Naropa University attracts an intellectually diverse student population—here are just a few of the many personalities that flourish at Naropa.
The Artist
She’s been studying music since she got a guitar for her tenth birthday. She has already formed and dissolved three bands and she ruled her high school talent shows. She also has a penchant for the dramatic, having acted in many high school plays.
In Naropa University’s BA in Music program, she’ll find that the practice of music encompasses the whole musician: the ear and its sensitivity to pitch and rhythm, the intellect and the intricacies of music theory, the body and technical demands of playing an instrument, and the contemplative and expressive world of the heart.
At once open-minded and firm in his beliefs, he has a voracious appetite for learning about world wisdom traditions. His spiritual community recognizes him as a rising leader with an active mind and a strong spirit.
A BA in Traditional Eastern Arts gives him exposure and literacy in meditation, meditative movement and a major area of concentration in t'ai-chi ch'uan, yoga or aikido. The Yoga Teacher Training concentration provides comprehensive instruction in all aspects of the yogic path.
A whiz with a protest sign and encyclopedic in her knowledge of injustice in daily life, she’s on a mission to change the world, from the inside out. She’s changed school policy and dabbled in public affairs and she’s ready to graduate to larger playing fields.
Activism is a core component of the Naropa experience. The first-year Humanities Seminar and second-year Civic Engagement Seminar will immerse her in the history and the mechanics of challenging the status quo and taking her new skills into public to make positive change in the world. She’ll also find plenty of student groups like the Student Union of Naropa (SUN) and additional classes in her major or as electives to satisfy her desire for civic engagement.
His empathy knows no bounds. He is the one troubled friends call on for help. Now he wants to turn his passion for helping others into a lifelong pursuit; to care for others in a compassionate, effective, professional way.
A MA in Contemplative Psychotherapy will give him a better understanding of himself and help him develop the skills necessary to work with individuals who seek to know themselves in new ways.
She sees books not as individual bodies of work, but as stars in constellations connected in the night sky through vision, creativity and humanity. One field of study always leads to another for her and she always wants more.
A faculty-guided, self-designed course of study with a BAin Interdisciplinary Studies will allow her to custom-fit her Naropa University experience to her own unique passions and curiosities. She’ll choose courses from two or three of the disciplines offered in Naropa’s other departments and build on those as the foundation for creating her own academic path.
Editor of the literary magazine in high school, he carries a small notebook in his back pocket so he can jot down notes on life as it happens. He finds meaning in words wherever they appear and envisions rearranging words on billboards to turn corporate taglines into poetic ultimatums.
He can revise and improve upon the work he produces during his studies in the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in hopes of getting it published in Bombay Gin, the school’s literary journal that features work from the Naropa community and established writers alike. He can also take Letterpress Printing for a new perspective on the significance of each letter and economy of words.
She is curious about her bioregion and thinks about the ways that social systems and natural systems interact. She thinks, eats and lives green. She’s concerned about sustainable lifestyles, healing the earth, and wants to play a positive role in her community.
She’ll pursue an BA in Environmental Studies, developing the knowledge base and skills needed to address complex environmental issues. Her studies will be transdisciplinary, drawing from Western-based natural and social sciences as well as other sources of wisdom and tradition represented at Naropa.
