- REL393W Shambhala Training Level IV: Awakened Heart (1)
- REL394W Shambhala Training Level V: Open Sky (1)
Total Credits: 12
Note: For students interested in taking courses on Buddhism, it is recommended that they be taken in the following order: (1) REL150 and/or REL240, (2); REL346, (3); REL348. The additional meditation courses, including REL345: Zen Buddhism, can be taken at any time.Sacred Ecology Minor
Required Courses
- ENV245 Geography: Pilgrimage & Sacred Landscape (3)
- ENV318 Deep Ecology (3)
- ENV350 Nature, the Sacred, and Contemplation (3)
- ENV370 Ecopsychology (3)
Total Credits: 12
Sanskrit Language Minor
- REL277 Sanskrit I (4)
- REL287 Sanskrit II (4)
- REL377 Sanskrit III (4)
Total Credits: 12
Social Innovation Minor
Required Course
- PAX370 Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship (3)
Choose 9 credits
- COL215 Leadership & Service: Alternative Break (3)
- COL340 Be the Change Lab (3)
- COL350 Design Thinking for Personal & Social Change (3)
- COL450 Internship (3)
- Independent Study (3)