Faculty, staff, and students from Santa Clara as well as other universities (e.g., Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the Graduate Theological Union) participate in a variety of collaborative research, teaching and outreach projects. The intention behind ASI is to bring creative, thoughtful and rigorous scholarly pursuit to better elucidate the relationship between spirituality and well being.

The Institute started in 2002 as the Spirituality and Health Institute.

 

Santa Clara University Faculty and Staff Participants

Visit the professors' pages below for a brief biography and to learn about their interests.

• Thomas G. Plante, Psychology (Director of ASI)
• Diane Dreher, English (Associate Director of ASI)
• David Feldman, Counseling Psychology
• Jennifer Merritt, Ignatian Center
• Aaron Willis, Ignatian Center
• Paul Schutz, Religious Studies

Faculty Participants from Other Universities

• Doug Oman, University of California at Berkeley
• T. Anne Richards, University of California, Berkeley
• Kathleen Wall, Sophia University
• John Richard White, Alliant University/California School of Professional Psychology
• Susan Phillips, Graduate Theological Union
• Doloras Gallegher Thompson, Stanford University
• Peggy Pizzo, Stanford University and the Graduate Theological Union

Recent Books:

• Plante, T. G. & Schwartz, G. E. (Eds.). (2021). Human Interaction with the Divine, the Sacred, and the Deceased: Psychological, Scientific, and Theological Perspectives, New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.

• Plante, T. G. (Ed.).(2018) Healing with Spiritual Practices: Proven Techniques for Disorders from Addictions and Anxiety to Cancer and Chronic Pain. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.

• Plante, T. G. (Ed.).(2015). The Psychology of Compassion and Cruelty: Understanding the Emotional, Spiritual, and Religious Influences.Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.

• Plante, T. G. (Ed.). (2012).  Religion, Spirituality, and Positive Psychology: Understanding the Psychological Fruits of Faith.Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.

• Plante, T. G. (Ed.). (2010). Contemplative Practices in Action: Spirituality, Meditation, and Health. Praeger/Greenwood.

• Plante, T. G., & Thoresen, C. E. (Eds.) (2007).  Spirit, Science and Health: How the Spiritual Mind Fuels Physical Wellness.Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.
• SHI Bibliography

For further information about the Applied Spirituality Institute, please contact Tom Plante at tplante@scu.edu.