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 Undergraduate Program
BA Art Therapy
What if you could combine your love of making art with studying the workings of the mind?
BA Art Therapy Online
Merge your artistic process with the study of traditional and Eastern psychology for a deeply mindful approach to art therapy.
BA Creative Writing & Literature
Invent your own genre. Analyze Shakespeare, avant-garde cinema, and modern poetry. Write your first novel.
BA Environmental Studies
What if you could serve a role helping humanity regain a harmonious relationship to the earth?
BA Environmental Studies Online
Naropa’s online degree in Environmental Studies—with tracks in Theory, Action, Justice and Contemplation—will provide you with knowledge and experience to integrate regenerative and restorative practices to address climate change.
BA Interdisciplinary Studies
What if you could combine your love of making art with studying the workings of the mind?
BA Psychology
At Naropa University, we seek to inspire your full human “beingness” so you can do likewise with others.
BA Psychology Online
At Naropa University, we seek to inspire your full human “beingness” so you can do likewise with others.
BA Religious Studies
Most religious studies programs focus on the intellectual exploration of text, ritual, and culture. At Naropa, we go deeper.
BA Visual Arts
What if you could combine your love of making art with studying the workings of the mind?
BA Yoga Studies
Align your major with your practice in Yoga.
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
Choose 12 credits from the following courses:
- EDU-245 Multicultural Education & Contemplative Critical Pedagogy (3)
- EDU-300 Nature and Education (3)
- EDU-330 Holistic & Contemplative Teaching Methods (3)
- EDU-370 Teaching the Exceptional Student in the General Education Classroom (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
To minor in Creative Writing & Literature, students may choose any 12 undergraduate WRI credits. This can include Summer Writing Program (2–6 credits).
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
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
Music Minor
Required Courses
To enhance experience in the arts students may wish to pursue a minor in Music. Students may choose any 12 music credits to fulfill minor requirements.
Total Credits: 12
Performance Minor
To enhance experience in the arts students may wish to pursue a minor in Performance. Students may choose any 12 performance credits to fulfill minor requirements.
Total Credits: 12
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 Integrating One’s Inner and Outer World (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)
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)
